CHE 151-1L Chemical Engineering Laboratory 2

4th Quarter, S.Y. 2017-2018

Cooling Tower: Effect of Water Inlet Temperature on Performance

1
1Student, CHE151-1L/A41, School of Chemical, Biological, Materials Engineering and Sciences, Mapúa University

METHODOLOGY inputted until the water inlet temperature stabilized to the

The equipment used for the experiment was a UOP6-MKII
basic water cooling tower as shown on Figure 1. The cooling
tower was prepared beforehand by the laboratory assistant
with the software checked and distilled water poured into the
sump tank until the maximum level.
given set point. The Power On button on the software was
then clicked to start the data collection. For each run, the
cooling tower was run for 15 minutes. The data were then
collected and recorded for all six runs. For each
experimental value, thirty data points were obtained. The
average values for all the data were calculated for each run.
Using the averaged values, the wet bulb temperature of inlet
air was determined using a psychometric chart as shown in
Figure 3. The range, approach, ideal range, and
effectiveness of the cooling tower were then calculated
using Equations 1-4.

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝑇𝑤,𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇𝑤,𝑜𝑢𝑡 (1)

𝑤𝑏
𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ = 𝑇𝑤,𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑎,𝑖𝑛 (2)
𝑤𝑏
𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝑇𝑤,𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇𝑎,𝑖𝑛 (3)
𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 = 𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑥 100% (4)
where in,
𝑇𝑤,𝑖𝑛 = inlet temperature of water
𝑇𝑤,𝑜𝑢𝑡 = outlet temperature of water
𝑇𝑎,𝑖𝑛 = inlet temperature of air
𝑤𝑏
𝑇𝑎,𝑖𝑛 = wet bulb temperature of inlet air
Figure 1. UOP6-MKII Basic Water Cooling Tower[1]

Six runs were made for the experiment with each water inlet
temperature increasing for each run; 30˚C, 32˚C, 35˚C,
38˚C, 40˚C, and 45˚C. Using the software equipped with the
unit, as shown on Figure 2, the PID controller for
temperature was set into Auto and the water inlet
temperature was inputted. After setting the water inlet
temperature, the value for the pump speed was set to a
constant of 1 L/min for all the runs and the software
controller set into Auto. The air flow software controller was
then set into Manual. The value for air flow was manually Figure 2. Software for UOP6-MKII Basic Water Cooling
Tower[1]

Experiment 2 | Group 2 | May 15, 2018 1 of 2

 CHE 151-1L Chemical Engineering Laboratory 2
4th Quarter, S.Y. 2017-2018

Figure 3. Psychometric Chart [2]

References:
[1] Basic Water Cooling Tower (n.d.). Retrieved at
http://discoverarmfield.com/en/products/view/uop6mkii/basic
-water-cooling-tower on May 11, 2018

[2] Perry, R. and Green, D. (2008). Perry’s Chemical

Engineer’s Handbook. 8th ed. New York: New York:
McGraw-Hill.

Experiment 2 | Group 2 | May 15, 2018 2 of 2