COOLING TOWER AND COOLING WATER SYSTEM: A Brief Presentation:

Part-1 of 3

This presentation is published in three parts. This is first part.

HIGHLIGHTS:

 Basics of Cooling Tower

 Types of Evaporative Cooling Tower
 Standard PID for Cooling Tower and data sheets
 Hybrid Cooling Tower
 Cooling Water Treatment

NEED FOR COOLING TOWERS:

 Removal of heat of reaction

 Condensation
 Heat of compression

SOME COMMONLY USED TERMS:

 Dry-Bulb temperature refers basically to the ambient air temperature. It is called

“Dry Bulb” because the sensing tips of the thermometer not affected by the
moisture of the air.
 Wet-Bulb temperature is the temperature of adiabatic saturation indicated by a
moistened thermometer bulb exposed to the air flow.
 Relative Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air, as a percentage of the total
moisture the air can contain at the current temperature
 Approach is the difference in temperature between the cooled-water temperature
and the entering air wet bulb temperature.
 Range is the temperature difference between the water inlet and water exit.
 Cycles of concentration represents the accumulation of dissolved minerals in the re-
circulating cooling water.
 Blow-down – The portion of the circulating water flow that is removed in order to
maintain the amount of dissolved solids and other impurities at an acceptable level.
 Fill – Inside the tower, fills are added to increase contact surface as well as contact
time between air and water. Thus they provide better heat transfer.
 Drift – Water droplets that are carried out of the cooling tower with the exhaust air.
 Plume – The stream of saturated exhaust air leaving the cooling tower.
 Blow-out – Water droplets blown out of the cooling tower by wind, generally at the
air inlet openings.
BASICS OF COOLING TOWER (EVAPORATIVE TYPE):

 Water cooled by evaporation

 Air flow required to aid evaporation
 Latent heat of evaporation of water transferred to air
 Humidity and enthalpy of exit air increases

FACTORS AFFECTING DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE (Fig. 1):

 Ambient wet bulb temperature

 Atmospheric conditions (DBT, RH)
 Range & Approach
 Capacity
 L/G Ratio of Tower
  Filling media

Fig. 1: Curves showing different factors with respect to temperature

From the above curves this are evident:

 Tower size varies directly and linearly with heat load

 Tower size varies inversely with range
 Tower size varies inversely with approach
 Tower size varies inversely with wet bulb temperature
IMPACT OF COOLING WATER RANGE:
HIGHER RANGE:

 Reduced LMTD
 Bigger Exchangers
 Lower Velocities on CW side and likely fouling
 Lower pumping cost

LOWER RANGE:

 Higher LMTD
 Smaller Exchangers
 Higher velocities on CW side and less fouling
 Higher pumping cost

TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS (Fig. 2):

Fig. 2: Figure showing the types of cooling towers

TYPES OF EVAPORATIVE COOLING TOWERS:
Three types based on air flow generation methods:

 Natural draft, which utilizes buoyancy via a tall chimney

 Mechanical draft, which uses power driven fan motors to force or draw air through
the tower
 Fan assisted natural draft that appears like a natural draft though airflow is
assisted by a fan

NATURAL DRAFT COOLING TOWERS (Fig. 3):

 Also called as Hyperbolic Natural draft towers, typically about 400 ft (120 m) high
  Differential pressure between the cold outside air and the hot humid air on the
inside of the tower acts as the driving force.
 No fans are used.
 Warm, moist air naturally rises due to the density differential to the dry, cooler
outside air.
 Use of natural or mechanical draft towers depends on climatic conditions and
operating requirements.

