MASS AND HEAT BALANCE OF A

COOLING TOWER OF AN
AMMONIA REFRIGERATION
SYSTEM
Prepared by: RLL
Date: November 25, 2017
COOLING TOWER

RLL
 COOLING TOWER
Formulas used for Cooling Tower:
Where:
𝑡2 = temperature of water
• Theoretical range = 𝑡2 − 𝑡𝑤𝑏 exiting condenser

𝑡1 = temperature of water
• Actual range = 𝑡2 − 𝑡1 entering condenser

𝑡𝑤𝑏 = wet bulb

• Approach range = 𝑡1 − 𝑡𝑤𝑏 temperature of air

𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑡2 − 𝑡1
• Cooling tower efficiency = = 𝑥 100%
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑡2 − 𝑡𝑤𝑏

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 COOLING TOWER
• Mass balance of cooling tower(CT):

𝑚𝑎 𝑆𝐻2
𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡

𝑚𝑎 𝑆𝐻1 (𝑚𝑚𝑤 )(𝑚𝑤 ) = 𝑚𝑎 𝑆𝐻2 (𝑚𝑤 )

𝑚𝑚𝑤 𝑚𝑤
*cancel out 𝑚𝑤
CT
𝑚𝑎 𝑆𝐻1 𝑚𝑤 𝒎𝒎𝒘 = 𝒎𝒂 (𝑺𝑯𝟐 - 𝑺𝑯𝟏 )

𝑚𝑎 = mass of air
𝑚𝑤 = mass of water
𝑚𝑚𝑤 = mass of make-up water
SH = specific humidity
RLL
 COOLING TOWER
• Energy balance of cooling tower(CT):
𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑎2
𝐸𝑖𝑛 = 𝐸𝑜𝑢𝑡

𝑚𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑚𝑤 𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑤1 𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑎1 + 𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑤1 + 𝑚𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑚𝑤 = 𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑎2 + 𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑤2

𝑚𝑎 (ℎ𝑎1 − ℎ𝑎2 ) = 𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑤2 − ℎ𝑤1 − 𝑚𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑚𝑤

𝑚𝑎 ℎ𝑎1 CT 𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑤2 *from mass balance, 𝑚𝑚𝑤 = 𝑚𝑎 (𝑆𝐻2 - 𝑆𝐻1 )

𝑚𝑎 (ℎ𝑎1 − ℎ𝑎2 ) = 𝑚𝑤 ℎ𝑤2 − ℎ𝑤1 − 𝑚𝑎 (𝑆𝐻2 − 𝑆𝐻1 ) ℎ𝑚𝑤

𝑚𝑎 = mass of air
ℎ𝑤 = enthalpy of air
𝒎𝒘 𝒉𝒘𝟐 − 𝒉𝒘𝟏
𝑚𝑤 = mass of water 𝒎𝒂 =
ℎ𝑤 = enthalpy of water
(𝒉𝒂𝟏 −𝒉𝒂𝟐 ) + (𝑺𝑯𝟐 − 𝑺𝑯𝟏 ) 𝒉𝒎𝒘
𝑚𝑚𝑤 = mass of make-up water
ℎ𝑚𝑤 = enthalpy of make-up water
RLL
 COOLING TOWER
• Energy balance of condenser:

𝑚𝑤 @ 𝑡2
𝑄𝑖𝑛 = 𝑄𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑚𝑁𝐻3 ℎ𝑔
𝑚𝑤 (𝐶𝑝𝑤 )(∆𝑇𝑤 )= 𝑚𝑁𝐻3 ℎ𝑔 − ℎ𝑓

𝑚𝑤 @ 𝑡1 Condenser
𝑚𝑁𝐻3 ℎ𝑓 𝒎𝑵𝑯𝟑 𝒉𝒈 − 𝒉𝒇
𝒎𝒘 =
𝑪𝒑𝒘 ∆𝑻𝒘
𝑚𝑤 @ 𝑡1 = mass of water entering condenser
𝑚𝑤 @ 𝑡2 = mass of water exiting condenser
𝑚𝑁𝐻3 hg = mass of ammonia refrigerant entering condenser
𝑚𝑁𝐻3 hf = mass of ammonia refrigerant leaving condenser
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