PRESENTATION OF 
COOLING TOWERS 

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1) Definition of Cooling Tower:-

A Cooling tower is evaporative equipment where hot water from the process is cooled
and cold water is circulated back to the process. Here cooling taking place by the
principle of evaporation. Hot water is coming in close contact over a media called fill
and atmospheric air is interacting with the hot water and cooling taking place. Here
the atmospheric wet bulb temperature plays an important role. No water in a cooling
tower can be cooled to the wet bulb temperature but water is cooled near to the wet
bulb temperature. The amount of cooling depends on the type of fill, volume of fill and
quantity of air drawn and the size of the cooling tower.

Cooling Tower Fundamentals:

PRINCIPLE:

Evaporation Cooling Towers operate on the fundamental principle that any liquid when it
evaporates carries away with the vapour some quantity of heat from the bulk of the liquid.
This results in the liquid getting cooled. This process can be visualized if you consider a
water pond. Even on a very hot day the bulk of the water remains relatively cool as
surface evaporation takes place.

It is evident that greater the quantity of liquid evaporated, cooler it becomes. To achieve
this, the flow of the medium which carries away the vapour should be enhanced. In the
case of a cooling tower, air is responsible for carrying away water vapour. In other words,
the weight ratio of water to air governs the quantity of water evaporated which in turn
dictates the amount of cooling which can be obtained. The efficiency of different

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evaporative water cooling equipment can be judged from this aspect.

Cooling Efficiency
Cooling pond: Marginal Airflow
Poor
Spray pond: Reasonable Airflow

Atmospheric Tower: Reasonable Airflow Cooling Towers

Hyperbolic Natural Draft & Mechanical Draught: controlled Airflow

Good

It is clear that since hyperbolic natural draught or mechanical draught cooling towers can
be designed to operate at any specific water / air ratio, they are the most efficient in this
category. Here, it must be borne in mind that a natural draught cooling tower is not as
versatile as its counterpart since the performance is related to not only wet bulb
temperature but also relative humidity.

2) Application of Cooling Tower:

Today in almost all industries cooling towers are used where water is to be conserved
and where assured cold water temperature is required for the process. Cooling Towers
are used in thermal power stations, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, fertilizers plants,
core industries like cement and steel, air-conditioning and refrigeration. Thus cooling
tower occupies a prominent place in a industry.

3) Classification of Cooling Tower:

i) Cooling towers are classified as mechanical induced draft towers where
atmospheric air is induced into the tower by a fan.
ii) Cooling tower are termed as natural draft towers where air is induced by the
difference in densities of incoming and outgoing air by chimney action.
iii) Cooling towers are again classified as cross flow and counter flow towers
depending upon the movement of air and water. In cross flow towers air moves
horizontally over the fills and the water falls vertically. In a counter flow tower air
moves vertically upwards and the water falls vertically downwards.
iv) Cooling towers are named as wood, concrete and FRP/GRP depending upon
the type of materials used for the structure.
v) Cooling towers are also named after the type of fill used namely splash bars
called splash type cooling towers and film type fill called film cooling towers.
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INTRODUCTION:

1.1. COOLING TOWERS – APPLICATIONS

1.1.1 In almost all industries and power plants, water is the most commonly used
cooling medium for the following purposes:

a) To absorb the heat generated during the various processes and thereby
maintain the associated surface temperature within permissible limits.

b) To absorb the heat generated in rotating equipment bearings.

c) To maintain the surface temperature of the walls of equipment subjected to

high temperatures such as furnaces, steel rolling mills etc.

d) Condensing of turbine exhaust stream in thermal and nuclear power stations

e) Recycling of cooling water in air-conditioning systems.

1.1.2 The heat absorbed by the cooling water can be dissipated by one of the
following two methods:

a) Discharging the hot water into a large body of water such as the sea, a river
or a pond.

b) Dissipating the heat to atmospheric air in an external heat exchanging

equipments and the cooled water is returned to the cooling system.

Method 1.1.2 (a) above is not feasible in many cases due to non-availability of
sea/river/pond in the vicinity of the plant and also sometimes due to environmental
restrictions on letting out hot water into the sea or a river. Hence in a majority of cases
method 1.1.2 (b), i.e. recirculation system is adopted and a cooling tower finds its use in
such a system to transfer the heat from water to air.

(3A) CLASSIFICATION:

Cooling towers are classified on the basis of (a) type of draft and (b) type of
airflow in addition to the operating principle.

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1.4.1 Type of Draft

In a cooling tower depends on the natural buoyancy of air due to density

difference between hot and cold air and the chimney effect created by the
tower shape, it is called Natural Draft Cooling Tower (NDCT) (Fig.2). A variation in
NDCT used for small capacities is the Atmospheric Spray Tower which makes use
of the aspirating effects of spray nozzles (Fig.3). On the other hand, if fans are
employed to create air movement in a tower, it is called a Mechanical Draft
Cooling Tower (MDCT). MDCT is further sub-classified as induced draft (ID) or
Forced Draft (FD) tower (Figs. 4 & 5) depending on whether the airflow is induced
from fans at the top or forced from the sides in the bottom portion of the tower.
Assisted Draft (AD) towers combine the features of both NDCT and MDCT in that
the airflow is caused partly by thermo-gravimetric (chimney) effect due to
hyperbolic shell and partly by the fans (Fig.6). Fans may also be used only during
peak loads in the AD towers.

