240

sure drop were greatly different, the tube spacing could be altered. 'fi d h latrix

Since aU-tube arrangemcnt was specl e , ten .

length will be about 3.5 ft, and the number or holes In

the header sheet is 3460.

Heal Exchanger Design

1 L + __!._ + - 1 /0 ''175)

U = 3070 }1650 4230(0.305 ._.

_L ;0:;: \0'-3[0.326 + 0.086 + 0.291] U

= 10-3 X 0.703

U = 1420 Btu/hr' ffl. OF References

The total tupeexternal surface required can be calc:-. R N I. on et al., Liquid Me;,/o H~ndhook, ONR, .<\£C, and

Iated by equat'I'llg the p,)wer output.to-the heatH ans ct -I. -"" y. , tA.' ) D C Junto ! ~52

B f Ships Supt of Documents, "as '- . -, " .

1 h t ureau 0 1, . k, '"-d' 1\ K Supple

rate from fuel to the inert sa t, t a is, 2, C. B. Jackson, et al., Liquid Mdais JIlWdIJoo oX' ium-r a· -

Q A X U X tlt merit, JlIly 1955. Q I

:= . m ' Ph t I Moh<,,,·Salt Reactor Pr!)gram uarter y

A 1420 X 100 3. H. G. Mac crson, e a -'. 960 ORNJ .~014

47,300 X 3600:= X Progress Report for Period f.ndm~ J ul: 31, 1.' ,

A :::;; 1200 ft2 Oak Ridge National Laboratory, CSAEC. "11 -

R E t "The Emmet Mert.ury Vapor Pr<}<;ess, ram,

4 -, W. L. . rnmet, .

ASMI', vel. 46, 1924, p, 2S3. " Now Hcat Trans-

S. W E Kirst W. M. Nagle, and J. B_ Cartner, A ~ re~Mediu;, for High Temperature,," 7tans, AIChE, vol. 36, 1940,

p. 371. -H T ~ . Liquid g, P. S. Lykoudis and Y. S, T<)uloukian, "" eat rans er In

Mt'lal." TMns. ASMR, vel. 80, 1 %8, p. 6~~_ -'

rr. ·E. ~rown_ ct al., '''lelllperature and_Velocity D~.tnbutlOn and

7. Tramfer or neat in a Liquid Metal," ·lram. ASMh, vel. 79_ 1957,

p. 279- . nd J l' M~nke "Heat 'Icansler to Liquid Metals

awn Harnshna . '-."" , m

. Fl-: . ,,"svmm("[ri,-ally Heated Charinel,," Tran-'·. ASA-: ;,

D' ... ·lng Ill., ,.

vol. 71, 1949. P: 797. . h' d M .

It al "Heat Trafllfer to Lead-Tltsrou\ an er

9. H A jo mson, e " '4SMR 1 76

. :"1 an)lnar and 'Transition ripe Flow:~ Tram". ~J lin. ,

cury III ~

1954 p. 513. d L' -d S It "

..,. ,., 'D I "s,wcilic Heats of I .iquid Metals an ,qUt. a s,

to_ L ". oug as, • r" '

1\"au" ASMh~ vol. 79, 1957, p. 23.. . . .x- .

. "D' P ccpts for HIgh Tcmper.iture l-It-at F-

11 A. P, Fraas, e,,~n re - .

. h """" " N'U.'/tar Sc,moe ~nd Eng,,,,,,,,,n{& vul. A, 1960, 1" 22.

c anb--, s: fl' id Metal and

12. M. l\1. Yarosh, "Evalwilion of the pcr,ormance_" .lqU ._.

M"iten Salt Heat Ellchangerl," Nuolear Sew"'" and Engm"rmg,

vel; 8, 1960, p. 32. .. L"d M tal .:

R. E. l\iacPherson, et al., "De.vdop[Jlent Teshng of ,q~'. e

is. and lI.-lolten Salt Heat Ellchangers," NucJ,ar Sc""G< Md n"ll",emn,o:,

vol. 8, 1~60; p. 14. _.' fS' power

11- A P Faa.' "Reliability as a Crilenon In the Design" pace. .

. Pia~ts,~' p~peT presented at the Joint SAE-ASME Mcetlng in

New York, April. 196'1- . -, (- H t '.

_ 1 d d C F Bonilla "A,,"lvucal Smd,· 0 ca

15. A. J. Fried an an .' , " • ., ) .... "

Transfer Rates for Pamllel Flow of LiqUld Mclab '1 bmugh Tu re .-

Bundles" JOUTrnlI of AlenE, V<l1..7, 1961, p. 107. F1'

. '_ t I "Pre,sure Drop for Parallel ow,,,

16_ B. 'rV. Le 'ourneau, ea., . . 1 51 .; "" .. '

h 1 Rod Bnndles," Tea...,· ASME, vol. 7Y, 1957, p. 7 - .' t mug 1 d M NO' ik "A pota.",um- .

17. W. R. Chamber., A. P. Fraas, an " t!S!, " NL>'- '.

Steam Binary Vapor .Cycle for Nuclear po~er PlaI1ts;96~.R .. ,:

. 3584, Oak Ridge National Lab"mtory, USAEC, May, - •

The external surface per tube is

A - gQQ. == 0.695 ft2/tube

lube. - 1730

The tube length, L, is

L-~::::: 7.08ft - 0.0982

The exact values of the pressure calculated from the relation

c» L t:.P:=id-- 2gp D

drops can now be

for the pressure drop for ~he inert salt, taking Jrl == 0.033,

becomes

11002 ' 7.08 _g_ :;;;: 9.3 psi Aps = 0.033 2 X 32.2 X 1290.305 144,

flow of fuel on the shell-side, laking

and for the h = 0.035,

15002 7.08 __g_ := 12.3 psi

tlpf:::;; 0.035 2 X 32.2 X 2180.27 144

The pressure drops thus calculated for the flow of fuel and inert salt are close to and do not exceed the a~lo~able pre~sure drops. Therefore, the 1730 tubes \;s~n as a first approximation is a reasonable value. . t c

ressure drops were greatly different, the calculauons ~uld be repeated with a different number .of tubes. If, ith the number oftubcs chosen, the lube-slde_pressure

WI . . t were satisfied but the shell-slde pres·

drop reqUlremen .

Doling Towers

ooling towers have been widely used to dispose of heat from industrial proceSlles and from refrigern or air conditioning systems, where it has been . per or more convenient to reject heal to the atmoshere rather than to water in a nearby river, lake, or

. In many instances the choice has been largely a of comparative costs, but since 'vVorid War II our apidly growing electrical power system has begun to the heat sink capacity of some of our rivers so

even with the broad latitudc in site selection open central stations, in many cases there has becn no . ve but to build Iarge cooling tower installations. . has been particularly true in the Southwest.

The design of cooling towers is much more empirical that of any other type of heat exchanger. 'lucre

so manyimponderables, in fact, that some engineers at witchcraft; Much of the difficulty stems from . cs in the behavior of the atmosphere in the ty of a cooling tower. Under certain conditions little or no wind the combined effects of the geomof the terrain and buildings in thevicinity may lead

air recirculation through the tower and, hence, a loss performance. These effects are- so much a function of local topography, the prevailing wind direction, the ... ther, and the like that they are difficult to predict, . the performance of a cooling tower of a given demay vary w:idely from one location to another.

ecause of these and other complexities, this chapter is tended to do little more than present the basic relanships involved and show something of their use in specification, selection, and acceptance testing. of ' 'ng towers.