Fig. 3: Natural draft Cooling Towers

ADVANTAGES:

 No power cost
 No rotating parts

DISADVANTAGES:

 Expensive
 High construction time
 Used for flows higher than 250,000 gpm

WHEN TO CHOOSE:

 Large heat load, e.g. power generation

 In areas of higher relative humidity. Click here to Refer part 2 of 3 for further
details…
TYPES OF MECHANICAL DRAFT (Fig. 4) TOWERS:

 Forced draft is a mechanical draft tower

o blower type fan at the intake
o Fan forces air into the tower, creating high entering and low exiting air
velocities.
 Induced draft, a mechanical draft tower
o with a fan at the discharge which pulls air through tower
o fan induces hot moist air out the discharge
o low entering and high exiting air velocities, reducing the possibility of
recirculation in which discharged air flows back into the air intake
 Two configurations, Cross Flow and Counter Flow
 Fig. 2: Mechanical Draft Towers
Cross Flow:

 Air flow directed perpendicular to the water flow

 Air flow enters one or more vertical faces of the cooling tower to meet the fill
material
 Air continues through the fill and thus past the water flow into an open plenum area
  Water flows (perpendicular to the air) through the fill by gravity
 Gravity distributes the water through the nozzles uniformly across the fill material

Counter Flow:

 The air flow is directly opposite of the water flow

 Air flow first enters an open area beneath the fill media and is then drawn up
vertically
 The water is sprayed through pressurized nozzles and flows downward through the
fill, opposite to the air flow

INDUCED DRAFT TOWERS (CROSS FLOW) ADVANTAGES:

 Low pumping head, lower first cost pumping systems

 Lower energy and operating costs
 Accepts larger variation in water flow without adverse effect on the water
distribution system
 Easy maintenance access to distribution nozzles
 Low static pressure drop
 Reduced drift, less make-up
 More air per fan horsepower
 Large diameter fans can be used so that fewer cells are required for a given capacity
 Due to more fill gap choking is minimized
 Cost lower than counter flow

INDUCED DRAFT TOWERS (CROSS FLOW) DISADVANTAGES:

 Larger footprint
 Approach to cooling tower limited to 4 deg C
 Icing of louvers during cold weather, Larger louver surface area makes icing more
difficult to control
 Low pressure head on the distribution pan may encourage orifice clogging and less
water breakup at spray nozzle

INDUCED DRAFT TOWERS (COUNTER FLOW) ADVANTAGES:

 Increased tower height accommodates longer ranges and closer approaches (can be
less than 4 deg C)
 More efficient use of air due to finer droplet size from pressure sprays
 Vertical air movement across the fill allows the coldest water to be in contact with
the driest air maximizing tower performance

INDUCED DRAFT TOWERS (COUNTER FLOW) DISADVANTAGES:

  Cost higher than Cross flow tower
 Height is more
 Increased system pumping head requirements
 Increased energy consumption and operating costs
 Difficult to inspect and clean distribution nozzles
 Requires individual risers for each cell, increasing external piping costs
 Fill gap is less so choking is possible
 Resistance to upward air travel against the falling water results in higher static
pressure loss and a greater fan horsepower than in cross flow towers
 Restricted louver area at the base with high velocity of inlet air increases the fan
horsepower
 Tendency for uneven distribution of air through the fill with very little movement
near the walls and centre of the tower
 High inlet velocities are liable to suck airborne trash and dirt into the tower

When to choose – Cross flow:

 To minimize pump head

 To minimize pumping and piping first costs
 To minimize operating costs
 When flow variance is expected from process
 When ease of maintenance is a concern

When to choose – Counter flow:

 When space (footprint) is a concern

 When icing is of extreme concern
 When pumping is designed for additional pressure drop

MATERIAL BALANCE:

 A water balance around the entire system is: M = E + B + W (where, E =

Evaporation, B = Blowdown and W = Windage losses, in m3/hr)
 Evaporation Losses, E = {C X (T1- T2) X Cp} / Hv (where, C = amount of
circulating water in m3/hr, T1/T2 = return/supply temperature, Cp = specific heat
of water and Hv = latent heat of vaporization of water)
 Windage or drift losses, W from large-scale industrial cooling towers, in absence of
manufacturer’s data, may be assumed to be:
 W = 0.3 to 1.0 percent of C for a natural draft cooling tower without windage drift
eliminators
 W = 0.1 to 0.3 percent of C for an induced draft cooling tower without windage drift
eliminators
  W = about 0.005 percent of C (or less) if the cooling tower has windage drift
eliminators
 Since the evaporated water has no salts, a chloride balance around the system is: M
(Xm) = B (Xc) + W (Xc) = Xc (B + W) where, M = Make-up quantity in m3/hr, Xm
= conc. of chlorides in make-up water in ppmw and Xc = conc. of chlorides in
circulating water in ppmw.
 Xc/Xm = Cycles of concentration = ppm chloride in circulating water/ppm chloride
in make-up water = M / (B+ W) = M / (M – E) = 1 + { E / (B + W) }

