38.12 THE NALCO WATER HANDBOOK | J Semone —%& i os Heat Cooling tower loads Moat Cy Oc - gpm Bosin 3) Voucs FIG. 38.6 Evaporative cooling system using a cooling tower. Water and solids balances are shown, + Limit ~ once-through flow aod Upper limit ~ once-through flo Exomple - 10,000 gpm at 20°F temperature cise 1000 = Makeup 4) _-— Blowdown: M-E Makeup. gpm _- Evaporation (E) Lower limit - evaporation rate 200 100 1 L L L L L 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Concentration ratio (CR) FIG. 38.7 Reduction of makeup flow by concentration ii system, an evaporative cooling system and to permit the plant operator to calculate performance. Figure 38.6 helps to clarify these definitions. 1, Recirculation rate (QJ: This is the flow of cooling water being pumped through the entire plant cooling loop, usually cooling a number of exchangers. Q. can usually be estimated from the recirculating pump nameplate data: however, actual measurements are more accurate. The actual recirculation is seldom more than the nameplate data and frequently may be 10 to 20% less. A pump curve, usually available from the manufacturer, plots recirculating flow against head; a pressure gauge on the pump discharge should provide a reasonably accurate estimate of flow. 2. Temperature differential or range (AT): This term refers to the difference between the average water temperature returning to the tower from the plantCOOLING WATER TREATMENT 38.13 exchangers (7;) and the average water temperature following evaporation (7) (tower basin). . Evaporation (E): E is the water lost to the atmosphere in the cooling process [gallons per minute (m’/min)]. The evaporation rate is dependent on the amount of water being cooled (Q.) and the temperature differential, AT, As a rule of thumb, for each 10°F (5.6°C) temperature drop across the evaporation process, 1% of the recirculation rate (Q,) is evaporated. Therefore, a 20°F (11.2°C) AT across a cooling tower produces an evaporation loss of 2% of the recirculation rate (0.02 Q. = E). = ¢ 0 << @1000 a (i-T) oa 560 (metric) The amount of evaporation that can take place over a given tower is limited primarily by the relative humidity of the air. Relative humidity is determined by measuring the wet and dry bulb temperatures of the air. E can be as low as 0.75% per 10°F of AT in high humidity areas like the Gulf Coast in the United States. Conversely, E may be as high as 1.2% per 10°F AT in regions of very low humidity, such as the arid regions of the southwestern United States. E depends to a lesser degree on the liquid-to-gas flow ratio, and con- ductive heat losses in other areas of cooling systems. |. Makeup (M): The input of water required to replace the water lost by evap- oration plus that being lost through blowdown, tower drift, and other mis- cellaneous losses. It is usually measured by a flow meter; if not it may be calculated as shown below: M= Ex (ag) eee . Concentration ratio (CR): Makeup to a recirculating cooling water system contains dissolved impurities. The evaporating water produces pure H,O vapor, leaving behind these impurities. The ratio of the concentrations of salts in the circulating water (C,) to those of the makeup (Cy) is the concen- tration ratio. CR = Ci Cy Since the input solids must equal the output solids, MX Cy = BX Ca where M is the makeup flow and B represents loss of concentrated water. Therefore, the concentration ratio is also CR = M/B The CR should be calculated for several individual components of the water to determine if the system is “in balance.” In the ideal case, the system is in balance when the CRs of all ions in the water (Ca, Mg, alkalinity, etc.) are equal. If the concentration ratios are not equal, it can indicate that some38.14 THE NALCO WATER HANDBOOK mineral (CaCO,, SiO,, etc.) is precipitating from the recirculating water. For example, if the CR for calcium or alkalinity is more than 0.5 below the CR for magnesium, then CaCO; is probably precipitating in the cooling system. By knowing what may precipitate, the CR can be a valuable indicator that a problem is occurring. The concentration ratios of some ions will be affected by chemicals added to the cooling system. The CR for SO,?