COOLING TOWER

Theory of Cooling Towers

• A cooling tower cools the incoming water by a combination of
heat and mass transfer.

• Warm water supplied to the tower is sprayed or splashed over

fill, which breaks up the water and exposes a very large
surface area of the water to the air.

• A portion of the water is evaporated into the air, with the

necessary latent heat (+ sensible heat) being transferred from
the remaining water, thus lowering its temperature.

• Approximately 25% of the sensible heat transfer occurs

in the tower while the balance of the 75%cooling is
due to the evaporative effect of latent heat of vaporization.
• Wet Bulb Temperature Approach
– Critical parameter

– A difference between the temperature of the exiting water

and the entering wet bulb temperature of the air.

– The driving force for this heat and mass transfer process.
Natural Draft Cooling Tower
• The natural draft or hyperbolic cooling tower makes use of the
difference in temperature between the ambient air and the hotter
air inside the tower.

• As hot air moves upwards through the tower (because hot air rises),
fresh cool air is drawn into the tower through an air inlet at the
bottom.

• Due to the layout of the tower, no fan is required and there is

almost no circulation of hot air that could affect the performance.

• Concrete is used for the tower shell with a height of up to 200 m.

• These cooling towers are mostly only for large heat duties (Thermal
Power Plants) because large concrete structures are expensive.
• There are two main types of natural draft
towers:

ƒ Cross flow tower (Figure 2):

Air is drawn across the falling water and the fill is
located outside the tower

ƒ Counter flow tower (Figure 3):

Air is drawn up through the falling water and the
fill is therefore located inside the tower, although
design depends on specific site conditions
Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower
• Large fans to force or draw air through circulated
water.

• The water falls downwards over fill surfaces, which

help increase the contact time between the water
and the air - this helps maximize heat transfer
between the two.

• Depend upon various parameters such as

– fan diameter and speed of operation,
– fills for system resistance etc.
• Available in a large range of capacities.

– Normal capacities range from approximately 10 tons,

2.5 m3/hr flow to several thousand tons and m3/hr.

– either factory built or field erected – for example

concrete towers are only field erected.

• Many towers are constructed so that they can be

grouped together to achieve the desired
capacity.
• Thus, many cooling towers are assemblies of
two or more individual cooling towers or
“cells.”

• The number of cells they have, e.g., a eight-

cell tower, often refers to such towers.

• Multiple-cell towers --linear, square, or round

depending upon
– the shape of the individual cells and
– whether the air inlets are located on the sides or
bottoms of the cells.
• Mechanical draft towers are available in the
following airflow arrangements:

1. Counter flow forced draft.

2. Counter flow induced draft.
3. Cross flow induced draft.
Forced Draft Cooling Towers

• Air blown through tower

by centrifugal fan at air
inlet
• Advantages: suited for
high air resistance &
fans are relatively quiet
• Disadvantages:
recirculation due to high
air-entry and low air-exit
velocities
Induced Draft Counter Flow Cooling Tower
• Hot water enters at the top
• Air enters at bottom and exits at top
• Uses forced and induced draft fans
Induced Draft Cross Flow Cooling Tower
• Water enters top and passes over fill
• Air enters on one side or opposite sides
• Induced draft fan draws air across fill
Main features of different types of draft
cooling towers
 Factors govern the operation of cooling tower
• The dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures of air
• Temperature of warm water
• The efficiency of contact between air and water in terms
of volumetric mass transfer coefficient
• Contact time between air and water
• The uniformity of the distribution of the phases within
the tower
• Air pressure drop
• Desired temperature of cooled water
 Assessment of Cooling Towers
Measured Parameters

• Wet bulb temperature of air

• Dry bulb temperature of air
• Cooling tower inlet water temperature
• Cooling tower outlet water temperature
• Exhaust air temperature
• Electrical readings of pump and fan motors
• Water flow rate
• Air flow rate
 Cooling Tower Performance
• Performance Parameters

1. Range
2. Approach
3. Effectiveness
4. Cooling capacity
5. Evaporation loss
6. Cycles of concentration
7. Blow down losses
8. Liquid / Gas ratio
 1. Range

• Range (°C) = CW inlet

temp – CW outlet
temp

• High range = good

performance
 2. Approach

• Approach (°C) =
CW outlet temp – Wet
bulb temp

• Low approach = good

performance
 3. Effectiveness

• Effectiveness in %

= Range / (Range + Approach)

= 100 x (CW temp – CW out temp) / (CW in

temp – Wet bulb temp)

High effectiveness = good performance

 4. Cooling Capacity

• Heat rejected in kCal/hr or tons of

refrigeration (TR)

= mass flow rate of water X specific heat X

temperature difference

• High cooling capacity = good performance

 5. Evaporation Loss

• Water quantity (m3/hr) evaporated for cooling duty

– Theoretically, 1.8 m3 for every 10,000,000 kCal heat

rejected
6. Cycles of concentration (C.O.C.)

• The ratio of dissolved solids in circulating water to the

dissolved solids in make up water.

7. Blow down losses

• Depend upon cycles of concentration and the
evaporation losses and is given by relation:

• Blow Down =
Evaporation Loss / (C.O.C. – 1)
 8. Liquid Gas (L/G) Ratio

• Ratio between water and air mass flow rates

Heat removed from the water must be equal to the heat

absorbed by the surrounding air

L(T1 – T2) = G(h2 – h1)

L/G = (h2 – h1) / (T1 – T2)

T1 = hot water temp (oC)

T2 = cold water temp (oC)

Enthalpy of air water vapor mixture at

inlet wet bulb temp (h1) and outlet wet bulb temp (h2)