Cooling Tower Seminar

Cooling Tower Depot Keeping You Cool Worldwide

Brandon Rees
Regional Sales Manager

Cooling Tower Plinko

Presentation Overview
Cooling Tower Basics
Types of Cooling Towers
Structure Types
Film Fill Material
Water Quality
Drift & Drift Eliminators
Plume Abatement

Cooling Tower Depots

Cooling Tower Basics

Said the Texan way

KEWL-N-TAR

Cooling Tower Terminology

DESIGN CONDITIONS: Defined as the hot water
temperature (HWT), cold water temperature
(CWT), gallons per minute (GPM), wet-bulb
temperature (WBT) and elevation
THERMAL CAPACITY: The amount of water
(GPM) that a cooling tower will cool at a
specified rate, at a specified approach and
defined wet-bulb temperature

Cooling Tower Design Point

95F

Hot Water

Cooling Range
85F

Cold Water

Approach
78F

Wet Bulb

Heat Load(BTU/hr) = Flow(GPM) X Range(F) X 500

Flow(GPM) = Heat Load (BTU/hr) Range(F) 500

Types of Cooling Towers

Mechanical Draft Cooling
Towers
Three Types:
Forced Draft
Induced Draft Crossflow
Induced Draft Counterflow

Induced Draft Cooling Towers

Crossflow - Counterflow

Common Tower Components

Counterflow - Crossflow
Fan Assembly
Right Angle Gearbox
Drive Shaft
Electric Motor
Fill Media
Drift Eliminators
Structure (FRP, Wood &
Concrete)
FRP Fan Stacks & Casing

Crossflow Features
Shape: Characteristic V shape.
Distribution System: Gravity fed hot water
basin.
Louvers: Extend from the cold water basin
curb up to the hot water basin.
Fill Media: Typically, splash type fill
material.
Drift Eliminators: Positioned on the inside of
the fill area.

Crossflow Cooling Tower

Fan Stack

Header

Mechanical
Components

Nozzle
s

Distributio
n
System

Fill Media
Drift
Eliminator
s

Louver
s

Cold Water Basin

Structur
e

Crossflow Tower-Airflow
Crossflow

Hot
H2O

Air

Hot
H2O

Air

The crossflow tower - named because of the

orientation of the incoming air to the falling water is at
90.

Crossflow Advantages
Open Distribution basin provides easy
inspection & cleaning of nozzles.
Only one riser pipe at end of tower
reduces additional external piping.
Ability to tolerate poor water quality.

Crossflow Disadvantages
Capital Cost: Generally more expensive
Distribution System: Exposure to direct sunlight
promotes growth of algae.
Nozzles: Prone to plugging.
Winter Operation: More Difficult to control icing.
Recirculation: Higher profile and fully open longitudinal
walls.
Operating Cost: Higher pumping head.

Counterflow Tower-Airflow

Hot
H2O
Air

The counterflow tower is named because

of the orientation of the incoming cool
ambient air and falling hot water is 180.

Counterflow Features
Distribution System: Open, low
pressure down spray system.
Louvers: Optional.
Fill Material: Typically, cellular film fill.
Drift Eliminators: Positioned above the
distribution system.

Counterflow Advantages
Capital Cost: Substantially lower.
Operating Cost: Lower in pumping head
Nozzles: Less likely to plug.
Recirculation: Less likely to occur. Lower profile
and smaller air inlets.
Winter Operation: Less susceptible to icing.
Lower profile, smaller air inlets and enclosed fill
area.

Counterflow Disadvantages
Distribution System: Difficult to
inspect and clean.
Potential Fouling: High TSS, oils and
greases can foul high efficiency fill.
(Low fouling fills are available)
Riser piping: Individual riser for each
cell, more external piping required.

Sometimes more piping is a GOOD

THING!!

Not a Cooling Tower Depot

Tower!

Structural Design

3 Main Types of
Structures

Stainless or Galvanized Steel

Concrete Cooling Towers

Wood Cooling Towers

Fiberglass Cooling Towers

Splash Fill Material

Fill Detail

V-Bar Splash Fill

OptiBar Splash Fill

Splash Grids Installed

Damaged Counterflow Splash

Broken clips and
damaged grid in basin
Reduced tower
performance

Splash Grids - Counterflow

CTD Splash and Unique Clip-in
System

Film Fill Materials

Cross-Flute Design Film Fill

Cross-Flutes
High Efficiency

ACCU-PAC CF1900(MA)
19 mm pitch (48 ft2/ft3) (157.6m/m)

Vertical-Flute Design Film Fill

Vertical-Flutes
Anti-Fouling
ACCU-PAC VF19Plus
19 mm pitch (48 ft2/ft3) (157.6m/m)

