INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH

Int. J. Energy Res. 2006; 30:411426

Published online 23 January 2006 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/er.1158

Thermodynamic study of wet cooling tower performance

V. D. Papaefthimioun,y, T. C. Zannis and E. D. Rogdakis
Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics, Thermal Engineering Section, School of Mechanical Engineering,
National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou St., Zografou Campus, 15780 Athens, Greece

SUMMARY
An analytical model was developed to describe thermodynamically the water evaporation process inside a
counter-ow wet cooling tower, where the air stream is in direct contact with the falling water, based on the
implementation of the energy and mass balance between air and water stream describing thus, the rate of
change of air temperature, humidity ratio, water temperature and evaporated water mass along tower
height. The reliability of model predictions was ensured by comparisons made with pertinent experimental
data, which were obtained from the literature. The paper elaborated the eect of atmospheric conditions,
water mass ow rate and water inlet temperature on the variation of the thermodynamic properties of
moist air inside the cooling tower and on its thermal performance characteristics. The analysis of the
theoretical results revealed that the thermal performance of the cooling tower is sensitive to the degree of
saturation of inlet air. Hence, the cooling capacity of the cooling tower increases with decreasing inlet air
wet bulb temperature whereas the overall water temperature fall is curtailed with increasing water to air
mass ratio. The change of inlet water temperature does not aect seriously the thermal behaviour of the
cooling tower. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS:

cooling tower; ll packing; eectiveness; thermal eciency

1. INTRODUCTION
The cooling towers are commonly used in large thermal systems to reject the waste heat from the
systems via a water loop between the two devices. One of the advantages of the cooling tower
over the dry heat exchanger is that through evaporation the circulating water temperature may
approach the wet bulb temperature of inlet air rather than its dry bulb temperature. The
conguration of the cooling towers varies with their use, e.g. in large convectional or nuclear
power plants buoyancy draft large-size cooling towers are used (Khan et al., 2004; Khan and
Zubair, 2001). Among the most common arrangements is the forced convection tower, where
the air stream rise into the tower is mechanically supported by fans cited at the bottom of the
installation.

Correspondence to: V. D. Papaefthimiou, Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics, Thermal Engineering Section,

School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou St., Zografou
Campus, 15780 Athens, Greece.
y
E-mail: vpapaeft@central.ntua.gr

Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 11 November 2004

Revised 5 May 2005
Accepted 16 June 2005

412

V. D. PAPAEFTHIMIOU, T. C. ZANNIS AND E. D. ROGDAKIS

The assessment of the thermal performance of dierent congurations of counter-ow

wet cooling towers has been the subject of numerous theoretical and experimental studies
conducted in the past (Bernier, 1994, 1995; Braun et al., 1989; El-Dessouki et al., 1997; Fisenko
et al., 2004; Fisenko and Petruchik, 2004; Goshayshi et al., 1999; Goshayshi and Missenden,
2000; Halasz, 1998; Jaber and Webb, 1989; Jorge and Armando, 2000; Jose, 2002; Khan
et al., 2004; Khan and Zubair, 2001, 2003; Lefevre, 1984; Majumdar et al., 1983a, b; Merkel,
1925; Milosavljevic and Heikkila, 2001; Nimr, 1999; Rogdakis and Papaefthimiou, 2001;
Simpson and Sherwood, 1946; Soylemez, 2004; Webb and Villacres, 1984; Webb, 1984).
The basic theory describing the cooling tower operation was initially proposed by Walker et al.
(1923). However, the rst integrated methodology for studying the phenomena taking
place inside the cooling tower was suggested by Merkel (1925). The basic postulations
and approximations of Merkels theory were the following ones: (1) the heat transfer resistance
in the water lm is negligible; (2) there is no loss of water due to evaporation; (3) the specic
heat capacity of moist air at constant pressure is assumed to be equal to the one of dry air
and (4) the Lewis number for the moist air is unity. There were made eorts for revision of
Merkels approximations (Lefevre, 1984). Most of the mathematical approaches for
the modelling of physical processes occurring inside the cooling tower are one-dimensional
analytical models based on either the eectiveness}number of transfer units (NTU) method
(Braun et al., 1989; El-Dessouki et al., 1997; Jaber and Webb, 1989; Soylemez, 2004;)
or the implementation of energy and mass balance between water and air stream (Halasz,
1998; Fisenko and Petruchik, 2004; Khan et al., 2004; Khan and Zubair, 2001, 2003;
Milosavljevic and Heikkila, 2001; Rogdakis and Papaefthimiou, 2001). The aforementioned
models postulate that a falling water lm is developed on the ll packing interacting with
the rising air stream. However, Fisenko et al. (2004) presented a computational model
for a mechanically draft cooling tower performance that describes the change of water
droplets velocity, whereas its radii and temperature takes into account the radial distribution of
water droplets. Furthermore, commercial CFD codes have been used for the assessment
of the thermal performance of the cooling tower (Milosavljevic and Heikkila, 2001). Thorough
experimental investigations with various ll packing geometries allowed the derivation of
semi-empirical correlations describing the mass transfer coecient between air and water
stream (Goshayshi et al., 1999; Goshayshi and Missenden, 2000; Milosavljevic and
Heikkila, 2001). Parametric studies conducted in the past (Khan et al., 2004; Khan
and Zubair, 2001, 2003) revealed the eect of several design and rating parameters
such as water to air mass ratio, fouling of packing material and ambient pressure mainly
on the outlet water conditions and the thermal eectiveness of the cooling tower. However,
there is a lack of investigations concerning an overall assessment of the variation of
thermodynamic state of moist air inside the cooling tower as well as on its thermal performance
characteristics.
In the present study a comprehensive thermodynamic model is developed and employed to
examine the eect of various operating parameters on the thermal behaviour of a counter-ow
wet cooling tower currently installed at authors laboratory. A set of ordinary dierential
equations is derived describing the rate of change of air temperature, humidity ratio, and water
temperature and evaporated water mass ow rate along the vertical axis of the cooling tower.
The predictive ability of the proposed model was secured by comparing the predictions with
experimental data obtained from the literature. The eect of atmospheric conditions occurring
in the area of Athens, Greece and the inuence of falling water temperature and mass ow rate
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THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF WET COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

413

on the variation of the thermodynamic properties of moist air and the thermal performance
characteristics of the cooling tower was examined. The theoretical ndings revealed a high
sensitivity of the cooling capacity of the cooling tower to the ambient conditions. The
interrelation between inlet air saturation and evaporation process performance was also
acknowledged. The increase of water to air mass ratio resulted in the decrease of overall water
temperature reduction whereas the increase of inlet water temperature had moderate eects on
the cooling capacity of the tower.

2. COOLING TOWER DESCRIPTION

The developed computational model used to describe the water evaporation process that takes
place inside a cooling tower operating as part of a LiBrH2O absorption unit installed at
authors laboratory in Athens, Greece. A representative description of the cooling tower is
presented in Figure 1. The evaporation of the falling water lm on the ll packing due to its
interaction with the rising air stream results in the cooling of the water stream and to the heating
and humidication of the outlet air. The refrigeration unit installed at authors laboratory
contains a counter-ow direct-contact wet cooling tower with nominal cooling capacity of
722 kW. This cooling capacity corresponds to water inlet temperature of 368C, water ow rate
of 15 kg s
1 and air wet bulb temperature of 248C. The size of the cooling tower is
3.76  1.16  1.96 m3 and the corresponding volume of the ll packing is 3.76  1  1 m3. The
model is implemented inside the volume of the ll packing where the actual process of water
evaporation takes place.

Figure 1. Schematic view of the wet cooling tower.

Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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V. D. PAPAEFTHIMIOU, T. C. ZANNIS AND E. D. ROGDAKIS

3. MODEL DESCRIPTION
3.1. General outline
The computational model used in this study was developed in order to be comprehensive
enough in describing the heat and mass exchange inside the counter-ow cooling tower without
however being computationally time-consuming. This means that the model can be used to
examine the thermal performance of cooling tower taking into account all the major
implications of the physical mechanism of water evaporation under high time scales, e.g.
annual basis. For this reason, the development of the computational model was based on the
following assumptions (ASHRAE, 1976; Perez-Blanco and Bird, 1984):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Heat and mass transfer is considered only in a direction normal to the tower walls.
Heat and mass transfer through the tower walls to the environment is negligible.
Heat transfer from the tower fans to the air or water streams is unconsidered.
The heat and mass transfer coecients are constant throughout the tower.
The value of Lewis number is constant throughout the tower.
Water lost by drift is fractional.
The temperature throughout the water stream at each cross section is uniform.
The cross-sectional area of the tower is considered uniform.

3.2. Mathematical formulation

The application of the rst law of thermodynamics to an elementary part of the heat exchange
area at the gas phase side provides (see Figure 2):
S dQ
L ha dha m
m
1
a ha dQ
a
In the previous relationship, the term ha stands for the specic enthalpy of moist air (Ibrahim
et al., 1995):
ha cpa Ta Wcsat
p;s Ta Dhw

Figure 2. Representative schematic description of the energy contribution of cooling water and air stream
in a counter-ow cooling tower.
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THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF WET COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

415

By substituting the previous expression to Equation (1) the following relation is obtained:
sat
dha cpa dTa dWcsat
p;s Ta Dhw Wcp;s dTa

The term dQS in Equation (1) represents the sensible heat load, which is transferred from the
cooled water to the air stream due to their temperature dierence and it can be written as
follows:
S LaLA Tw
Ta dZ dm
dQ
4
a cpm dTa
L transferred to the air stream due to the water evaporation is
whereas the latent heat load dQ
L dm
dQ
5
w his dm
w csat
p;s Tw Dhw
where his is the enthalpy of saturated moist air evaluated at airwater interface temperature. The
humidity ratio is dened as W m
w =m
a : The rate of cooled water mass ow rate over height dZ
is obtained by dierentiating the previous denition:
dm
dW
w
6
m
a
dZ
dZ
The specic heat capacity of the moist air is expressed as follows:
cpm cpa Wcsat
p;s

where csat
p;s is the specic heat capacity of saturated steam. Hence, by substituting above relations
to Equation (3) the rate of dry bulb temperature of air stream is obtained:


dTa
LaLA csat
p;s dW Tw
Ta

8
cpm
m
dZ
dZ
a
The term aLA represents the mass transfer coecient between water lm and gaseous
phase, which according to Simpson and Sherwood (1946) is given by the following
relation:
aLA Le K cpm
 0:45  0:6
m
m
w
a
K2
A
A

where K is the mass transfer coecient and Le is the Lewis number (here assuming Le=1)
(Goshayshi and Missenden, 2000).
The gradient of absolute humidity dW=dZ along tower longitudinal axis express the rate of
water vapour supplied to the air stream by the cooled water within height dZ and can be
expressed as follows (Perez-Blanco and Bird, 1984):
dW LK

W sat Tw
Wa 
10
dZ
m
a
where W sat is the saturation humidity ratio of air dened as
W sat Tw 0:622

psat
ws Tw
pa
psat
ws Tw

11

The energy balance between falling water lm and gaseous phase can be written as follows:
S dQ
L
m
12
w hw m
w dm
w hw dhw dQ
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V. D. PAPAEFTHIMIOU, T. C. ZANNIS AND E. D. ROGDAKIS

where the term dm

w dhw is almost negligible. Thus, above relation can be dierentiated over
height dZ providing the rate of change of cooled water temperature Tw:


m
dTw
dTa
dW
a
cpw Tw csat


cpm
T

Dh

13
w
p;s a
dZ
dZ
mw cpw dZ
Finally, the following set of ordinary dierential equations is constituted:


dTa
aLA L csat
p;s dW Tw
Ta

m
cpm
dZ
dZ
a


m
dTw
dW
a dTa
cpw Tw csat


cpm
T

Dh

w
p;s a
dZ
dZ
mw cpw dZ

14

dW LK

W sat Tw
Wa
dZ
m
a
dm
dW
w
m
a
dZ
dZ
with the following boundary conditions:
Ta Z0 Ta0
Tw ZL Tw0
WZ0 W0

