A Study On Main Operation Conduction of Reverse Spray

Cooling Tower
Ekhlas A. Salman1, a) and Hasan F. Makki 2,b)

1
Chemical Engineering Department/University of Baghdad/Baghdad, Iraq
2
Chemical Engineering Department/University of Baghdad/Baghdad, Iraq

a)
Corresponding author: : ikhlas.salman1707d@coeng.uobaghdad.edu.iq
b)
hs_fmfm @yahoo.com

Abstract. In industry, cooling water systems are utilized to remove waste heat. The counter-current heat exchanger
network in reverse cooling water systems necessitates larger cooling towers and more sophisticated recirculation
procedures. Reverse spray cooling water systems can be operated in a manner that minimizes the pressure drop in
the heat exchanger network and the size of the cooling tower, according to this study. The Lab View software's
optimization tool solver is used in conjunction with a combinatorial method for each heat exchanger network
structure..

INTRODUCTION

The operational optimization of the cooling water systems is effective in increasing the economic performance of
cooling water systems. These systems should be optimized for their operating performance, giving strong
interactions among cooling towers, cooler networks, and pipe networks. Some studies [1, 2, 3,8,9,10,11] showed
extreme interests in water-cooling systems that allow designers and operators to take into consideration the interplay
between cooling towers and cooling networks. The majority of the involved procedures were conducted for cooling
water system design optimizations, while a fewer procedure was used for operational cooling water system design
optimization. These procedures, for that purpose, were prepared and used for operational cooling water system
optimisation. Studies [8,12] employed differential equations, based on the mass and heat transfer principles, in the
creation of cooling tower models.

These equations, while correct, are challenging to implement within an optimization software. Some studies
[9,11] used simplified cooling tower models in lieu of rigorous models, as they produce lower-accurate forecasts.
Improving the performance of those processes is an opportunity that the cooling water systems are likely to lose,
unless the focus of their economic performance is altered. Therefore, in order to maximize the operation of the
cooling water systems, the performance of the operations that utilize those systems needs to be taken into
consideration [12]. In order to assess the effectiveness of the particle scavenging, experiments to test the
capabilities are conducted. Better thermal performance and particle cleansing performance may be performed via
means of a smaller common droplet diameter for the spray system [13].
 For this reason, a droplet must be large to be swept away by the upward gas flow [14]. Drift eliminators
with high resistance have been installed to improve the fan power consumption. A drift eliminator will create a
pressure reduction in an excess of 100 Pa when the gas velocity is 3 m/s [15]. Tube banks and sprays emit less than
20 Pa of total resistance [15]. This paper offers a novel spray tower which employs an upward spray and a
downward go with the drift of water. The water flows from the pinnacle to the lowest of the tower, and the nozzles
are positioned at the lowest. Gravity and drag forces cause the sprayed droplets to rise and eventually fall into the
liquid basin below. Due to the gravitational and inertial forces, gas droplets and their motion directions are
separated from the gas stream. In addition to acting as a filter to prevent dust from entering the evaporator, the anti-
splash mat also decreases the noise from the falling droplets [15].

Experimental design

It has been built, developed, and instrumented to disperse the following necessities: air, water, and a spray
system.:

Reverse Spray Cooling Tower:

The reverse spray cooling tower in general length is 1.54 m with 0.7 m diameter. The measurements are
wide sufficient to spray section to be sprayed by nozzles. The air is drawn into the cooling tower by (propeller sort)
fans is format into best of tower a variable speed pivotal through two opens (20cm breadth) in cooling tower at that
point passes through a channel of silica jell with tow punctured acrylic plate screens for give a uniform air humidity
to the working segment. Within the working segment, eight nozzles are introduced and coordinated vertically in a
co-current and counter current course (air and water moving within the same direction). In this way, the moving is
fulfilled in this segment. The wetted air is released by means of a fan. Fallen water is depleted into sump set at the
center and end of the working area. The cooling tower are made of transparent acrylic to permit visualization of the
water spray as well as giving get to the photography system. Table 1. Describe the components of spray cooling
tower.

Air System

Incoming air is pulled from the atmosphere through a duct made up of two layers of silica jell with two
pierced acrylic plate screens in order to maintain a consistent level of humidity throughout the working section of
the tower. A variable-speed fan provides the air. The temperature and humidity sensors are used to provide the
cooling tower's inlet and output air..