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1.4.2 Type of Airflow

When the airflow is upward in a direction opposite to the water flow, the tower is
called counterflow tower (Fig. 4a). If the flow of air is horizontal across the
direction of water flow, then it is called crossflow tower (Fig. 4b).

1.4.3 Comparison of Cooling Tower Types

a) Wet versus Dry: The capital cost of dry cooling tower is much higher than that of
wet cooling towers. In dry tower, there is no evaporative cooling, and the heat
transfer depends only on water-to-air heat exchange in the cooling coils. Thus for
the same application, the specific thermal capacity of a dry tower is less than a
wet tower and the physical size, much higher. However, the dry towers can
complete economically with their wet counterparts if the availability of water is
very scarce and costly in case of a wet system. Further, in areas with strict
environmental pollution restrictions, dry cooling towers are the obvious choice.
Table 1 presents a detailed comparison of wet and dry cooling towers.

TABLE 1: COMPARISON BETWEEN WET AND DRY COOLING TOWERS

S. No. Item Wet Tower Dry Tower

1. Specific thermal Higher than dry tower Lower due to the absence of
capacity evaporation cooling
2. Cooling water Dependent on atmospheric Dependent on atmospheric dry
temperature wet bulb temperature bulb temperature. This results in
higher cooling water
temperatures and turbine back
pressures especially in tropical
climates like India.
3. Location of plant Should be nearer to a large Since no makeup water is
or medium source of water required, plant location is more
flexible and could be near a
pithead or power distribution
centre (in case of a power
plant). This results in low fuel
transportation / power
distribution cost.
4. Environment impact Drift and fogging are major There is no environmental
problems pollution.
5. Initial investment Less than for dry tower For the same application, the
capital cost is three to four times

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more than wet tower.

6. Maintenance More because the tower Less expensive to maintenance.
requires costly chemical Absence of corrosion allows use
additives, cleaning due to of steel frame for tower body.
corrosion / scaling and
fouling
7. Fan power Comparatively less Higher fan HP is required for the
consumption same capacity of tower.

b) NDCT versus MDCT: The initial investment of NDCT is higher but total operating
costs are lower compared to MDCT. Hence the selection based on net
evaluated cost is ultimately dictated by the tower capacity (quantity of cooling
water to be handled). Economics favour NDCT for very large capacities like in
power stations. Although space requirement is more for NDCT, the problems of
drift, fog, noise and recirculation are negligible when compared to MDCT. From
power consumption and maintenance points of view also, NDCT is
advantageous. Similarly location of NDCT could be closer to the plant thus
reducing piping costs unlike in the case of MDCT where location is further from
the plant to avoid drift nuisance and to ensure proper airflow. Nevertheless,
where capacities are not very large MDCT is preferred for overall economic
considerations, low initial capacity investment and speed of construction.
Another major advantage of MDCT is that the tower can be multi-cell
construction (Fig.7) with a number of identical cells into which the water flow
can be distributed. Each cell is complete with its own fan assembly, hot water
distribution system and Fill. This provides considerable flexibility in operation as
well as facility to increase the cooling tower capacity by adding more cells.
Table 2 presents a detailed comparison of NDCT and MDCT including the factors
governing section of tower type and location.

TABLE 2: COMPARISON BETWEEN MECHANICAL AND NATURAL COOLING TOWERS

S. Item Mechanical Draft Natural Draft

No.

1. Location i. Must be located sufficiently i. Can be relatively closer to the

away from other structures / plant buildings since there is
buildings to provide free no drift problem.
passage for airflow.

ii. In case of multiple units, ii. There is no loss of efficiency

special consideration must
be given to avoid
recirculation of humid
exhaust air.
due to recirculation since hot
air is discharged from the top
of the tower at considerable
height. Towers can be
grouped closely together

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iii. Wind direction needs to be
critically studied and towers
must be located away from
switchyard, etc. to avoid
drift nuisance.
2. Initial Initial capital outlay is less
Investment because of smaller size as
compared to NDCT (About 60%
for the same capacity).
3. Operational Annual costs in terms of energy
cost consumption of the fans (750 to
1000 KW for a tower in 210 MW
power plant).
4. Maintenance Requires regular maintenance
cost for continuous, trouble free
operation of fans and gear
drives.
5. Recirculation These are major problems as
fogging they impose restriction on tower
dimensions, require orientation
with prevailing winds and require
additional capacity for
recirculation, etc.
6. Construction Construction is faster (about 15 –
time 18 months for a tower of 30,000
m3/hr tower capacity)
7. Flexibility of More flexible in view of multiple
operation cell construction. This facilitates
maintenance of one cell at a
time without appreciably
affecting the overall tower
saving considerable space.
However, aerodynamic model
studies are required for
deciding configuration of
cluster of towers.
iii. Not suitable for plant sites in
the vicinity of airports.
Initial capital outlay is more in view
of the large size of tower and
special construction techniques
required for tall structures.
No operational (running) cost is
involved.
Virtually no maintenance is
required only periodic inspection
of nozzles and fill packing may be
necessary.
Because of elevated air discharge
there is hardly any recirculation
problem.
Construction period is
considerably longer (about 24 – 30
months (for 30,000 m3/hr tower
capacity). Special care needs to
be taken during construction to
achieve required hyperbolic
profile of the tower shell.
Normally, the tower will have two
halves and one half can be taken
out for maintenance. This will result
in 50% capacity reduction which
affects operation of the main
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capacity can be augmented by plant. Tower capacity may be

additional of cells as and when augmented to a limited extent by
required. changing the fill design.

