Cooling tower

• It is planned to cool water from 43.3oC to

29.4oC in a packed counter current cooling t L2 ,L’ tw2
tG2
tower using entering air at 29.4oC with a wet
bulb temperature of 23.9oC G’

The water flow is 9764.9 kg/hr.

The overall mass transfer coefficient
is Ky’a = 2500 kg/hr. Design a cooling tower.

tw1
tL1 tG1
 Design Steps
• Calculate the humidity ratio (Y’) using the formula
Y’ = PMA/(Pt-P) MB
Pt - 1 atm
Take the Pressure value P from the table 12-4 in the Perry
book for the given temperature range between TL1 and TL2 .
MA – Molecular weight of water
MB – Molecular weight of air
• For the calculated humidity ratio,obtain the Enthalpy of
saturated air values for the given temp range between T L1
and TL2 from the Psychrometric chart or
 Design Steps
• Use the following equation to obtain the enthalpy of
saturated air by calculating the humidity ratio.
H’* = Y’*λ+ Y’*T*Cpw+ Cpa*T
Where T – liquid temperature in oC
Y’ – humidity ratio in (kg of water vapour)/(kg of dry air)
λ - latent heat of vapourization in kJ/kg
Cpw- Specific heat of water in kJ/(kg oC)
Cpa- Specific heat of air in kJ/(kg oC)
H’* - Enthalpy of saturated air in kJ/kg
Temp (oC) pw (in Hg) pw(bar) Y’= pw 18 λ(kJ/kg) H’*
PT  pw 28
29.4 1.2 0.04 0.026 2430 95.77
32 1.4 0.047 0.031 2425.6 111.3
35 1.69 0.057 0.038 2416 132
37 1.8 0.061 0.041 2413 142.2
40 2.2 0.074 0.05 2407 168.7
43 2.52 0.085 0.058 2400 192.62
46 3.25 0.11 0.077 2391 244.9
 Design Steps
• Plot the equilibrium curve (Enthalpy of saturated air H’* Vs Temperature).
• The equilibrium curve is plotted with the enthalpy of saturated air as ordinate and liquid
temperature as abscissa. The point Q in the graph corresponding to (T L1,H1’).
• Calculate the humidity ratio for the
given wet bulb and dry bulb temperature.
H1’ = Y’*λ+ Y’*T*Cpw+ Cpa*T R
Where H1’ - Enthalpy of entering air
• Draw a tangent to the
equilibrium curve from point Q,
this will meet the straight line
drawn vertically upward
from TL2(entering temp of
water) at point R .The
enthalpy corresponding
to this point is H2min’,which
is used to calculate the
minimum flow rate of air
G’min.
 Design Steps
• L’ Cpw(TL2-TL1) = G’min(H2min’- H1’)
Where Cpw is the specific heat of water at (TL2-TL1)/2.
• G’act= 1.5 G’min
• L’ Cpw(TL2-TL1) = G’act(H2act’- H1’).
Calculate H2act’.
Mark the point(TL2, H2act’)
as point P.
H1’ –Enthalpy of entering air
H2act’ –Enthalpy of leaving air

• Draw the operating line

by connecting the point Q & P.
• Enthalpy of air H’ between TL1 and TL2 is obtained with the help of
operating line as shown in the graph(for two temperature 32.2 & 35).
Similarly find out the enthalpy value for the remaining temperature.

Temperature H' (kJ/kg

(o
C) dry air)
29.4 71.7
32.2 88.4
35 105.4 105.4
37.8 122.4 88.4
40.6 139.4
43.3 154.8
Temp (oC) H’* H' (kJ/kg 1/(H’*-H’)
dry air)
29.4 95.77 71.7 0.041
32 111.3 88.4 0.043
35 132 105.4 0.037
37 142.2 122.4 0.05
40 168.7 139.4 0.034
43 192.62 154.8 0.026
46 244.9
 Design Steps
• Find out the driving force (1/( H’*-H’)) from the
graph at frequent intervals of liquid temperature.
Plot H’ vs (1/( H’*-H’))
• NtoG = ʃ(dH’/(H’*-H’) = 3
• HtoG = Gs’/kya = 2.734
Where kya - overall mass transfer coefficient
Gs’- gas flow rate
• Z(height of packing)= NtoG * HtoG = 8.2
 Design Steps
• Cross sectional area of the tower(CSA)
CSA = liquid or gas flow rate/ liquid or gas
loading rate
• Diameter= = (4*CSA/π)0.5
• Design a cooling tower to cool 15 kg/sec of
water entering at 45oC to 28oC using air
available at 30oC dry bulb temperature and
24oC wet bulb temperature. Actual flow rate of
air is 1.5 times the minimum. For the packing
to be used, Ky a is expected to be 0.9 kg/m2 s.
The loading rates are for liquid 2.7 kg/m2 s and
for gas 2 kg/m2 s.
Thank you