- would be increased when sulfuric acid is added or where the plant atmosphere contains SO. In these cases, the CR for alkalinity would be decreased because alkalinity is destroyed by acid added to the tower. Chlorination of the cooling water will increase the CR for CI-. A CR based on conductivity will also be increased by some of the treat- ment chemicals added. ‘As shown in Figure 38.7, even a small degree of concentration enormously reduces water demand, and the greater the CR, the lower the demand as the evaporation rate is approached as a limit. Blowdown (B): Since pure water vapor is discharged by evaporation, the dis- solved and suspended solids left behind concentrate. If there were no water loss other than evaporation, these solids would concentrate to brine, causing massive scale and corrosion. To balance this, regulated flow is bled from the circulating system. This blowdown (B,) is calculated and controlled to remove solids at the same rate at which they are introduced by the makeup. There are other uncontrolled losses from the system. One is drift (B,); the other is leakage (B,), sometimes deliberate, but usually accidental. These are included in the total blowdown calculation, oe B= Be+ Bo+ By Blowdown is related to other factors thus: B=M-E and B=M/CR Pa Drift (Bp): Even though evaporating water is pure, some water droplets escape as mist through the evaporation equipment. In modern cooling tow- ers, very intricate mist and drift eliminators may be added to reduce this droplet loss to about 0.0005% of the recirculation rate. A more usual drift loss in conventional cooling towers is in the range of 0.05 to 0.2% loss based on the recirculation rate. Since drift contains dissolved solids it is really a por- tion of the blowdown. In the absence of a controlled blowdown, as when the blowdown valve is deliberately closed, drift establishes the maximum con- centration ratio in the absence of other system losses. }. System losses (B,): Circulating water may be lost in the plant through pump or valve leaks; by tap-off for once-through cooling of pump glands, compres- sor jackets, or bearings; or draw-off for such uses as equipment or floor area washup when the cooling water line happens to be close to where water is needed, In many plants, miscellaneous draw-off of recirculating cooling water is so great that it is impossible to build up the concentration ratio over 1.2 to 1.5. This severely limits the selection of an economical chemical treatment program and prevents effective conservation of water. Holding capacity of system (V): Usually most of the water in a system is contained in the cooling tower basin or spray pond. An approximation of the holding capacity can be obtained by calculating the volume of water in the 2 =COOLING WATER TREATMENT 38.15 basin and adding an extra 20 to 30% for the water contained in the lines and equipment. Additional increases may be required if the system has an unusually large number of open box condensers, jacketed vessels, or furnaces with substantial water holding capacity. 10. Time/cycle (): One cycle is defined as the time required for water to make one trip around the circulating loop. This time is a function of the holding capacity and the recirculation rate. t= V/Q Holding time index (HTI): The holding time index is an expression of the half-life of a treatment chemical added to an evaporative cooling system. Mathematically, this index represents the time required to dilute an added chemical to 50% of its original concentration after the chemical addition is discontinued. It is also the time required to concentrate the makeup solids by a factor of 2. This is an important factor in setting control limits where chem- ical feed may be interrupted. It is also important for establishing an effective dosage for biological control agents, which are slug fed into the system. A dilution curve for a chemical slug fed into a cooling tower system is illustrated by Figure 38.8. 1 Calculation of Holding Time Index The half-life of a system depends on the capacity and the rate at which the com- ponents are leaving the system. For a cooling tower, the half-life depends primar- ily on the system capacity and the blowdown rate. In its simplest form, the equa- tion to calculate holding time index is capacity (gal) B (gal/min) where 0.693 = In 2.0, a number derived from standard half-life equations. To illustrate how the holding time index depends on other elements of a cool- ing system, the factors used to calculate blowdown (B) can be substituted: HTI = 0.693 X capacity x (CR — 1) HTI = 0.693 X = or capacity X (CR — 1) Q. X aT X 0.001 This illustrates that a change in several factors (Q,, AT, CR, or capacity) will all affect the HTT. Another method of calculating holding time index is illustrated in the follow- ing example. HTI = 0.693 X 1, Calculate the time per cycle, t. 2. From Table 38.1 determine the number of cycles required to reach the pre- vailing concentration ratio, based on the temperature drop through the tower or spray pond.38.16 ‘THE NALCO WATER HANDBOOK 3. Multiply this by the time per cycle to get the holding time index expressed in minutes, then divide by 60 or 1440 to convert to hours or days, respectively. The following example illustrates this calculation: 1, Recirculation rate: Pump data show a recirculation rate of 5500 gal/min (21 m°/min). Use 5000 gal/min (19 m/min) as a good estimate of actual recirculation. 