HVAC

EVAPORATIVE COOLING
& COOLING TOWERS

GROUP 2

ONTENTS
EVAPORATIVE COOLER
PROCESS
CHOOSING CRITERIA
BENEFITS
DRAWBACKS
COOLING TOWERS
WHAT , HOW, WHY AND WHERE????
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
CLASSIFICATIONS
COMPONENTS

HVAC

EVAPORATIVE COOLER
Device that cools air through
theevaporation of water
Probably because evaporative coolers add
moisture to the air and blow it around, they are
sometimes knows as "swamp coolers."
Evaporative coolers can work wonderfully well,
provided the outside air they are drawing in is
dry and desert-like.
As the humidity increases, however, the ability
for them to cool the air effectively decreases.

REF:

EVAPORATIVE COOLING
An evaporative
cooler produces
effective cooling
by combining a
natural process water evaporation
- with a simple,
reliable air-moving
system.
Fresh outside air
is pulled through
moist pads where
it is cooled by
evaporation and
circulated through
a house or building
by a large blower.
REF:

HVAC

PROCESS
An evaporative cooler is essentially a large fan
with water-moistened pads in front of it.
The fan draws warm outside air through the
pads and blows the now-cooled air throughout
the house. The pads can be made of wood
shavings .
Small distribution lines supply water to the top
of the pads.
Water soaks the pads and, trickles through
them to collect in a sump at the bottom of the
cooler.
A small recirculating water pump sends the
collected water back to the top of the pads
REF:

HVAC

REF:

HVAC

How to choose the right-sized Evaporative

Cooler

For a swamp cooler to effectively cool, it must be the proper

size for the job. A small portable unit, for example, will not
adequately cool a large-sized room.
While the output of air conditioners are rated in BTUs
(British Thermal Units), evaporative coolers are rated by
CFMs (the cubic feet per minute of air that the cooler can
blow into your home).
Figure the cubic feet of space you want to cool, and then
divide that number by two. The quotient will give you the
CFM rating for the proper-sized swamp cooler.
For example, if you have a 1,500 square foot home with 8
foot-high ceilings:
1,500 x 8 = 12,000 cubic feet 12,000 / 2 = 6,000 CFM
REF:
needed

Benefits of Evaporative Cooling

HVAC

Because the technology is simpler, an evaporative cooler

costs about half as much as an air conditioner that will cool
the same sized area. Installation costs of swamp coolers
are comparable to air conditioning units.
Evaporative coolers operate on 120-volt electricity, which
means they don't need special high-amperage circuits like
many air conditioners do.
Evaporative cooling adds moisture to the air, which helps
to keep wood furniture and fabrics from drying out.
The moist pads through which the outside air flows are
also fairly efficient air filters, trapping some dust and
pollen. Since the pads are continually wetted, trapped
particles are flushed out and trapped in the bottom of the
cooler.
REF:

Benefits of Evaporative Cooling

HVAC

Air conditioning works best when the windows are closed, since
interior air is cooled and recirculated. Because swamp coolers
cool outside air and blow it into the house, however, to work
effectively they need at least one window open. The cooled
outside air vents through open windows or doors, pushing out hot
inside air and any smoke, odors and pollution that may be
present. With evaporative cooling, a complete air change in a
home occurs every one-to-three minutes. This flow of fresh air
means that evaporative coolers can be operated without using
the water pump to replace warm stale air with cooler night-time
air, much like a whole house fan does.
For the most part, evaporative cooling doesn't require as much
ductwork as air conditioning. For a newly installed system, a
short duct can direct the cooled air to a central point in the
house. From there, air can be directed through the various rooms
by simply opening and closing doors and windows to allow the
REF: cooled air to flow

