CHAPTER 3

PLANT UTILITIES
==================
COOLING WATER SYSTEM /
COOLING TOWER
WHAT IS COOLING WATER??
• Remove heat from other component
• Use water as cooling agent
 3 types of cooling water
system

1. 2.
3.
Once – Cooling
Through Cooling
Pond
Cooling Tower
System System
1. ONCE THROUGH COOLING SYSTEM

2.8 m diameter seawater pipelines for once through

cooling system direct intake and recycle back to the sea.
 1. Once – Through Cooling System

• The once-through cooling system is designed very simply.

• Water is pumped from a source through the heat exchange

equipment and then discharged.

• Because of the large volumes involved, once-through cooling

systems often use water from rivers, lakes, or (occasionally)
well networks.

• The only external treatment generally applied to a once-

through system is mechanical screening to protect
downstream equipment from serious damage due to foreign
material intrusion.
 Seawater outfall

PLANT AERIAL VIEW SHOWING INTAKE AND OUTFALL POINTS OF SEAWATER

2. POND SYSTEM
• an arrangement for cooling water by spraying it into the free
atmosphere.

• Spray ponds are usually used to reduce the temperature of water that
is cooling compressors, heat-exchange apparatus, transformers, and
so on in circulating water supply systems for industrial enterprises.

• The cooling effect is primarily due to the evaporation of part of the

sprayed water. (The evaporation of 1 percent of the water lowers its
temperature by approximately 6° C.)

• To create the requisite contact surface with the air, the water is
sprayed from nozzles at a height of 1 to 1.5 m above the water level
in the pond.

• The type and number of nozzles and the size of the spray pond’s
area are chosen according to the quantity of water being cooled.
TYPICAL POND COOLING SYSTEM
 3. COOLING TOWERS

• Main Features of Cooling Towers

How It works?
 3. COOLING TOWERS
What are cooling towers?
• Cooling towers are used to remove excess heat
that is generated in places such as power
stations, chemical plants and even domestically
in air conditioning units.

• In power stations, electricity is generated when

steam drives a turbine. This steam must be
condensed before it can be returned to the boiler
to continue the cycle of steam and electricity
generation. The condensation process happens
in a heat exchanger.
3. COOLING TOWERS
 3. COOLING TOWERS

• Cooling water is needed in the heat exchanger and it

is this cooling water that is cycled through the
cooling tower.

• In this way the water for the boilers and steam

turbine is kept separate from the cooling water. This
stops impurities getting into the turbine steam.

• In chemical processes excess heat can be

generated. This heat is removed using heat
exchangers and cooling water which is cycled
through a cooling tower.
Heat exchanger transfer the heat from the
boiler to cooling tower
 3. COOLING TOWERS
Components of a cooling tower :
• Frame and casing: support exterior enclosures
• Fill: facilitate heat transfer by maximizing water /
air contact
• Splash fill
• Film fill
• Cold water basin: receives water at bottom of
tower
3. COOLING TOWERS

Components of a cooling tower

• Drift eliminators: capture droplets in air
stream
• Air inlet: entry point of air
• Louvers: equalize air flow into the fill and
retain water within tower
• Nozzles: spray water to wet the fill
• Fans: deliver air flow in the tower
DRIFT / PACKINGS LOUVERS
Spray Nozzles Fan Blades
FILL
3 TYPES OF COOLING TOWER

1. Atmospheric Cooling Tower

2. Natural Draft Cooling Tower

3. Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers

1. ATMOSPHERIC COOLING TOWER

• Atmospheric towers utilize no mechanical device

(fan) to create air flow through the tower.

• atmospheric tower derives its airflow from the natural

induction (aspiration) provided by a pressure-spray
type water distribution system.

• has become rarely used because it required accurate

and dependable on cold water temperatures
Atmospheric cooling tower
2. NATURAL DRAFT COOLING TOWER

• Large cooling towers, like the ones seen in

power stations, are called Natural Draft
towers.
• Standing at about 130m high, they are
huge "chimneys" which create an updraft
of air which cools the water as it falls down
the inside of the tower.
• Natural draft towers do not contain any
fans to drive the air flow.
2. NATURAL DRAFT COOLING TOWER

• The water usually hits metal plates, or

baffles, which help to break up the flow
and create a larger surface area of contact
between the air and water for efficient
cooling.

• These types of towers are used only by

utility power stations.
2. NATURAL DRAFT COOLING TOWER

Counter flow natural draft cooling tower

2. NATURAL DRAFT COOLING TOWER

Cross flow natural draft cooling tower.

2.
NATURAL
DRAFT
COOLING
TOWER