1.

0 ABSTRACT

The objectives of this experiment are to perform mass and energy balances on the
system and to observe the effects of process variables on the exit temperature of the water. In
this experiment, water stream is introduced at the top of the cooling tower which the falls
over packing material to increase the surface area of contact for water to cool it and is
exposed to air that is flowing upwards through the tower by using blower. The water
evaporates into the air stream during the contact between gas and liquid interface. At the
same time, latent heat of evaporation is carried into the bulk air by the water vapor. This will
lowers the temperature of outlet water below that of air. This is the reason cooling tower is
used as opposed to a heat exchanger because in the heat exchanger, the temperature of the
outlet cooled water cannot be lowered below the temperature of the cooling air. In our
cooling tower experiment, the energy that enters the system is the hot water. The hot water
was cooled by the air in the form of forced convection. For cooling tower experiment, there
are several parameters that can be adjusted to find out its effect on the evaporation rate of
water. We can choose air flow rate, water flow rate or inlet water temperature as constant
parameter and as variable. In this experiment, we choose air flow rate as constant parameter
and water flow rate as variable.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

In this experiment, SOLTEQ Water Cooling Tower (Model: HE 152) has been used.
This model has been designed so that the construction, design and operational characteristic
are as same as the modern cooling system, only in much smaller scale. The basic unit can be
used with another four types of packing column (optional) which were designed to facilitate
study of water and air conditions at different situation. The difference is mainly on the surface
contact area of the water with the air in different column and also the objective of the
experiment.

The unit mainly consists of a load tank with a total of 1.5 kW electric heater, an air
distribution chamber, a make-up tank and a test column. Warm water is pumped from the load
tanks to the top of the column before being uniformly distributed over the top packing. The
thin film of water is cooled, as it passes downward, due to evaporation. The cooled water falls
into the basin before going back into the load tank where it is re-heated and re-circulated. The
load tank water level is maintained by means of a make-up tank. A blower is installed on the
unit to deliver air into the air distribution chamber. The air passes a wet and dry bulb
thermometer before entering the column. As the air passes up the column, its moisture
content increases and the water is cooled. At the top of the column, the air passes a mist
eliminator before being discharged to the atmosphere.