Questions You Should Know about cooling tower solutions

Cooling towers are essential for many industrial processes and buildings, as they help maintain the required temperature and humidity levels.

Check now

The following are some of the most frequently asked questions about cooling towers to help you better understand their functions, benefits and maintenance requirements.

What Are The Benefits Of A Cooling Tower Over Air Cooling?

Cooling towers have a significant advantage over air cooling systems due to their higher efficiency. Cooling with water is 3,200 times more efficient than cooling with air. This can be attributed to water's higher heat capacity and ability to absorb and dissipate heat more effectively than air.

As a result, cooling towers can achieve the desired temperature levels with less energy consumption. This leads to cost savings on the operational and environmental fronts.

What Should Be The Difference Between Supply & Return Temperatures?

The cooling range is the temperature difference between the hot water entering the cooling tower (supply temperature) and the cooled water leaving the cooling tower (return temperature). This difference represents the heat the cooling tower removes from the process or system.

The ideal cooling range depends on the specific application and design of the cooling tower. However, a cooling range between 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 to 8.3 degrees Celsius) is typical for most applications. A higher cooling range implies that the cooling tower effectively removes more heat from the water, leading to more efficient cooling.

One should carefully plan the cooling range during the design phase to ensure that the cooling tower is the right size and can handle the required heat load.

How Do You Know A Cooling Tower Is Sized Correctly & Can Handle The Load?

Several factors need to be considered to determine if a cooling tower is the correct size and can handle the required load. These include the cooling range, flow rate, and wet bulb temperature.

The flow rate is the amount of water circulating through the system. The wet bulb temperature is the lowest temperature achievable through evaporative cooling.

Engineers can use these parameters to calculate and match the required cooling capacity with the cooling tower's specifications. If the cooling tower's capacity is equal to or greater than the required capacity, it is appropriately sized.

It is essential to consult with an experienced engineer or cooling tower manufacturer to ensure the selected cooling tower is suitable for the specific application.

What Are The Most Important Maintenance Tasks For My Cooling Tower?

Proper maintenance is critical for the efficient operation of a cooling tower. Some of the most fundamental maintenance tasks include:

Filtration

Regularly inspect and clean the tower's filters, as they help keep debris and contaminants out of the system. Clogged filters can reduce the tower's efficiency and increase the risk of corrosion and scaling.

Water Treatment Equipment & Service

Implement a comprehensive water treatment program to control microbial growth, scale formation and corrosion. These include:

• Regularly inspecting water treatment equipment
• Monitoring water quality
• Adjusting chemical treatment as necessary

Legionella Testing

Regularly test for Legionella bacteria in the cooling tower's water. Legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia that can sometimes be fatal, is caused by the Legionella bacteria. Implementing a proper water treatment program and keeping the cooling tower clean can help prevent Legionella growth.

How Does A Cooling Tower Help Me Save On Water & Energy?

Cooling towers can contribute to significant water and energy savings by utilizing the evaporative cooling process. The remaining water cools by evaporating a small portion of the circulating water, reducing the need for mechanical cooling and lowering energy consumption. Additionally, cooling towers can recover waste heat from industrial processes or HVAC systems, improving energy efficiency.

Moreover, some cooling towers have advanced technologies and features to help minimize water consumption. For example, high-efficiency drift eliminators prevent water droplets from escaping the tower and conserve water. Cooling towers can also have water treatment systems that enable water reuse, reducing the demand for freshwater resources.

Furthermore, cooling towers help save energy by reducing the load on chillers, air conditioning units, and other cooling equipment.

Conclusion

Cooling towers are vital for maintaining temperature and humidity levels in various industrial processes and commercial buildings. Their superior efficiency over air cooling systems, coupled with the potential for water and energy savings, make them an attractive choice for many applications. By understanding how cooling towers work and ensuring proper sizing and maintenance, you can maximize their benefits and prolong their life span.

Contact Tower Water For Service Or Maintenance

If you are ready for a water treatment company to help you manage the needs of your building, conduct due diligence when researching potential partners. Tower Water has grown from a small family owned business to a regional company while still providing the same personal touch.

