Cooling towers rating

Figure 6.4 Countercurrent cooling tower rating chart for 15° range. McDowell [ 1 ] provides a family of charts for different ranges.

The thermal design of cooling towers follows the same general procedures already presented. Integration of equation 35 is usually done numerically using the appropriate software, mass-transfer coefficients, saturation enthalpies, etc. In mechanical-draft towers the air and water dows are both suppHed by machines, and hence dow rates are fixed. Under these conditions the design procedure is straightforward. 

For most cooling towers in the United Kingdom, the exit air is saturated at a temperature close to the mean water temperature in the tower. Hence, if the water temperatures and the air inlet conditions are known, AH, AT, and AT can all be calculated, and Tcan be deterrnined. It was found that the quantity C was approximately constant for these towers, ca 0.4—0.5 (34). If the value of C is known for a given tower, then the left side of equation 49 can be computed and, setting this equal to Z9, the allowable Hquid flow rate can be found. Alternatively, when and air-inlet conditions are given, the... 

To simulate the next summer s condition the plant was run at the desired production rate and two cooling tower fans were turned off. It turned out that the cold water temperature rose to slightly above that predicted for the next summer. A thorough inspection of critical temperatures and the plant s operation indicated that the plant would barely make it the next summer. Process side temperatures were at about the maximum desired, with an occasional high oil temperature alarm on the large machines. 

Calculations for determining system makeup rates and chemical treating effective half life are presented in the section on Cooling Tower design. 

Petrochemical units generate waste waters from process operations such as vapor condensation, from cooling tower blowdown, and from stormwater runoff. Process waste waters are generated at a rate of about 15 cubic meters per hour (m /hr), based on 500,000 tpy ethylene production, and may contain biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels of 100 mg/1, as well as chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 1,500 to 6,000 mg/1, suspended solids of 100 to 400 mg/1, and oil and grease of 30 to 600 mg/1. Phenol levels of up to 200 mg/1 and benzene levels of up to 100 mg/1 may also be present. 

Calculating the heat transfer and water evaporation rates are illustrated by the following example. A cooling tower eools 900 gpm of water from 95 to 85 F. The problem is to determine what the heat rejeetion is, and also what is the evaporation rate. The heat rejeetion is ealeulated as follows ... 

Another type of crossflow cooling tower is the wet-dry tower, which consists of a normal crossflow tower over which a few air coils are placed. The hot water is first cooled by an air cooled heat exchanger and then drops to the wet cooling tower where more cooling is obtained by the evaporative mechanism. Figures 5 and 6 provide examples. In contrast, deck-filled towers contain tiers of splash bars or decks to aid in the breakup of water drops to increase the total water surface and, subsequently, the evaporation rate. 

The economics of forced and induced draft cooling tower operation require a study of fan and water pump horsepower and usually dictate a fan static pressure requirement not to exceed 0.75-1.0 in. of water. For atmospheric and natural draft towers the economics of pumping water are still very important. This means that the ground area must be so selected as to keep the height dovm while not dropping the unit rates so low that performance becomes poor. This then, is a balance of ground area versus total deck height. Pritchard [16] presents an... 

B = Rate of blowdown, (cooling tower), gpm or = constant in pressure drop equation for cooling tower... 

Rate of evaporation (cooling tower), gpm Ot eraU column efficiency, %... 

Performance, 387 Ground Area vs. Height, 391 Pressure Losses, 393 Fan Horsepower for Mechanical Draft Tower, 392 Water Rates and Distribution, 393 Blow-Down and Continuation Build-Up, 394 Example 915 Determining Approximate Blow-Down for Cooling Tower, 395 Pre-... 

Gears should be specified as American Gear Manufacturer s Association (AGMA) requirements for cooling tower service in order to ensure an adequate minimum service factor rating of 2.0. The spiral bevel type is probably used a litde more often than the worm gear. It is also cheaper. When gears are used with induced draft applications, the... 

The rate of evaporation from a cooling tower is approximately 1 per cent of the circulation rate for each 5°C drop in temperature across the tower, or about 7 liters/h per ton of refrigeration. Windage losses will obviously depend on the prevailing wind conditions and the design of the tower with regard to spray elimination but, typically, these are about 0.2 per cent of the circulation rate. 

In a cooling tower, cooling of the main mass of water is obtained by the evaporation of a small proportion into the airstream. Cooled water leaving the tower will be 3-8 K warmer than the incoming air wet bulb temperature. (See also Chapters 24 and 25.) The quantity of water evaporated will take up its latent heat equal to the condenser duty, at the rate of about 2430 kj/kg evaporated, and will be approximately... 

It will be seen that the water and air mass flow rates over a cooling tower are roughly equal. 

The height of a water-cooling tower can be determined l2) by setting up a material balance on the water, an enthalpy balance, and rate equations for the transfer of heat in the liquid and gas and for mass transfer in the gas phase. There is no concentration gradient in the liquid and therefore there is no resistance to mass transfer in the liquid phase. 

Grids have an open structure and are used for high gas rates, where low pressure drop is essential for example, in cooling towers. Random packings and structured packing elements are more commonly used in the process industries. 

The quench is necessary for all basis materials, conversion coatings, and paint formulations. A coil that is rewound when too warm will develop internal and external stresses, causing a possible degradation of the appearance of the paint film and of the forming properties of the coil. The volume of water used in the quench often has the largest flow rate of all of the coil-coating processes. However, the water is often circulated to a cooling tower for heat dissipation and reuse. 

Cooling water is being circulated at a rate of 20 m3 -min-1 to the cooling network. The cooling water from the cooling tower is at a temperature of 25°C and is returned at 40°C. Measurements on the concentrations of the feed and circulating water indicate... 

Improving control of cooling tower blowdown (see Chapter 24) for evaporative cooling water circuits to increase the cycles of concentration and reduce the cooling tower blowdown rate. 

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