ES OF COOLING TOWER

'toJ~ers \~ere developed from' spray ponds in an to obtain a system that would take up less space.!

::

.oj

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I::

:(

IC-IDould be noted at this point that the heat dissipation capacity per unit of area of a small pond can be in-

- creased about twenty times by installing a simple spray system, and about one thousand times by building a cooling tower. Cooling towers have a further advantage over spray ponds in that they reduce the water consumption for a given heat load by a factor of about five, because they can be designed to eliminate the loss of water carried off by the wind in droplet form.

Natural Convection Cooling Towers. The simplest type of cooling tower is just a small water spray pond surrounded with walls having inwardly sloping louvres, as in Fig. 15.1. In this type of cooling tower the air changes direction in passing through the louvres as it leaves, .and the suspended droplets of water impinge on the louvre slats, deposit out, and drain back into the basin at the base of the tower ..

" .... ~:~ .. : .. "

.u-. . ,

. :1'

...

.; . . ,

1

~ ~ -.
~ ~ Louvered
~ W walls
~ III III I ~ .
~ 111!1 ~----
Air---.."..~ \ II It {f
\1 ~
~ II! ,/ III j \11/1 ~
~ 111/' ~
~ 1111/ 11/ \ I" ~ Spray
~ (\ If; \1/ \~",,,,e;
~ \ \ I II/ ~.
\. \' / \ I \ I r ;;;; COncrete
" basin Figure 15,] Section through a simple cooling tower formed byenclosing a spray pond with louvered walls.

241

242

Heal Exchanger Design

of the sort shown in Fig. 15.2 may be placed side by side in a long row at right angles to the direction of the prevailing wind. This is a particularly effective arrangement in coastal regions where the winds are predominantly on-shore or off-shore.

The British have built large thermal convection towers over 300 ft high. As shown in Fig. 15.4, these look like giant smokestacks set on an annular ring of tiny stilts at their base. The air enters through the annular gap provided by these stilts, is heated as it passes through fill ncar the base (sec Fig. 15.5), and then rises under

the action of thermal convection forces to the top of the stack. This typc of cooling tower is well suited for sites in which the ambient air temperature rarely exceeds 800 F, and a su bstan tial steady wind is available throughout the year. Other conditions favoring these large natural draft towers are a large temperature range (and hence a substantial air temperature rise), no need tor a dose approach temperature, a large winter heat load,

-and low capital charges.? The stacks themselves are made of reinforced concrete -having a wall thickness of only two or three inches. The geometric figure is a hypoid so that two layers of straight steel reinforcing rods can be arranged so that they are inclined in opposite directions from the vertical to form a network. This arrangement facilitates fabrication yet l:,>1v<::s a strong structure.

Forced Convection Cooling Towers. The capacity of a given size of cooling tower may be increased by the installation of a fan as in Fi~. 1.19 and 15.6. The added cost of the fan and the electrical power that it consumes is usually more than offset by reductions in -the capital charges per unit of heat rejection capacity. Fans may be mounted just outside the base of the tower so that the air flow is directed horizontally inward to give aforeed draft installation; or induced draft fans may be mounted at the top so that they draw air up through the tower and discharge it vertically upward from the top, as in Figs. 1.19 and 15.6. It is easier to provide a sturdy fan-mounting structure for the first arrangement, but the second is generally preferred, because it not only isless sensitive to wind direction, but by discharg-

i ng the air upward in a strong vertical jet it reduces the recirculation of the warm moist exit air back into the tower under unfavorable wind and atmospheric conditions. (The recirculation problem is discussed further in a later section.) Large, low-speed fans are employed to - minimize the power consumption. For induced draft installations the motor is often mounted to one side of the fan and the power transmitted through a' horizontal shaft to a gear box on the vertical shaft under the fan. '. This drive arrangement is used for the towers in both Figs. 1.19 and 15,6 .

Both the water pumping requirements and the capacity of the cooling tower per unit of base area can bc improved by providing horizontal surfaces within the coo-ling tower to reduce the average velocity of the falling droplets and to increase the time that the droplets arc exposed to the cooling air stream in falling through the tower. Another advantage of this approach is that it makes possible counterflow performance and hence a lower temperature in the exit water stream, The latter advantage can be realized by using low-pressure water sprays at the top, placing horizontal decks in the tower, and arranging the walls as in Fig. 15;2 so that the air enters horizontally and is discharged vertically. A desirable feature of this arrangement is that the vertical upward movement of the air also slows the fall of the water droplets, and thus increases the effective surface area for any given water flow rate. In this type of cooling tower the surfaces within the tower are called packing or jill, and are usually staggered so that water droplets can fall only a few fcet before striking a surface, Some typical grids or decks made of redwood strips nailed to 1 in. X 2 in: redwood stringers arc shown in Fig. 15.3.

Thc increasing temperature ofthe air moving upward through the tower induces thermal convection circulation, which is especially helpful if the wind velocity is very low. For large installations, many cooling towers

t

Decks of fill

Figure n.2 Section through a natural convection cooling tower with "fill" to increase the effective water droplet surface area by multiple s plashing.

Cooling Tamers 243

DeckS Aand B

Decks C and D

~=--"T

rt--=~~--=--·-J

Vertical spac;ng ~. = ~". 8 =. 1:_::2:_·· -l--V_e_rl_IC_al_,.;_P_aC_in_g;__C_=_15_"_. _D_=_24_'~·.

Deck E Deck t

. "4" Vertical spacing 24ff

V€rticJ: SPJC_~.> _J~==-=~=--------

Oeck G Deck H

Vertical sp~6r~_ Deck I

Vertical spacing 24"

Deck J

Figure \5.3 Typical ge(}wetri ... , used in constructing red, wood" fiJi" r" r C()olin~ towers. (Kelly and Swenson, Ref. (j.)

vertical spac;ng24"

Vertical spacing 24"

The rowers of Figs. 1.19 and 15.6 differ in that the air flows vertically upward through the fill in Fig .. 1.l~, whereas it flows horizontally through the fill In the tower of Fig. 15.6. The horizontal flow config~ration permits a reduction in tower height, and hence ~n cost, for locations in which a taller tower is not reqUIred by the nature of the terrain, nearby buildings, etc.

partially by evaporating a portion of the stream of hal water. The relative amounts of heat going toward increasing the temperature of the air and evaporating the water depend on the humidity of the air entering the cooling tower. Another factor, probably the most importarn single figure of merit [or a cooling tower, is the extent to which the water exit temperature appreaches the wct bulb tewpr:rature of the entering ,air .' -the latter being the minimum temperature to which the water could be cooled in an ideal installation. III any given tower this temperature difference, known as the approach temperature,varies with thc entcring air wet bulb iemperature, thc water flow rate, and the hear load.

BASIC RELATIONS

The prime function of a cooling- tower is to reduce the temperature of a stream of hot ~awr to as Iowa value as practicable. This temperatllredrop in the stream of water flowing through the tower is known as the temperature range. The cooling is accomplished partially by raising the temperature of the surrounding air and

Ileal Balance. Since the amount of water carried off by the air in the form of suspended droplets is normally

244

Heal EX~'hllnger Design

Figure 15.4 Li.l..:g~~ na: ural ccuvection cooling towers wit h hypoid concrete Shl:IJ:.-: (:(In:=;.1 r-ut-ted for a large Bri ri . sh steam power pi ant. Each cower handles J:~JnU~n0() ~aJ/:hr (Courtesy Fihn Cooling "lowers, Ltd.)

negligible and the specific heat of water is unity, the product of rhc drop in the water temperature t:..ie; and the liquid water Ilow rate Lw is equal to the product of the enth alpy rrse in 1 he air i'J.Ha and the air flow late G, that is,

(U.I)

where the Weller and ail' flow rates L", and G are in pounds per hour per square fOOL of horizontal crosssectional area in a vertical lower.