15

m
w ZL m
w0
Model development was made using the MATHCAD software whereas a non-sti method
(RungeKutta) was used to numerically solve the boundary-value problem.

4. TEST CASES EXAMINED

The following cases were considered to examine the eect of various parameters on the thermal
performance of a counter-ow wet cooling tower:
1. The thermodynamic properties of outlet air depend strongly on the degree of saturation of
inlet air. Hence, it was decided to examine the impact of surrounding air conditions (i.e.
dry bulb temperature and relative humidity (RH)) on the evolution of the thermodynamic
state of the moist air inside the cooling tower. For this reason, three cases of surrounding
air conditions were considered: the rst one corresponds to ambient conditions occur in the
area of Athens, Greece during July (mid-summer conditions) whereas the second
corresponds to corresponding atmospheric conditions during January (mid-winter
conditions). The third operating condition is considered herein as reference case and
corresponds to the following conditions of inlet air and water: Twb,i = 18.78C, Tw,i = 368C
and mw/ma = 1.5. The three cases of ambient conditions are given in detail in Table I and
they constitute a progressively increasing value of inlet air wet bulb temperature allowing
us to examine the interrelation between the thermal performance of the cooling tower and
the saturation of inlet air.
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THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF WET COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

417

Table I. Ambient conditions in Athens, Greece considered

in the parametric study.
Conditions

Dry bulb air

temperature (8C)

Relative
humidity (%)

Wet bulb
temperature (%)

8.8
25
32.5

70.2
47
55

6.3
18.7
23.5

Mid-winter
Average
Mid-summer

2. The eciency of the evaporation process depends on the water to air stream relative
velocity. Specically, the residence time of the falling water lm on the tubes is insucient
for high air velocities and as a result the evaporation process is uncompleted. Furthermore,
it has been implied that for velocities higher than a critical value, the water droplets are
entrained by the air stream with detrimental eects on the operation of the cooling device.
Hence, three dierent values of water to air mass ratio mw/ma were considered (0.5, 1.0
and 1.5).
3. Water evaporation can be an ecient way to cool warm water. Thus, two other water inlet
temperatures were considered beyond the reference case (368C) namely, 30 and 258C. The
ndings from the examination of this and the previous case will contribute on the better
understanding of the suitability of wet cooling towers as parts of air-conditioning systems.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
5.1. Experimental validation
Before proceeding to the evaluation of the thermal performance of the cooling tower, it is
crucial to experimentally validate the predictions made by the analytical model. Hence, a
comparison between calculated and experimental values for outlet wet bulb air temperature is
given in Table II. The calculations were made for ve dierent cases of cooled water
temperature reduction, inlet air conditions and water to air mass ratio mw/ma. The measured
data for outlet wet bulb temperature were obtained from the literature (Simpson and Sherwood,
1946). Comparison is also made between the theoretical results derived from the present analysis
and the corresponding calculations made by Khan et al. (2004). Hence, for each case the relative
error for outlet wet bulb temperature between prediction made using the suggested model and
the corresponding theoretical and experimental result obtained from literature (Khan et al.,
2004; Simpson and Sherwood, 1946) is given. Results for NTU and total evaporated water mass
are also presented. As observed, theoretical results for outlet wet bulb temperature derived with
the current analysis coincide well with both corresponding calculated and measured values of
the literature (Khan et al., 2004; Simpson and Sherwood, 1946). The relative error between the
calculations made herein and theoretical and experimental results obtained from the literature
was almost negligible strengthening thus, the creditability of model predictions given below.
5.2. Eect of ambient conditions
The eect of ambient conditions on the variation of dry bulb air temperature Tdb and humidity
ratio W is shown in Figure 3. An increase of dry bulb temperature with increasing tower
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V. D. PAPAEFTHIMIOU, T. C. ZANNIS AND E. D. ROGDAKIS

