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Chapter 14 Cooling Towers and Desiccant Dehumidification

Cooling Towers
Cross-flow Cooling Tower

Cooling tower process

&w c p,w Tw,in Tw,out


Capacity m
Range Tw ,in Tw ,out
Approach Tw ,out Twb ,in

Cooling Tower Performance using an Analogy to Heat Transfer


Equivalent capacity rate ratio

&a c s
m
m
&w c p, w
m
*

Effective specific heat

hw ,sat ,in hw ,sat ,out


dhw ,sat
cs

Tw ,in Tw ,out
dTw saturation

Number of transfer units

Effectiveness

'''
h
A
V
*
c
Ntu
&a c p,m
m
ha,out ha,in

*
hw ,sat,in ha,in

* f m* , Ntu*

Maximum heat transfer rate

& m
&a hw , sat , in ha,in
Q
max

Actual heat transfer rate (tower capacity)

& * m
&a hw , sat , in ha,in
Q

Water outlet temperature

Tw ,out Tw ,in

&a ha,out ha,in


m
mw ,in c p, w

Analogous Parameters for Sensible Heat Exchangers and Cooling Towers


Sensible Heat
Exchanger

Cooling Coil

C*

m*

Number of
Transfer Units

Ntu

Ntu*

Effectiveness

f C* , Ntu

Parameter
Capacitance
rate ratio

Maximum
heat flow
Heat flow

Cmin Th,in Tc,in

Cmin Th,in Tc,in

* f m* , Ntu*

&a hw ,sat ,in ha,in


m
&a hw ,sat ,in ha,in
* m

Example 14.1 Determine the performance of a counter flow cooling tower with
a water flow rate of 30,000 lbm/hr that enters the tower at 100 F. The air flow
rate is 6000 cfm and the ambient is at 85 F and 50 % relative humidity. The
tower has a fill volume of 900 ft3, a wetted area density of 3 ft2 of surface area
per cubic foot of volume, a convection coefficient of 6 Btu/hr-ft2-F and the
geometry is counterflow.
Ntu = 2.44.
cs = 1.397 Btu/lbm-F
m* = 1.258.
The effectiveness for counterflow = 0.644.
Maximum heat transfer rate = 642,684 Btu/hr.
Tower capacity = 599,785 Btu/hr
Water loss is = 546 lbm/hr
Water outlet temperature = 80.0 F.
Approach = 9.2 F
Range = 20.0 F.

Cooling Tower Selection Procedure


Cooling Tower Design Performance: Capacity (in gpm)
Model

Fan
power
(hp)

Tower
Volume
(ft3)

HW

95

100

95

100

90

95

90

95

CW

85

85

85

85

80

80

80

80

WB

80

80

75

75

70

70

64

64

492 A

140

53

42

84

63

74

56

102

75

492 B

140

68

53

107

80

95

71

131

96

493 A

210

87

69

137

103

122

91

168

123

493 B

210

101

79

160

120

142

106

197

144

494 A

350

125

101

190

147

170

131

229

172

494 B

350

140

112

213

164

190

146

256

192

494 C

350

167

134

254

196

227

174

304

229

495 A

470

196

157

299

230

268

205

361

270

495 B

470

223

178

340

262

304

233

410

307

496 A

640

273

219

414

319

371

285

497

374

496 B

7.5

640

310

248

470

362

421

324

563

425

HW
CW
WB

=
=
=

entering water temperature (F)


leaving water temperature (F)
atmospheric wet bulb temperature

Example 14.2 Select a cooling tower to reject the heat from the condenser of a
35 ton air-conditioning system, corresponding to a heat rejection of 500,000
Btu/hr. The design ambient wet bulb temperature is 78 F. The design data for
tower performance at this ambient wet bulb available from the catalog is given
in the table below.
Cooling Tower Design Performance: Capacity (in gpm)
Model

492 A
492 B
493 A
493 B
494 A
494 B
494 C

Fan
power
(hp)

Tower
Volume
(ft3)