8. Fire Prone to greater risks since larger Fire risk is comparatively less.
quantities of wood are used.

9. Cooling water Closer approaches to wet bulb Approach less than 4.5°C is not
temperature are achievable practicable.
and towers can be designed
even with higher design WBT.

c) Crossflow versus Counterflow: Counterflow operation provides more efficient

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heat transfer because the hot air comes in contact with hot water and coolest
air comes in contact with the coolest water initially. Crossflow tower have fill in a
ring outside the tower to transfer effectively the required quantity of heat to the
air flowing normal to the water movement. Fill inside counterflow towers must be
spread over a large area. Fill in the crossflow towers is stacked higher which
results in higher pumping head. Crossflow towers offer less resistance to airflow
and can operate at higher velocities than counterflow towers, thus requiring
smaller cell size and lesser fan horsepower for comparable outputs. In view of the
above, both the above types are accepted and the choice is normally left to
the manufacturers depending on the specific applications and their standard
design. Table 3, presents a detailed comparison of counterflow and crossflow
towers.

TABLE 3: COMPARISON OF COUNTERFLOW AND CROSSFLOW COOLING TOWERS

S. No. Item Counterflow Crossflow

1. Heat transfer and More efficient and can Less efficient and approach is
approach operate with lower higher
approach
2. Pumping head Less compared to the Higher because the fill is
crossflow stacked higher
3. Fan Horsepower More compared to the Crossflow construction offers less
crossflow air resistance thus requiring less
horsepower
4. Size More compared to the For the same output, crossflow
crossflow towers are more compact
5. Biological attack Comparatively less Due to large plenum area,
crossflow towers are more prone
to biological attack. Open type
of distribution exposes water to
sunlight and allows lime and
algae growth
6. Maintenance Comparatively less Maintenance / repair work is
more

¾ Early cooling towers served the urban power plants having limited space and
MDCT or NDCT were used. Spray ponds were for the larger power plants
located in more remote areas.

¾ Hyperbolic ND tower designed by the Dutch Engieers F.K. Herson and G.

Kuypers in 1920 is a variation of the earlier ND towers of cylindrical
configuration followed by a pair of truncated cones. Using the principles
applied in the design of Eiffel Tower, the thin RC shell in the shape of a

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hyperboloid takes advantage of the superior strength of the double curved

surface requiring lesser construction materials and at the same time offers a
close match to the natural flow of air through the tower shell. These towers
were first used in Europe and other areas with a moderate summer climate in
1930s and were introduced in India in 1934-35 but were more common by
1947-48.

¾ In the MDCT type, forced draft (FD) towers were more common at first
(1940s) but due to the tendency of recirculation of hot discharge air to the
inlet and noise problem, the induced draft towers began to predominate by
1945. Today almost all MDCTs are essentially ID towers.

¾ Crossflow towers were developed to meet requirement such as increased

water throughout, lower architectural profile demands and greater utilization
of electrical energy. Hot water is brought (pumped) to the top of the tower
and let into basins / pond from where it splashes through specially designed
orifices on top of the fill area. This helped in water being split into a number of
minute droplets, thus providing large contact surface area ratio between the
air and water which results in effective cooling.

¾ Film type packing was developed to improve heat transfer by directing the
hot water to flow in the form of this over vertical sheets exposing large surface
to the air.

¾ Advances in fan blade technology have introduced the use of light materials
with high strength such as plastics and fibre reinforced plastic which
extended the use of fans for larger diameter towers. Fan diameters upto 10 m
have been achieved by Indian cooling tower suppliers.

¾ As for the tower capacities, the initial cooling towers during 1930-40 had
typical water flow rates of the order of 2500-3000 m3/hr for ND towers and 50-
100 m3/hr for ID towers. ND tower capacities around 10,000 m3/hr and ID
tower capacities around 20,000 m3/hr with individual cell capacities upto
3,000 m3/hr could be observed in the installation during 1960s. At present, ND
towers upto 40,800 m3/hr with tower heights upto 141 m and ID towers of
similar capacities with fan diameters upto 10 m are used in India.

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CLASSIFICATION OF COOLING TOWERS

CLASSIFICATION OF COOLING TOWERS

Mechanical Draft  Natural Draft 

WET    DRY 

Induced Draft  Forced Draft 

Cross flow  Counterflow 

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(4A)PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

A cooling tower is a heat dissipater which produces the requisite temperature

drop in the warm circulating water received from the plant and returns the cold
water over and again to the plant. Basically, heat is transferred from the warm
water to the ambient air in a cooling tower. Depending on the method(s) of
heat transfer, towers are broadly divided into two categories viz., (a) wet cooling
towers and (b) dry cooling towers.