 Lower COC means high operating cost due to higher make-up

 As the cycles of concentration increase the water may not be able to hold the
minerals in solution, once solubility is exceeded, they precipitate and cause fouling
in exchangers
 Cycles of concentration vary from 3 to 5 depending upon the make-up water quality

COMPONENTS OF A COOLING TOWER:

 Cooling Tower Hot Water distribution system – The collection header and branch
headers to the individual cells via flow control valves
 Cooling Tower Fans – with on-off, dual speed, variable speed motors
 Cooling Tower Fill, Louvers and Drift Eliminators – Each fill sheet has louvers and
drift eliminators
 Cooling Tower Cold Water Basin – Screens, Sluice gates, pump suction lines
 Types of pump used – Horizontal Centrifugal, Vertical turbine
 Fill, the heat transfer surface, most important component of a cooling tower
 Efficiency of the tower depends upon its ability to promote both the maximum
contact surface and the maximum contact time between air and water
 Two basic types of fill – Splash type and Film type
 In cross flow, either type can be applied but in counter flow though either type can
be used but tends toward almost exclusive use of the film fills

MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION:

 Wood: Available, Workable, Low Cost and Durable.

 Metals: Steel, Cast Iron, copper alloys and aluminum alloys. Special care required
for corrosion control for metals other than steel. Used for fan hubs, basins,
partitions, fan cylinders, bolts, nuts, washers, gear cases, anchor castings, etc.
 Plastics: Capable to be molded into single parts of complex shape and dimensions.
Used for fan blades, fan cylinders, fill supports, drift eliminators, louvers, etc.
  Concrete: Higher initial cost but decreased fire risk and higher load carrying
capacity.

SPECIAL TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS:

 Dry Cooling Towers

 Hybrid Cooling Towers (also called plume abatement towers)

DRY COOLING TOWERS:

 Basically an air-cooled heat exchanger

 Sensible cooling of water through finned coils
 Low temperature of inlet air is essential
 Less efficient cooling – large surface areas
 Water temperatures higher than evaporative type cooling towers

HYBRID COOLING TOWERS:

 Combines both dry and wet sections

 Operational flexibility in case of variation in ambient conditions
 More effective cooling than dry type towers
 Avoids plume formation

HYBRID COOLING TOWERS – SUB TYPES:

 Parallel path tower

 Series path tower
 Adiabatic air pre-cooler

PARALLEL PATH TOWER (Fig. 5):

 Coil section located vertically on top of fill section

 Induced draft fan
 Hot water flows through coil and fill section in series
 Parallel streams of air flows through coil and fill sections
 Dry and saturated air streams mix in the fan section
 Fig. 5: Parallel Path Towers

 Ratio of two sections depend on the inlet air characteristics

 Supply of air to each section may be adjusted with louvers at inlet
 During low ambient temperatures fill section may be completely isolated
 Requires more height of tower

SERIES PATH TOWER:

 Air flows through coil and fill sections in series

 Induced draft fan – cross flow
 Coil may be before or after fill section
 De-saturation of air stream in the coil section
 Less height of tower compared to parallel path towers
 Less flexibility of operation on air side
 Proximity of dry coil to fill section leads to:
o Impingement
o Scaling problems
o Restricted air flow. Please refer part 3 of 3 for further details….

COOLING TOWER AND COOLING WATER SYSTEM:

A Brief Presentation: Final Part
August 11, 2017 No Comment
101

Continued from Part-2…. Click here to go to Part-2…. Click here to go to part-1.