Table II. Validation of theoretical results with corresponding experimental data obtained
from Khan and Zubair (2001).
Tw,i
(oC)

Tw,o
(oC)

Tdb,in
(oC)

Twb,in
(oC)

m
a
(kg s
1)

m
w
(kg s
1)

31.22
34.50
28.72
38.78
38.78

23.88
26.22
24.22
29.33
29.33

37.05
30.50
29
35
35

21.11
21.11
21.11
26.67
26.67

1.158
1.187
1.187
1.265
1.250

0.754
1.259
1.259
1.008
1.008

NTU

Tcal
wb,o
(8C)

Texp
wb,o
(8C)

Error (%)
Tcal
wb,o

Error (%)
Texp
wb,o

1.297
1.745
1.745
1.467
1.476

26.35
29.98
26.32
33.02
33.09

26.05
29.90
26.17
32.89
32.89

0.69
0.27
0.46
1.66
1.53

0.46
0.53
0.11
1.26
0.92

0.04

35

Humidity Ratio (kgw/kgda)

Dry Bulb Temperature (oC)

40

30
25
20
15

Twb,i
23.5 oC
18.7 oC
6.3 oC

10
5
0

0.03

0.02

0.01

0
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

Figure 3. Eect of ambient conditions on the variation of dry bulb temperature (left side) and humidity
ratio (right side) inside the cooling tower.

height is observed for the reference case (Twb,i = 18.78C) and the mid-winter conditions
(Twb,i = 6.38C). In the case of mid-summer conditions (Twb,i = 23.58C), the air temperature is
curtailed up to the middle of the tower height and then, increases slightly resulting thus, to an
insignicant overall change. The highest rate of air temperature rise was revealed for low inlet
wet bulb temperatures (Twb,i = 6.38C). In addition, increase of air humidity ratio with
increasing tower height is revealed. However, the eect of the dierent ambient conditions on
the rate of increase of humidity ratio is similar.
The examination of the eect of surrounding air-conditions on the evolution of the water
temperature and the percentage of vapourized water mass inside the cooling tower is facilitated
through Figure 4. Decrease of water temperature with tower height is evidenced at all cases. The
highest rate of water temperature decrease is observed under mid-winter conditions occurring in
Athens, Greece resulting thus, to the overall highest overall reduction of water temperature.
Hence, the increase of water temperature fall is consistent with the decrease of inlet wet bulb
temperature. The decrease of inlet humidity ratio results in an increase of the percentage of
water mass vapourized inside the cooling tower. Hence, for high values of inlet wet bulb
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THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF WET COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

temperature, the heating of air stream and the pertinent cooling of the falling water is limited
due to the low anity of the moist air for water vapour absorption inside the cooling tower,
which is ascribed to its high degree of saturation at the tower inlet.
Figure 5 depict the variation of the potentials for sensible and latent heat exchange between
air and water stream inside the cooling tower (Khan et al., 2004; Khan and Zubair, 2001, 2003).
As observed, the sensible heat exchange potential is reduced with increasing tower height for
moderate (Twb,i = 18.78C) and high values of inlet humidity ratio (Twb,i = 23.58C) whereas for
low values of inlet air humidity the potential for sensible heat exchange increases with increasing
tower height. Hence, the highest rate of change (increase) of the sensible heat potential is
evidenced for winter ambient conditions in Athens, Greece. It is noteworthy that in the case of
high Twb,i and close to the top of cooling tower, the sensible heat potential becomes negative. In
40

23.5 oC
18.7 oC
6.3 oC

36

Relative Reduction of
Inlet Water Mass

Water Temperature (oC)

Twb,i

32

28

0.995

0.99

0.985

24

0.98

20
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Height (m)

Figure 4. Eect of ambient conditions on the variation of cooled water temperature (left side) and
percentage of evaporated water mass (right side) inside the cooling tower.