The enthalpy of moist air is almost solely a function of the wet bulb temperature, This is so nearly true that only the wei bu I b temperature lines are ordinarily drawn on psychometric charts; as in Fig. H2,7 enthalpy scales for the air-water VilpOr mixture are often drawn close to the crids of the constant wet bulb temperature lines. These wet bulb temperature lines can then be used with the enthalpy scales for obtaining approximate values of the enthalpy, or a straight edge can be used for an accurate deterrninatinn. Thus the wet bulb tempera tures for the inlet and outlet air give a g-ood rricas ure of I he e nr ha I py ri se. The dry bul b temperatures are mainly significant from the standpoint of the water consumption,

Heat Transfer, The heat balance of Eq, 13.1 includes no terms that define the size of the cool~lg tower. If the cooling tower is considered analogous to

a heat-transfer matri x wi t h a water f I III surface area that depends on the witter and ai r llow rates a nd on the char acter istios of the packi n g or fill, h eat will be given up to the air by two mechanisms: corrve n tional convection heat transfer and vaporization of the water. It h as been fou nd th at the rate or heal loss fro 111 the water by vaporization is analogous to the heat-transfer toe fficien t I(H' thermal COil vecti Oil, SlJ1C(' bo th depend on the rate at which mixing takes place between the thin gas film immediately adjacent to t1w heat-transfer surface and the bulk air stream passing over the surlice. Test data indicate that the coefficient for heal loss by vaporization rrom the water film \0 an ail stream is approximately' equal to the conventional convection heat-transfer coefficient ii, divided by the specific heal of the a if. ,1 Th us the ell thal py rr a ns fer coe Ilici e n r, K; for the rate of heat loss by vaporization. IS grven approximatclv by K = hie!,.

Dnve assem b Iy

Gravity water distribution", accessible, easdy -sgulateo

t

~ II maxrmuru welted surra .... c, nun III rrn em f8SistCi nee

Air in -_

Cooting Tnwns

Air out

1

I

Fan stack of Heart Redwood panels

Ca si ng-ll i~h est grad e corrug ate d CAB

Effective Temperature Difference. The relationship of Eq. 15.3 applies to the local co n d itions within the cooli ng tower. 'Lo de tcr m i ne t he overall performance req uires an intF.gral ion si mil ar to that carried (Jut for the logarithmic mean temperature difference of a conventional ht:ar exchanger. l n exam in ing Eq, 15.3 it can be seen that H; and H" depend on the water (emperature, but that the other q uan u ties do nOL Rearranging terms accordinvly and integrating between the inlet and outlet gives

_r~' dt'D JF KadV KaV

I~" 1:l~··':':':irr;- "--' n ----y:;;- = Lw

Figure 1 j.t; J nduced draft ver-tical cooli ng tower constr-ucted of red wood and corrugated asbestos '-",aL"d. (Courtesy Foster Wheeler COl·p.)

where V is the active volume In cubic feet per square root of horizontal cross-scctiona] area. The enthalpy 01 saturated air docs not vary linearly with tern perature, and this prevents the simplifications usually possible in heat exchanger performance analysis. The nature of the problem can be visualized by examining Fig. 15.7_ This figure shows the enthalpy of saturated air as a function of thc local water temperalure, together with (he actual enthalpy of the moist air in a tower. Since where H., is the enth alpy uf saturated air at the local the~eifie heat of the wa ter is essentially constant, water temperature and H~ the average enthalpy of(~e/ 1:_U( . nee the. amount of heat given up by the water air stream. ;i .. w.~iJ Is that absorbed by the air Ior any given change

W \~~ vy-~ --3\f' ;Y

'«J ,__ ~

It has been shown" that in any given element of . <tower volume dV having the surface area a per unit of .. vol umc,· the heat given up per pound of water can be .. related to the heat transferred to the ai r by convection and lo the heat loss by vaporization by the following

dt",L~, = [h(!", _ I".) --!- Kf::..HlI(x" -'x)]atlV

(15.21

... . ~

., where iJ.H" is the enthalpy of vaporization, x., the water

vapor content of saturated air, and x the water vapor content of the air stream.

Equation 15.2 may bc manipulated to put it into a somewhat different and more convenient form+ by substituting (~K for h, taking H" = "pta + i'J.llvxs as the i; enthalpy of saturated air at the local water tempera, ture, and II" coo r;r,t~ + iY.llo.)( as the average enthalpy of .'. the local air stream (that is, neglceting the enthalpy of superheat in the moist air), and neglecling the differ,ellce in thc water inlet and outlet How rates arising . from water evaporation, as follows:

dlwLw = K(Cplw _ cpt" + t:..H"x, _ iY.H"x)1l dV

= K(Hs _ HaladV (15.3)

figure I ~'I,:l View of {a) water distributing troughs and COI'I"lE!".rJtcd asbestos crment sheet p<:H~kjrlg and (b) asbestos cement dirnina(o;s for cooling towers similar to those of Fig. 15.4. {('..curtesy Firm G)oting Towers, Lld.j

246

Heat Exr,hanger De'''i:'1

arion of inlet air wet bulb lemperaturc and water perature range in the region of interest so that a set fifty or one~hllndled charts are needed for fast, rate calculations.

'., The amount of heat that can be removed per unit of , irig towel' volume depends on the geomctry of the er fill and the water distribution system, The rchillgeffeetive heat-transfer surface area is a particu, ly difficult factor to evaluate, because there is no way to determine the average surface area of the

plcts formed by splash or slHay, Values for (1 comly range from '2 to 6 ft2/ft~.

" When a set of performance charts similar to Fig. '5.9 is not available, lht: graphical or numerical inte-

(ion of Eq. 15.'1 becomes very ti me consuming if a . cty of case, are to he investigatcd, While the logan-enthalpy method based on the inlet and outlet thalpy differences would \lndcre~till1ate the value of ,'the tower charac tcristic, Ka V/ L, the ell rve for H. in Fig. 15.7 could be replaced by a straight line drawn ;in the manner shown in Fig. 15.10 to give the same undcr the curve_5 The position of this line may he defined by iii t rorluci fig an e 11 thal PI' correction, &h.,

~---;-~~J..'l-------------j_--+-

tw2

dt",

.. Water temperature, tw

h"ure I'dl 'i"lw parameter 11(H H -' ,

Ii r- I _ ' a _ .. - (J) plotted as a function or (he

__ x.a water temperature In a cnuru erfiow cooling rower

._ Water temperature, I"" of

t 19l1L"C 15,7 O:ag ram xho ....... ing- th« [~fk:..ct.s ol wate , l .- '

J"ff _ cr elllpf.1 aru: eon du·

UI ereuce u: e uthalpv between the a- Jlowi ." h '

r- li ,_!r o ...... lng ulrolJg a ccuntcrfiow

_00 mg tov ..... cr and thl~ en thal py of _~,U u rated air at the [OC" 1 w . ~

perature. .rl ater rem-

In water tern perature [he local e th I f h .