In a wet cooling tower (Fig. 1A), water comes directly into contact with the
ambient air and cooling is achieved mainly by evaporative process in which a
small portion of water gets converted of vapor, thus carrying away the latent
heat of evaporation. In addition, the air gets heated up by carrying away some
sensible heat from the hot water. The contributions of evaporative cooling and
sensible heat transfer are roughly 75% and 25% respectively. The net result of
both brings down the water temperature to the desired level. Since some
quantity of water is lost by evaporation, it is necessary to supply makeup water
(to the extent of 0.7% to 2% of cooling water flow) from an external source.

In a dry cooling tower, water and air do not come into direct contact with each
other and cooling is achieved basically by a water-to-air heat exchanger. Hot
water flow through finned tubes and the ambient air, while passing over the
finned aluminum / galvanized steel tubes, absorbs the heat from the water. In a
direct dry cooling, normally known as air-cooled condenser (Figure 1B), the
steam passing through finned tubes is condensed by dissipating heat to the air
flowing over the tubes.

In a wet cooling tower, because of evaporative process of cooling, the cooling

water temperature is governed by atmospheric wet bulb temperature (WBT);
whereas in a dry cooling tower, the cold water temperature is governed by the
dry bulb temperature (DBT) of the ambient air.

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5) Definition, nomenclature and units

There are several technical terms that are used in a cooling tower and a thorough
knowledge of this terminology will be useful.
i) Hot water temperature (HWT) is the temperature of returning hot water from the
process to the cooling tower To C or F.
ii) Cold water temperature (CWT) is the temperature of water after cooling in a
cooling tower which will be collected in a cold water basin and will be returned
to the process called CWT ( T o C or F).
iii) Design wet bulb temperature (DWBT) is the temperature of the entering air which
varies season to season and on relative humidity. This is a very important
parameter for the design and selection of cooling tower. This is different from dry
bulb temperature. Dry bulb temperature is always higher than wet bulb
temperature depending upon the relative humidity of air (T3)
iv) Cooling range is the difference of temperature between the hot water and cold
water (T1-T2) o C or F. This parameter depends on the process requirement and
gives the total heat load on the tower to be cooled. It is named as R=(T1-T2) o C.
v) Approach is the difference of temperatures between the cold water and wet
bulb. It is termed as Δ-(T2-T3) o C or F closer the approach to the wet bulb
temperature the tower size will change. No water in a cooling tower can be
cooled to the wet bulb temperature.
vi) Flow or Quantity of water (Q) m3/hr- It is total quantity of water to be cooled in a
cooling tower.
vii) Heat Load – It is the total heat load to be dissipated from the cooling tower.
viii) Heat Load = Q Flow of Water x Range o C = Kcal/hr in M3/hr.
ix) Cell – It is number of units in which total flow of cooling tower is divided. For
example if flow to Cooling Tower is 2000 M3/Hr and number of cells is 4 then two
per cell will be 500 M3/Hr and Fan, Size of cell etc. shall be designed accordingly.
x) Design Parameter:
A cooling tower is designed and given performance guarantees for the design
parameter namely HWT, CWT/DWBT, Range, Approach and quantity of water.
xi) Pumping Head:
It is the head of water in meters and is equal to the height from a specified
point namely finished ground level or maximum water level in the basin to
the center line of hot water main plus the frictional losses in the pipe line and

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valves. The pumping head available is specified by the client in the tender
specification and has to be maintained. In other words the height of the
cooling tower is restricted by the specified pumping head. The pumping
head is an indirect cost parameter cost parameter as the water has to be
pumped by pumps consuming power.
xii) Air Travel:
This term is applicable to cross flow towers only. It is the horizontal distance in
meters on either side of the tower where the fill is spaced and air moves
horizontally. Normally the maximum air travel provided is 6 m (20 ft). More
the air travel greater is the efficiency of tower and at the same time
increases the static pressure losses.

xiii) Fill Height:

It is the height of the cooling tower in which the fill is provided. Normally the fill
height is the distance from the top of the cold water basin to the bottom of
the hot water distribution basin in a cross flow tower and from the top of air
inlet to the bottom of the hot water pipe in a counter flow tower.

xiv) Fill Volume:

It is the total volume content in a cooling tower in which the fill is provided.
The greater the fill volume, the more is the efficiency of tower.

xv) Splash Bars:

These are horizontal bars provided at a specified spacing horizontally and
vertically depending on the thermal design. These splash bars can be
rectangular, triangular, semi elliptical, hollow tube and square. These are
made up of ASCU wood, PVC, prestressed concrete etc. Splash bars are
used both for cross flow and counter flow towers. As the water falls over the
splash bars, they create several water droplets.

xvi) Film packing:

Normally film packing is used for counterflow towers and is made of PVC
sheets of 0.2 to 1.5 mm thick and spaced at 12 to 27 mm. This film packing
has a tendency for choking when the water is hard contains lot of
suspended solids and dust laden air.

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xvii) Splash Surface Area:

It is the total area of splash bars which offers exposed area to splashing of
water.

xviii) Wetted Surface Area:

It is the total per meter multiplied by length giving the contact area for air
and water for cooling.

xiv) Heat Balance:

It is the heat calculations of incoming air and outgoing air expressed in
BTU/vs dry air.

xv) L/G Ratio:

This is the most important parameter in cooing tower design.

