10/13/2017

NTSOANE TM
216029134

COOLING TOWER EXPERIMENT

 INTRODUCTION

This experiment was conducted to perform energy and mass balance equations on the
cooling tower system and to observe the effects of heat load on the wet bulb temperature
approach. For water cooling tower experiment, there are several parameters that can be
adjusted or changed to observe its effects on the evaporation of water. The parameters are
temperature and flow rate of water, relative humidity and flow rate of air and cooling load.
In this experiment, the heat load as well as the water flow rate were kept constant,

AIM

The objective of carrying out this experiment is to investigate the effect of heat load on the
wet bulb temperature approach in a forced draught cooling water.

APPARATUS

Assembled Bench to cooling tower consisting of:

• Flow meter
• Pump
• Float Valve
• Make-up tank
• Control switches
• Temperature indicator
• Air distribution chamber
• Heaters
• Water distribution system
• Manometer
• Packed column
 PROCEDURE

• Before the experiment was conducted, the lab technician explained how the entire
system works
• Prior to the start of the experiment it was ensured that the equipment is switched
off completely
• The wick of both wet-bulb temperature probes (t2 and t4) was wetted with tap
water
• The load tank was then filled with water above minimal level
• The tank was filled with make-up water (approx. 1.2L) using a measuring cylinder
• The equipment was then switched on with zero heat load
• Using the valve, the flow rate of water was kept at 40g/s
• Then it was ensured that the damper on the fan was closed
• Then the equipment was allowed to run for at least 10 minutes to wet the packing
and to stabilize the equipment
• After, the equipment was switched off again and the heat load was increased to 0.5
KW.
• The make-up tank was filled with water again
• Measuring cylinder was used to measure how much water must be added into the
tank
• The equipment was switched on and it was ensured that the orifice differential over
the packing is about 16 mm H2O by the damper setting on the fan.
• The operating conditions were kept constant for the entire operation
• The make-up rate and temperatures (t1-t6) were recorded after 5 minutes

RESULTS

Operating Time(min) 5
T1 (air inlet dry-bulb temperature) 22,7
T2 (air inlet wet-bulb temperature) 12,1
T3 (air outlet dry-bulb temperature) 18,2
T4 (air outlet wet-bulb temperature) 17,7
T5 (water inlet temperature to tower) 22,7
T6 (water outlet temperature from the tower)
16,8
Orifice differential mm H2O 16
Heat Load kW 1
Water flow rate (g/s) 40
Make-up water (mL) 95
 CALCULATIONS

Temperature range

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝑇5 − 𝑇6
= 22.7 − 16.8
= 5.9°𝐶

Wet-bulb temperature approach for the heat load

𝑊𝐵𝑇 = 𝑇6 − 𝑇1
= 16.8 − 12.1
= 4.7°𝐶

Air mass flow rate for the heat load

𝑣𝑎 = 0.841𝑚3 /𝑘𝑔 From the chart

𝑥
𝑀𝑎 = 0.0137√𝑣
𝑎

16
= 0.0137 √0.841
= 0.0598𝑘𝑔/𝑠

Air enthalpy change across the tower

𝑤3 = 0.013 From chart

𝑤4 = 0.011

= 𝑚𝑎 (ℎ𝑎2 − ℎ𝑎1 ) + 𝑚𝑎 (𝑤1 − 𝑤2 )ℎ𝑓𝑔

ℎ𝑎4 − ℎ𝑎3 = 𝑚𝑎 𝑐𝑝 (𝑡𝑎4 − 𝑡𝑎3 )
ℎ𝑓𝑔1 + ℎ𝑓𝑔2
ℎ𝑓𝑔 =
2
2458.4∓2446.6
= 2
= 2452.5𝐾𝐽/𝐾𝑔

∆𝐻 = 0.0598 × 1.005(18.2 − 22.7) + [0.0598(0.013 − 0.011) × 2452.5]

= 0.0229𝐾𝐽/𝐾
Water enthalpy change for the heat load

ℎ𝑓1 − ℎ𝑓2 = (𝑚𝑐𝑝 ∆𝑇)

= 0.0598 × 4.187(289.8 − 295.7)
= −1.477𝑘𝐽/𝐾𝑔

Evaporation rate for the heat load

= 0.00085 × 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 × ∆𝑇

= 0.00085 × 40 × 10−3 × (295.7 − 289.8)
=0.0002006Kg/s

Make-up water for the heat load

𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 𝑚𝑎(𝑤4 − 𝑤3 )

= 0.0598(0.013 − 0.011)
= 0.0001196𝑘𝑔/𝑠
 DISCUSSION

On the analysis of the results calculated, the temperature range was found to be 5.9
degrees Celsius which is a low temperature. The range is the difference between the
inlet and outlet temperature of the water and the approach is the difference
between the cooled water exiting the tower and the wet bulb temperature[1]. The
lower the wet bulb temperature the better. Theoretically a low wet bulb
temperature will mean that the air is very dry, thus a higher amount of water can be
evaporated. And the rate at which the water was evaporating was found to be
0.000206kg/s.

The make-up water (rate) which is supplied to the cooling tower to compensate for
loses due to evaporation and leakage was found to be 0.0001196 kg/s which is lower
than the evaporation rate. This value was found experimentally and could have been
affected by errors such as human error (Failure to read the correct values from CIBSE
chart. The other source that may contribute to the error is the ratio of humidity in
the experiment, if the level of humidity is high in an area then the make-up water
quantity will be less because the surrounding is already wet and it does not need
plenty of water to compensate for the losses. Thus, to improve the experiment in
future it would be convenient to repeat the experiment more than once and take
average values or use different heat load values for each section

CONCLUSION

The objective of the experiment had been achieved. If the effect of heating load to
the cooling tower is increased, the more effective the cooling tower performance is
going to be and the cooling range in the cooling tower will also increase (based on
theory).

REFERENCES

[1] Cooling Tower Experiment (2010). Available From http://www.me.iitb.ac.in. [

Accessed 13 October 2017]
APPENDIX