_ . .,; Il a py 0 t e moist

an flu vanes iincarly with the local water t

. . .. . I lCmperature_

Bec ause the derivation for the log

i ff '. . . !!lean temperature

d crence depends on a linear relationship between tl

enthalpy and the ternperature for both H . I I ie

" UK S, a og

me an enthalpy difference cannot b I d- T' 1

b " e emp oye. re

o VIUUS course IS to integrate E(I 15 4' h-

. . . ", ,USlllg grap leal

or numerical techniques.

Water te rn pera tu re, tw. OF

Fig"r~ 15.10 Method of approximating the curve for H, will, a straight line in simplify rhe calculations.

10 12 14 16

and H,~ ale the. values of H" at the outlet and inlet, and H.", is the value of H. evaluated at the mean water temperature, (twl + tw~)/2,

f-- . _ __i , ~" _L

jjil

'-~-----X--"--"

,

Tower Ch teri

_, _ . . arac errstrcs. In examining Fig. I ~i 7 and

to:, [,')_.4 II can bc seen that the vertical distance between the tw 0 curves re presen IS thee nth al " di IT

n, ,-- n, in the integral of Eq' 154 'TPhY I erence,

. ,.. us a St:COflt

curve, such as that of fig 15 UbI d-

1 /(11 H ., - ", can e p one for

I ,--- II) as a function of the local water temp _

ture, and the value of the inkgra! ca b d incd

b ' . . n e etermme

y obtaining the area under the curve. The resillting quantity KaV/L know I ' 'h ' . w, 0 .... n as t le 10 uier characteristic is

t us a function of the inlet and eXI'! '- b Ib ,',

at r wet u tem-

peratures and the i Ill' t d .

Th . e an exit water temperatures

ese can be expressed in terms of the approach ternperature, th~ temperature ral1,i~ of the water and the ~atllo.of t,he water n~w to the air flow rate. If I~alr)' cal-

cu auons for a varretv f I' .

. -. 0 cone mons are to be made

much tune can bc saved b r h '

h . - ' > llslng carts such as that

sown 111 Fig. 1 5 9 '\ . . . .

~ " -... separate chart simila r to Fiv.

Ll,9 I!lUHt be prepared for e<lch' . ,.,

" . representative com-

/.

/

Equivalent /.

straightline ~, / relation fOT H, 'Y'

// Actual H,

I:

KaV

L;

2

3

F' G

. igure 1 :1_9 One method of prcsenrin r the erf . . ,

tower, (Lichtenstein, Ref. +,j g p OJ rnance of " co(}!.nr:

C()oling Touiers

247

91) 100

Water outlet (wid water) temperature, IWI, OF

Figure 15,11 Values of the r o-rect ion f~c:tor ·~IL- <. Based (HI data g-ivc-:n. by Berman, Kd. ~,)

i I

If !1lil and !1H2 are the inlet a n d out let enthalpy differences between the H, and lfa curves shown in Fig. 15.10, an approximate lug-nHc,lIl-enthalpy differencc, 6,IIm can now bc dertned as

The chart in Fig. 15.11 gives [he values or the enthalpy correction, 8h., as a function of tlw water outlet temperature for each of a series of values 0[" the temperature range.

The tower characteristic can be calculated from

KaV Lw

t.m2 - /;;,1

(15.6)

The error involved in estimating the tower characteristic using the corrected log'mean-(~!Ithalpy method is small and normally acceptable

Effects of Fill Gcomctry, All i nrer esting set of data has been published on the performance of the various cooling tower fill matrix geometrics shown in Fig. 15.3.6 One of the most significant results is that, for a gi ven rna nix geometry, the lower characteristic,

Heat E\'c!nwger Desiim

.»

K« Vi!L"" is almost di 1

_ , (feet y ro .

the packed section. This el ~ortlOnal to the height of

which the ab . .' ect IS shown III Fig-. 15 I? .

" selssa gives the hciz hr f h ' . - In

(Ion 111 terms uf th b . D ,0 t e packed sec-

c'll " c nu m er ot deck .

II . Cross-plots 'If I' I ' s, or grids of the .,' ,,' .ne l ala of FilS r ',' coordi nates showed h. ' ' g., I 2 on logan thm ; c

. t at the tower cha ., . - .

as some power of tl f1 . - aracterrstic varies

l~ ow rauo L /G

Iormance of the fill .' ) W, "so that the [)et'-

matrices teste 1· Id

mated well by cr cou be approxi-

248

KaV

r- = 0.07 + AN(!~1")--"-

.'" G

where N is the n 1

_. . um Jer of decks nd '

co nst.an rs lor any give _' a.' A and n are

'h' . ~ en matrtx. Table 1 - I " :

t e values found for l , ), summarizes

data f " t lese coeflicier l I

ala .01' the geomelrl- , f F'" , _ I S lo re ale the

I ' ' " es 0 19. 15 3 f I '

et temperalure of 120" F. .o ror a lot water lll-

, It happens [hal secondar effec .

III tower perform ' .: YI . ts cause some changes

-I ance wit I wall' ' I '

1. rar arc not included in E 1 ~r met temperature

substantiallv from 0 fill q. ,5. I, These effects vary

I . _ ' l1e matrix Y " • '

Jut Fig, h 1:1 Sf d . - gcometrv to another

, .,., lOWS ata lor th .' - ,

that these effects . I ref: typical cases. Note

I may c latl~e the

)Y il S In II ch as J 5"1,,. L' tower c haracteristic

(15.7)'-

Air Pressure Drop Th .

. e air .. >

a forced draft cooli pressure drop through

, In g tower part' II '-

geolTle trv of the fi! I j ,I a y de p ends on the

. . anc partial!' I

rate, smcc r.he f;lll L ng- d t [' Y on t 1e water flow

,_ rop cts lave a total surfa

,,<..' ec area

.. -~;-----

:~.

~ 1.5 --_.

~

S

'"

~ LO

t-

o G '" 1710 Ib/Il,·tt'

0-00 __ _... ,'" G ~ 1140 Ib/h,· fl"

11 ' Wet bulb ~ 75' F

11"'··---'-----;;-;;-----'

, N""10er Df d k 27 35

Figure 15.12 SA', _ ec s

1 • ects of the Humber f d

t H. tOW(~J. rhat'actrn-istic for nil . 0 ccks (oJ" tht:: lo\ ..... et- h~~jght)

sun Ref 6 \ matrix A of Fig, I r, -1 'K II . on

, " ,) , , , __ ," C' 'i and Swen-

Table 15.1 Values of A and II in
Eq, 15.7
Deck t1
/I
,\ 0_060
B 0.62
C 0_070 0.62
n 0,092 0_60
E (1119 0.5H
r o.uo 0.46
0100
c- 0 .. ')1
-' O. tOl
II 0_127 0,57
I U,I:l:) 0·17
.J (1 103 0.57
0.54 which may b ,,' I .