L - Represents the quantity of water and

G - Represents the quantity of air.

L/G ratio depends upon the fill selected, and upon the height of fill. For a
particular tower, greater the L/G ratio, the lesser the quantity of air to be
used. L/G ratio of two cannot just be compared.

xvi) Static Pressure losses:

When air moves through the cooling tower, resistance is offered at louvers,
fill, eliminator etc. These static pressure losses are necessary for the selection
of the fan and power consumed by the motor. These losses are expressed in
inches of mercury. As the air velocity increase these pressure curves
increases to the square and the inverse velocities. The standard air density is
27lb/min/ft2.

xvii) Velocity Pressure:

It is the loss of head in inches of mercury due to the movement of air through
the fan located in the fan cylinder. This depends upon the quantity of air
drawn, net discharge area of the fan and the density of the outgoing air.

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xviii) Total Pressure Loss is the sum of static and velocity pressure after velocity
recovery depending upon stack height.

xix) Fan Efficiencies:

These are the static and total efficiencies. These are necessary for the design of
the fan. These efficiencies depend on static and dynamic pressures.

xx) Guaranteed Power

It is the power consumed at motor terminals, when the cooling tower is
functioning at design parameters. This is an important parameter guaranteed
by the cooling tower supplier which indirectly represents the correct cooling
tower selection for the expected performance. This is an important factor for
evaluation of cost by the client.

xxi) Performance test:

Any cooling tower supplied by a vender has to be tested for performance at
design parameter as per the test procedure specified by the cooling tower
institute ATP 105.

xxii) Performance Curves:

The cooling tower supplier has to supply performance curves for the tower
selected showing the relationship between the DWBT and cold water
temperature at 80%, 90%, 110% flow, and at range variation of + 20%.
These curves will help for the determinations of performance of cooling
towers at other parameters of flow, range and wet bulb temperature.
These curves are very important from the performance point of view of the
tower in relation to the specified design parameters and will reveal whether
the tower is properly selected or not.

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1.2 DIFINITIONS

Definitions of salient terms relevant to cooling tower is given below for ready
reference:

a) Approach: Difference in the cold water (cooling tower outlet)

temperature and the corresponding wet bulb temperature of the ambient
air. Theoretically, the maximum cooling achievable in a cooling tower
corresponds to an approach of zero which will require an infinite cooling
area. Minimum approach that can be achieved is about 3°C.

b) Range: Difference in the hot water (cooling tower inlet) and cold water
(cooling tower outlet) temperature (°C).

c) Capacity: Average rate of flow of water circulating in the system and

being handed by the cooling tower (M3/hr).

d) Wet Bulb Temperature: Temperature as indicated by a thermometer, the Bulb

of which is kept moist by wick over which air is circulated. This is, theoretically,
the lowest temperature to which water can b cooled and it depends on the
dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of the ambient air (°C).

e) Dry Bulb Temperature: External outdoor temperature as indicated by a dry

bulb temperature (°C).

f) Drift: Loss of water in the form of air-borne particles carried away by the
exhaust air expressed as % of circulating water flow rate.

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Recirculation: Tendency for the hot air to be sucked along with the ambient (cold)
air into the tower. This takes place in mechanical draft cooling towers has an
adverse effect on the tower performance if spacing of cells and orientation of the
tower with respect to prevailing winds are not proper.

EXAMPLE:

A cooling tower is designed to cool water from 41°C to 31°C at a design wet bulb
temperature of 26°C. What will be the relative size of a cooling tower designed to handle
the same quantity of water from 48°C to 33°C at a design wet bulb temperature of 30°C?

For the first tower,

Range = 10°C; Approach = 5°C

From Fig. 1 a or b, (Step 1) Ö Range tower size = 0.86

From the second tower,

Range = 15°C; Approach = 3°C

(Step 2) Ö Relative tower size = 1.6

From Fig. 1 ©, (Step 3)

Wet bulb (30°C) correction = 0.8

Relative size of second tower compared to first tower

1.6 x 0.8
= –––––––– = 1.488
0.86

PRESSURE DROPS:

Consider a duct having some obstruction as shown in Fig. 2.

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If air has to move through the duct resistance offered by the

obstruction must be overcome. In the case of an open
system where the air is exhausted, then it will have to
overcome velocity pressure losses also. So the air moving
given by,

Total pressure = Obstruction Resistance + velocity Pressure

Commonly,

Total Pressure = Static Pressure + Velocity Pressure i.e.

(TWG) (SWG) (Vp)

TWG = SWG + Vp

The pressure encountered on cooling towers is so low that normal units like Kg/cm2, psi etc.,
are not used. A reasonable unit which can express these pressures in measureable
quantities is used and this is known as water gauge.

STATIC PRESSURE:

Modern cooling tower designs use SWG, ranging from 5 to 13 mm H2O (These are
equivalent to 5 / 10,000 to 13 / 10,000 Kg./cm2 pressure. You will realize why conventional
units of pressure are not used in cooling tower work).

The total SWG consist of resistances offered by air inlet, fills, drift eliminators, water load and
miscellaneous factors.

VELOCITY PRESSURE:

If ‘Q’ M3/hr of air passes through an area ‘A’ in m2 then,

Q 2
Vp = –––––––––– mm WG
14,400 A

It will be evident that larger the area, lesser will be (Vp). This aspect is effectively used in
reducing the total pressure by adopting a velocity recovery cone.

