Experiment no.

2
Cooling Tower

Results and Discussion

Cooling towers transfers energy through physical contact of two different phase. Water and air are the two

main components contacted in the system which provides transfer of heat from the hot water to the cooled air. In

similarity to different separation process which involves physical contact, mass and energy balance is considered

in order to increase the efficiency of the system. Cooling tower’s performance are based on its two parameters

approach and range.

In most cooling system, the cooled water that is settled at the bottom of the tower would be used again to

provide cooling effect for the remaining hot water falling in the tower. This cooled water are fall over to develop

evaporation in the lower part of the tower which made possible by using a small pump to circulate water from the

bottom to the top of the tower.

In an infinite size cooling tower, the exiting temperature of the liquid water will be equal to the entering

wet bulb temperature of the air. Due to the difference, between the local wet bulb temperature and exiting

temperature of liquid water the performance of the cooling tower would be based on these parameters. In this

experiment, the main focus is to determine the efficiency of tower with these parameters.

Approach and Range is the two parameters in order calculate for its efficiency. Approach is the difference

of cooled water temperature and the entering air wet bulb temp. Theoretically, this is the lowest temperature that

water can reach by means of evaporation. Moreover, cooling range is determined by obtaining the difference in

temperature between the hot water entering the tower and the cold water leaving the tower is the cooling range.

The values for air and water flow rates are calculated and presented while the effectiveness and wet bulb

temperature were determined right after.

BENJAMIN, Zidrick Ed C. Page 1

 Experiment no. 2
Cooling Tower

Table 1.1. Experimental Data

Temp Tw in ave. Tw out ave. °C Tair in ave. Tair out ave. Wflow Aflow RH1 RH2
°C °C °C
30 29.75 27.37 28.31 31.31 0.9987 40.58 100 68.74

32 31.96 28.05 28.99 31.51 0.9900 40.80 99.35 65.07

35 35.04 29.17 29.98 31.61 1.0039 40.90 99.11 63.43

38 38.03 30.53 31.88 31.32 0.990 39.76 99.58 64.29

40 40.05 27.49 27.65 24.15 1.000 40.25 99.81 56.59

42 41.997 30.30 32.18 31.15 0.405 40.15 94.15 63.77

The experiment performed were based on varying inlet water temperature in order to determine the effect

in two of its parameters mainly the approach and range which will dictate the performance of the cooling tower

in this system.

Table 1.2. Approach and Range

Temp
Approach Range Effectiveness
30 0.77 2.38 75.5%

32 1.95 3.91 66.7%

35 3.27 5.87 64.2%

38 4.73 7.50 61.3%

40 9.19 12.55 57.7%

42 4.8 11.69 70.9%

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 Experiment no. 2
Cooling Tower

Temperature vs. Approach

10
Approach 8

6 y = 0.1194x
4 R² = 0.2691

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Temperature

Based on the figure shown above, Direct proportionality is shown between the temperature and the cooling

tower’s range. But at Temp 40 °C, there is a big discrepancy or error in data that disrupts its linear relationship.

This could be caused in error to the equipment or in performing the experiment.

The calculation of range is based from the difference of inlet and exit temperature of water in which it is

influenced by the heat of rejection in the process but does not actually defines the performance of cooling tower.

Range is determined not by the cooling tower, but by the process it is serving. The range at the exchanger is

determined entirely by the heat load and the water circulation rate through the exchanger and on to the cooling

water.
Temperature vs. Range
14

12

10

8
Range

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Temperature

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 Experiment no. 2
Cooling Tower

The data shows that as temperature increases the approach also increases. Wherein a direct proportionality

is observed with the given data. Therefore, the approach of a cooling tower varies directly with the heat load in

the process. This heat load must be directly proportional to the flow or the range. A cooling tower that produce

lesser power to cool the heat load is more feasible than similar cooling tower cooling more heat load.

The effectiveness of cooling tower is defined by the approach and range. The performance of cooling

tower is mostly attributed to the tower’s approach since a smaller tower approach would be thermally superior

compared to a tower with a larger approach. In addition, a cooling tower with the lowest approach would be

economically viable compared to a cooling tower with a large approach.

Conclusion

After the experiment, the researchers were able to perform experiment in cooling tower and were able to

met the objectives specified. The researchers were able to determine the different parameters affecting the

performance of a cooling tower. The towers approach was computed for each varying inlet temperature of water

and was compared and discussed. The importance of each parameters was discussed and graphically compared

the differences in result provided.

In the experiment, data were analyzed and compared statistically and found out that there are errors in the

gathering or performing of the experiment since some values does not follow the trend of the other data. Which

results in great discrepancy in the analyzation of results. Future researchers are recommended to check the given

values correctly and recalibrate the equipment before conducting the experiment.

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 Experiment no. 2
Cooling Tower

References

[1] C. J. Geankoplis, Transport Processes and Unit Operations, Third Edition, Singapore: Prentice Hall, 1995.

[2] Hensley, J. C. (2009). Cooling Tower Fundamentals. SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.

[3] Perry, Robert H. and Green, Don W. (1984). Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook (6th ed.). McGraw

Hill. ISBN 0-07-049479-7

APPENDIX

Sample Computations

Temperature: 35 ºC

Range = Tw(in) - Tw(out)

= 35.04 – 29.17ºC

= 5.87

Approach = Tw out – Ta wet

= 29.17-25.9

= 3.27 ºC

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 5.87
𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥 100%
𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 + 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ 3.27 + 5.87

𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 = 64.22%

Chemical Engineering Laboratory 2 Page 5