Thi ~ e su )SlarHla llv greatcr th

IS Implies tl ' I . , an that of the fill

sh. ' 13 t t rc expression for the

, ould h a V~ r wo I errus the fi pressure drOIJ

" ,e rst a f .

geolTletry and a - flow unction of the fi II

f ir ()\\' r;}i'e and th '

o the fill geomcuv aud b h h e .seeond a function

rat D " or t r~ 'HI a d

ares. ata tor towers wi rh rhc fi - < ~ n water now

were p lolled to o i " ' ,_ JJ mit trices of I'ig, 15 3

Th ,,1\ c cur vcs such" h ". '," .

esc were ~Il ~I'" 'I .' as t ose In hg_ 15 14

cs: cs: ,/t', 'Inc! t ' ,-

data could be : , "I' -, I was found T hat the test , ro" (~ aled well bv - ... >

~p ,

8(";2 (!~067j +

N - CL";/Jt',, O.!=l67:1

PC.' \/ (mean free--fall)'

Po

where 6P is thc air

pre~,u rc drop in I

_. pall nr s per squ arc

1.65

1.55
>-,
,;ji-}
.~~ 1.50
~
1l 1045
'-'
~
-s
ffi lAO
:.
0
,_ 1,30

I

I

L," = 2;]00 Ibillt.r!'" G '" 17HJ Ib/hr.!t l ,---:-____;_~l--L_j

Wilt bulb = l~· r

1.35

1 ~,I 't SflecLs of Ii,! u;d loadinS 0" the air pnssurc drop for fd I X f1 of Fig i 'd_ (K~IIY and Swen,on, Ref. 6,)

( 15,[J)

, flo is the d<"nsity of the dry air in puunds per

. c foot of air-vapor mixture, and Rand Cart;: eonnts as given in Tabk \5'2. The quantity "mean free 'II" is the'inean vertical Jistance in feet that the ter droplets fall bet'NCl".n slats in the fill. This factor

r a function of bodl l he free flow areao[ the Gll and 'e ve,rtieal spacing of the decks. Values for this quantity given in Table 15.'2 fur the matriccs of Fig. CI.3. quantity G~<l is an equivalent air mass flow rate responding to rhc velocity of the air relative to the Iling water drof)le1.s, and henee depends on borh the tr Row r atc and the average distance that a water : droplet falls unimpeded- The relation between the G~, GO'I> and the mean free fall is shown in Fig. IS. \ 5_

ERects of Design Conditions on Tower Size. Tel1l',. peraturt;: range and rhc wet bulb and approach tel1lpera, tures all affect the size of the cooling tower; these di:ects are included implicitly in Eq. 15.4. To show the gcn~ral ", trend of rhese effect" calculations have been made for

Cooling Tuwers 249

the cooling tower size relative to that for a reference un it evaluated for 7 S" F wet bulb, 250 F range, and a 10°F approach temperature.4 For ,I given inlet air wet bulb temperature and a given water temperature drop, 'Fig. 15.16 indicates that rhe size of the tower varies

widely with the design approach temperature. This curve is yet another e:-campk showing 100\" difficult it is to bring the exit temperature of the not fluid down close to the inlet temperature of the culd fluid. l'igure 15. l'i shows the effect of the inlet air wei bulb l~lTlperature on the size of lOwer required for a typicill approach temperature and a typical water lernp(~ratnre range Simi-

~ 5500

-o i

,g

:-ri

'"

C

2000

Figure lS,l') E;ITCClS of ihc COUEllcrCU'T"nl aif ,m".8' 110'" and the vc.r,;cal mean free ran of tb, ,,'altl droplet' on '-tLC e'lu;",,\cnt pressure loss air mass Ao ...... ' (-,'e(J" (Kelly and Swt'.L1.:wn, Rei. b ". )

Table 15.2 Values of 11 and C in Equation lS.8

A O.7!"J 0_250 3.00 0.34 0.11 !
B \.00 0_2')0 4_00 0.34 o.u 1
C 1.2,'> 0.333 3.75 OAO 0,1'\
D 2,00 0.:\33 6,00 0.40 0.1+ ~~
j
i" 2_00 0_41)4 4_95 O.bO 0,1:' {
r 'LOO U.21!1 9.13 0.26 0_07
G 'LOO 0:292 6.B:' 0_40 OU)
H 'LOO 0.:'30 5.61 0,75 (),26
I_ 2,00 0,444 4.:':>0 0.52 0.16
J 2_00 0_292 fi8~ 0.40 0.10 Deck

Vertinil Deck Spacing, S, ft

Plan Solidity Fractioll

__ , - _,--_.--,._.- _, ~. __ "_ . 0·- _- - -

Veni<:ai Mean Free fall,

ft

- .. -~- .. - .. -- _.- .~~ -.-- _- _- ---.-~- ----,---"_. _"-

250 l leat Exchanger Design

2501'OT~-~~'~---~

t.. ..\.4-+-\ .rr.

200r--+~~~~-4-

150.-------

j ··1

Wel bulb =0 75' r Range", 25' F

GJ

<'is 100 ----.

.. ~-.--f___

10 15

Approach tern perature, OF

20

25

Figure I J. I ~ Effect, of approach temperature on the relative. size of a series. of cooling ~4JWCr.:.. (T .ichtenstein, KeL 4.)

larl y, ~i g. I 5. I Bill ustra tes the effect of temperature ril,ng~ III the water on the relative size of the tower.

Practical Limitations on Air and \Vater Flow Rates.

The; amount of cooling obtainable with a lower under the conditions of prime interest is insensitive to the wa rer or ai r now rates through th t: tower if tht: ratio of the water now to the air flow is kept constant. As rnav ~e deduced from Fig. 15.7, for a given air inlet condi'uon the enthalpy of the ~xit air deptnds on tlw ratio of L,,,/G, which is consistent with the characteristics of :on ve ~ ti onal . heal exchangers. Th us th ere is a ~trong inccnu \"C :0 l~erease the fluid flow rates through the tower . UII til d ifficu It y is experienced with poor wa ter How distribution at high-water flow rates or with excesst vc fa n power requirements, With packed towers, the balance .be ~ wee n capi lal charges and Call power costs usually limits the Ian power, and hence the maximum air Ilo~,' :·<]Je.to about 1800 !b/hr·fl2. A poor water now distribution over the packing is commonly experienced at water flow rates in excess or around :3000 jb/hr' ft~ Aoor area; because if the water How rate is in-

150,-----,-----,-------· .----.--

50 65

70

75 80 Wet bulb, OF

85

90

FigLJ~'e 15.17 , Cffecle of am bien! air wet bulb tern perature on I he

relative ""~ ot a series of cooling towers (L·! I . I' I 4

, ic L ensrean, -, er. .)

Wet buib = 75° F Approach temparatu-e = 10' F

40

Figure 15.: ~ EfrC-:-~:L" n( l t.' III perature range on the reb tive size of a series of cooling ~Oh'cr;;. U .irlurnsr iru.. Rd~ 4.)

~i'eased too far, the water cascades in thide streams instead offalling as a spra v, so r har the effective surface area IS rcdu:ed. T'his condition is ca lied jloodillg. On the or her hand, I f I he wa rcr flow d ro ps to abou t 600 I b /hr . ft:2 or ~ess,. SUlfate u:ll.'iOIl causes i.he water Dow to cllanneL' This gives a po~r water flow distr ibutiori, and, hence, a ~la:J-;:e~j drop In performance. The water now rate ilmlt:s Imposed by these conditions of course vary with t~e internal geometry of the rower, but the ~alues gIven represent the usual limits for good designs.

\-Vater Consumption. The water consumption of a cooling tower depends not on lv on the hea t load but a lso ~n the ratio of the amounts of he.at carried off bv 1~lcrea~iTlg th e tf:rnpcnnure of the air and by cvaporanon 01 the water. In a well-designee. lower the amount of. wa~er lost in. the forr n uf, suspended droplets in the exit arr stream IS usuallv less than 1 % of the water con~umption. Thus the. water consumption !'J. I'V", of a cool~ng tower can bc relined to rhe air Row rate and the ajr inlet and outlet water vapor contents Xl and x~ as follows:

( 15.9)

If .the air entering th~ tower t.'; saturated, as much as a thlr~ of the h:at re~lOved from the water may go into ~e~tUlg the au', "":I:lle the balance will go into evapo- 1 atlng the water. 1 h us the water ronsu mpt ion will be onl~ about two-thirds of what would be required if the entire heat load went ill to evaporation of the water. On th.e other hand, under un usual conditions at light loads, with al~w lempentlure rauge and very dry air, evaporation of the water may actually reduce the air dry bulb ternperaturn so that hear is removed from rather than added to the air, and the amount of heat going to ev;;.porate the water actually exceeds the heat load on the tower.