1
2
2
3
2
3
5

140
140
210
210
350
350
350

HW
CW

95
85

97
87

100
85

102
87

WB

78

78

78

78

66
84
108
126
153
171
204

82
104
134
157
187
209
249

51
64
83
96
120
134
---

62
79
101
118
145
162
193

Required water flow rates

500,000 Btu / hr

10 F Range

&w
m

15 F Range

&w 67 gpm
m

1 Btu / lbm F *10 F

50,000 lbm / hr 100 gpm

Possible models

Model

Fan
power
(hp)

HW
(F)

CW
(F)

Range
(F)

Flow
(gpm)

Approach
(F)

492 A

102

87

15

62

492 B

100

85

15

64

492 B

97

87

10

104

493 A

95

85

10

108

Tradeoffs in Tower Selection:


A 5 F decrease in the water temperature will decrease condensing
temperature by 5 F and compressor power by 3 to 4 %.
Larger towers have lower water temperatures
Larger towers cost more
Larger air flows reduce range and yield lower water inlet temperature.
Larger air flows increase fan power
Larger water flows reduce water inlet temperature
Larger water flows increase pumping power

Desiccant Dehumidifiers

Schematic of a rotary desiccant dehumidifier

Desiccant equilibrium isotherm

Sorption and desorption processes for a desiccant

Heat and mass flows for sorption of water vapor at a desiccant surface

Process air stream, Ta, wa, ha


Water vapor

hg

Ta

hf

Td

Heat flow
Desiccant

Process diagram for ideal desiccant operation

Process waves for flow through a desiccant matrix

Process
Air stream
In

Temperature
waves
T
Humidity
Waves

Process
Air stream
Out

Desiccant Matrix

Tregeneration

Tintermediate
in

Fast wave

Slow wave

wregeneration

win
wintermediate

Distance from inlet

Schematic of the dehumidifier process

w1 w 2,actual

w1 w 2,ideal

h2,actual h2, ideal

h3 h2,ideal

Desiccant Dehumidification Systems

Schematic of a desiccant dehumidifier system

Process diagram for the desiccant dehumidification system

Example 14.2 The desiccant cycle shown in Figure 14.10 is used to provide
space conditioning in a supermarket. The store is maintained at 25 C and 50
% RH and has a sensible load of 30 kW and a latent load of 10 kW. The
desiccant system processes 1000 L/s of outdoor air at 35 C dry bulb and 25 C
wet bulb temperature. The desiccant wheel has mass and enthalpy
effectivenesses of 0.9 and 0.1, respectively. There is no purge section and
the process stream mixes with 3,000 L/s of recirculation air from the store.
The outdoor air is used for regeneration and the wheel has balanced flow.
The mixed stream is then sensibly cooled to the necessary supply state to
meet the load. Determine the states, the cooling coil load, and the
regeneration heat requirement

Supply humidity ratio required to meet the latent load = 0.00903 kgw/kga, which is the
humidity level at states 4 and 5.
Required humidity ratio at state 2 = 0.0064 kgw/kga.
Mass transfer effectiveness yields humidity ratio of the ideal outlet state (0.0053 kg w/kg).
Enthalpy of the ideal outlet state = enthalpy at state 1.
Relative humidity of the ideal state at ideal outlet humidity ratio and enthalpy = 4.0 %.
Humidity ratio of the regeneration state is the same as that of the ambient air.
Required enthalpy of the supply air, state 5, is that to meet the sensible load
Cooling coil load = 74.6 kW.
Regeneration heat requirement = 60.3 kW.

State

T
(C)

w
(kgw/kga)

h
(kJ/kg)

m
(kg/s)

35

0.0158

75. 9

1.12

64

0.0064

81.3

1.12

25

0.0099

50.3

3.50

34

0.0090

57.8

4.61

19

0.0090

41.7

4.61

87

0.0158

129.9

1.12

58

0.0253

124.4

1.12

Annual cost of operation for cooling season of 2000 hr.


Desiccant system
Electricity cost = $ 2,500 for a unit cost of $0.10/kWh
Natural gas cost = $ 2,400
Annual cost of operation = $ 5,000
Conventional CAV system
Electricity cost = $ 4,200
Reheat cost = $1,100
Annual cost of operation = $ 5,300
Dedicated Outdoor Air System (DOAS) system
Annual cost operation about $ 3,000.

Nomenclature

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