ABSTRACT

Cooling tower is design where it is a heat rejection device which extracts waste heat to the
atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream to a lower temperature. It may either use the
evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air
temperature. This experiment is conducted to study the effects of variables changes on the
temperature of the product (water). There are three variables that will affect the water
temperature which are heater power, water flow rate, and the blower but in this experiment only
focused on heater power and water flow rate. Experiment A is conducted with varying of heater
power, from 0.5 kW, 1.0 kW and 1.5 kW. The time interval for the process to occur is 10
minutes. This is to ensure that the system is in steady state operation. The graph that has been
plotted shows that heat transfer increases as the heater power increased. The highest heat transfer
obtained with heater power of 1.5 kW which is 13.33 kJ/s. For experiment B, the water flow rate
is to be varied from 0.5 Lpm, 1.0 Lpm and 1.5 Lpm. Second graph was plotted and it shows that
heat transfer increases as the flow rate increase but slightly decreased with water flow rate of 1.5
Lpm due to unstable temperature which the heat transfer obtained is 7.242 kJ/s.

2.0 INTRODUCTION
In this experiment, SOLTEQ Water Cooling Tower (Model: HE 152) has been used. This model
has been designed to allow engineering students to get familiarized with all the processes related
to industrial force draught cooling tower. The construction, design and operational characteristic
of this model are as same as the modern cooling system, only it is in much smaller scale. The
basic unit can be used with another four types of packing column (optional) which were designed
to facilitate study of water and air conditions at different situation. The difference is mainly on
the surface contact area of the water with the air in different column and also the objective of the
experiment.
SOLTEQ Water Cooling Tower (Model: HE 152) is supplied with a packed column having
packing density of approximately 110 m2/m3. The unit mainly consists of a load tank with a
total of 1.5 kW electric heater, an air distribution chamber, a make-up tank and a test column.
Warm water is pumped from the load tanks to the top of the column before being uniformly
distributed over the top packing. The thin film of water is cooled, as it passes downward, due to
evaporation. The cooled water falls into the basin before going back into the load tank where it is
re-heated and re-circulated. The load tank water level is maintained by means of a make-up tank.
A blower is installed on the unit to deliver air into the air distribution chamber. The air passes a
wet and dry bulb thermometer before entering the column. As the air passes up the column, its
moisture content increases and the water is cooled. At the top of the column, the air passes a mist
eliminator before being discharged to the atmosphere. Once energy and mass balances are done,
students will then be able to determine the effects on the performance of the cooling tower by the
following parameters:
a) Temperature and flow rate of water
b) Relative Humidity and flow rate of air
c) Cooling load

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this experiment are:
1. To study the effects of heater power on the exit temperature of water.
2. To perform energy and mass balance on the cooling tower system.
THEORY
Basic Principle
First consider an air stream passing over the surface of a warm water droplet or film. If we
assume that the water is hotter than the air, then the water temperature will be cooled down by
radiation, conduction and convection, and evaporation. The radiation effect is normally very
small and may be neglected. Convection and conduction depend on the temperature difference,
the surface area, air velocity, etc. the effect of evaporation is the most significant where cooling
takes place as water molecules diffuse from the surface into the surrounding air. During the
evaporation process, the water molecules are replaced by others in a liquid form which the
energy required is taken.
Psychometric Chart
The psychometric chart is very useful in in determining the properties of air/water vapour
mixture. Among the properties that can be defined with psychometric chart are Dry Bulb
Temperature, Wet Bulb Temperature, Relative Humidity, Humidity Ratio, Specific Volume and
Specific Enthalpy. Knowing two of these properties, any other properties can be easily identified
from the chart provided the air pressure is approximately atmospheric.
In the Bench Top Cooling Tower application, the air inlet and outlet sensor show the dry bulb
temperature and wet bulb temperature. Therefore, the specific enthalpy, specific volume,
humidity ratio and relative humidity can be readily read from the psychometric chart.

Application of Steady Flow Energy Equation

Consider System A for the cooling tower defined as in Figure 2. It can be seen that for this
system, indicated by the dotted line,
a)

Heat transfer at the load tank and possibly a small quantity to surroundings.

b)

Work transfer at the pump.

c)

Low humidity air enters at point A.

d)

High humidity air leaves at point B.

e)

Make-up enters at point E, the same amount as the moisture increase in the air stream.

