Aim

1. To study the operation of cooling tower

2. To determine average heat and mass transfer coefficients and to estimate the tower
height
3. To examine the effect of various parameters such as feed flow rate, airflow rate, inlet
water temperature, etc. on the performance of the cooling tower.

Theory
Cooling towers are used to cool the hot water that is coming out of the heat exchangers. The
cooled water is in most cases recycled to act as coolers for the industrial process again.
When hot water is brought in contact with air which is not fully saturated at that temperature,
there is a movement of mass and energy from water to air. Water particles gain latent heat from
the bulk water and migrate via the interface between air and water to the air. Thus, the air gets
heated up and humidification of air takes place.

In a cooling tower, air is sucked up by a fan which is placed and rotated at the top of the
column. The hot water is fed from the top. The area and time of contact is increased by placing
some packings inside the column.

Procedure:
1. Start the fan.
2. Start water pump and adjust the flow rate to the desired value.
3. Start the water heater and set the inlet temperature to the desired value.
4. Measure the wet-bulb temperature and dry bulb temperature of the outlet water.
5. Wait till the steady-state is obtained. The attainment of the steady-state is confirmed by
the constancy in the outlet temperature.
6. Measure air velocity by an anemometer.
7. Measure inlet temperature and outlet temperature of the air.

Change the water flow and take 2 more readings following the same steps and above.

Schematic of the cooling tower is as follows:

 Sample Observation
For fan speed= 6.5 𝑚𝑠 −1
Flow rate= 160 lb/min

Inlet temperature of air:

𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏 = 27.2°C, 𝑇𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏 = 30°C

log Ps = 5.2039 - 1733.926/(T-39.485)

Put T = 27.2 + 273.15 = 300.35 K
𝑃𝑠 = 10−1.44293 = 0.03606 bar
𝐻𝑠 = 18/29*(𝑃𝑠 (𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 − 𝑃𝑠 )) = 18/29*(0.03606/(1.01-0.03606)) = 0.0229
ℎ𝑠′′ = (1.005 + 1.88𝐻𝑠 )*𝑇𝑤𝑏 + 𝐻𝑠 *2501
= (1.005 + 1.88*0.0229)*(27.2) + 0.0229*2501
= 85.81 kJ

From psychrometric chart,

(𝐻 − 𝐻𝑠 )/(𝑇𝐷 − 𝑇𝑤 ) = −𝐶𝑤 /𝜆
𝐻 = 𝐻𝑠 − 𝐶𝑤 /𝜆 x(𝑇𝐷 − 𝑇𝑤 )
⇒ 𝐻 = 0.0229 −1.005/2260*(30 - 27.2) = 0.02178
ℎ𝑠′′ = (1.005 + 1.88𝐻𝑠 )*𝑇 + 𝐻𝑠 *2501
= (1.005 + 1.88*0.02178)*(27.2) + 0.02178*2501
= 82.93 kJ

For outlet air,

𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏 = 31.1°C, 𝑇𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏 = 32.2°C

log Ps = 5.2039 - 1733.926/(T-39.485)

Put T = 31.1 + 273.15 = 304.25 K
𝑃𝑠 = 10−1.34502 = 0.04518 bar
𝐻𝑠 = 18/29*(𝑃𝑠 (𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 − 𝑃𝑠 )) = 18/29*(0.04518/(1.01-0.04518)) = 0.02897
ℎ𝑠′′ = (1.005 + 1.88𝐻𝑠 )*𝑇𝑤𝑏 + 𝐻𝑠 *2501
= (1.005 + 1.88*0.02897)*(31.1) + 0.02897*2501
= 105.42 kJ

From psychrometric chart,

(𝐻 − 𝐻𝑠 )/(𝑇𝐷 − 𝑇𝑤 ) = −𝐶𝑤 /𝜆
𝐻 = 𝐻𝑠 − 𝐶𝑤 /𝜆 x(𝑇𝐷 − 𝑇𝑤 )
⇒ H = 0.02897 −1.005/2260*(32.2 - 31.1) = 0.02852
ℎ𝑠 = (1.005 + 1.88𝐻𝑠 )*T + 𝐻𝑠 *2501
= (1.005 + 1.88*0.02852)*(31.1) + 0.02897*2501
= 104.28 kJ

1 1
(ℎ𝑠′′ −ℎ′′ )𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡
= 85.81−82.93 = 0.3482
1 1
(ℎ𝑠′′ −ℎ′′ )𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑡
= 105.52−104.28 = 0.8832
Integral LMTD:

1 0.8832−0.3482
= ln(0.8832/0.3482) = 0.575082
(ℎ′′𝑠 −ℎ𝑠 )𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷
𝐶𝑃,𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝐿) 𝑑𝑇𝑤
𝑧= ∫ 𝑠𝑎𝑡
𝑘𝑦 𝑎 (𝐻𝐿 − 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑟 )
(𝐿) 𝑑𝑇𝑤
0.61 = ∫ ′′
29𝑘𝑦 𝑎 (ℎ𝑠 − ℎ′′ )
(𝐿)
0.61 = ∗ ΔT ∗ LMTD
29𝑘𝑦 𝑎
0.0266
𝑘𝑦 𝑎 = ∗ 10 ∗ 0.575 = 3.11𝑠 −1
0.61 ∗ 29

DATA INTERPRETATION:
The change in the temperature from inlet to outlet of water is given as follows:

ΔT = 𝑇𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡
ΔT
Percentage change = 𝑇 ∗ 100
𝑖𝑛

𝑇𝑖𝑛 (°C) 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 (°C) 𝑇𝑖𝑛 (K) 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 (K) 𝑇 Percentage

Change
43 33 316.15 306.15 10.0 3.16

38 32.5 311.15 305.65 5.5 1.77

35 31.3 308.15 304.45 3.7 1.20

Hypothesis
1) Increasing the flow rate of air necessarily increases the heat transfer and hence more cooling
of water
Even though increasing the airflow causes quick removal of humidified air and brings more and
more less humid air in contact with falling water, there is also a decrease in time for which a
particular segment of air and water remain in contact with each other.
Hence the 2 contradicting factors work together to get a result.

In the case of this experiment, we find that the decrease in contact time plays a dominant role
and as the airflow rate is increased, the percentage change in temperature of water decreases.
 Safety Precautions

1. Ensure the valve V1(cooling tower inlet water valve) in partly open position and
remaining valves in fully open position.
2. Restrict the flow rate of inlet water to cooling tower to 100 LPM.
3. Don’t touch any electrical connections.
4. Don’t put hands in any rotating equipment like fan, pump shaft etc.
5. If any equipment malfunctions, turn off electric mains immediately.