Drawbacks to Evaporative Cooling

HVAC

The main drawback of swamp coolers is that they depend on dry

outside air to operate effectively.
If the humidity stays high for several days, the moist pads that
make the evaporative cooler work can begin to smell, and the
musty odor can be blown into the house.
High temperatures accompanied by high humidity, these months
can be the least favourable for swamp coolers.
Evaporative cooling requires water to keep pads wet - a
consideration in some areas, especially in drought years. Water
consumption can run from three to 15 gallons a day, depending
on the size of the swamp cooler and whether or not the water is
collected and pumped through the pads more than once.
In some areas, discarded water from the unit can be an
environmental concern.
Evaporative coolers can be hooked up to existing forced air duct
systems. Because the air delivered by an evaporative system will
be warmer than the air supplied by an air conditioner, however,
evaporative coolers need to produce more air flow. That means

REF:

HVAC

COOLING TOWERS

WHAT IS A COOLING

HVAC

TOWER
?
heat removal
devices used to transfer process waste heat to the

atmosphere
extracts heat from water by evaporation
a small portion of the water being cooled is allowed to
evaporate into a moving air stream to provide significant cooling
to the rest of that water stream
used to provide lower than ambient water temperatures
smallest cooling towers few gallon /min
largest cooling towers -1000 Gallon/ min
The pipes -much larger to accommodate this much water in the
larger towers and can range up to 12 inches in diameter

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower

ADVANTAGES

OF COOLING TOWERS

HVAC

relatively inexpensive to install and operate.

Ease of maintenance
Ventilation of air
very dependable means of removing low grade
heat.
more cost effective and energy efficient

DISADVANTAGES

OF COOLING

TOWERS
relatively humid atmosphere.
Constant supply of water
Humidity leads to corrosion

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler

HOW DO COOLING TOWER

WORK ?
water pumped to the top of the
cooling tower, will then flow down
through plastic or wood shells.
The water will emit heat as it is
downward flowing which mixes
with the above air flow, which in
turn cools the water.
Part of this water will also
evaporate, causing it to lose even
more heat.
water is reused in the process.

HVAC

CLASSIFICATION OF COOLING TOWER WORK

HVAC

BASED
ON:
1. how
the air and water interact 6. air-to-water flow
Cross flow
Open cooling tower
Counter flow
Closed cooling tower
2. Assembling of components
Field assembled tower
Factory assembled tower
3. Their use
HVAC
Industrial
4. Heat transfer method
Wet cooling towers
Dry coolers
Fluid coolers
5. Air flow generation methods
Natural draft
Mechanical draft

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS

HVAC

1. BASED ON : how
the air and water
interact
OPEN
COOLING
TOWERS
(direct
cooling towers)
It allow the water
to
come
into
contact
with
outside air.
Pollutants are able to enter
If cooled water is
into the water used in these
returned from the
processes and must be filtered
cooling tower to be
out with sand and gravel to
used again, some
help combat this issue.
water
must
be This is fairly effective, but not
added to replace
REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower
as efficient as filtration.

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS

CLOSED LOOP (or closed
circuit) COOLING TOWER
Also called indirect
cooling
tower
systems,
They do not allow the
water to come into
contact
with
any
outside
substancekeeping the water
more pure.

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower

HVAC

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS

HVAC

BASED ON : their assembling.

FIELD ASSEMBLED TOWERS
are shipped in pieces and assembled on site by a
highly qualified and certified installation team.
FACTORY ASSEMBLED TOWERS
typically only require the fan motor to be
mounted.
BASED
ON : heat transfer method
WET COOLING TOWERS (simply cooling towers) operate
on the principle of evaporation. The working fluid and
the evaporated fluid (usually H2O) are one and the
same.
DRY COOLERS operate by heat transfer through a
surface that separates the working fluid from ambient
air
FLUID COOLERS are hybrids that pass the working fluid
through a tube bundle, upon which clean water is
REF:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower
sprayed
and a fan-induced draft applied. The resulting