This can best be illustrated by an example.

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A 3050 mm dia. cooling tower fan is to handle 2,50,000 M3/hr of air and has to overcome
static pressure loss of 10 mm H2O. What will be the total pressure with and without recovery
cone?

Ref. Fig. 3,

Without recovery cone, area A1 = 6.97 m2

2,50,000 2
Vp = –––––––––– mm WG
14,400 x 6.97

= 6.2 mm H2O

TWG = SWG + Vp1 = 10 + 6.2 = 16.2 mm H2O

With recovery cone area A2 = 10.09 m2

2,50,000 2
Vp = –––––––––––––– mm WG
14,400 x 10.09

= 6.96 mm H2O

Now let us consider the recovery cone as a separate unit fitted on the fan throat. It can be
seen that the velocity pressure is reduced from 6.2 mm to 2.96 mm. The effect is that a
suction pressure of 3.24 mm results upstream of the fan. The net outcome is that the
effective static pressure will be reduced to that extent. While theoretically this is true, due
to losses in the recovery cone, the full suction pressure is not obtainable. From the type of
recovery cone used in cooling tower application it has been found that the efficiency of
recovery is over 75%. This suction pressure is commonly known as velocity pressure recovery
Vpr.

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(6) Cooling Tower Components

i) Inlet louvers - ACB Blades, RCC Louvers
ii) Fills - Splash Bars or film. Fill of PVC
iii) Drift Eliminator - ACB Blades, PVC Blades, hexagonal type wood laths.
iv) Nozzles - Polypropylene / PVC target nozzles.
v) Hot water piping - Hot water pipe MS.
vi) Distribution pipes - PVC or ACB, HDPE
vii) Flow control valves - To control the flow pe cell butterfly or gate type or
horizontal flow control valves.
viii Fans - Aluminium, FRP/GRP blades with MS HDG hub.
ix) Drive Shaft - MS HDG or SS 304 or SS 316 tubules with non
flexible lubricating couplings.
x) Motors - Squirrel cage induction type comforting to I.S 325
with class B or class F insulation

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xi) Vibration limit switch to cut off the motor when the vibration of tower
exceeds the limits.
xii) Mechanical Handling Equipment – This consists of mono rail beam in fan
cylinder with a chain pulley block, trolley and end wall deck for big capacity
cooling towers.
xiii) Earthing, lighting protection by GI plates for big capacity cooling towers.
xiv) Gates and screens in the cold water outlet for big capacity cooling towers.
xv) Sludge valves, piping and overflow for big capacity cooling towers.
xvi) Structure – ASCU wood or RCC and HDGMS.
xvii) Hot water basin cover for cross flow towers.
xviii) Hardware for towers such as bolts, nuts of HDGMS / SS-304 and nails of SS 304.
xix) Gear Box of spiral bevel or spiral bevel cum helical design.
xx) Splash bar Supporting grids of SS for cross flow cooling tower.

(7) Specific applications of Cooling Tower

Though there are no absolute guidelines for specific type of cooling towers to be
used for specific applications. Practice or experience has adopted some
recommendations.
1) Hyperbolic natural towers since towers are used for thermal power stations
specially nuclear thermal power stations. In hyperbolic towers since there are no
mechanical components like fan, gearbox, drive shaft and motor there is no
chance of failure of a cooling towers due to mechanical equipment. The
function of the cooling tower is achieved by chimney action of air movement.
The capital cost, the time of construction are comparatively more that of a
mechanical draft tower. The running expenses due to maintenance and power
consumption are practically nil. These cooling towers are used for flow of 20,000
m3/hr to 40,000 m3/hr, with range of 9 oC and approach of 5oC to 7oC.
2) Cooling tower with treated wood structure and wooden splash bars are used
everywhere including in high earth earthquake zones because of the their better
ductility and better resistance and also where the waters are highly
contaminated with alkalis or acids or suspended solids.
3) Reinforced concrete cooling towers with prestressed concrete fill are better
suited for thermal power stations where the water is relatively good. The life of
these towers is more compared to wooden towers.
4) Counter flow towers with film packing are more used where water is good.
5) Splash bar cooling towers are more suited for water of high-suspended solids and
dust laden atmosphere, as film type will get clogging of fills.

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6) Where corrosion is predominant due to outside pollution or due to hard water

PVC splash bar type or film type filling is more suited.
7) For small cooling tower of 100 TR to 500 TR packaged GRP/FRP towers unit with
self design fans (i.e.) direct driven motor are adopted. Also these are light in
weight and can be installed higher heights such as on the top of the building.
8) Above all, a particular type of tower is used based upon the site condition, water
quality, experience of the supplier and upon the reliability of the past
performance of the towers.

(8) Water Chemistry and water Treatment

The recirculating water in the cooling tower is the most important pollutant
causing corrosion to the cooling tower components. The waters may be acidic
or alkaline. The acidic waters cause corrosion and alkalic waters cause scale
formations. The suspended solids in the water cause settlement over fill material.
There is also fungus growth and algae (weed formation) in hot water basins
when exposed to sun rays. Due to evaporation of water the total solids contents
will increase reducing the efficiency of the tower. Thus the recirculation waters
causes great harm to the components of the cooling towers and reduces the
performance of the cooling tower. The subject of water chemistry and water
treatment has been neglected and proper remedial measures in the form of
water treatment are not done to the cooling towers. The following are some of
the treatments to be done for proper functioning of the cooling tower.