The cooling tower is nothing but a device used to reduce the heat and increase production efficiency. In simple words, it is used to cool industrial hot water. Its size ranges from tiny to massive towers based on the requirement.

A cooling tower's main function is to remove heat from water by evaporating a little amount of it. The mixture of warm and cooler water leads to latent heat evaporation causing the water to cool. A commercial cooling tower has an average life expectancy of 15-20 years.

Several industries use a cooling tower, such as chemical manufacturing plants, primary metals processing plants, petroleum refineries, rubber products manufacturing plants, tobacco manufacturing plants, glass manufacturing plants, and textile manufacturing plants.

12 questions about the cooling towers

The cooling tower provides high cooling efficiency, needs less maintenance, consists of reliability and sustainability, and can be operated for a longer duration. Now, let us have a look at a few questions that will help you get clear with the idea behind cooling towers.

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from CHT TECK.

1. What is a cooling tower?

A cooling tower is nothing but a heat exchanger. It extracts waste heat to the atmosphere by cooling the water stream to a lower temperature. Water begins to cool when it comes into contact with air. In this way, the same amount of water is evaporated and thereby cool down the hot water.

2. What are the different types of cooling towers?

There are two types of cooling towers:

1. Crossflow cooling tower
2. Counterflow cooling tower

3. What is an Evaporative cooling tower?

Cooling is provided via an evaporative cooling tower based on a design wet-bulb temperature. This cooling tower can cool water to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It is the most economical option for cooling a large amount of water.

4. What is entering wet-bulb temperature (EWBT)?

EWBT is nothing but a device that measures the level of humidity in the air entering the cooling tower. The higher the temperature of the wet bulb, the more moisture exists in the air. The cooling tower needs to be larger with a high wet-bulb temperature compared to a lower wet-bulb temperature.

5. What is the difference between 'counterflow' and 'cross flow' cooling towers?

In a counterflow cooling tower, air travels vertically upwards through the fill and makes intimate contact with water. Hence, both air and water are in opposite directions. In a crossflow tower, air passes through the fill horizontally, crossing the downwards water flow.

6. Why choose the FRP cooling tower?

FRP (fibreglass reinforced polyester) is mixed with a gel coating that protects the cooling tower from direct UV rays. Additionally, it also provides a higher resistance to rot and decay to all FRP portions. Hence, FRP cooling tower manufacture is considered in extreme climate conditions.

7. How do Cooling Towers Operate in Cold and Sub-zero Weather?

In cold weather, the cooling tower is operated with a heat load. The operating water flow is directly bypassed to the cold-water basin to prevent icing if the heat load drops too low. The water flow is maintained over the cooling tower.

8. What is the difference between a 'Force Draft' and 'Induced Draft' cooling tower?

A Force-draft cooling tower imparts an agitation system that forces air into the tower, and fans are positioned on the side of the cooling water. Meanwhile, induced draft tower works by pulling air from the building and fans are located on the top of the cooling tower.

9. How is Water Loss Calculated in Cooling Tower?

There are three types of water loss in the cooling tower: drift, evaporation, and blowdown. Drift loss is while circulating water for the natural draft tower. Evaporation loss is simple as it sounds, water loss due to evaporation. Blowdown loss is during circulating water that lowers the concentration of solids.

10. What is Cooling Tower Drift?

Drift is undesirable loss of water to the environment through tiny, unevaporated droplets in the existing cooling tower stream. These water droplets carry minerals, microorganisms, debris, and chemicals from the circulating water. Hence, it potentially impacts the environment.

11. What is the regulating organization for cooling tower technology, and where can you learn more about the cooling tower industry?

There's a worldwide industry named Cooling Technology Institute (CTI) authorized on cooling tower technology. In this institute, there are manufactures, owners/operators, and supplies providing facilities for the cooling tower. Moreover, you can get more information on CTI guidelines and specifications on the CTI site.

12. How to clean Air Inlet Louvers of Cooling Tower?

The best method to remove the minerals from the air inlet louvres is to remove the louvre equipment and let them soak in the cold-water basin of the unit. The chemicals present in the water treatment unit will neutralize and dissolve the minerals buildup. The time depends on the severity of the buildup.

For more information, please visit cooling tower solutions.