Today’s Topic

Cooling Towers
Mode of Operations
Natural Draft
Forced Draft
Components of Cooling towers
Cooling Towers
 Used to cool down water in industry.
 The warm liquid comes in contact with unsaturated
gas, part of liquid evaporates and liquid Temp. drops.
 The warm water from condensers & heat exchangers in
Chemical plants, power plants, air conditioning units
are cooled by this method and recirculated again in
the process.
 Cooling towers are large diameter columns
 Special packing to increase gas-liquid contact
 Low Pressure drop
Cooling Towers
 Water comes from top and distributed by spray
nozzles or pipes.
 Air is entered from bottom by two modes
 Forced draft / Induced draft
 Natural convection

 Natural draft towers used in nuclear power plants

facility has packing only at bottom, while rest of tower
acts as chimney to create flow of air.
 Cooling Towers (Types)
Cooling towers are a very important part of many chemical plants. They
represent a relatively inexpensive and dependable means of removing low
grade heat from cooling water.
Cooling towers fall into two main sub-divisions:

1) Natural Draft.
2) Mechanical Draft.

Natural draft :
Designs use very large concrete chimneys to introduce air through the
media. Due to the tremendous size of these towers (500 ft high and 400 ft
in diameter at the base) they are generally used for water flowrates above
200,000 gal/min. The tower is built of reinforced concrete varying from 5
to 12in. Thick.Usually these types of towers are only used by utility power
stations.
Natural Draft
Natural Draft

Natural draft towers in action
Mechanical draft Cooling Towers
 Mechanical draft:
This type of cooling towers are much more widely
used. These towers utilize large fans to force air
through circulated water. The water falls downward
over fill surfaces which help increase the contact time
between the water and the air. This helps maximize
heat transfer between the two.
 Mechanical draft towers offer control of cooling rates
in their fan diameter and speed of operation. These
towers often contain several areas (each with their own
fan) called cells.
Mechanical draft Cooling Towers
Types of Mechanical Draft Towers

Figure 2: Mechanical Draft Counterflow

Tower Figure 3: Mechanical Draft Crossflow
Tower

Mechanical Draft Counterflow Tower Mechanical Draft Crossflow Tower

Types of Packing
 Splash Type fill (V-shaped bars made PVC)
 Used for cross flow towers
 Pressure drop is low because airflow is parallel to bars
 Open structure makes inspection and cleaning easy
 Not suitable for Counter flow towers.
 Cellular fill / Film type packings
 Consists of corrugated sheets of plastic.
 More mass transfer area per unit volume than splash
type fill.
 Used for Counter flow towers
Types of Packing
Mechanical Draft Towers
Components of Cooling Tower
 Different Parts of Cooling Towers

 Condenser Pump & Distribution system

 Cooling loop system
 Heat Transfer
 Cooling tower fan system
 Drift Eliminators
 Components of a cooling tower
Component Description
Condenser pump & Hot water from a chilled water system is delivered to
distribution the top of the cooling tower by the condenser
systems pump through distribution piping.

The hot water is sprayed through nozzles onto the

heat transfer media (fill) inside the cooling tower.
Some towers feed the nozzles through
pressurized piping; others use a water distribution
basin and feed the nozzles by gravity.
Cooling loop system A cold-water collection basin at the base of the tower
gathers cool water after it has passed through the
heat transfer media.
The cool water is pumped back to the condenser to
complete the cooling water loop.
Components of a cooling Syatem
Cooling towers use evaporation to release waste heat from a
system. Hot water flowing from the condenser is slowed
down and spread out in the heat transfer media (fill).
Heat transfer media
A portion of the hot water is evaporated in the fill area, which
cools the bulk water. Cooling tower fill is typically
arranged in packs of thin corrugated plastic sheets or,
alternately, as splash bars supported in a grid pattern.
Cooling tower fan system Large volumes of air flowing through the heat transfer media
help increase the rate of evaporation and cooling capacity
of the tower. This airflow is generated by fans powered by
electric motors. The cooling tower fan size and airflow
rate are selected for the desired cooling at the design
conditions of hot water, cold water, water flow rate, and
wet bulb air temperature.

Cooling tower fans may be propeller type or squirrel cage

blowers, depending on the tower design. Small fans may
be connected directly to the driving motor, but most
designs require an intermediate speed reduction provided
by a power belt or reduction gears. The fan and drive
system operates in conjunction with a starter and control
unit that provides start/stop and speed control.
Cooling Tower
Components of a cooling tower
 Drift eliminators As cooling air moves through the
fill, small droplets of cooling water become entrained
and can exit the cooling tower as carry-over or drift.
Devices called drift eliminators are used to remove
carry-over water droplets.
Cooling tower drift becomes an annoyance when the
droplets fall on people and surfaces downwind from
the cooling tower. Efficient drift eliminators remove
virtually all of the entrained cooling water droplets
from the air stream.
Approach & Range
 Approach:
The difference in discharge temperature of water and the
wet-bulb temperature is known as “Approach”. It
ranges between 5-15 F, (3-8 C).
Range:
The change in water temperature from inlet to exit is
known as range. It values ranges between 10-30 F, (6-17
C).
Selection Criteria of Cooling tower
 Consult with manufacturer considering the following
factors
 Average and maximum heat duty
 Required temperature range
 Availability and quality of makeup water
 Local whether conditions
Theory of Counter-flow Towers

Bottom of the column Top of the column

Next Lecture
 Cooling Tower design (Counter flow pattern)

 Related Problem & Example