Saving Water in Cooling Tower Systems

Technologies and Trends

Water Efficiency: Driving Sustainable Buildings and Sites

Sept 17, 2008 Seattle, WA Golden Gardens Bathhouse 8498 Seaview Place NW, Seattle

Saving Water in Cooling Tower Systems

A BASIC INTRODUCTION
Why Cooling Towers Cooling Towers/Fluid Coolers Water Treatment Maintenance Hybrid Systems

WHY COOLING TOWERS

Efficiency
Wet-Bulb Depression Allows Lower Condensing Temperatures Cooling Towers are Water Saving Devices

WATER SAVINGS TECHNOLOGY

Advantage: Latent Cooling vs. Sensible Heat Transfer
Sensible: 1 BTU/lb per degree F. Latent: 1,000 BTU/lb (Heat of Vaporization)

WHY LOOK FOR MORE SAVINGS?

Big user of water Treatment chemicals:
Carried out in drift Emitted as Chlorine Gas Affect Waste Water Treatment

Impacts of Tower Chemical Use

OPEN SYSTEMS
HOT SATURATED DISCHARGE AIR

Drift Eliminators Air Inlet Louvers

Hot Water Distribution System

HOT WATER IN

Fill Material

AIR IN

AIR IN
COLD WATER OUT Basin

INDUSTRIAL / HVAC COOLING

OPEN LOOP

COOLING TOWER

CHILLED WATER CHILLER PUMP

CONDENSER WATER PUMP AIR HANDLING UNIT

CLOSED LOOP

CLOSED SYSTEMS
Hot Saturated Discharge Air

Hot Water In Cooled Water Out

Cool Dry Entering Air

Fluid that services the system is contained and isolated from the environment and spray water.

CLOSED SYSTEMS
Closed circuit cooler serving heat pumps.
Fluid In Fluid Out Heat Pump Pump

Heat Pump

Heat Pump

COMPONENTS
DRIFT ELIMINATORS

DRIFT RATES: EXAMPLE 500 TON COOLING TOWER AT NOMINAL CONDITIONS: 1,500 GPM , 14 HOURS/DAY Med. Efficiency 0.005% = 63 Gal/Day = 22,995 GALLONS/YR High Efficiency 0.001% = 13 Gal/Day = 4,599 GALLONS/YR

Over 18,000 Gallons of Water & Water Treatment Chemicals Every Year

COMPONENTS
Replaceable, non-corrosive eliminators

Replaceable, non-corrosive louvers.

COMPONENTS
Drift Eliminators Counterflow vs. Crossflow

0.001% drift rate Replaceable

0.003-5% drift rate Non-Replaceable

COMPONENTS
Non-Corrosive / SS basin or Panels

Reduces Leaks
Sump Sweeper

Reduces particulate buildup on basin and therefore under deposit corrosion which can lead to leaks.
High Efficiency Splash Louvers

Splash-out is another path of water loss similar to drift, but usually less significant in a tower in good condition.

WATER TREATMENT

SCALING CORROSION BIOLOGICAL GROWTH

WATER TREATMENT
BLEED (Blow-Down)
Amount of Water Purposely Bled to Sewer. To Keep Levels of Impurity in Recirc. Water Constant.

WATER TREATMENT
BLEED (Blow-Down)
As Water Evaporates, it Leaves Behind all of its Impurities. These will continue to build up, leading to corrosion, scaling, etc.

WATER TREATMENT

WATER TREATMENT
BLEED (Blow-Down)

Bleed can be reduced by: Tower options Filtering Recirc. Water Water Treatment

Bleed can rarely be completely eliminated.

REDUCING BLEED
Tower Design Strategies Reduce Particulates, Debris and Sunlight
Enclosed spray headers (Debris, Sunlight) Inlet Screens (Debris) Enclosed Fill (Sunlight, Debris) Sight-proof basins (Debris, Sunlight) Filter systems (Debris) Sump Sweepers (Debris/Particulates)

REDUCING BLEED
Water Treatment Strategies Conductivity control of bleed Chemical corrosion and scale inhibitors, Biocides
Non-Chemical methods of Treatment (pulsed-power,

cavitation, others). Non-Traditional methods of water treatment have recently shown great improvements in bleed reduction. Industry Studies (ASHRAE, CTI) have supported some of these technologies. Caution should be exercised as many questionable technologies are on the market.

Frequent, Careful oversight essential!

Hybrid Systems Water Savings

Use dry finned coil to reject as much heat as possible, reducing needed evaporation but allowing low condenser water temperatures available with evap.

Closed Loop-Tower Hybrid System

Hybrid Evaporative Condensing

Evap Condenser Hybrid System

Desuperheating Coil Eliminators Condensing Coil Subcooling Coil

DX Coil

88 F

Open-Tower Hybrid System

Precool condenser water before cooling tower

Water-Saving Hybrid Fluid Cooler Cost Savings

Hybrid Water Usage $7.8/kgal Total Evaporation per year (kgal) Total Sewer per year (kgal) Total Water Make-up per year (kgal) Total Water Cost per year ($) Energy/Power Usage $0.06/kWH Fan energy (kW-Hr) Spray Pump energy (kW-Hr) Total Energy per year (kW-Hr) Total Power Cost per year ($) Total Costs 185,059 17,181 202,240 $12,134 $20,691 44,521 20,637 65,158 $3,909 $24,431 960 137 1,097 $8,557 2,302 329 2,631 $20,522 Evaporative Cooler

HYBRID SYSTEMS

Hybrid systems effectively reduce load at tower

Saving Water in Cooling Tower Systems

Summary
Cooling towers improve energy efficiency and reduce water use Water use driven by evaporation and bleed Water Treatment required to minimize bleed Maintenance is critical to preserve designed in water efficiecy Hybrid Systems can greatly reduce water use