(1) Acid dosing with sulphuric acid.

(2) Chlorine dosing to maintain pH values an prevent algae growth.
(3) Biocide dosing.
(4) Settlement tanks.
(5) Make up water additions to maintain total dissolved contents under
permissible limits.

The water treatment is an additional cost to the cooling tower which cannot be
avoided as a part of maintenance of the cooling tower.

Also, it is important to detect the presence of hydrocarbons in the recirculation

waters, which are dangerous for cooling towers of coil refineries.
So, it is necessary to educate the clients for the necessary water treatment
without, which the cooling towers will not function properly.

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Actual Vpr = (Vp1 – Vp2) x 0.75

= 3.24 x 0.75 = 2.43 mm

Effective SWGe = 10 – 2.43 = 7.57 mm H2O

It must be understand that we have treated recovery cone as a separate unit and what it
does has been fully accounted for. Hence, we have to go back to fan throat to obtain
TWG.

TWG = SWGe + Vp1

= 7.57 + 6.2
= 13.77 mm

Alternatively, fan with recovery cone may be taken as one unit.

In this case,

TWG = SWG + R/C losses + Vp2

= 10 + 3.24 (1 – 0.75) + 2.96
= 13.77 mm

So, by adopting a recovery cone the total pressure has been reduced from 16.2 to 13.77
mm.

This results in considerable saving on fan power consumption.

FAN POWER:

In a fan, the ratio of actual pressure developed to theoretical pressure is known as total
efficiency. The pressure losses are due to aerodynamic phenomena like drag, swirl, tip
clearance etc.

For cooling tower fans the following total efficiencies may be used.

Dia. in mm 600-1200 1350-2100 2240-3050 7320-Larger

Efficiency ŋT 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 – 0.82

Q x TWG
KW at Fan Shaft –––––––––––––––– = FKW
3.68 x 105 x ŋT
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In ŋG is the transmission efficiency (usually gearbox)

FKW
KW at Motor Shaft = –––––– = MKW
ŋG

Motor Efficiency = ŋM

MKW
Input KW to Motor = –––––––––
ŋM

All the above calculations are based on the fan handling air at 15°C and 760 mm Hg (STP).
In cooling tower application the fan will be handling air at higher temperatures. At this
temperature the density of air will be lower and hence the fan power consumption also will
be reduced. The ratio of density of air at actual exit air temperature (Tex) to that at 15°C is
known as relative density ‘Rd’.

273 + 15
Rd = ––––––––––––
273 + Tex

KW = KWSTP x Rd

Elevation correction is usually not applied as this will be negligible in cooling tower
application, unless the installation is at heights above 150 metres.

COOLING TOWER TERMINOLOGY:

Ambient Dry Bulb Temperature: External outdoor temperature.

Ambient Wet Bulb Temperature: External wet bulb temperature; temperature indicated
by a thermometer whose bulb is kept moist with water over a wick and over which a
steady airflow is maintained.

Approach: Difference between cold water and wet bulb temperature.

Basin: Cold water collection trough.

Blow down: Bleeding off a portion of circulating water for controlling the salt
concentration in the circulating water.

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Cell: Sub-division of a cooling tower which can operate independently.

Cycle of Concentration (COC): Ratio of dissolved solids in circulating water to that in the
makeup water.

Design Conditions (Thermal): Specified water flow rate, cooling rang, approach and wet
bulb temperature.

Distribution System: Method used to distribute hot water evenly over the entire fill area.

Drift Loss: Water droplets carried away by the air draught.

Drift Eliminator: Baffles used to reduce drift losses.

Evaporation Loss: The quantity of water removed as vapour from the circulating water.

Fill: Baffles used to spread water and provide large water to air contact area.

Inlet Louvers: Baffles used to direct air into the tower.

Makeup: Water required to be added to the circulating water to account for

evaporation, blow down, drift and leakage losses.

Psychrometer: Instrument used to measure wet bulb temperature.

Pumping Head: Overall pumping head depends upon piping, fittings, and connected
equipment and height differences. Normally cooling tower supplier specifies pump head
required for the cooling tower with respect to a datum level (usually basic curb or cill
level). This consists of level difference between hot water discharge point and cill.

Recirculation: Recycling of a portion of exit air from tower back into the tower through the
air inlets.

Sump: A depressed portion of the basin from which cold water is taken out.

USEFUL INFORMATION:

Makeup water requirement:

M = E + B + D

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Where,

M = makeup as % circulation rate

E = evaporation loss as % circulation rate
B = blow-down as % circulation rate
D = drift loss as % circulation rate

Evaporation losses can be calculated by using the thumb rule

Cooling range in °C
E = ––––––––––––––––––––––– %
6.11

Blow-down is given by,

E
B = ––––––––– – D
C–1

Where,

C = Cycles of concentration

Therefore,
E
M = E + –––––––– – D + D
C–1

C
= E –––––––––
C–1

In the above equation, cycles of concentration (C) shall be indicated by the main
equipment supplier.

