ELIMINATES BIOFILM
IMPROVES COOLING
INCREASES CAPACITY
BUILDS REVENUE
MIOXCoolingTowerAd_qtr2.25.14-od.indd 1 2/26/14 7:56 AM
and process it into steam
and, then, cool it through
an absorption chiller. It will
subsequently use the chilled
water for air conditioning
within the plant to create
an effective ambient
condition and/or use it
for other process cooling
consuming the same amount
of operational costs (ie, fuel,
maintenance, manpower
and repairs) required to
produce 10MW. The effect
of not reaching the required
performance will obviously
result in higher cost ($/
KW-Hr) and reduced profit
($/KW-Hr). However, the
cost comparison to recover
this performance loss is
very minimal, as temporary
cooling modules like
chiller+AHU or DX/packaged
units can be used to supply
dense air injection to improve
efficiency to bring it back to
the optimum condition.
TRI-GEN:
A good solution would be to
install a small CCHP (tri-gen)
on a permanent basis. This
will recycle the exhaust air
March 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com 63
THE PROCESS COOLING
REPORT
SCALING THE
COOLING
TOWERS
Peter Tracey gives a broad outline of process cooling for industrial
manufacturing operations and offers a few thumb rules to combat
challenges encountered in its path.
exchange surfaces, which lead
to, at best, inefficiency and,
at worst, loss of production.
This can cost millions of
dollars in process cooling.
FOULING
This is also deposition, but
of suspended matter. In this
region, we experience a lot
of environmental dust, which
is scrubbed from the air by
the action of cooling towers.
The effects of this are similar
to scaling, and often the two
phenomena are confused.
CORROSION
This is an electrochemical
process that leads to metal
loss. Once lost, metal cannot
be replaced, and an entire
O
ne of the
common
uses of water
in industry
is that of
process
cooling. It is,
however, not the only use,
as water is obviously used
for steam generation, which
is used in many process
industries, either as part of
the process or for power
(as in the steel industry),
or indirectly through heat
exchangers (as in the
industrial gas industry).
Direct cooling is a subject on
its own and is not discussed
here.
SOME RELEVANT
DEFENITIONS:
SCALING
This is the deposition of
sparingly soluble salts on heat
generation. Most people are
also familiar with cooling
water in HVAC applications,
which is strictly speaking a
process. But process cooling
in manufacturing industry
presents a whole set of
different challenges, a few of
which will be discussed here.
If we define process cooling,
in this case to be industrial
process cooling water, it
can be used either directly
It is important to
realise that scaling/
fouling, corrosion and
microbiological activity
are all inter-related and
cannot be considered
in isolation
64 Climate Control Middle East March 2014
asset can be lost due to
corrosion. Corrosion products
can also cause fouling.
MICROBIOLOGICAL
ACTIVITY
Bacteria, algae and fungi
are found in process water
systems. These are naturally
occuring phenomena,
but their growth can be
influenced by the conditions
they encounter, such as
elevated temperatures and
contaminants. Their control
is vital to an efficient process.
The control of Legionella is
also of importance to those
who live and work in the
immediate environment.
It is important to realise
that scaling/fouling (ie
deposition), corrosion and
microbiological activity are
all inter-related and cannot be
considered in isolation.
METHODS OF
PROCESS COOLING
Once-through seawater
cooling:
The sea is a source of free
water, and once-through
seawater cooling can be
employed where the process
is of sufficient size to justify
the capital cost. As seawater
is very corrosive, titanium or
copper nickel heat exchange
tubes are employed. One
problem encountered is that
of molluscs infesting the heat
exchangers with resultant loss
of its efficiency. To counteract
this, seawater hypochlorite
generators are used to kill
the young molluscs, thus
preventing infestation.
Sometimes, cooling
towers are used either for
conventional recirculating or
for temperature reduction.
This can lead to scaling of
the cooling tower packing.
In such an event, a scale
inhibitor needs to be used.
It needs to be noted that
there are restrictions on
the quality of the seawater
returned to the sea and
temperature is of critical
importance. Too high a return
temperature will affect marine
ecology, and, therefore, a
statutory limit on temperature
is usually applied.
RECIRCULATING
COOLING WATER:
A more common kind of
process cooling is where the
process is on one side of a
heat exchanger and cooling
water on the other. These
heat exchangers take various
forms, such as shell and tube,
double pipe, plate and frame.
Some heat exchangers have
water on the shell side.
