Training Session on Energy
Equipment
Cooling Towers
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Presentation from the
“Energy Efficiency Guide”
1
Training Agenda: Cooling Towers
Introduction
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Types of cooling towers
Assessment of cooling towers
Energy efficiency opportunities
Introduction
Main Features of Cooling Towers
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
3
Introduction
Components of a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
• Frame and casing: support exterior
Cooling Towers
enclosures
• Fill: facilitate heat transfer by
maximizing water / air contact
• Splash fill
• Film fill
• Cold water basin: receives water at
bottom of tower
4
Introduction
Components of a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
• Drift eliminators: capture droplets in
Cooling Towers
air stream
• Air inlet: entry point of air
• Louvers: equalize air flow into the fill
and retain water within tower
• Nozzles: spray water to wet the fill
• Fans: deliver air flow in the tower
5
Training Agenda: Cooling Towers
Introduction
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Types of cooling towers
Assessment of cooling towers
Energy efficiency opportunities
6
Types of Cooling Towers
Natural Draft Cooling Towers
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
• Hot air moves through tower
• Fresh cool air is drawn into the
tower from bottom
• No fan required
• Concrete tower <200 m
• Used for large heat duties
7
• Air drawn across • Air drawn up
Types
falling water
of Cooling Towers through falling
• Fill located water
outside tower • Fill located
Natural Draft Cooling Towers
inside tower
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Cross flow Counter flow 8
Types of Cooling Towers
Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers
Electrical Equipment/
• Large fans to force air through
Cooling Towers
circulated water
• Water falls over fill surfaces:
maximum heat transfer
• Cooling rates depend on many
parameters
• Large range of capacities
• Can be grouped, e.g. 8-cell tower 9
Types of Cooling Towers
Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Three types
• Forced draft
• Induced draft cross flow
• Induced draft counter flow
10
Types of Cooling Towers
Forced Draft Cooling Towers
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
• Air blown through tower
by centrifugal fan at air
inlet
• Advantages: suited for
high air resistance & fans
are relatively quiet
• Disadvantages:
recirculation due to high
air-entry and low air-exit
velocities
11
Types of Cooling Towers
Induced Draft Cooling Towers
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
• Two types
• Cross flow
• Counter flow
• Advantage: less recirculation than forced
draft towers
• Disadvantage: fans and motor drive
mechanism require weather-proofinh
12
Types of Cooling Towers
Induced Draft Counter Flow CT
Electrical Equipment/
• Hot water enters at the top
Cooling Towers
• Air enters at bottom and exits at top
• Uses forced and induced draft fans
13
Types of Cooling Towers
Induced Draft Cross Flow CT
• Water enters top and passes over fill
Electrical Equipment/
• Air enters on one side or opposite sides
Cooling Towers
• Induced draft fan draws air across fill
14
Training Agenda: Cooling Towers
Introduction
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Types of cooling towers
Assessment of cooling towers
Energy efficiency opportunities
15
Assessment of Cooling Towers
Measured Parameters
Electrical Equipment/
• Wet bulb temperature of air
Cooling Towers
• Dry bulb temperature of air
• Cooling tower inlet water temperature
• Cooling tower outlet water temperature
• Exhaust air temperature
• Electrical readings of pump and fan
motors
• Water flow rate
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• Air flow rate
Assessment of Cooling Towers
Performance Parameters
Electrical Equipment/
1. Range
Cooling Towers
2. Approach
3. Effectiveness
4. Cooling capacity
5. Evaporation loss
6. Cycles of concentration
7. Blow down losses
8. Liquid / Gas ratio
17
Assessment of Cooling Towers
1. Range
Electrical Equipment/
Hot Water Temperature (In)
Difference between
Cooling Towers
cooling water inlet and
outlet temperature:
Range
(In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
Range (°C) = CW inlet Tower
temp – CW outlet temp
Cold Water Temperature (Out)
High range = good
Approach
performance
Wet Bulb Temperature (Ambient)
18
Assessment of Cooling Towers
2. Approach
Electrical Equipment/
Difference between Hot Water Temperature (In)
Cooling Towers
cooling tower outlet cold
water temperature and
ambient wet bulb
Range
(In) to the Tower
temperature: (Out) from the
Tower
Approach (°C) =
CW outlet temp – Wet Cold Water Temperature
(Out)
Approach
bulb temp
Wet Bulb Temperature
Low approach = good (Ambient)
performance 19
Assessment of Cooling Towers
3. Effectiveness
Electrical Equipment/
Hot Water Temperature (In)
Effectiveness in %
Cooling Towers
= Range / (Range +
Approach)
Range
(In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
Tower
= 100 x (CW temp – CW
out temp) / (CW in
temp – Wet bulb temp) Cold Water Temperature
(Out)
Approach
High effectiveness =
Wet Bulb Temperature
good performance (Ambient)
20
Assessment of Cooling Towers
4. Cooling Capacity
Electrical Equipment/
Hot Water Temperature (In)
Cooling Towers
Heat rejected in kCal/hr
or tons of refrigeration
(TR)
Range
(In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
= mass flow rate of water Tower
X specific heat X
temperature difference
Cold Water Temperature
(Out)
High cooling capacity = Approach
good performance Wet Bulb Temperature
(Ambient)
21
Assessment of Cooling Towers
5. Evaporation Loss
Electrical Equipment/
Hot Water Temperature
Water quantity (m3/hr) (In)
Cooling Towers
evaporated for cooling duty
Range
= theoretically, 1.8 m3 for (In) to the Tower
(Out) from the
every 10,000,000 kCal heat Tower
rejected
Cold Water Temperature
= 0.00085 x 1.8 x circulation (Out)
Approach
rate (m3/hr) x (T1-T2) Wet Bulb Temperature
(Ambient)
