THE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT,

MISTAKE FREE
PRESENTATION ON WET
COOLING TOWERS AND AIRCONDITIONING OVERVIEW

WET COOLING TOWERS

ANY QUESTIONS?

The cooling tower is one of the

most often overlooked energy
conservation centers and profit
makers that should be recognized
and exploited
Robert Burger(President Burger And

Associates, Inc., Dallas, Texas)

Overview

Why we use wet cooling towers

What they do
Two most common types and how they
compare
The advantages and disadvantages of using
them
A review of the important information on airconditioning in general
Work a practice problem

What do wet cooling towers

do?

They remove large amounts of waste

heat carried in water

WHERE?

POWER PLANTS
LARGE AIR
CONDITIONING
SYSTEMS
SOME INDUSTRIES

Why?
Water used to cool needs to be
cooled itself so that it can be
reused.
Hot water can not simply be
rejected

Concerns of thermal pollution

Limited supply of water

HOW HEAT IS REMOVED

HEAT IS REMOVED BY EVAPORATIVE

COOLING

OLDER APPROACHES TO
COOLING WASTE WATER

COOLING POND

WATER IS DUMPED INTO A LARGE POND

HUGE AMOUNT OF WATER NEEDED

COOLING POND

Hot water out

Cold water in

THE SPRAY POND

SPRAY POND

WATER IS SIMPLY SPRAYED IN THE AIR

OVER THE POND AND IS COOLED
1/20th THE AREA OF A COOLING POND IS
NEEDED

SPRAY POND

TWO TYPES OF COOLING

TOWERS

INDUCED DRAFT COUNTERFLOW

COOLING TOWER
NATURAL DRAFT COOLING TOWER

INDUCED DRAFT COUNTERFLOW

COOLING TOWER

INDUCED

INDUCED DRAFT COUNTERFLOW

COOLING TOWER

DRAFT

NATURAL DRAFT COOLING

TOWER

Natural draft cooling tower

Advantages

BOTH COOL USING 1/25th TO 1/50th

THE AREA OF A SPRAY POND
VERY EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT WAY
OF COOLING WASTE HEAT
LITTLE POLLUTION

DISADVANTAGES

Dont look pretty

Lose water due to drift
Steam escaping looks like pollution
Cause Legionnaires Disease

Legionnaires disease is a type of

pneumonia affecting the lungs
Must be specially cleaned

Eliminating Drift

As much drift as
possible must be
eliminated to reduce
losses and prevent
spread of
legionnaires disease

Drift eliminator

The water is
removed from
the air by the
S-shape of the
drift eliminator

Side view

The slight
angle
increases drift
elimination

Head to Head

Induced

Noisy
Expensive to
run
Cheaper to
build

Natural

Quiet
Cheap to run

Expensive to
build

Head to Head

Induced

Small
Less subject to
atmospheric
conditions

Natural

Big
More subject to
atmospheric
conditions

AIR-CONDITIONING THINGS
YOU SHOULD KNOW

THE PSYCHROMETRIC CHART

FIND TWO PROPERTIES OF AIR ON THE

CHART AND YOU CAN FIND ALL OF THE
OTHER PROPERTIES

Enthalpy change

hdry air=Cp

Dry bulb temperature

Tdb

The ordinary temperature of air

Wet-bulb Temperature

Twb

The temperature with

regard to the moisture in
the air

Dew Point temperature

Tdp

The temperature of air at

which water will begin to
condense

Specific Humidity

= mv/ma

The mass of water vapor

present in 1 unit mass of
dry air

Relative Humidity

= mv/mg

The ratio of the amount of

water air can hold to what
it is holding

PROBLEM 13-25

After a long walk in the 8 C outdoors, a

person wearing glasses enters a room
at 25 C and 40 percent relative
humidity. Determine if the glasses will
fog.

CONCLUSION

WET COOLING TOWERS DISPOSE OF

WASTE HEAT TO THE AIR
THE PSYCHROMETRIC CHART RULES
SO DOES AIR-CONDITIONING

ANY QUESTIONS?