Offset Flute Design Film Fill

Offset-Flutes
High Efficiency
Anti-Fouling
ACCU-PAC OF21MA
21 mm pitch (45 ft2/ft3) (147.6m/m)

Mechanically Assembled (MA) Fill

Special tabs are molded into the individual fill sheet
Pairs of sheets have their tabs crimped together by
machines made for that purpose
The pairs are edge bonded together to make a full width
pack

MA Film Fill

Vacuum Forming Process

The forming process thins the
material.
Some manufacturers who supply 15 mil are supplying 15 mil
before forming:

12 mil

7 mil

10 mil

15 mil
Before Forming

After Forming

Question?
1.) How many calories are in 1 egg
with a yoke?
2.) How many calories are in 1 egg
white?

Answer
1.) There are roughly 78 calories in
1 large egg with a yoke.
2.) There are roughly 17 calories in
1 egg white.
You can have 4 egg whites and still be under the calories
of 1 egg with a yoke.

Cooling Tower Basics

Water Quality

Water Quality & Fill Selection

Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
Make-up from Sources (Uncontaminated or
Contaminated?)

Biocide Water Treatment Program in use

Number of Cycles of Concentration
Presence of Airborne Dust
Presence of Oil or Grease in Circulating
Water
Bacteria Count: Number of colonies

Fill Selection Guidelines

WATER QUALITY &
CHEMICAL
TREATMENT

CF-1900

OF-21ma

VF-19Plus

TSS (ppm): good bio

<100

<200

<500

<25

<50

<200

Bio & Scale Control

Good

Good

Good

Oil & Grease (ppm)

None

<1

<5

Fibers

None

None

None

poor bio

A Recipe for Fouled Fill

Total Suspended Solids >50
ppm
High Bacteria Counts high
Mineral Concentrations with
Alkaline pH Swings
Low Oxidizing Biocide
Residual
Cross
Cross--Contamination from
Oil

Use High Efficiency 1900 Series Fill

When:
TSS < 50 PPM (with good bio & scale control)
MakeMake-up from uncontaminated sources
Biocide water treatment program in use
Low cycles of concentration
Airborne dust is minimal
No oil or grease in circulating water

Use AntiAnti-Fouling Fills when:

TSS > 50 PPM but < 500 PPM.
MakeMake-up from natural waters
High cycles of concentration
Airborne dust is prevalent
High Bacteria Counts
Oil & Grease <25 PPM

Use Splash Fills when:

TSS > 500 PPM
Make
Make--up from surface waters
Little or no biological or scale control
Fibers in process water
Oil or Grease are present in the circulating
water

Drift Eliminators

Herringbone Drift Eliminators

Why Eliminate Drift?

Reduces water loss
Reduces fan blade leading edge
erosion
Reduces equipment corrosion
Reduces nuisance on surroundings
Reduces bacterial dispersion
(Legionella)

Factors That Affect Drift

AIR VELOCITY: Limit average air velocity to no
more than 700 ft/min & peaks
DROPLET SIZE: Limit nozzle pressure to no
more than 2.5 psi
SEALS: Around all columns & braces.
Use Dri-Seals
WORKMANSHIP OF PANEL INSTALLATION

Proper DE Installation

Drift Eliminator Functionality

Blade & cellular designs work
by inertial impaction
The inertia of the heavy
droplets cause them to impact
the walls of the drift eliminators
Cellular types work better since
they have more surface for
droplet impaction
Collected droplets form a water
film and drain

Break-Through Velocity
Each DE design has its own
breakthrough velocity
The velocity where the water
film is stripped-off the DE
surfaces and are re-entrained
into the air stream

Breakthrough Velocity

Drift Eliminator
Model
D15 (Munters)

Breakthrough
Velocity*
(ft/min)
800

CF-150MAx

900

(Brentwood)

CDX-80 (Brentwood)

Over 1000

TU-12 (Marley)

800

Opti-Cell(Tower

700

Components)

*Based on Brentwood Industries testing

Modern Cellular Designs

2nd Generation Cellular Designs
CF-150MAx
Good performance - Drift
rates to 0.001%
CDX-80
Best performance Drift rates to 0.0005%

Who Knows What a Haiku is?

A Haiku is

A form of Japanese poetry, which

consists of 3 lines in a 5-7-5
syllable pattern.

A Cooling Tower Haiku

Water flowing strong

Wind and water intertwine
Cool water flows free

Cooling Tower Basics

Plume Abatement

Plume Abatement

Plume Abated Tower

Plume Abated Tower

Now thats a Cool Tower!

Coil Dampers

Questions? Comments?

Brandon Rees
Regional Manager
brees@ctdinc.com
Find us on LinkedIn
www.coolingtowerdepot.co
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