Dissolved Solids in Make-Up \-Vater ff as is II .

. • , b usoa y

the case, there IS an appreciable concentration of dis~olved solids in the rna k c-u p water, this concentration iricreases as th~ w.ater is evaporated. To avoid scaling of

the surfaces within the tower it 1', best to d' IT

. .., ,., raUl 0 a

portion of the water to reduce the concentration of the

.~.-~~ ~-: ,~, ~."",,"",.:.""""':_ ::- .. - __ - ... :,-":_., ..

Cooling Tower., 251

ids. This operation is analogous to the blow-down of of the ,,:,ater consumed, and of rhe fan power rr:quired

ers, f n this way the concentration of solids can be lor a gtven approach temperature must be carefully

to a value such that objectionable deposits do 1l0( balanced against the value of a reduction in the approach

. form. In some instance, il may be worthwhile to employ temperature.10 This is part.icul arlv true for air condition-

'. water-softening treatment for the make-up 'water. ing applications in which the heaviest loads on the

Dep~nding on the tyP(~ of applicil tion, the cool water tower, and the most di fficu It co n d i rions to meet, occur

'! be drawn from the basi n at the base of the tower d uri ng a relati vel y small n umber of days per year so

and rum ped to heat exchangers at other point); in the that if these desired conditions can be compromised

lant, or the hot fluid in the plant may be piped to the . somewhat, substantial savin gs in t he cost of the tower

. of the cooling tower. and banks of tll~es arranged ~lJ..f be effected.

, that they are cooled direct! Y by the falling water as "': /r.p d f Esti , S·· "

. . h l I f h (1/ . rocc ure or .sumanng the lie of a Cooling

. t reac es tne JilSe 0 t e tower. ~ . . '. .

.•. r-, " Tower. A variety of t.cchni q ues for the design of cool-

.•.. Recirculation. As IIncntioned earlier In this chapte . ing lowers are in use-many of them involving the use

,undel some wind conditions a portion of the warm ol charts.

m()istairl~avinglh~towel"lllayrecirc\llatebackthroligh If a person who is not well versed ill the design of

.tlw tower inlet and thus degrade the perfo,.manc~.7 If cooling towers wishes to make a pre liminarv esttlJ1ate of

.a large number of units is arranged in a long row a simi- the size and cost of a forced draft. towel fur a special

lar difficuhy is likely when the wind direction isroughly apllJjeation and has little information at hand other

parililel to the length of the row. In an effort to under- than that included here. the following procedure can

• stand the effects of the many parameters a detailed te.~t be employed:

procedure w-as worked out based on portable instrumen-

ta tion, and this ~q uiprnent was used to test thirty different cooling towers.8 Every' effort was made to make the tests as consistent as possible considering the wide vari et y of u ni ts tested: tint is, forced and induced draft t.owers, crossflow and counterflow towers, tower Ie ngths from 36 to 36 I It, W\VCr wid ths from 1;) to 63 ft, tower frame h~igh ts fmIll 19 'to 55ft, and fan stack heights from 1 to 17ft. The test results9 showed tbat the forced draft towers gave recirculation rates about double those' for the induced draft towers. Since the bulk of the towers tested were of the induced draft type, the test results for these were plotted as fupctions of the many variables. The only two parameters to show any well-defined effects were the water flow rate and the tower length. (VI,'here a multiplicity of units is arranged in a long row, the tower length is taken as the length of the entire set.) Analysis of the data showed that good correlation for the effects of these two factors could be obtained by applying a correction to the wet bulb temperilture. This correction for a 20°F cooling range and a JO"F approilch is shown in Fig. 1.'). l 9. The table beneath the chart giv~s the factors to be applied to the curves in Fig. 15.19 to obtain the proper correction for other range and approach values. Note thar two curvr:S are given in Fig. 15.19: one, the recommended recirculation allowance, and the other the maximum allowance likely to be required.

:::.:

I::

1;;

.';! :~:

\_ Choose the design conditions, that is. tilt water inlet and outlet t~mperdlure and the inlet ;ir wet bulb

temperature.

2. Prepare an en thalpy - tern peral u ['e eli a.gram simi Jar to Fig. 15.7. Choose the exit. air enthalpy such (bat the slope of the line [or the air enthalpy is equdllo the slope of the curve Cor the enthalpy of saturated air at the; water outlet tem per ature. (This is an a rbirrary step, but one that usually yields a reasoriablv good set of proportions, beeallse it i~ generally desirable to have the driving forcc for heat transfer a minimum ar the bonorn of the tower. At the same rime the air enthalpy rise should be as large as possible to minimize the air pumping pow~r requir~ment.)

3. Plot a curve similar to Fig. 15.g for I/(H. - Ha)

as a function of water tempera: ure.

4. Using Simpson's rule, dercrminc the area under the curve obtained from step :1, and from it the required val ue for the tower characteristic Ka Vl L",.

5. Choose a fill matrix geometry from :Fig. 15.3, and obtain the data for its principal eharacte~istic~ from Table 15.1.

! .

Design Compromises. The design of a cooling tower ordinarily entails not only eOl'npromises in the detailed design of the cooliog tower itself but also in the selection of the design conditions. The cost or the cooling lower,

6. From Fig. 15.13 estimate the effect on the lower eharacteriHtie Ka V/Lw oC thc deviation of the water inlet tern perature from the l 200 F for which the data of '[a II Ie 15.1 were pre pared.

7. Using the air en \ halpy curve of ste p 2, determine L",/G from heat balance considerations. (Lw/G is equal to the slope of the air enthalpy linoc.)

il. Substitute the values obtained from step 7 for Ka V/ L,,,, A, ([.~,/ G) and n in Eq. 15.7 to obtain the number of decks N and, hence, the height ofthe packed portion of the tower.

.- .. :':~-'-------------

RECOMMENDED RECIRCULATION AI_LOWANn:S

9. For the Lw/G of step 7, ciecICnninc the air flow rate , for a water flow of 2300 I b/hr' fl~. If thcresulting' air flow excecds 1600 Ib/h!"' fl~, determinc the water flow

that corresponds to an air flow of IGOO lb/hr : ft2

10. Determine the efoss-sectional area of the tower .• using [he water flow ra te per un i t of area given by step 9 and the total water flow rare established in step 1, II. Select the horizontal dimensions of the tower 10

, glVe the area defined by step iO, keeping the dirneosion in the dincdioIl of the prevaiiing wind to no less than . the packed height and no more than 40 fl. The overall , height should be the packed helght plus about one and .: '" one-half rimes the depth in the dire-ction or the prevail-