Water System

Fig.1. Depicts the water system used in this experiment. It consists of a single connected water tank (one
main tank), Recirculation pump, high-pressure pipework, and the spray nozzle are all part of the system.
Experimenters will use a variable speed, high pressure water pump that can compress up to 20 MPA and deliver a
flow rate of up to 8 l/min throughout the experiment to pump the filtered water from the main water tank to spray
nozzles. Upstream of the spray nozzle, a pressure control valve is utilized to accurately adjust the water pressure.. A
bypass valve controls the flow rate provided to the nozzle, with excess water diverted to the auxiliary water tank.
 Spray Nozzle system

Different spray nozzles were used in the experiments. One of the most important aspects of
the experiment is nozzle selection. The following are the essential criteria to consider when choosing a spray nozzle:
droplet size distribution, flow rate, and spray cone angle. The application and the surrounding conditions dictate the
optimal droplet size, liquid flow rate, and spray angle. All of the nozzles utilized in this experiment were hollow
cones. This type is commonly used in humidification systems. Spray nozzles with the appropriate water flow rate to
properly saturate the inlet air with the smallest droplet size distribution and the largest spray cone angle were
chosen.

TABLE 1. Components of fabricated spraying cooling tower.

Components Description and dimensions
Cylindrical Cooling Tower It had a polycarbonate wall that permitted direct viewing of the nozzle's spray pattern as
well as the interaction of water and air. Tower height 1.45 m and diameter 0.7 m.

spray nozzles Spray nozzles with the lowest droplet size distribution and the broadest spray cone angle
were chosen to deliver the needed water flow rate to thoroughly saturate the inlet air.

centrifugal pump A centrifugal pump was used to circulate the water.

electrical heaters The water was then supplied to a tank, where it was kept at a consistent temperature
during testing using 9kW electric heater

drift eliminators To minimize the amount of water droplets entrained in the air exhaust.

Fans The tower uses axial (propeller type) fans.

Apparatus and instrumentations

During the experiments, the following parameters were measured:

(i) Water temperature, (ii) air temperature and humidity, (iii) air velocity, and (vii) spray water flow
rate. The instruments used to measure these parameters are described in this section. fig.1. depicts the
locations of sensors. Before conducting trials, all of the equipment were calibrated. The instruments'
specifications are listed in Table 2.

FIGURE 1. Schematic diagram of experimented cooling tower.

 Variable measured Instrument Range of Measurement Typical accuracy Location of Measurement

Water K TYPE 0-800°C MAX6675 ±0.2 ºC 32 sensors: 16 sensors for

Temperature OMEGA each side of spray cooling
Thermocouple tower, at a distance of about
23 cm from the nozzle with
different heights as shown
in fig. 2

Air DHT11 Humidity Temperature Range: 0°C D-Robotics UK 5%RH 3 sensors: 2 sensors for
Temperature and Temperature to 50°C humidity, inlet air for each side , 1
and humidity - Humidity Range: 20% temperature sensor For outlet
to 100% ±2°C

Air velocity Anemometer Digital Wind speed range: 0- CR 2032 ±0.2 m/s User Manual in both air
LCD Wind Speed 30m/s opining
Meter Gauge Air Wind temperature range:
Flow Velocity -10 - 45 centigrade (14-
113F)

Flow rate of Flowmeter of water Water range from 1 to F-300M ±0.5 Lpm 1 flow meter: in the inlet of
water 20 Lpm pipe
TABLE 1. Instruments details.

Procedure

The investigations were performed out by using nozzles in a reverse spray cooling tower:

Verify the system

1- Examine the system as a whole (fan, pump, nozzle, sensors and heater).
2- Turn on the data acquisition system and double-check that all sensors are operational and properly
aligned.
3- Turn on the fans.
4- Use anemometers to measure air velocity.
5- Increase or decrease the air speed to achieve the desired air velocity.
6- Allowing at least a 10-minute delay between test increments to verify that equilibrium is achieved.