T1-T2 = Temp. difference
between inlet and outlet water 22
Assessment of Cooling Towers
6. Cycles of concentration (C.O.C.)
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Ratio of dissolved solids in circulating water to
the dissolved solids in make up water
7. Cycles of concentration (C.O.C.)
Depend on cycles of concentration and
the evaporation losses
Blow Down =
23
Evaporation Loss / (C.O.C. – 1)
Assessment of Cooling Towers
8. Liquid Gas (L/G) Ratio
Electrical Equipment/
Ratio between water and air mass flow rates
Cooling Towers
Heat removed from the water must be equal to
the heat absorbed by the surrounding air
L(T1 – T2) = G(h2 – h1)
L/G = (h2 – h1) / (T1 – T2)
T1 = hot water temp (oC)
T2 = cold water temp (oC)
Enthalpy of air water vapor mixture at inlet wet bulb temp (h1)
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and outlet wet bulb temp (h2)
Training Agenda: Cooling Towers
Introduction
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Types of cooling towers
Assessment of cooling towers
Energy efficiency opportunities
25
Electrical Equipment/ Energy Efficiency Opportunities
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Cooling Towers
2. Fills
3. Pumps and water distribution
4. Fans and motors
26
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Capacity
• Heat dissipation (kCal/hour)
• Circulated flow rate (m3/hr)
• Other factors
27
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
Range
Cooling Towers
• Range determined by process, not by
system
Approach
• Closer to the wet bulb temperature
• = Bigger size cooling tower
• = More expensive 28
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
Heat Load
Cooling Towers
• Determined by process
• Required cooling is controlled by the
desired operating temperature
• High heat load = large size and cost
of cooling tower
29
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
Wet bulb temperature – considerations:
Cooling Towers
• Water is cooled to temp higher than wet bulb
temp
• Conditions at tower site
• Not to exceed 5% of design wet bulb temp
• Is wet bulb temp specified as ambient (preferred)
or inlet
• Can tower deal with increased wet bulb temp
• Cold water to exchange heat 30
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
Relationship range, flow and heat load
Cooling Towers
• Range increases with increased
• Amount circulated water (flow)
• Heat load
• Causes of range increase
• Inlet water temperature increases
• Exit water temperature decreases
• Consequence = larger tower 31
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
1. Selecting a cooling tower
Electrical Equipment/
Relationship Approach and Wet bulb
Cooling Towers
temperature
• If approach stays the same (e.g. 4.45 oC)
• Higher wet bulb temperature (26.67 oC)
= more heat picked up (15.5 kCal/kg air)
= smaller tower needed
• Lower wet bulb temperature (21.11 oC)
= less heat picked up (12.1 kCal/kg air)
= larger tower needed 32
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
2. Fill media
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
• Hot water distributed over fill media
and cools down through evaporation
• Fill media impacts electricity use
• Efficiently designed fill media reduces pumping
costs
• Fill media influences heat exchange: surface
area, duration of contact, turbulence
33
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
2. Fill media
Electrical Equipment/
Comparing 3 fill media: film fill more
Cooling Towers
efficient
Splash Fill Film Fill Low Clog
Film Fill
Possible L/G Ratio 1.1 – 1.5 1.5 – 2.0 1.4 – 1.8
Effective Heat Exchange 30 – 45 150 m2/m3 85 - 100 m2/m3
Area m2/m3
Fill Height Required 5 – 10 m 1.2 – 1.5 m 1.5 – 1.8 m
Pumping Head 9 – 12 m 5–8m 6–9m
Requirement
Quantity of Air Required High Much Low Low
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Energy Efficiency Opportunities
3. Pumps and water distribution
Electrical Equipment/
• Pumps: see pumps session
Cooling Towers
• Optimize cooling water treatment
• Increase cycles of concentration (COC) by
cooling water treatment helps reduce make
up water
• Indirect electricity savings
• Install drift eliminators
• Reduce drift loss from 0.02% to only 0.003 –
0.001% 35
Energy Efficiency Opportunities
4. Cooling Tower Fans
Electrical Equipment/
• Fans must overcome system
Cooling Towers
resistance, pressure loss: impacts
electricity use
• Fan efficiency depends on blade
profile
• Replace metallic fans with FBR blades (20-
30% savings)
• Use blades with aerodynamic profile (85-92%
fan efficiency) 36
Training Session on Energy
Equipment
Electrical Equipment/
Cooling Towers
Cooling Towers
THANK YOU
FOR YOU ATTENTION
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