FOR COIJNhRf'LOW !>.ND CRossaow INDUCE\) JRArr CC.'PIING TOWERS

4

u.:
0
-£
0 3
r-
u
UJ
Ct:
Ct:
U
U
ill
Ct:
:J 2
I--
<l:
Ct:
Ll.I
o,
a]
t-
ill
_j
::J
c:J
t-
UJ
3' . Evaluation of Ac(:cpfanct'. Tests. More often than .• not a cooli ng tower is COlD plel~d a nd is ready for ace(~ptaIlce tests at a time when weather conditions give much lower wet bulb lempnalurcs than the critical .. tempnaturcs for which the tower was designed. Thus 'it is necessary to carry out the acceptance tests and apply corrections tu determine whether the cooling tower meets the design conditiono. The relation presen ted in Eq. 15.4 is appropriate'. for such corrections, and forms [he basis for the standard correction pro~Jure That has been arl()pT~d by the Cooling Tower

l\1anufaCltll'ers Institute.11

WATER FLOW, IN 1000 GPM

CORR ECTION FACTORS

Cost. It i~ evid~,nt from th~ preceding material that it is difficult tu estimate the cost of a cooling tower for a given set of req uirem~nt~, because there are so many variables. [0 provide some basis for rough preliminary csrinw.tes, Fig. H9,7 indicates the cost of medium size, co 11 n ter llow, in d,\-Iced dr<1ft ((HyerS for the tern peraturc condi Lions most of tell of interest_)2 N otc that the water llow rate is probably the best single paramcter·to use in estimating the size and cost of a cool ing tower.

-------------.~

F

Example 15.1. Eslurwle of the 81.:1' of 11 Cooling 7 VI<!ef , A cooling tower is to cool 1200 I' water to yield an approach lemperature of I (}" F when thc entering air wet bulb tewperatule is 75°F, The water flow rate is to

. be 1,000,000 Ib/hr, and 'thc ratio l.,v/G can be taken

as 1.25,

1. Determine the tower characteristic using the

numerical integration method,

2. Determine the towel ehaweteristic using thc lugmean-~nthalpy method with and without the cntbalpy , correction applit':d,

.. 3. Choose a fill matrix geometry from Fig. 15.3, and,

. using the data for its principal eharaeteristies given in Table 15,1, determine the number of decks Nand, hence, the height of the packed porlion of the tower.

4. Assume an allowable water flow rate through the cooling tower of2000 lb/hr . ft,\ and determine the air flow rate and the cross-sectional area of the matrix.

NOT E: REI~i reL.J~.;:Jtir)n cl lownnC:fI:5- 5 hown in Cu r'YS above ate ba'fied on .a 7.0 F c oo! iog rarl yo a.f'l d ill 10 F appro-cch to {In)" W-At bulb t IIM'rIp'!tr c tu r e , R-ec~ r c u I ef on ol low(In Ce'l fer Qth~, 'Pl&rfOfnH1'l"loClI!!I CQn~ d il!Ofl ~ (;(11"1 b.ft ob t c i ned by me ana Q ~ th. COH-!dtOn F c erer s '5h'O '¥lin of dgkt.

Appr-:::d~h Rd~'lC, ..
hJ Am:"illl-(It f-----------.---------- --- ._,,-
WBT, ~F 5 10 15 20 25 10
1------- ----_._---_._---_.- .-
S 0.29 0.47 0,64 0.80 0.97 1.1
6 0,31 049 0.68 0.85 1.01 1 2
7 0.33 0.51 0.71 0.89 1.0E 1,2
8 0':;5 0.51 0.74 0.93 1.17 U
9 0.17 0,55 0.76 0,97 1,16 1.3
. _-_.- .-- .--.-~~ ... -- . __ . __ . ---
10 0.39 0.57 0.78 1.00 1.20 14
11 D.41 0.59 0,81 1.04 1.24 1.4
12 043 061 0.8A. 1.07 1.27 14
13 0.45 0.61 0.86 1.10 130 1.S
14 0.46 0,65 0.88 1,13 1 .13 1.5
i-.-- .. -----1 . ---- --- ----- ._-_.- .
15 0.47 0.67 0.90 1.15 1.15 1,5
16 0.49 0.69 0.93 1.18 1:39 1 6
17 0,51 0_70 0.95 1.20 1.42 1.6
18 0,52 0,72 0.97 1,22 1.44 1.6
19 053 0.74 0.99 1.Z4 1.46 1.6
.. __ ._. ---- . __ .--_.--_._-_ . . -
20 0_54 0.75 1.00 1.26 1.48 1 7
21 0.55 0.77 1.02 U8 1.50 1.7
n 0,56 0.79 1.04 ].30 1,52 1.7
Zl 0.57 O,BO 1.05 1.31 1,54 1.7
24 0.58 0.81 1,06 1.3Z 1.56 1,S
25 0.58 0.82 1.07 1.3.1 1.57 I.e . __ .. _--- -,----_.

3S

40

45

50

-_ ... _---_._-,---'--,
1.)0 1.47 1.63 1.80
1 37 1.56 1.73 1.91
144 1,63 1,83 2.01
1.50 1.70 1.91 2.10
1,56 1.77 U7 2.18
-- ._-_.---_ .
1,62 LB3 2.04 2.25
1.66 1.8B 2,09 2.31
1.70 1,91 2.13 2,16
1.74 1.96 2.17 2.40
1.77 1.99 2.21 2.44
._. --~ .. ---.-
I,SO t02 2.25 2:47
1.83 2.06 2.29 2.52
L86 2.10 2.33 2.57
1.89 2,13 2.37 2.61
1,92 2.16 2AO 2.64
._ .. ------.-~ .
1,95 2.19 2.43 2.67
1.98 2,22 2.46 2.70
2.00 2.25 2.49 2.73
2.02 2.27 2.52 2,76
204 2.29 2.54 2.79
2,06 2.31 2,56 2.81 4 Q 5 o S

o

" 2

5

7 1 4

6 B

Q 3 6 8 o 2

Figur« 1.').19 Recnnuucuded allowa uces for tN'.ircLllation losses. (Cool i ng Tower ImtitlllC, Ref, 'i,:' NN," Rccirculatio[] a ilowanc", shown in thr curve are based on a 200 F cooling range and a 100 F <lppro~ch [0 any \vTI bu 1 h letnrenHure, Rccircu lation a::oW,UlC"S for other I'~rforma~ce CO!LUilion;

CHLl he obtaiflr-':d by means of t)l.e Ij_':orrc.cdon factors shown in the table.

252

Cooling Toioers

253

SOLl'TION. For an approach temperature of 10" F and il wet bulb rempera turc of 7;jO F, I he temperature of the water at the cooling tower oUllet is 8S"F. Hence. the temperature range is 120 - 8:) -r- 350 F.

Values for 11" I-la, and l/'(l-C I1u) arc plotted in

Fig. 1:).20 as functions of the local water temperature as it. falls through the tower, Tn COI1'il!uct.ing this chart the enthalpy of saturated ail' II, at the local water lernpnamre was obtained [rom Table 112.G. The e nt h al py of the ai r stream Ii Q in CI'CilS{:S I ill ea rl y with the water temperature, and the tot a! i IlCTe;]Se of enthalpy 6.i-T was evaluated from 6.Il = (1. ""i (;) fl.I,[, = 1,2:) X 35 c= 43."i.1 Btu/lb. Since the' ail' en \(TS 1he tower at a wet bulb temperature of 75"1", lilt: air cILth,tipy at the ai r inlet is 38.01 Btu/Hl, while th a \ at the air outlet is 3fL6 \ + 43. 7 ~l = 82.36 Btu/lb [rum these values (H, - llal and !/(H, - if,:: were evaluat~d.