Initial measurement of the system for installing the appropriate nozzle

7- Use the temperature sensors and humidity sensors for inlet and exit.
8- To guarantee that equilibrium is achieved, a waiting period of at least 5 minutes is allowed.
10- The water flow to be injected is determined based on the operational air condition.
11- Depending on the needed flow rate, the appropriate nozzle among the various spray nozzles is selected
and installed.
12- Use the temperature sensors and humidity sensors for inlet and exit.
10- The water flow to be injected is determined based on the operational air condition.
11- Depending on the needed flow rate, the appropriate nozzle among the various spray nozzles is selected
and installed.
 Through the test, In order to gather, monitor, and save measurements data, the spray cooling tower has
a data acquisition system connected to a personal computer. The thermocouple amplifier MAX6675-Board
was used throughout the trials to connect the thermocouple to the Arduino.. The MAX6675 is an elevated
thermocouple-to-digital converter with a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter built in (ADC) on a computer by
the mentioned data acquisition system. Recording real-time data was done using a LabVIEW (National
Instruments) user-interface at a rate of 1 Hz for intervals of around 10 minutes after the steady state
condition had been achieved.. Table 3 lists about 36 thermocouples of type K that were used to detect
temperature along the height of the spray cooling tower:

TABLE 3. Temperature distribution along the tower height.

Height(cm) 0 0.23 0.32 0.41 0.49 0.72 0.8 0.88 0.96 1.04 1.12 1.2 1.28 1.36 1.45 1.55
Number of T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T1 T13 T14 T15 T16
thermocouple 2

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Effects of water flow rate and air velocity

On average, it is found that fixed cooling water system functioning results in either insufficient cooling
demands or excessive heat removals from the processes. In order to complete the cooling requirement while
reducing the running costs, the operating variables of cooling water systems are meant to be adjusted for specific
ambient air conditions by using silica gel at the entrance of the air flow. As shown in Figs. 2 - 11, to control the
process of the outlet temperature of the coolers, both the cooling water flow rate and the dry air flow rate increased.

The temperature of the output water and the smallest droplet diameter that can't be entrained out of the tower
both depend on the air velocity. Increasing air velocity increases heat and mass transfer between the flow of air and
the water droplets, as seen in Figures 2-10, and therefore the cooling effect.. But

FIGURE 2. Effect of water flow rate= 7 L/min, air flow= 3 m/s on cooling tower performance .
FIGURE 3. Effect of water flow rate =7 L/min, air flow= 2 m/s on cooling tower performance.

FIGURE 4. Effect of water flow rate=7 L/min, air flow=1 m/s on cooling tower performance.

FIGURE 5. Cooling tower performance water flowrate =8 L/min, and air flow=3 m/s.
 FIGURE 6. Cooling tower performance effect at of water flow rate = 8 L/min, and air flow = 2 m/s.

FIGURE 7. COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE EFFECT AT OF WATER FLOW RATE = 8 L/MIN, AND AIR FLOW = 1
M/S.

FIGURE 8. Effect of water flow rate= 9 L/min, air flow= 3 m/s on cooling tower performance.
FIGURE 9. EFFECT OF WATER FLOW RATE = 9 L/MIN, AIR FLOW = 2 M/S ON COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE.

FIGURE 10. Effect of water flow rate = 9 L/min, air flow = 1 m/s on cooling tower performance.
 FIGURE 11. Water outlet temperature with time for each operation.

The diameter of the sprayed water droplets does not need to be very small in order to meet the necessary cooling
requirement, although increasing air velocity does increase the risk of the water droplet being entrapped out of the
tower when air velocity equals 3 m/s.

In addition, the variables that influence the cooling result in the spray cooling tower have been investigated. The
water mass flow rate is the most noticeable factor.
We can show that as the water flow rate increases 7,8 and 9 L/min respectively, water outlet temperature and the
increase as well. This means a reduced heat transfer with water flow rate. As the mass of water takes a larger
proportion of the heat transfer, the water temperature differential (cooling range) decreases.
Cooling water system operation under individual air conditions is attained with a flow rate of 7 l/min and a velocity
of 3 m/s. fig. 11. Shows that under three ambient air conditions, the outlet tower temperature reduces with the
increasing air velocity and the most excellent thermal performance of the operation.

CONCLUSIONS
This study presents a new spray tower called a reversible cooling tower equipped with an upward spray nozzle and a
downward moving gas stream. The parametric study examined the mass and heat transfer characteristics of the
material. Essentially, the findings of the study can be summarized as follows:
 Convectional spray towers suffer from two significant drawbacks: the restricted maximum droplet width
and the excessive flow resistance from the drift eliminator.
 There is a roughly linear relationship between the overall calculation height and the droplet start velocity.
This relationship ranges from 1 to 3 m/s. At the rising droplet stage, the droplet temperature variation is
higher than the one at the falling droplet stage.
 An improved heat and mass transfer performance can be achieved by increasing the gas flow rate.
Therefore, increasing the gas flow rate will be increasing that performance. According to these data, the
spray cooling towers are reversibly employed and its operation could be improved.
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