Industrial process and Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems

produce large amounts of heat that must be dissipated so that machines can be operated
and processes can proceed efficiently
4
. Cooling towers dissipate heat from a hot stream
and reject it directly to the environment
5
.
There are various types of cooling towers that can be characterized by different
parameters including the device used to create airflow (mechanical or natural), direction
of airflow(crosscurrent or countercurrent) and construction or shape
5
.
Figure 2 is a schematic of a cooling tower. Hot water enters the top of the tower
and is sprayed across the tower trays such that the water is spread into thin films. A fan
draws dry air upwards, which flows counter current to the water
4
. When the air and water
come into direct contact, the water is cooled because it supplies the heat of vaporization
for the water evaporating into the air
4
. Makeup water replenishes the water loss due to
evaporation and the water is continuously circulated through the cooling tower
4
.
Nomenclature:
L : superficial water mass flow rate per cross sectional area
G: Superficial air mass flow rate per cross sectional area
h: is the enthalpy of air (kJ/kg)
H: enthalpy of the liquid (kJ/kg)
T: temperature (C)
Y: mass ratio of water to air


Figure 3: Overall Flow Diagram for a counter-current liquid vapor heat exchanger.
The Merkel model simplifies the gas liquid interaction into a one-dimension mass
and heat transfer
6
. Merkel developed the most commonly used model of a cooling tower
by relating the mass transfer and energy transfer in a cooling tower system
6
. It also
models interface of the water and air a thin film of saturated air at the bulk water
temperature. The following is a derivation of the Merkel equation. An overall mass and
energy balance for an adiabatic cooling tower derived from flow diagram, figure 3, yields
equation 1 and equation 2 respectively,
(1)
8

(2)
8
The gas phase enthalpy is a sum of the sensible heat transfer due to the temperature
difference of the entering and exiting water temperature and the latent heat transfer due to
evaporation,

(3)
9
where

is the latent heat of water and C

H
is the humid heat, a function of the heat
capacity of air(C
p,wa
) and heat capacity of water (C
p,w
),

(4)
9
Humid air enthalpy is also a function of enthalpy of dry air (h
air
) and the enthalpy of
water (h
water
). Moist air enthalpy also be redefined in terms of humid heat and latent heat
(

as the following function

(6)
9
Utilizing the definitions for humid heat and humid air enthalpy a function for the gas
phase sensible heat is developed,

(7)
9
The temperature difference between the air and the saturated air film is the driving force
for sensible heat transfer
9
. Gas phase enthalpy is a function of the convective heat
transfer coefficient( h
c
), specific area (a)and the length of the cooling tower(z).
The latent heat enthalpy is a function of the mass transfer coefficient (

), specific
area(a) and the concentration gradient between the humid air and the water,

(8)
9
Summing the sensible, equation 7, and latent heat, equation 9, yields the total enthalpy of
the gas phase,

(9)
9
Substituting the psychrometric ratio,

and the Lewis approximation, where the

psychrometric ratio is approximated to unity, assuming a reference temperature of zero,
and humid air enthalpy as defined by equation 6 yields,

) (10)
9
gas phase enthalpy can be equated to the liquid phase enthalpy according to the overall
energy balance, equation 2, as follows,

) (11)
9

Integrating equation 11 gives the Merkel equation,

(12)
The RHS is a function of humid air enthalpy and inlet and outlet water temperatures and
independent of the tower characteristics
9
. And the left hand side defined as the tower
characteristic
9
.
The cooling tower process is often represented in an air enthalpy versus temperature plot,
figure 5
9
. The equilibrium curve, referred to as the water operating line, is the saturation
enthalpy for moist air is plotted as a function of temperature
9
. The air operating line is
defined by the enthalpy of the moist air at the inlet and outlet water temperatures.
Psychometric graphs are used to determine properties of gas-vapor mixtures
7
. Given the
wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures or dry bulb temperature and relative humidity, a
psychrometric chart can be used to determine the specific enthalpy of the moist air.
At the inlet temperature the enthalpy difference is the gas side driving force
7
.
Range is defined as temperature difference between the entering hot water and leaving
cold water
4
. Approach is the difference between the temperature of the leaving water and
the wet bulb temperature of the air
4
. The approach quantifies the cooling towers
performance. The performance of a cooling tower can also be measured by its
effectiveness, a ratio of the range and the sum of the range and the approach
4
. The higher
the ratio the more effectively the cooling tower can dissipate heat. Another characteristic
of a cooling tower is the liquid gas ratio. The heat lost from the water must be absorbed
by the surrounding air, hence the following relationship

(13)
4
Rearranging equation 13 gives the liquid gas ratio as a function of inlet and outlet water
temperatures and enthalpies.