Cooling tower

Cooling tower reject heat through sheets of falling condenser water, at cost of $50-
100 installed per ton of heat reject. There energy consumption is typically only 10%
of total HVAC system

Their sizing and operation significantly affects the system energy use in three
principal ways.
 Some cooling tower designs are more efficient. E.g. an efficient 300tonon
cooling tower with 5hp fan motor at 2/3rd of full volume can cut the fan power to
0.005kW/ton. While an in efficient tower may draw as much as 40 hP for the
same task, or 0.2kw/ton
 Efficient tower include features such as oversized fill(big box), clean
aerodynamics (induced draft), efficient fans and motors (low speed motors),
adjustable speed drives, and reduced height to limit pumping lift.
 Impact on chiller life : for chillers that can respond well to cooler condenser
water each 1 deg F reduction in condenser wter temperature typically cuts the
chiller energy by 1.3-1.8%. however since chiller is often the most efficient part
of the system, it may reduce the over all consumption to run the fan less hard
(saving fan energy) and increase the fan energy slightly.
 more efficient tower, in general, reduces the approach temperature.
 Impact of water chemistry: cooling tower water can scale and slime the
condenser water tube which may increase the chiller energy consumption.
 New treatment like ozone water treatment offer effective water treatment with
low operating cost.
 About 75% of the heat reject is by latent cooling / evaporation . 25% is by
sensible cooling .
 Typical cooling tower circulates about 3gpm / ton of cooling and lose 1-2% of
water.
 Evaporation losses amounts to 0.1% of circulating volume per def F of tower
range . so tower with 10deg range loses about 1 % to evaporation
 Good design and operation can limit drift (water which is blown of splashed out
)to 0.2 % or less
 Blow-down or bleed is the intentional drainage of tower water too prevent
mineral buildup. It depends on the the type of water treatment and the quality of
incoming makeup water. It ranges from 0.1-1%

 Standard condition adopted by American cooling tower institute (ACTI) are 95

deg F condenser leaving water temperature, 85 deg F Condenser water entering
condition , and 78deg F ambient wet bulb temperature, for standard water flow in
the cooing tower of 3gpm per minuets per ton of cooling. Optimal system design
may result in different condition.
 The range is 10deg F, approach is how close the leaving water approaches the
ambient WBT, and is 7deg F for ACTI condition (85-78) approach is a function
of towers design and size while range is a function of water entering the tower.
 There are two types of cooling tower in the commercial HVAC systems. Induced
draft and forced draft.

 Efficiency measured in fan horsepower /ton is only 0.03-0.05 hp/ton for induced
draft coolers. This can be improved to 0.015 to0.03 hp/ton by specifying cooling
towers with motors operating at motor speeds. ASDs can reduce the energy
 consumption further. Induced draft towers can also be run with the fan shut off,
saving fan power during cold weather.
 Forced draft cooling tower use centrifugal or axial fans located at lower end of the
tower to push up the air through the tower while water flows downwards through
the fill in counter flow pattern.

 Typical cooling tower efficiency is 0.12hp/ton of forced draft towers, this can be
improved by specifying the motors operable at lower speeds or ASDs
Cooling Tower Efficiency: variables include fill material , size , and fan type
 Fill: Simple splash bar/ film packing (cellular fill) /ceramic tile fill
o Cellular fill costs more than splash bar but combination of low pressure
drop and large heat exchange area make it an excellent fill choice.
 Sizing: cooling towers are sized on assumption that one ton of cooling is
equivalent to 3gpm circulation of cooled water from 85deg F to 95deg F at a
nominal temp of 78deg F . just as the condenser are listed in the catalogues by
their capacity in condenser tons, the cooling tower is conveniently rated in
cooling tower tons of nominal 15000btu/h , 1/4 th more than chiller ton
(12000Btu/ton) on assumption that 25% extra heat to account for the compressor
and auxiliaries based on chiller COP of 4.0 (0.88kW/ton). For more efficient
chillers that reject less heat cooling tower will be some what oversized when this
thumb rule is used , this may improve system efficiency as the approach
temperature will be lesser.
o Remember that the sizing calculation primarily affects the systems operation at peak
conditions, for lower load or or cooler ambient temperature the towers will
automatically be oversized.
o In hot climate with many running hours at design condition sizing a tower for
approach as low as 3deg F-5deg F may be cost effective, specially if electricity rates
are high.
o It is important to specify a low horse power cooling tower fan, other wise the
additional tower energy consumption can increase the chiller saving
o It is important to find the that describe the tower’s actual microclimate as closely as
possible. Even a 1deg F error can be significant

Fan and fan control

o Most HVAC cooling tower under 900tons have one fan, larger tower may have
several fans that can be independently controlled
o Motor option for tower fans include ASDs/ two speed motor/ or ganging two
motors on fan to allow 2 speeds. Fan motors typically range from size 5-75hp
o Fans are cube law devices , in practical terms it means that higher air velocities
will dramatically increase power requirement
o At part load condition, systems with multiple fans are more efficient with all
tower cells running at low speed than with one or two cells running at full speed.
 Any motor speed control which enables this kind of operation will allow higher
efficiency at part load than a simple on/off control would afford.
o With large system that uses multiple towers of multi-cell towers the benefit of
ASD is clear cut..
o With small systems (300-900tr) , use of ASD shall be judged carefully
o The critical issues in part load operation is tradeoff between running the
tower at full power to get coldest possible condenser water and boost
chiller efficiency and saving fan power at the expense of chiller efficiency.
Hen it is relatively cold outside, the optimal condenser water temperature
may be reachable with reduced fan power.
o Different type of chillers respond to the colder condenser water differently
 In general reducing the condenser water temperature from 78deg F
to 65deg F increases the efficiency of the chiller
 High lift compressor such as rotary screw may not respond well to
temperatures below 65-70degF
 Single stage centrifugal compressor can operate at low lift with
colder condenser water.
 Minimum recommended compressor water temperature shall be
checked with the manufacturer .
 Best opportunity for ASDs in cooling tower lave a low efficiency
cooling tower running with a high lift chiller.
 Worst case for ASDs have high efficiency cooling tower with low
lift chiller, with these system it makes more sense to work the
towers harder to take as much load as possible off the chiller
 Other combination like high efficiency tower and high lift chillers
or low efficiency tower and low lift chiller offer intermediate
energy savings with cooling tower ASDs.
 Because cooling tower ASD reduce fan cycling , they offer non
energy maintenance benefits , like low fan belt wear , motor wear,
and fan noise.
o Some building exhaust air from the building can be routed through the tower
instead of outdoor air. Thereby indirectly recovering heat, it is valuable in
building with high ventilation rates. And in humid climate where the exhausted
air has much larger evaporation potential that the outdoor air. The key to
implementing this strategy is to physically locate cooling plants close to air
handlers.
o In moderate climate that have plenty of daily temperature below 65deg F induced
draft cooling towers could be run without using the fan. But care shall be taken
that the condenser inlet water is at correct temperature otherwise the chiller will
have to work harder.
o Maintenance of cooling tower is essential for keeping high levels of efficiency,
water treatment is required to avoid scaling and bacterial algae growth in the open
water loop , Ozonization is one method of treating water , others could be
magnetic treatment and like.