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS

HVAC

BASED ON : Air flow generation methods

Natural draft, which utilizes buoyancy via a tall
chimney. Warm, moist air naturally rises due to the
density differential to the dry, cooler outside air.
Warm moist air is less dense than drier air at the
same pressure. This moist air buoyancy produces a
current of air through the tower.
Mechanical draft, which uses power driven fan motors
to force or draw air through the tower.
Induced draft: A mechanical draft tower with a fan
at the discharge which pulls air through tower. The
fan induces hot moist air out the discharge.
Forced draft: A mechanical draft tower with a
blower type fan at the intake. The fan forces air
into the tower, creating high entering and low

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS

BASED ON : their use
HVAC cooling tower
Rejecting heat from a chiller.
Water-cooled chillers are
normally more energy
efficient than air-cooled
chillers due to heat
rejection to tower water
at or near wbt
Air-cooled chillers must
reject heat at the drybulb temperature.
Large office buildings,
hospitals, and schools
typically
use one
or more
CHILLER:
a machine
that removes
heat from a liquid via a vaporcompression
refrigeration cycle.
cooling orabsorption
towers.

HVAC

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS

HVAC

Industrial cooling towers

used to remove heat from machinery or heated
process material.
used in power plants, petroleum refineries,
petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants,
food processing plants, semi-conductor plants, and
other industrial facilities.
discharging large amounts of hot water may raise
the temperature of the receiving river or lake to an
unacceptable level for the local ecosystem.
A cooling tower serves to dissipate the heat into the
atmosphere instead and wind and air diffusion
spreads the heat over a much larger area than hot

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower

HVAC

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS

BASED ON : air to water flow

CROSSFLOW
the air flow is directed perpendicular to the water flow
COUNTERFLOW
the air flow is directly opposite to the water flow.

CROSSFLOW

COUNTERFLOW

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower

HVAC

COMPONENTS

HVAC

OF A COOLING

TOWER:
Hot Water Distribution System: An open basin above
each fill bank receives the hot water that is piped to
each cell in the tower.
Hot Water Basin: This basin receives the hot water
that is piped into each cell in the tower and has
removable covers to restrict the influx of debris.
Water enters through a removable wave suppressor
splash box.
Fan: Fans are individually adjustable propeller type
and driven through v-belts and protected with a belt
guard, or with drive shafts and gear boxes.

Hot water
distribution

fan

COMPONENTS

OF A COOLING
TOWER:
Fill, Louvers, and Drift Eliminators: Each
fill sheet has louvers and drift eliminators
formed by thermoformed PVC. The fills
are suspended by hot dip galvanized
structural tubing and are elevated above
the floor of the cold water basin.
Cold Water Basin: In a cooling tower,
water is supplied from the discharge of
the circulating water system to a
distribution basin, from which the cooling
tower pump takes suction. Accessories
include both a side suction connection OR
a hole and bolt circle in the basin floor
suitable for gravity flow, which have
debris
screens
and
anti-cavitation
devices.

HVAC

WHY ARE COOLING TOWER USED?

HVAC

ability to cool is based on how much water is lost

due to evaporation.
The evaporation from a cooling tower is based on
the quality of air in the surrounding area.
If an area has high humidity, less water will
evaporate than in a dry climate.
cooling towers are more efficient during winters as
the air is drier.
If the water is needed to be cooled to higher than
75F, a cooling tower is recommended, dependent
upon wet bulb temperature for the region.
If water is needed to be cooler, a chiller may be
better suited to your cooling needs than a cooling
tower.

WHERE ARE COOLING TOWER USED?

Due to the size impediments of cooling towers,
most are stored outside with ample room for air
flow.
To prevent freezing in the winter in the northern
colder climates, indoor reservoirs are highly
recommended.
immersion heaters is another way to prevent
freezing in their cooling tower.

HVAC

MATERIALS USED IN A COOLING TOWER

Galvanized metal : but susceptible to corrosion
Stainless steel sump and a galvanized metal on
upper walls
Fiber reinforced polyester (FRP):casing material

REF: http://www.deltacooling.com/resources/materials-of-construction/