1000 Example: A slug of biocide at 50 mg/t would be diluted to 25 mg/l in 34 passes (1 2% evaporation (20°F) 100 Passes cross tower ot 20°F 10 0 20 40 60 80 100 Percent of original concentration remaining FIG. 38.8 The effect of time and makeup dilution on slug appli- cation of a chemical to an evaporative cooling water system.COOLING WATER TREATMENT 38.17 TABLE 38.1 Cycles Required to Concentrate in the Absence of Blowdown a ‘Temperature drop through tower ratio 10° 20" 30" Lt 6S cycles —3.2cycles 2.1 cycles 13 20.2 10.2 70 13 34.5 172 117 18 35 28 19 20 69 34 23 25 105 52 35 3.0 138 70 47 35 174 87 58 40 208 104 70 45 241 120 81 5.0 324 162 93 2. Temperature drop: 105°F — 85°F = 20°F (VC — 30°C = 11°C) 3. Evaporation loss: 20°F (11°C) is equivalent to 2% evaporation loss: 0.02 >< $000 = 100 gal/min evaporation loss 4. Concentration ratio (see analyses on Figure 38.9): Tests on the makeup and recirculating water show concentration ratios of 2.8 to 8.3. The approximate concentration ratio is 3.0 based on magnesium and silica, since magnesium and silica remain soluble at the prevailing pH and concen- tration conditions, Chlorine and sulfuric acid are both being added to the sys- tem and thereby eliminate the use of Cl” and SO,~ as valid CR indicators. $. Makeup: CR Mn Ex(G5) M= 100 x 3 = 150 gal/min (M = 0.38 x 3 = 0.57 m/min) 6. Holding capacity of the system: Basin contains 72,000 gal (284 m’). The total holding capacity of the system is estimated to be 100,000 gal (379 m’).38.18 THE NALCO WATER HANDBOOK, igentfieation of Analyses Tabslated Betow | a Raw water 6. | _Recirculated cooling water ¢ } |_c_Concentration ratios F | Consttueat ae Caleum GC) [CMagnenamn Sodium (by difference) Total Electeoivte x0 Bicarbonate ‘x00. Carbonate = Hvaroxvi Suutore rend t Cee Saace —— war Teco) 190 P alk TR_| Carbon Drange TR no Sia Toba TDS Goler T Not valid, since |CIl, and 4,50] are being fed. T FIG. 38.9 Concentration ratios in an evaporative cooling system. 7. Time/cycle: 100,000 [0008 «ce 379 m* 379m’, (« Cre ge mi) 8. Holding time index: If CR = 3, and AT average cycles at 70; at 70 cycles, HTI = 70 X 20 = 1400 min, or 23h 20°F (11°C), Table 38.1 showsCOOLING WATER TREATMENT 38.19 COOLING TOWERS Cooling towers are designed to evaporate water by intimate contact of water with air. Cooling towers are classified by the method used to induce air flow (natural or mechanical draft) and by the direction of air flow (either counterflow or cross- flow relative to the downward flow of water). In natural draft towers, air flow depends on the surrounding atmosphere, which establishes the difference in densities between the warmer air inside the tower and the external atmosphere; wind velocity also affects performance. Most natural draft towers in modern utility service are of hyperbolic design (Figure 38.10), which has been used for many years in European installations. These tall towers provide cooling without fan power, and they also minimize plume prob- lems and drift. FIG. 38.10 Hyperbolic towers cooling condenser water ina utility station. (Courtesy of The Marley Company.) Mechanical draft cooling towers use fans to move air instead of depending on natural draft or wind. This speeds the cooling process and increases the efficiency of the tower by increasing the air velocity over droplets of water falling through the tower. Mechanical towers can, therefore, evaporate much more water than natural draft towers of the same size. There are two designs of mechanical draft towers, forced and induced draft. In forced draft towers (Figure 38.11) fans mounted on the side of the tower force through the tower packing, producing intimate mixing of air with the falling water. Induced draft cooling towers (Figure 38.12) are either counterflow or crossflow with fans on top pulling cooling air up through or horizontally across the falling water. The choice between forced draft and induced draft is based on engineering considerations that take prevailing weather patterns into account. A major con- sideration is to avoid recirculation of the warm air discharge, which would greatlyWorm moist Drift eliminator air discharge section Spray pipe distributors Hot water return Enclosed sides oo Basin with level controls ———_ for makeup regulation FIG. 38.11 Forced-draft tower design. This design was widely used prior to development of the induced-draft design. Fans and motors are conveniently located for maintenance. circulating pump FIG. 38.12 Induced-draft tower. Air enters the tower louvers and is well distributed before exiting at top. 38.20