0.016

Twb,i

16

Potential for Latent Heat

Exchange [Ws,w - Wa] (kgw/kgda)

Potential for Sensible

Heat Exchange [Tw - Tdb] (oC)

20

23.5 oC
18.7 oC
6.3 oC

12
8
4
0
-4
-8

0.012

0.008

0.004

0
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

Figure 5. Eect of ambient conditions on the variation of the potentials for sensible heat (left side) and
latent heat (right side) exchange inside the cooling tower.
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V. D. PAPAEFTHIMIOU, T. C. ZANNIS AND E. D. ROGDAKIS

this case the rate of decrease of water temperature overwhelms the pertinent increasing rate of
dry bulb temperature revealing thus, the potentiality for sensible heat transfer from the air
stream to the falling water lm.
On the other hand, increase of the evaporation heat transfer potential with increasing tower
height is observed for all cases of ambient conditions. The rate of increase for the evaporation
driving force is not seriously aected by change of ambient conditions. However, the highest
rate of increase was witnessed for summer conditions (Twb,i = 23.58C). This means that the
potentiality of inlet air stream for heat exchange with the water lm through evaporation is
strengthened with increasing inlet wet bulb temperature.
5.3. Eect of water mass ow rate
The variation of dry bulb air temperature and humidity ratio inside the cooling tower is given in
Figure 6. The increase of water mass ow rate results in increase of outlet dry bulb temperature.
The variation of dry bulb temperature with tower height is almost linear for high values of water
to air mass ratio whereas for moderate and low values of waterair mass ratio the dry bulb
temperature is curtailed during the initial stages of the process resulting thus, to lower outlet
values compared to other case. Similar observations can be made for the eect of water to air
mass ratio on the variation of air absolute humidity. The highest overall increase of humidity
ratio is observed for the highest value of water to air mass ratio. Hence, the heating and
humidication of the moist air inside the cooling tower is enhanced with increasing water mass
ow rate.
The variation of falling water temperature and the percentage of initial water ow rate, which
is evaporated during the process as functions of the tower height, are presented in Figure 7. The
reduction rate of falling water temperature inside the cooling tower decreases with increasing
water to air mass ratio. Hence, the highest overall water temperature fall can be achieved in the
case of lower water mass ow rate considering that the air mass ow rate remains constant. The
increase of water to air mass ratio results in the decrease of the curtailment rate of water

36

0.032

1.5
0.5
0.5

32

Humidity Ratio (kgw/kgda-1)

Dry Bulb Temperature (oC)

mw /ma

28

24

20

0.028
0.024
0.02
0.016
0.012
0.008

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

Figure 6. Eect of water/air mass ratio on the variation of dry bulb temperature (left side) and humidity
ratio (right side) inside the cooling tower.
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THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF WET COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

evaporation rate. Thus, the overall fraction of evaporated water mass with respect to its initial
amount increases with decreasing water to air mass ratio.
The examination of the inuence of waterair mass ratio on the evolution of the potentials for
sensible and latent heat exchange is displayed in Figure 8. Initially, the higher values of sensible
heat potential during the initial stages of the evaporation process are observed for the low
waterair mass ratio (mw/ma = 0.5). This is evidenced up to 30% of the tower height whereas
for higher heights, the higher values of sensible heat transfer potential are observed for the high
waterair mass ratio case (mw/ma = 1.5). The rate of decrease observed for convection driving
force with tower height is strengthened for low values of water mass ow rate (mw/ma = 0.5)
compared to other cases. Negative values of the sensible potential are observed during the late
stages of evaporation process for low and moderate values of waterair mass ratio.
40

1.5
1.0
0.5

36

32

0.995
Relative Reduction of
Inlet Water Mass

Water Temperature (oC)

mw /ma

28

24

0.99
0.985
0.98
0.975

20
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

Height (m)

0.4

0.6

0.8

Height (m)

Figure 7. Eect of water/air mass ratio on the variation of water temperature (left side) and the percentage
loss of inlet water mass due to evaporation (right side) inside the cooling tower.