Example:

In a recirculation water system makeup water contains 200 ppm of dissolved solids
whereas that permissible in the circulating water is 800 ppm. In the system the water is
cooled from 40°C to 32°C and water rate is 200 M3/hr. What are the blow-down and
makeup water rates?

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40 – 32
E = ––––––––– %
6.11

= 1.309%

800
C = ––––– = 4
200

E
B = –––––– – D
C–1

1.309
= ––––– – 0.2
3

(‘D’ is about 0.2% for mechanical draught cooling towers)

Therefore,

B = 0.236% = (200 x 0.236) / 100

= 0.472 M3/hr = 472 Kgs./hr

C
M = E –––––
C–1

4
= 1.309 x –––––
3
1.745
= 1.745% = 200 x ––––––
100

= 3.490 M3/hr = 3490 kgs/hr

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CONVERSION FACTOR:
°F – 32
°C = –––––––
1.8

1 kcal = 3.968 BTU

1
1 kcal/hr = BTUS / lb x ––––
1.8
USGPM
M3/hr = –––––––––
4.4

M3/hr = Cu.Ft/min x 1.7

For air
M3/kg = Cu.Ft/16 x 0.06243

1 kg/m2 = 1 mm water gauge

1 kg/cm2 = 14.22 lbs/sq.in

1 KW = 0.746 HP

(9) Bid evaluation and price evaluation of competitors bids.

Cooling tower selection is normally made to the design parameters specified and the
performance shall be guaranteed. This technically suitable tower selection is not a
straight forward process. There may be several alternatives, which are technically
correct. There are several variables, which lead to several selections. Since the
knowledge in the field of cooling towers is very much limited specially when there is no
technical literature, it is becoming difficult to assess the capability of the cooling towers.
Taking advantage of the situation certain unscrupulous suppliers quote underrated
cooling towers which are not to the specified design parameters.
Because of the dishonesty in the market for the supply of cooling towers by several
manufacturers, it is necessary for a technical competent bidder to evaluate the various
towers and explain to the client the mistake or intentional mischief of the supplier to
survive in the market. Here a correct selection of a cooling tower by a particular bidder
has become costly and he is not in a position to survive in the market. So it has become
necessary to analysis the various bids and expose the merits and demerits and the cost
implications. This is not a easy job unless thorough knowledge in the subject of cooling
towers is available.

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The following steps shall be followed for bid evaluation.

i) Check the design parameters namely total flow, HWT, CWT, DWBT are correctly
taken.
ii) Find out the number of cells provided and calculate and calculate flow per cell.
iii) Check the pumping head adopted whether it conforms to the clients
requirements.
iv) Write in the tabular form the cell length, fill height, height up to central line of HW
pipe, height up to fan deck and height up to top of fan cylinder, fan cylinder
height and diameters in the cross flow air travel.
v) Find out the fill adopted.
In the case of splash bars size, shape spacing horizontal and vertical. In film fill
height of fill, spacing of sheets, thickness
vi) Find out the fan BHP and guaranteed power taking gearbox efficiency and motor
efficiency. Check the service factor for gear box and margin of motor HP.
vii) Tabulate all the results in a tabular form and check the values given by each
bidder are same as calculated values.
Check for other details like
1) Basin depth.
2) Holding capacity of basin.
3) Provision of gate, screen overflow etc.
4) Mechanical handling equipment.
5) Total Scope of Supply

In the tender, the client specifies the power loading for fan motors. He also gives the
loading for cold water temperature.

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(10) Design aspects of cooling tower

There may be several alternatives of selection of cooling towers for a particular
parameter. Before attempting tower selection, study specification from the client for
the following.
1) Cross or counter flow
2) Fill type splash or film. If splash, the materials of splash bars
3) Pumping head restrictions
4) Space restrictions
5) No. of cell working & Standby
6) Power loading
7) Penalties for cold water temperature
8) Basin fittings
9) Terminal points for hot water, cold water, electrical, instrumentation and civil works
10) Time of completion

The best cooling tower selection is that one which gives the total prices to the minimum.
Sometimes the power loading is very high. In such cases the attempt should be that the
cost of power loading should be least. This may lead to a bigger cooling tower and
actual price of cooling tower may be more.

(11) Marketing Strategy

1) Identify the clients, consultants for the requirement of cooling towers. This
includes the existing one’s.
2) Today, all the existing cooling towers require maintenance, repairs, upgrading.
So, it is necessary to go clients and find out the problem of the existing cooling
towers.
3) Try for maintenance contracts at some places..
4) The companies representative, who goes for technical discussions, should be
strong in subject to point out all aspects including the mistake of the existing
cooling tower.
5) Unless client prefers, do not avoid civil works as they are 50% of the total cost and
client may not run for civil contractor.
6) Do not insist what you will supply (cross flow or counterflow). Study the mind of
the client and agree to supply a cooling tower he needs.

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7) Never give an impression to the client you are technically poor or lack facilities of
design and manufacturing etc.

12 INSTALLATION

1 FRP COOLING TOWERS NSTALLATION

With Basin without Basin

Foundation Drawing Foundation Drawing

2 Wooden

With basis IDP Services Foundation Drawing

Without basis others Foundation Drawing

3 RCC

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