ADIABATIC AIR PRE-COOLER (Fig. 6):

 Also known as humidified air cooler

 Effective for low RH areas
 Fill section adjacent to dry section with drift eliminator in between
 Finned tube bundle located on top of dry section
 Induced draft fan draws air through fill and coil sections in series
 Two water streams – closed loop through coil and open loop through fill

Fig. 6: Adiabatic Air Pre Cooler

 Water re-circulated in fill section

 Air, cooled in the fill section, exits in saturated condition
 Process water cooled in coil with outlet air from fill section
 Air at outlet of coil section exits at a higher temperature and in unsaturated condition
 Water circuit in open loop can be shut-off during winter
 Less impingement
 Existing evaporative towers can be retrofitted

Disadvantages:

 Two water circuits means additional accessories and chemical treatment

 Overall space requirement increases

COMPARISON OF HYBRID AND EVAPORATIVE TOWERS:

Hybrid towers have:

  Less problems of water loss
 No plume formation
 More flexibility in operation
 Bigger sizes
 More accessories
 Higher fan powers

CHANGES IN WATER COMPOSITION:

Cooling water operation changes water composition radically causing the circulating water
composition really affecting the system’s operation and life

Factors affecting physical and chemical properties of water

 Temperature change
 Evaporation
 Air contact
 Product contamination

COOLING WATER TREATMENT:

Why treatment is required?

 Scaling and fouling control

 Corrosion control
 Microbial growth control
 pH control

SCALING AND FOULING:

Main causes:

 Scaling – Due to salts that deposit on high temp surface due to retrograde solubility
 General fouling – Due to insoluble suspended particles forming deposits on the surface
 Biological fouling -This results from abundant growth of Algae, Fungi or Bacteria on the
surface

SCALE CONTROL:

 Blow down control

 Increased Blow-down limits cycles of concentration.
 Treatment is required to keep the dissolved solids in non scale forming state.
 Scale inhibitors do this permitting operation at supersaturated conditions
  Acid Dosing- Sulfuric Acid
 Relatively inexpensive method
 Acid treatment removes the bicarbonate acidity by converting HCO3- to SO4 and CO2
 CO2 is released to atmosphere and Sulfate remains as by product
 Caution – Over dosing causes corrosion

FOULING CONTROL:

 Fouling occurs when insoluble suspended particles like iron, mud, silt and other debris
deposit on the surfaces.
 Removal of suspended matter from make-up water, re-circulating water, basin by use of
Side-stream filters (filtering 1-5% of the total circulation)
 High Water Velocities- A design stage measure for deposit control. This is always not
possible ( Shell side)
 Dispersants-Keep the particulates in suspended form
 Surfactants-Keep the Hydrocarbons in emulsified form

CORROSION CONTROL:

 Achieved by dosing a Corrosion inhibitor. This primarily works by forming a protective

film on the surface.
 Different types of treatments:
 Chromate based program
 Phosphate/ Phosphonate Programs
 Dianodic
 Alkaline Zinc
 Alkaline Phosphate Program
 All Organic
 Molybdate based

MICROBIOLOGICAL CONTROL:

 Microorganisms enter through wind, dust and make-up water

 Results in Slime and algae growth
 Important to minimize slime and algae growth as they reduce
 heat transfer
 decrease cooling water flow
 localize corrosion
 serve as a mortar for rapid buildup of deposits
 Control done by dosing chemicals
 Biostatic agents : Chemicals that inhibit the growth of microbes
 Biocides : Chemicals that kill the microorganisms
  Advisable to use biocides in the cooling water treatment – two classes :
 Oxidizing Biocides : Chlorine, bromine, Hypochlorite, Chlorine dioxide, Ozone
 Non Oxidizing Biocides : Methylene-bis-thiocyanate (MBT), Organotin compounds,
Aldehydes, Chlorophenols, Sulphones and Thiones, Carbamates, Isothiazoline
 Biofouling – accumulation of deposits of microorganisms forming films
 Biodispersants used for dislodging of biofilms and prevention of their formation
 Followed by addition of biocide which kills the released bacteria

pH CONTROL:

 Important in minimizing the rate of corrosion in a heat transfer/cooling system

 To avoid corrosion problems, controlling the pH in an alkaline range of between 8 and 9
is important
 Alkaline pH has greater tendency towards scaling from dissolved solids
 Conductivity measurement measures the level of TDS in water.