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Wet cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer waste heat from industrial and other
processes to the atmosphere. They are used primarily to provide
circulating cooling water in large industrial facilities. The
circulating cooling water absorbs heat by cooling and/or
condensing hot industrial process streams or by cooling hot
rotating machinery and other hot equipment within industrial
facilities. The cooling towers then transfer that absorbed heat to
the atmosphere by evaporating a small part of the circulating
water.
Common industrial applications include cooling the circulating
the size of the cooling tower, and the size of a cooling tower is inversely proportional to the design wet-bulb
temperature.
To achieve better performance (i.e., more cooling), a media called fill is used to increase the contact surface
area between the air and water flows.[3] Most fill in modern cooling towers is plastic material.
Applications
As discussed earlier above, the primary use of large, industrial cooling towers is to reject the heat absorbed
in the circulating cooling water systems used in industrial facilities such as petroleum refineries, natural gas
treating plants, petrochemical and other chemical plants, and electric power plants (both thermal and
nuclear).
The circulation rate of cooling water in a typical 700 MW conventional coal-fired power plant with a cooling
tower amounts to about 71,600 cubic metres an hour (315,000 U.S. gallons per minute)[4] and the system
requires a supply water make-up rate of perhaps 5 percent (i.e., 3,600 cubic metres an hour). The largest
users of cooling water in an electric power plant are the surface condensers that condense the exhaust
steam from the large steam turbines that drive the electricity generators.
If that same plant had no cooling tower and used once-through cooling water, it would require about
100,000 cubic metres an hour[5] and that amount of water would have to be continuously returned to the
ocean, lake or river from which it was obtained and continuously re-supplied to the plant. Discharging such
large amounts of warm water may raise the temperature of the receiving body of water to an unacceptable
level for the local ecosystem. A cooling tower serves to dissipate the heat into the atmosphere where wind
and air diffusion spreads the heat over a much larger area than warm water can distribute heat in a body of
water.
Some coal-fired and nuclear power plants located in coastal areas do make use of once-through ocean
water. But even there, the offshore discharge water outlet requires very careful design to avoid
environmental problems.
Petroleum refineries also have very large cooling tower systems. A typical large refinery processing 40,000
metric tonnes of petroleum crude oil per day (300,000 U.S. barrels per day) circulates about 80,000 cubic
metres (352,000 U.S. gallons per minute) of water per hour through its cooling tower system.
This article is devoted to the large-scale cooling towers used in industrial facilities. However, much smaller
cooling towers of various types are used for the air-conditioning of office buildings, hotels, sports arenas,
food storage facilities and many other commercial establishments.
Since the evaporated water (E) has no salts, a chloride balance around the system is:
M (XM) = D (XC) + B (XC) = XC (D + B)
and, therefore:[7]
XC XM = Cycles of concentration = M (D + B) = M (M E) = 1 + [E (D + B)]
From a simplified heat balance around the cooling tower:[8]
E = C T cp HV
where:
HV = latent heat of vaporization of water, 2,260 kJ / kg
T = water temperature difference from tower top to tower bottom, in C
cp = specific heat of water, 4.184 kJ / (kg C)
Modern cooling towers have demisters known as drift eliminators to reduce the amount of drift losses (D)
from large-scale industrial cooling towers. However, some older cooling towers have no drift eliminators. In
the absence of manufacturer's data, drift losses may be assumed to be:
D = 0.3 to 1.0 percent of C for a natural draft cooling tower without drift eliminators
D = 0.1 to 0.3 percent of C for an induced draft cooling tower without drift eliminators
D = about 0.005 percent of C (or less) if the cooling tower has drift eliminators
Cycles of concentration
The cycles of concentration represent the accumulation of dissolved minerals in the recirculating cooling
water. Blowdown of a portion of the circulating water (from the tower basin) is the principal means of
controlling the buildup of these minerals.
The chemistry of the makeup water including the amount of dissolved minerals can vary widely. Makeup
waters low in dissolved minerals such as those from surface water supplies (lakes, rivers etc.) tend to be
aggressive to metals (corrosive). Makeup waters from ground water supplies (wells) are usually higher in
minerals and tend to be scaling (deposit minerals).
As the cycles of concentration increase, the water may not be able to hold the minerals in solution. When
the solubility of these minerals have been exceeded they can precipitate out as mineral solids and cause
fouling and heat exchange problems in the heat exchangers and/or in the cooling tower itself. . The
temperatures of the recirculating water, piping and heat exchange surfaces determine if and where minerals
will precipitate from the recirculating water. Often a professional water treatment consultant will evaluate the
makeup water and the operating conditions of the cooling tower and recommend an appropriate range for
the cycles of concentration. The use of water treatment chemicals, pretreatment such as water softening,
pH adjustment, and other techniques can affect the acceptable range of cycles of concentration.
Concentration cycles in the majority of cooling towers usually range from 3 to 7. In the United States the
majority of water supplies are well waters and have significant levels of dissolved solids. On the other hand,
one of the largest water supplies in the United States (located in the city of New York) has water that is quite
low in minerals and cooling towers in that city are often allowed to concentrate to 7 or more cycles of
concentration.