Equipment and chemical

Equipment:
Base Unit - Load tank with 0.5 kW and 1.0 kW electnc heaters, a float level control,
make-up tank, circulating pump, air blower and control panel.
Column (Column I) - Packed column made of clear acrylic with ten decks of inclined
plastic packing, water distribution unit and pressure tappings. Packing density: 110
rn^rn3. Dimension: 15 cm (W) x15 cm(D) x60 cm(H).
Column Cap - Made of clear acrylic with sharp edge orifice, mist eliminator and water
distributor.
Instrumentations - Temperature measurements for water and air, dry and wet bulb
temperatures, inclined tube manometer for air flow measurement, variable area flowmeter
for water flow measurement.
Column II
- Similar to column I except with packing density of 77 m2 per m3.
Column III
- Similar to column I except with packing density of 200 m2 per m3.
- To study the effect of packing surface area/volume on the pressure drop across the
packing and on the wet bulb temperature at inlet.
Column IV
- Similar to column I except without packing (empty column).
- To allow students to design their own packing and thus study the performance.
Column V:
- Similar to column III except that column V is 30 cm taller with intermediate
spaces in which the water and air dry and wet bulb temperatures are measured.
- To measure the air and water properties at different locations within the packing.
- To construct the enthalpy driving force diagrams.
- To determine the Characteristics Equation for packing.
Chemicals: Water and air

Procedure
1. The valves V1 to V6 is ensured to be closed and valve V7 is partially opened.
2. The load tank is filled with distilled or deionised water.
3. The make-up tank is filled with distilled or deionised water up to the zero mark on the
scale.
4. Distilled/deionised water is to be added to the wet bulb sensor reservoir to the fullest.
5. The appropriate cooling tower packing for the experiment is installed.
6. All appropriate tubing is to be connected to the differential pressure sensor.
7. Then, the temperature set point of temperature controller is set to 45C. The 1.0 kW
water heaters is switch on and the water is heat up until approximately 40C.
8. The pump is switch on and the control valve V1 is slowly opened and the water flow rate
is set to 2.0 LPM. A steady operation is to be obtained where the water is distributed and
flowing uniformly through the packing.
9. The unit is let run for about 20 minutes, for the float valve to correctly adjust the level of
water in the load tank. Refill the makeup tank as required.
10. The fan damper is fully open, and then the fan is switch on. The reading of differential
pressure sensor is taken by :
i.
The differential pressure is measured across the orifice, open valve V4 and V5
close valve V3 and V6.
ii.
The differential pressure is measured across the column, open valve V3 and V6
close valve V4 and V5.

7.0 RESULT
Water flow rate: 1.5

Description

unit

T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
Heater Power
Dp Orifice
Dp Column
T Initial
Heater: 1.0 kW

C
C
C
C
C
C
W
Pa
Pa
C

Description

unit

T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
Heater Power
Dp Orifice
Dp Column
T Initial

PV: 44C
SV: 45C
Blower: Fully open
Heater (kW)
0.5
30.4
31.7
29.5
30.4
36.9
29.4
435
104
20
41

1.0
30.7
31.9
29.9
30.4
38.9
29.7
825
105
20
40

1.5
30.6
31.8
31.3
31.9
43.1
30.4
1229
102
20
41
PV: 42C
SV: 45C

C
C
C
C
C
C
W
Pa
Pa
C

Water flow rate (LPM)

0.5
1.0
30.4
30.8
31.7
31.8
29.9
30.8
30.0
31.3
50.1
45.1
28.4
29.7
822
816
102
102
21
20
42
41

1.5
31.0
32.0
30.8
30.8
39.6
30.4
816
103
20
41

Plot 1: Heat Transfer, Q against Heater Power, P

16

Heat Transfer, Q (kJ/s)

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0.5

1.5

Heater Power, P (kW)

Figure 7.1: Heat Transfer, Q against Heater Power, P.

Plot 2: Heat Transfer, Q against Flow Rate, G

Heat Transfer, Q (kJ/S)

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0.5

Flow Rate, G (Lpm)

Figure 7.2: Heat Transfer, Q against Flow Rate, G.

1.5

SAMPLE OF CALCULATIONS
Q =
Hout Hin
Where
Hin = 0 (reference)
= (nwater)(Hwater) + (air)(Hair)
Hwater = Cp dt
Hair = from psychometric chart
Experiment A
Mass of air = 0.1 kg/s
Mass of water = (1.5 L/min)(1 kg/1 L)( kmol/ kg)( 1000 mol/ 1 kmol)( 1 m/ 60 s)
= 25 mol/s
Q for 0.5 kW
Q = ( 25 mol/s)( -0.5655 kJ/mol) + ( 0.1 kg/s)( 98.9 kJ/kg)
= -14.1375 kJ/s + 9.89 kJ/s
= -4.2475 kJ/s
Experiment B
Mass of water = 0.5 LPM = 8.333 mol/s
= 1.0 LPM = 16.67 mol/s
= 1.5 LPM = 25.0 mol/s
Q for 0.5 LPM
Q = ( 8.33 mol/s)( -1.6362 kJ/mol) + ( 0.1 kg/s)( 100.5 kJ/kg)
-13.63 kJ/s + 10.05 kJ/s = -3.58 kJ/s