0.02

Potential for Sensible

Heat Exchange [Tw - Tdb] (oC)

mw /ma
1.5
1.0
0.5

-4

Potential for Latent Heat

Exchange [Ws,w - Wa] (kgw/kgda-1)

12

0.016

0.012

0.008

0.004

-8
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

Figure 8. Eect of water to air mass ratio on the variation of the potentials for sensible heat (left side) and
latent heat (right side) exchange inside the cooling tower.
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V. D. PAPAEFTHIMIOU, T. C. ZANNIS AND E. D. ROGDAKIS

For mw/ma = 0.5 and 1.0, the evaporation heat potential is decreased with tower height with
the increase to be more abrupt in the case of low waterair mass ratio. However, for mw/ma =
1.5, the situation is changed and small increase of the potential for evaporation with increasing
tower height is observed. Hence, the highest rate of decrease of the evaporation potential is
evidenced in the case for high water to air mass ratios (mw/ma = 1.5).
The increase of water mass ow rate for constant air mass ow rate results in the curtailment
of the overall water temperature fall and subsequently, the reduction of the cooling capacity of
the tower. Results presented herein for the eect of increasing water mass ux when the air mass
is constant are in accordance with pertinent theoretical ndings of other researchers (Khan and
Zubair, 2003; Fisenko and Petruchik, 2004).
5.4. Eect of inlet water temperature
The eect of inlet water temperature on the evolution of dry bulb air temperature and absolute
humidity is shown in Figure 9. As evidenced, the increase of inlet water temperature enhances
the rate of increase of dry bulb air temperature inside the cooling temperature. Hence, higher
outlet air temperatures are witnessed with increasing inlet water temperature. Similar
observations can be made for the eect of inlet water temperature on the variation of air
humidity ratio inside the cooling tower.
The elaboration of the eect of inlet water temperature on the variation of water temperature
and the percentage loss of inlet water mass due to evaporation is facilitated through Figure 10.
The highest overall reduction of water temperature is observed for high values of inlet water
temperature (Tw,i = 368C). In this case also the highest percentage reduction of water mass ow
rate due to evaporation is evidenced.
The eect of water inlet temperature on the potentials for sensible and latent heat exchange is
illustrated in Figure 11. The rate of decrease of sensible heat potential is independent from
the change of inlet water temperature. For low and moderate inlet water temperatures, the
sensible heat exchange potential becomes negative close to the top of the cooling tower.

34

0.032

36 oC
30 oC
25 oC

32
30
28
26
24

Humidity Ratio (kgw/kgda-1)

Dry Bulb Temperature (oC)

Tw,i
0.028
0.024
0.02
0.016
0.012

22

0.008
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4
Height (m)

0.6

0.8

Figure 9. Eect of inlet water temperature on the variation of dry bulb temperature (left side) and
humidity ratio (right side) inside the cooling tower.
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Int. J. Energy Res. 2006; 30:411426

423

THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF WET COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

40

1
oC

36
30 oC
25 oC

36

32

Relative Reduction of
Inlet Water Mass

Water Temperature (oC)

Tw,i

28

24

0.996

0.992

0.988

0.984

20
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6
Height (m)

0.8

Figure 10. Eect of inlet water temperature on the variation of water temperature (left side) and the
percentage loss of inlet water mass due to evaporation (right side) inside the cooling tower.

0.016

Tw,i
36 oC
30 oC
25 oC

6
4
2
0
-2
-4

Potential for Latent Heat

Exchange [Ws,w - Wa] (kgw/kgda-1)

Potential for Sensible

Heat Exchange [Tw,i - Ta,i] (oC)

0.012

0.008

0.004

0
0

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

0.2

0.4
0.6
Height (m)

0.8

Figure 11. Eect of inlet water temperature on the variation of the potentials for sensible heat (left side)
and latent heat (right side) exchange inside the cooling tower.