These systems often utilise
cooling towers to reject
unwanted heat. They are often
quite complex, with an array
of heat exchangers being
served by one central cooling
tower system. They are
usually critical, too, with
efficiency being the central
issue. Plant integrity is also
a key issue, as loss of assets
is unthinkable. Potable water
is usually used in cooling
towers. But we are seeing
demands to use lower quality
water, such as recycled water
from elsewhere.
Care must be taken to avoid
deposition and corrosion and
microbiological activity must
be controlled. Questions need
to be asked, such as: Would
filtration be beneficial and
cost effective? If so, do we use
sidestream or full stream?
SOME CONTROL APPROACHES
OUTCOME
CHEMICAL
APPROACH
MECHANICAL
APPROACH
Scale control
Scale inhibitor
Acid dosing
Reverse osmosis
Ion exchange
Fouling control
Dispersant
Antifoulant
Multi-media
tration
Centrifugal
seperation
Disc lter
Corrosion control Corrosion inhibitor Cathodic protection
Microbiological
control
Oxidising biocides
Chlorine, bromine,
chlorine dioxide,
mixed oxidants
Non-oxidising
biocides
Isothiazalone, quats
Biodispersants
On-site generation
of oxidising biocides
ISSUES TO BE
ADDRESSED
There are issues to be
addressed by industries using
water for process cooling
Use of lower quality water:
As constraints on the supply
of potable water increase,
there is a need to consider the
use of lower quality sources
of water. This water, as
stated earlier, may come from
elsewhere in a process stream,
and may be considered
polluted. However, modern
membrane processes place
this water within economic
reach. We have already seen
this in the District Cooling
sector, where using TSE in
cooling water system is now
mandatory.
Zero liquid discharge (ZLD):
This is a process where
no liquid is allowed to be
discharged by a particular
plant. It requires that only
the solids are allowed to
be removed from the plant
by a licensed operator.
Fortunately, we are blessed
in this region with lots
of sunshine. Evaporation
ponds can, therefore, be
used where space allows. In
cooler climates plants have
to use thermal evaporation to
acheive ZLD.
Increasing environmental
demands:
The use of chemicals as scale
and corrosion inhibitors as
well as biocides are typically
being squeezed by tighter
environmental legislation.
Leading water treatment
companies are, therefore,
constantly upgrading their
chemical products to meet
new legislation.
CONCLUSION
The design of a water
treatment regimen is
a blend of the right
mechanical equipment with
an appropriate chemical
regimen. As situations evolve,
this approach should be
under constant surveillance
to ensure that it is still fit for
use.
Fortunately, we are
blessed in this region
with lots of sunshine.
Evaporation ponds
can, therefore, be used
where space allows
The writer is
General Manager,
CoolTech Gulf. He
can be contacted
at: ptracey@
cooltechgulf.com
March 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com 65
THE PROCESS COOLING
REPORT
HOW TO OPTIMISE
INDUSTRIAL
PROCESS AND
DATA CENTRE
COOLING
Saying that design engineers owe it to end-users to offer optimal cost and
efficiency benefits, Jean-Marc Marchand suggests ways to work around
challenges.
W
hen it
comes to
designing
process
cooling
systems, engineers have the
responsibility and obligation
towards end-users to take
advantage of the latest
innovations available to
minimise energy costs and
water consumption. In order
to do this, they must be
familiar with the process
load profile, seasonal climate
conditions, geography and
water availability of the
specific location.
LOW LIFT COOLING
APPLICATIONS
Some industrial processes
and most data centres have
unique cooling requirements
in that they require higher
cooling water temperature
for heat removal. While one
would immediately assume
that making warmer cooling
water is much more energy
efficient and cost effective,
it comes with its challenges.
Typical water-cooled chillers
are designed for lower
temperature higher lift
conditions, as you would
typically see in comfort
cooling applications. The
lift on a chiller is defined as
the difference between the
condenser refrigerant pressure
and the evaporator refrigerant
pressure. It can also be
defined as the difference in
their temperatures.
Air-Conditioning, Heating,
and Refrigeration Institute
(AHRI) standard conditions
for comfort cooling are
44F, leaving chilled water
temperature (LCHWT) and
85F entering condenser
water temperature (ECWT).
In data centre cooling
and some process cooling
applications, these AHRI
standard conditions do not
apply, because the LCHWT
is typically much higher
than 44F. In fact, we can
see LCHWTs as high as
60F to 75F. During these
conditions, the ambient wet-
bulb temperatures are similar
to those of comfort cooling
applications and, therefore,
require the chillers to operate
at lower lift conditions
compared to conventional
comfort cooling conditions.