'Fhe area under the curve 1/(1(, .- H,,) in Fig. 15.20 gives the value of the tower charannislie, gil ViI,,;, 'fa ble 15.3 summarizes a numerical solution for the towe r characlt':ristic, using \ hen un 1 cri Cd I integration

method, and this gives (l{f) V/ L '! -:cc '2.1 [H .

As a check, the tower charilcte;-istic <l1;1}-' be calculated by the log-m~an-enthalpy method The inlet and outlet cnthalpv dilTerences between the II and H" curves are 6.H~ = 119.54 - 82.30 = ~)7 .18, j.l!l = +9.4:) - 38,61 = 10.82, From Fig. 15,11 the cllth:ilpy correction

(),08

D.OE> ',<:'

't·

60

40

30

!l5

Water temperature, t .. ", 0 F

Fig" eo ! 5, (.\l Par ame.ters lor Example 15,1 pi nu ed as a function of the local water temperature.

254

Heat Exchanger Design

Table 15.3 Numerical integratiun for the tower characteristic of Exarnple 1."1, I

Water Enthalpy
Ternperatu IT Enthalpy or Air, i,'-cnl"e
lw, 'F at 1"" If, H" If,- Hu I/(!!, - J-IaJ 1" CH., -- 11,,)
_._._---", .. _ ... _---_._----
il.'l ,19.'13 :m.bl 10,82.>" 0.0924 ()(i')13
90 .'i5.9:1 44,86 1107 0,0902 U(!!:\i):l
,)', 63,32 51 11 12,11 0.0824 Il.iji'iil
100 71 73 57,3(, 14.4] 0.0692 III)!,!!)
10':; 81.31 r,:Ui I 17_73 0.05()4 (l_U',lll
110 92.34 09,06 22.48 0.0144 I),U3')',
113 104_91:1 _ """" ,,]6Jl ,_,~!l.87. 0,0346 1J_(n<jg
120 119_5,. 112:1(-; 37.18 0.0270 8h, for an B5° F water outlet temperature and a 350 F tcruper at.urc range is 1.3 Bru/Ih. The corrected log· mean-enthalpy difference Ii·om Eq, \':;.:) is

6.jf =. :n,18-10.B2 _.,_

m 2,3 log (37_18 .- 4.3/IOJl'1 - 4.:))

26_36 26.36 r

---,------,- = --._" .. = 16.3

2.3 log J,05 1.615

a nd the corrected Lower characteristic fl'O rn Eq. 15.6 beeorn~s

_}~- ::::: 2,15 16,3

which iswithin 2% of the value obtained by numerical i n tegra tion.

If the correction term, oh were not included, the uncorrected log-mean.enthalpy difference would be

,and

"If ( J) 37,18 - 10_82

L>. '" uncorrected = ----- ,.' , ".

2_3 log, (37.18/ 10.82)

26.3G = 21,3 2_3 log 3.43

K(1V ~n -

= "I . ..)" = 1.0'15

L", ~

2.181 = 0.07 + O,097N(L2jr·o-r,

Since the inlet temperature or I he wa tr r is the sam" as l hal for which Table 15:1 was calculated, no temperature correction from Fig. I :1_ 1:3 is ;-eqllir~d. Solving the preceding equation ror the n urn bcr of decks gives N = 2.'i. Since the vertical spacing for the Cvtype deck is Jj in., the height of the pa ck cd port ion of the town .becornes,

P ke-d hei 2.JXl,'j "I'>f ac "<l elgllt = ---",_.'-"--- ,-'---'- ,_, ,,' t

~ 12

The next ~tep is \0 calr.ular.c the air flo." rate and thesize of the tower. Since L1O'/G was 1.'2 :1, the air flow rate for Lw = 2000 lb /hr . ft2 floor a rea is

G = 2000 = I fiOO lhih r· fr2 1.25

The floor area required for a i oral water flow rate of 1,000,000 Ib/hr is

Floor area = 1,OO(),OOO 2000

500 ft~

Couling Towers

255

l\"(Jt.e that the uncorrected log·mean.enthalpy difference undcresti mates the required tower characteristic by about 2,1% for this particular problem.

The next step in [he calculation is to choose a fill matrix geometry from Fig. 1 ,'J.3 and obtain values [OJ A and II from Table 15.1. Choosing tvpe-C fill, Eq. 1.').7 becomes

KoV (f )-0,6

L~ = 0,(]7 + ()_(Y!2 ,\' ~D

Substituting the above values of KaV/L," and Lw/Gin this equation, we obtain

Thus the required towe,- eros'; ,,,ctional area can be obtained by making it 22 ft X 24 fr. The overall height may be taken as the packed height, plus one and one" half of the depth in the direction of the prevailing wind, that is, 31.3 + I.J X 22 -r- 61 [L

References

L G. R. Nance, "Ftmdnrucnt al Re.laeionships in the Design of Cooling Tf)wers~'! Trans. A SAIl::..', vol, 1)1 ~ 1919) p. 7~~ 1

~, J. lV, Hubent hul, ~'A Compar-ison 9CC\ -, '-cen E.l1H--.p~,;·U1 and lJnjtf~d' States Cooling 'Iowers," Cool LUg ·E.H~'er.I 1 L::: Li I \J (r [lulled 0 TPR-·l'2 3) Houston. Texas, 1962.

j, A" L. T .ondon, \tV, E_ Mason, a nd I ... \'f. K, Boelter, ~~ Performance

C~aractr;ri"cic, of a Mechanically Induced Draft Coun Ledlow Packed Cooling Tower," 1,a"--,, ASME, vol. 6:!, I 940, p, ,I r.

J. LLchtcnst.~ill·; I' Performance and Select ion of !\.1c(_;han icai Draft Cooling- TOl,. .. -crs," Tmns. AS .. vl E, vol. 65~ 1941, p. 7:/rJ.

L. D. Berruac, EI.IQPr)ro.n·1f~ C(lfJhl1g f!/ Cifcu.t(1~i71.;; ft·(.'tf.r. Pergamon

PC"",l961,

N. \V, Kr.l I V and L. K. -S"\· • .:en:'HlJl, '~Compara .. i ve Pe rformance of

C00iing ·Itl~'f:f Packing Arrang(~lnents,') Chemical FngiJH~ering Prog:re,", vol. 5~, 1 9<;6. p, 2f)3,

J. r .ichtenstoin, :~RGcir{:uhtiou in C(){)lin.g Towers," Trues .·1S1H£,

,QL 73, 1'1'> 1, 1'. IOJi'

J. l.. w.n a, cr al.. '"I nSU'U meuu nR a Field Surd y of I urlustrial

VV.(1hT-Cpoiing ~u.}\ v 'er Performance," Trans. AS~I\:([r.", v nl. 79~ 1957~ P 1h70.

9, "Rccircutaticn ," Cooling Tower Institute Bulletin l-'Fc.1.-1lli,

Houston, "Iexax. 1953,

10. £VI. \-V Lari noff "C()oliHg 'Lowers for Su-am-Elecn-ic Stations Sclcctiou nrvd Performance Experience,' Trans. AS.,H E, vel. 79 ~ 1957, p. i6lh

l l , "Acceptance Test Procedure for Industrial Water-Cooling Towers, Mechanical Draft 'Iypc,' Cooling,"I1>wer Institute Sullelin ATP 10", HOLJ<lon, Texas 19,19,

12. S. Kmdl and J, H, Faber, ~;An Economic Eva lua tion of CO=Jlin~ \'Va~et" Cn.:.:.ts~~: Cost Ellgineen·.115! vol. 2~ 19.) 7 ~ p. 71).

1 f

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