9.0 DISCUSSION
SOLTEQ Water Cooling Tower (Model: HE 152) is used to run this experiment. This
experiment is conducted to study the effects of variables changes on the temperature of the
product (water). There are three variables that will affect the water temperature which are heater
power, water flow rate, and the blower. For this experiment we focused on the heater power and
water flow rate as the changing variable, meanwhile the blower was set as constant. For every
change in heater power energy (0.5kW,1.0kW and 1.5kW), the time interval for the process to
occur is 10 minutes. This is to ensure that the system is in steady state operation. Heat is
transferred from a body with a higher temperature to lower temperature.
As for this cooling tower experiment, we need to produce a product which has a lower
temperature (cooler) than the media being used for the transfer of heat in the system. This is the
difference between heat exchanger and cooling tower application. The concept is the same, but
the product that will be produced is different although both products will have a reduction in
temperature. For the heat exchanger; the temperature of the outlet cooled water cannot be lower
than the temperature of the cooling air. Whereas for the water cooling tower; the temperature of
the outlet water can be lower than the temperature of the cooling air. The cooling of the hot
water was in the form of forced convection by which ambient air was blown over the hot water.
In the cooling tower, water is cooled by the process known as evaporation. In the process, heat
energy is being transferred between the water and air which having different temperature. As the
energy in the water molecules is transfer to the air flowing through the water, the bond of the
water molecules becomes weaker then it will slowly evaporate to the air. It can be prove from the
result of this experiment, whereby the water outlet temperature is lower than the inlet. For
example: Water outlet = 29.4, Water inlet = 36.9.
The tower inner structure is filled with fill that is arranged in the form of labyrinth. The fill is
used in order to increase the time contact of the water and the air flowing in the system. From
the data obtained at the end of the experiment, changes in heater power will affect the energy
being transferred within the system and surrounding. Larger heater power will cause higher
temperature in water. As for this experiment, the temperature of the water is assumed higher than
the air flowing through the system (without considering the changes in heater power). As the
difference in the temperature between the water and air increase, the heat energy being
transferred rate is therefore higher than the lowered heater power. It can be proved by the data
obtained where for 0.5kW (-4.2475kJ/s), 1.0kW (-7.292kJ/s), 1.5Kw (-13.3395kJ/s). Therefore,
it can be said that heater power is directly proportional to heat energy transfer rate.

The second highlighted for this experiment was when the water flow rate acts as manipulated
variables. From the data obtained at the end of the experiment, changes in water flow rate will
affect the energy being transferred within the system and surrounding. Larger water flow rate
will cause higher temperature in water. It can be proved by the data obtained where for 0.5LPM
(-3.5845kJ/s), 1.0LPM (-8.8537kJ/s), 1.5LPM (-7.2425kJ/s). At the third reading, there was an
unstable temperature towards the end that maybe affects the Q at the end of calculation. After all,
it can be said that flow rate is directly proportional to heat energy transfer rate.
CONCLUSION
In this experiment, the objective is to study the effects of variables changes on the temperature of
the product (water). For experiment A, the power supply was to be varied to determine the
response of temperature drop and differential pressure towards power supply. The tower
effectively lowered the temperature of hot water in this cooling system experiment. For another
experiment which is experiment B, where it is conducted to determine the response of
temperature drop and differential pressure by varying the water flow rate. This also shown that
the cooling tower lowered the temperature of hot water.
For experiment A, based on the graph that has been plotted, it shows that the heat transfer
increases as the heater power increases. The heat transfer between hot water and the cool air is
higher with higher temperature difference. It has been shown that, the highest heat transfer
achieved is 13.33 kJ/s with 1.5 kW heater power supplied.
Based on the second graph that has been plotted for experiment B, the heat transfer was slightly
decreased which is 7.242 kJ/s at 1.5 kW heater power supplied due to unstable of temperature.
Based on theoretical value, it is supposed that the heat transfers between hot water and cool air
increase when the water flow rate increase but the results affect due to unstable of temperature.
In terms of temperature drop, as water flow rate increase, the temperature drop decreased. In
conclusion, although the heat transfer is slightly decreased for experiment B but the objective for
this experiment was achieved.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Several recommendations have been generated as a result of the experiences with the cooling
tower. The first recommendation is that packing can be used to increase the contact surface area
between hot water and cool air, thus increasing the rate of heat transfer leads to increasing
efficiencies of the cooling tower. Besides that, to increase the rate of heat transfer between hot
water and cool air in the cooling tower, the inlet air should not be high in humidity as it affects
the process of transferring heat.

REFERENCE