Besides treating the circulating cooling water in large industrial cooling tower systems to minimize scaling
and fouling, the water should be filtered and also be dosed with biocides and algacides to prevent growths
that could interfere with the continuous flow of the water.[9] Corrosion inhibitors may also be used, but
caution should be taken to meet local environmental regulations as some inhibitors use chromates which
are toxic.
the tower.
Fan assisted natural draft , which is a hybrid type that appears like a natural draft tower, though
airflow is assisted by a fan.
Counter-flow
In the counter-flow design for a wet cooling tower, the flow of the air is directly opposite to the flow of the
water as depicted in Fig. 5 which is a schematic diagram of a counter-flow wet cooling tower.
The air flow first enters an open area beneath the fill material, and then flows up vertically either assisted by
a fan or by natural draft. The water is sprayed through pressurized nozzles near the top of the tower, and
then flows downward through the fill, opposite to that of the air flow.
Advantages of the counter-flow design
Using spray nozzles for water distribution makes the cooling tower more freeze resistant.
Breakup of the water into sprayed droplets makes the heat transfer more efficient.
Disadvantages of the counter-flow design
Typically higher initial and long-term cost, primarily due to the water pump requirements.
Cross-flow
In the cross-flow design for a wet cooling tower, the flow of the water is perpendicular to the flow of the air
as depicted in Fig. 6 which is a schematic diagram of a cross-flow wet cooling tower.
The air flow first enters one or more of the vertical faces of the cooling tower and flows horizontally through
the fill material. Water flows vertically downward (perpendicular to the air) through the fill material by gravity.
The air continues through the fill material (thus past the water flow) into an open plenum . Lastly, a fan
sends the air out into the atmosphere. Warm water distributor basins consisting of a deep pans with holes or
nozzles in their bottoms are located near the top of the cross-flow wet cooling tower. Gravity uniformly
distributes the water through the holes or nozzles across the fill material.
Advantages of the cross-flow design
Gravity water distribution allows less costly pumps and maintenance while in use.
Typically lower initial and long-term cost, mostly due to lesser pump requirements.
Disadvantages of the cross-flow design
More prone to freezing.
Terminology
Drift or windage: Water droplets that are carried out of the cooling tower with the exhaust air. Drift
droplets have the same concentration of impurities as the water entering the tower. The drift rate is
typically reduced by employing baffle-like devices, called drift eliminators, through which the air must
travel after leaving the fill and spray zones of the tower.
Blowdown or drawoff: The portion of the circulating water flow that is removed so as to maintain the
amount of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and other impurities at an acceptable low level. Low levels of
TDS reduce the risk of scale, biological growth and corrosion. Increasing the amount of blowdown
and subsequently increasing the amount of clean make-up water is the most practical method of
lowering the TDS level in the circulating water.
Plume: The stream of water saturated exhaust air leaving the cooling tower. The plume is visible
when the water vapor it contains condenses in contact with cooler ambient air, like the saturated air
in one's breath fogs on a cold day. Under certain conditions, a cooling tower plume may present
fogging or icing hazards to its surroundings.
Make-up: The water that is added to the circulating water system to compensate for water losses by
evaporation, drift, blow-out, and blowdown.
Approach: The approach is the difference between the temperature of the cooled water exiting the
tower and the wet bulb temperature of the air entering the tower.
Range: The range is the temperature difference between the entering warm water and the exiting
cooled water.
Fill: The material installed inside the cooling tower to increase the contact surface and contact time
between the air and the water, so as to provide more efficient heat transfer. There are two types of fill
material: the film type which causes the water to spread into a thin film and the splash type which
breaks up the falling water and slows down its vertical flow..
Cycles of concentration: The ratio of the soluble pollutants in the circulating water to the soluble
pollutants in the make-up water. Each specific tower will have a designated maximum cycle of
concentration depending upon the specific make-up water analysis and other local specific
parameters.
Legionnaires disease
Legionellosis (referred to Legionnaires' disease) is a dangerous infectious disease caused by bacteria
belonging to the genus Legionella. In many outbreaks of that disease, air-conditioning cooling towers have
been found to be the source of the disease-causing bacteria. Many governmental agencies, cooling tower
manufacturers and industrial trade organizations have developed design and maintenance guidelines for
preventing or controlling the growth of Legionella in cooling towers.[11] [12] [13] [14]
References
1. ^ Larry Drbal, Kayla Westra and Pat Boston (1996), Power Plant Engineering, 1st Edition, Springer
Publishing, ISBN 0-412-06401-4
2. ^ Editors: Robert H. Perry (deceased), Don W. Green and James O. Maloney (1986), Perry's
Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 6th Edition, McGraw-Hill Publishing, ISBN 0-07-049479-7
3. ^ Cooling tower fill
4. ^ Cooling System Retrofit Costs , EPA Workshop on Cooling Water Intake Technologies, John
Maulbetsch and Kent Zammit, May 2003
5. ^ United States Department of Energy , Office of Fossil Energys Power Plant Water Management
R&D Program, Thomas J. Feeley, Lindsay Green, James T. Murphy, Jeffrey Hoffmann and Barbara
6.
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12.
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14.