When a chiller experiences
lower lift conditions, the
compressor has to do less
work and, consequently,
consumes less energy. This
remains true when the load
remains constant. But the
wet-bulb conditions change
and, therefore, the ECWT
becomes lower at constant
LCHWT. These conditions are
very desirable up to a certain
point (when the chiller lift
becomes too low to maintain
stable operation of the
chiller). Chiller manufacturers
are limited in the way they
can minimise the negative
effect of low lift, either by
the type of refrigerant they
use or by the design of their
machines. It is up to the
design engineers to work
around the limitations that
low lift imposes on system
performance.
FREE COOLING
AND PARTIAL FREE
COOLING
One unique feature of a
higher temperature process
Chiller manufacturers
are limited in the way
they can minimise the
negative effect of low
lift, either by the type
of refrigerant they use
or by the design of
their machines
66 Climate Control Middle East March 2014
chilling application is that the
return chilled water is usually
at a higher temperature than
what the cooling tower is
supplying to the condenser.
Therefore, engineers have the
benefit of taking advantage
of partial or full free cooling
throughout the major part of
the year, with the use of plate
and frame heat exchangers.
Partial free cooling is
achieved by flowing the
return chilled water through
the hot side of the heat
exchanger and flowing colder
cooling tower water through
the cold side of the heat
exchanger, in order to remove
as much heat as possible from
the chilled water loop before
returning it to the chillers
evaporator. Full free cooling
is achieved by flowing the
return chilled water through
the heat exchanger and
dropping the temperature all
the way down to the design
process water temperature,
thus eliminating the need
to flow the water to the
chillers evaporator. A bypass
around the chiller is utilised
for this mode of operation.
Switching from these modes
of operation is typically
achieved by the use of
automated valves, as shown
in the figure above.
When engineers are tasked
with designing a process
This pumping arrangement
makes the layout more
efficient and eliminates the
footprint requirement for
chilled water pumps in a
building. It also simplifies the
electrical requirements for
the system, as it keeps all the
pumping electrical loads in
one location, as opposed to
being spread out across the
site.
The main drawback of
having an open cooling loop
is that the heat exchange
equipment will be exposed
to open cooling tower water,
this can lead to fouling and
clogging of heat transfer
equipment, if not treated
properly. It is very important
that adequate filtration
equipment is utilised in the
cooling tower sump to keep
the amount of solids within
safe limits and protect all
the heat transfer surfaces
in the system. The filtration
system should be coupled
with a good water treatment
programme in order to
prevent scale build-up and
biological growth in the
system. Scaling up of heat
transfer surfaces impedes
performance of the system
and shortens the life of the
equipment. This also increases
the consumption of water and
energy, which is incongruous
to the environmental and
economic benefits of free and
partial free cooling.
The writer is from
Stellar Energy. He
can be contacted at:
jmarchand@stellar-
energy.net
burden of seasons when
wet-bulb temperatures are
typically higher.
In some process cooling
applications, it is not
uncommon to design a
system where the process
water is pumped directly
from a common cooling
tower sump, eliminating
the need for a plate and
frame heat exchanger
to achieve free cooling.
Without the inefficiency of
the heat exchanger, you can
achieve lower process water
temperatures.
If the wet-bulb temperatures
are above the point where the
cooling tower cannot cool the
process water down to the
design temperature, then the
water can be pumped through
the chillers evaporator in
order to achieve the required
process water temperature.
Typically, three types of
pumps are required for this
application. Condenser water
pumps are required for the
heat rejection in the chiller,
process water pumps to pump
the water directly from the
cooling tower sump to the
process, and chilled water
process pumps to pump the
water from the sump, through
the chillers evaporator and to
the process. All three pumps
can be located together at the
common cooling tower sump.
cooling system with free
cooling, several factors must
be taken into consideration.
Firstly, consider what the
first cost with respect to the
size of the heat exchanger
and cooling tower is. This
will need to be weighed
against payback duration. If
a heavy emphasis is placed
on cooling tower capacity
and heat exchanger surface
area, then the first cost will
be high. However, tighter
heat exchanger temperature
approaches and wet-bulb
approaches will be achieved,
and, subsequently, there will
be more hours of free cooling
throughout the year. This
results in significant energy
savings, especially during
summer, and shoulders the
One unique feature of
a higher temperature
process chilling
application is that the
return chilled water
is usually at a higher
temperature than what
the cooling tower
is supplying to the
condenser
March 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com 67