Increase of the potential for heat exchange through water evaporation with increasing tower
height is observed at all cases. The highest rate of increase is observed in the case when water
temperature at the tower inlet is revealed.

6. CONCLUSIONS
A comprehensive mathematical model was developed and used to examine the eect of various
parameters on the thermal performance characteristics of a counter-ow wet cooling tower. The
predictive ability of the model was tested against pertinent experimental data obtained from the
Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2006; 30:411426

424

V. D. PAPAEFTHIMIOU, T. C. ZANNIS AND E. D. ROGDAKIS

literature. An extensive parametric study was conducted aiming to scrutinize the inuence of
ambient air conditions, falling water mass ow rate and temperature on the variation of moist
air thermodynamic properties, falling water temperature and evaporation rate inside the cooling
tower. The eect of aforementioned parameters on the cooling capacity of the tower was
assessed. The analysis of the theoretical results derived the following conclusions:
1. The increase of inlet air wet bulb temperature results in the increase of the overall change
of dry bulb temperature of moist air. The anity of air for water vapour absorption is
amplied with reducing inlet wet bulb temperature. This favours the cooling capacity of
the cooling tower and subsequently, its thermal eciency because in this case the overall
water temperature fall is increased due to the increase of the percentage of evaporated
water mass. Hence, the profound interrelation between the degree of saturation of inlet air
and the thermal performance of the cooling tower is acknowledged.
2. The increase of water to air mass ratio results in the enhancement of dry air temperature
and humidity ratio rise due to increase of water vapour absorption rate from the air
stream. However, reduction of the overall water temperature reduction is observed with
subsequent detrimental eects on the cooling capacity and thermal eciency of the cooling
tower because the air mass ow rate is invariable.
3. The increase of falling water temperature results in the increase of the overall dry bulb
temperature and humidity ratio rise inside the cooling tower. It broadens also the total
water temperature fall and the percentage loss of water mass due to evaporation. As a
result, the thermal eciency of the cooling tower is slightly increased.

NOMENCLATURE

A
aLA
cpa
cpm
csat
p;s
cpw
ha
his
hs,w
hw
K
L
m
a
m
w
Pa
psat
ws
s
Q
L
Q

=wetted area (m2)

=water to air heat transfer coecient (W m
2 K
1)
=specic heat at constant pressure of dry air (J kg
1 K
1)
=specic heat of moist air (J kg
1 K
1)
=specic heat of saturated steam (J kg
1 K
1)
=specic heat of water (J kg
1 K
1)
=specic enthalpy of dry air (J kg
1)
=specic enthalpy of saturated moist air evaluated at airwater interface
temperature (J kg
1)
=specic enthalpy of saturated moist air evaluated at Tw (J kg
1)
=specic enthalpy of water (J kg
1)
=mass transfer coecient (kg m
2 s
1)
=length of packing (m)
=mass ow rate of dry air (kg s
1)
=water mass ow rate (kg s
1)
=moist air pressure (Pa)
=saturation pressure of moist air (Pa)
=sensible heat ow rate (W)
=latent heat ow rate (W)

Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2006; 30:411426

THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF WET COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

Ta
Tw
W
W sat
Z
Dhw

425

=dry bulb air temperature (oC)

=water temperature (oC)
=air humidity ratio (kgw kg
1
da )
=saturation humidity ratio of moist air (kgw kg
1
da )
=tower height (m)
=vapourization enthalpy of water (J kg
1)

Subscripts
a
da
i
is
L
LA
m
o
s
S
sat
w
wb

=air
=dry air
=inlet
=airwater interface
=latent
=liquid to air
=moist air
=outlet
=steam
=sensible
=saturation
=water
=wet bulb

Dimensionless numbers
Le

=Lewis number

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Int. J. Energy Res. 2006; 30:411426