HVAC Airconditioning v Heating ¥ AirCleaning ¥ Humidity ¥ Components V About Q ‘Training Shop What is a Cooling Tower? Cooling Tower Basics "Hos -UPOATED ONLY, 2022 Large centralized AC systems require heat rejection to the outside of the building. This heat rejection is obtained by the use of a cooling tower. A cooling tower is a device that rejects heat to the atmosphere by cooling a working fluid (typically water) to a lower temperature, Ina chiller plant, this water is part of the condenser water loop, and is responsible for removing heat from the chiller, and rejecting it to the outside atmosphere Cooling towers are usually found on the top of large buildings that have central AC systems. Ifa building has a water-cooled chiller, then there i good chance that it has a cooling tower outside. yr i, my name is Trey Lewis and tm the founder and chief editor at hvactrainingshop.cor, My goal for this website is to help homeowners troubleshoot and maintain their home's HVAC systems. Search... QIn this article, Ill discuss how a cooling tower works. Ill also go over a few different types of cooling towers and the parts of a cooling tower. Cconpensen WATER RETURN enw ‘conpensen oe warensurety | GONBENSER eDws} CHILLER cyauueo onmueD WATER RETURN WATER SUPPLY one fcr) Dlagram of a water cooled chile with a cooling tower Related Posts How a Fan Colt Fan Coit Unit. Versus Air Handing Unit — ‘What's the Difference? How a Chilled ‘Water System ‘WorksTable of Contents ~ How does a Cooling Tower work? - 1. Direct cooling - Open-loop = 2. Indirect cooling - Closed-toop + 3.Direct Cooling - Closed Loop ~ Classification of cooling towers = Classification of cooling towers by airflow generation method ~ Natural draft + Mechanical draft ~ Classification by Direction of Air-to-Water Flow ~ Crossfow cooling tower ~ Counterfiow cooling tower ~ Parts of a cooling tower = Cooling tower fan ~ Heat exchanging coll = Fill ~ Drift eliminator = Water treatment system How does a Cooling Tower work? Cooling towers work by using air to cool a working fluid (water).WARM MOIST AIR FAN WARM WATER COOL DRY i AIR v er AIR me = WATER ‘open Loop Coating Tower Digram There are primarily three different methods in which a cooling tower can. remove heat from water: 1. Direct cooling - Open-loop Open-loop cooling towers work by bringing the working fluid water into direct contact with the air.{As the cool, dry air comes into contact with the warm water, some of the water evaporates, producing an evaporative cooling effect. When some of the water evaporates, it removes a large amount of heat with it. Because the water comes into contact with the outside atmosphere, this is known as an open-loop system. 2. Indirect cooling - Closed-loop Indirect Closed-loop cooling towers are similar to direct cooling open-loop systems. In an indirect closed-loop cooling tower, the water that is being cooled never comes into direct contact with the surrounding air. Instead, the water flows through a coil in a closed-loop system. To remove heat, a separate, open-loop system flows over the coil to remove heat from the water in the closed loop. 3. Direct Cooling - Closed LoopThis is similar to the indirect cooling closed-loop system, in that the water, that is being cooled flows through a heat exchange coll in a closed-loop system. To remove heat, air flows over this coil and takes heat away from the water inside, This is the only method that does not use evaporative cooling to remove heat. Classification of cooling towers Now that | have discussed the different heat exchange methods of cooling towers, ll go over the specifics of how cooling towers remove heat from the water. Classification of cooling towers by airflow generation method All three methods of heat removal in cooling towers require airflow to remove heat from the working fluid (water)However, there are a few different methods that are used to achieve the airflow movement that is required for heat removal, Natural draft This is the simplest form of airflow generation, There are no fans or anything of that sort in a natural draft cooling tower. Natural draft is achieved by utilizing the lower density of warm, moist air. The warm, moist air rises naturally upward and out of the cooling tower, inducing an upward current of air through the cooling tower. Mechanical draft Mechanical draft cooling towers utilize fans to move air through the cooling tower. There are two types of mechanical draft: 1. Forced draft. A forced draft cooling tower has a fan at the cooling. tower's air intake. The fan blows air into the cooling tower.2. Induced draft. An induced draft cooling tower has a fan at the cooling tower's air discharge. The fan sucks air into the cooling tower. Forced draft cooling tower pros: * Able to work with high static pressures, so can be installed in tight spaces where airflow may be restricted. Forced draft cooling tower cons: * Airflow exiting the cooling tower is at a low velocity, so it can be prone to recirculating back into the tower, reducing the tower's efficiency. + The fan can be damaged if the atmospheric air is too cold since the fan is on the inlet of the cooling tower. Induced draft cooling tower pros: * Airflow exiting the cooling tower is at high velocity, so there is less chance of recirculating back into the tower.Induced draft cooling tower cons: + Needs to be installed in a large open space * Can sometimes be very noisy. Classification by Direction of Air-to-Water Flow You can also classify cooling towers based on the direction that the atmospheric air interacts with the fluid in the cooling tower. Crossflow cooling tower In crossflow cooling towers, the water flows downward vertically through the cooling tower. The air flows horizontally through the fill in the cooling tower. The atmospheric air interacts with the water flow in the cooling tower in a perpendicular direction. Counterflow cooling towerIn counterfiow cooling towers, the water flows downward vertically through the cooling tower The air flows upward vertically through the fill in the cooling tower. The atmospheric air interacts with the water flow in the cooling tower in a parallel, but opposite direction. Parts of a cooling tower Compared to other equipment in HVAC, cooling towers are relatively simple machines that are easy to understand, There is a minimal amount of moving parts in a cooling tower. Usually, the fan is the only moving part. Cooling tower fan Mechanical draft cooling towers have fans. The purpose of the cooling tower fan is to induce a draft through the cooling tower to aid in heat transfer.In forced draft cooling towers, the fan can be either axial or centrifugal In induced draft cooling towers, the fan is always axial Most cooling towers are induced draft with an axial fan. Heat exchanging coil Closed-loop cooling towers have a coil that the working fluid (water) flows through ‘The purpose of the coil is to cool the working fluid that flows through the inside of it A coil consists of a pipe with thin fins around it to absorb heat efficiently. In a closed-loop system with indirect cooling, a separate open-loop system flows over the coil to cool the working fluid inside of the coil Fill In an open-loop cooling tower, fillis the primary surface that facilitates the transfer of heat from the water to air.Fill works by dispersing the water so there is as much surface area as possible to aid in heat transfer. Fill is usually made of some type of plastic such as PVC or polypropylene. There are two types of fills in cooling towers: * Splash Fill. Splash fill works by disintegrating the water into smaller and smaller drops. More drops = more surface area = more heat transfer. + Film Fill, Film fill works by grooming the water to flow down through the cooling tower in a thin, wide film, Thinner film = more surface area = more heat transfer, Drift eliminator Drift eliminators are usually installed on the perimeter of the cooling tower, around the fill The purpose of the drift eliminator is to reduce the loss of already-cooled working fluid to hot air in the atmosphere.Water treatment system The purpose of the water treatment system is to remove minerals from the water to prevent scaling and fouling of the cooling tower. Additionally, water treatment systems usually have filtration to remove particulates. Treatment systems also have chemicals to prevent the growth of biological organisms such as algae. Trey Lewis Hi, my name is Trey Lewis and I'm the founder and chief editor at HVAC Training Shop. My goal for this website is to help homeowners troubleshoot and maintain their home's HVAC systems. Whether it’s,changing an air filter, troubleshooting a blower motor, or just buying a new humidifier, | want to make sure that you're covered.