CoolingTowerBasicsandCommonMisconceptions

Introduction
Incomparisonwithmostotherindustrialequipments,thewatercoolingtowerisasimpledevice,
basedonthedirectcontactoftwooftheearthsmostcommonsubstances:airandwater;yeta
surprisingnumberofmisconceptionsonitsdesign,operationandbehaviorprevail.
Coolingbasicsandimportantmisconceptionsarediscussedherein,withthegoalofhelpingto
achievethemosteconomicalandbeneficialapplication,design,andoperationofthisimportantheat
transferdevice.

CoolingTowerFundamentals
HeatTransfer:Thebasicprincipleofthecoolingtoweroperationisthatofevaporativecondensationand
exchangeofsensibleheat.Theairandwatermixturereleaseslatentheatofvaporizationwhichhasa
coolingeffectonwaterbyturningacertainamountofliquidintoitsgaseousstatetherebyreleasingthe
latentheatofvaporization.
Thisismoreeffectivelydemonstratedbywettingthebackofyourhandwithwaterandblowing
onit.Thiseffectiswhathappensinsidethecoolingtower.Theairstreamreleaseslatentheatof
vaporizationtherebydroppingthetemperatureofthewateronyourskin.Theliquidchangingtoits
vaporousstateconsumesheatwhichistakenfromthewaterremaining,thusloweringitstemperature.
Thereisapenaltyinvolved,andthatislossofwaterwhichgoesuptothecoolingtowerandis
dischargedintotheatmosphereashotmoistvapor.Undernormaloperatingconditions,thisamounts
toapproximately1.2%foreach10oFcoolingrange.
Sensibleheatthatchangestemperatureisalsoresponsibleforpartofthecoolingtowers
operation.Whenwateriswarmerthattheair,thereisatendencyfortheairtocoolthewater.Theair
thengetshotterasitgainsthesensibleheatofthewaterandthewateriscooledasitssensibleheatis
transferredtotheair.
Approximately25%ofthesensibleheattransferoccursinthetowerwhilethebalanceofthe
75%coolingisduetotheevaporativeeffectoflatentheatofvaporization.

DryBulbTemperature[DBT],WetBulbTemperature[WBT]andRelativeHumidity[RH]:
ThetemperatureofairasreadontheordinarythermometeriscalledDBT.WBTisthereadingwhen
thebulbofathermometeriscoveredwithawetcloth,andtheinstrumentiswhirledaroundinasling.
RHistheratioofthequantityofwatervaporpresentinacubicfeetofairtothegreatestamountof
vaporwhichthataircouldholdatagiventemperature.
Whentherelativehumidityis100%,theaircannotholdanymorewaterandtherefore,water
willnotevaporatein100%humidair.WhentheRHis100%theWBTisthesameastheDBT,because
thewatercannotevaporateanymore.ButwhentheRHislessthan100%,theWBTwillbelessthanthe
DBTandwaterwillevaporate.
Thecapabilityofthecoolingtowerisameasureofhowclosethetowercanbringthewater
temperaturetotheWBToftheenteringair.Alargercoolingtower[i.e.,moreairand/ormorefill]will
produceacloserapproach[colderleavingwater]foragivenheatload,flowrateandenteringair
condition.ThelowertheWBT,whichindicateseithercoolair,lowhumidityoracombinationofthe
two,thelowercanthecoolingtowercancoolthewater.Thethermalperformanceofthecoolingtower
isthusaffectedbytheenteringWBT;theenteringairDBThasaninsignificanteffectonthermal
performance.
Inactualpractice,thefinalcoldwatertemperaturewillalwaysbeatleastafewdegreesabove
WBT,dependingondesignconditions.Itisnotcustomaryinthecoolingtowerindustrytoguarantee
anyapproachlessthan5oF.

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CoolingTower[CounterFlow]TheoryMerkelEquation
Figure1illustratesadropofwaterfallingthroughan SATURATED AIR
FILM, Enthalpy: hW
upstreamofunsaturatedairatawetbulbtemperatureof

Enthalpy: hA
WBTwithenthalpyhA,inacounterflowcoolingtower.The

Enthalpy: hA
AIR,
dropofwaterisassumedtobesurroundedbyafilmof
WATER

AIR,
saturatedairatthewatertemperatureWTwithsaturation DROPLET
enthalpyhW.Asthedroptravelsdownward,heatandmass
transfertakesplacefromtheinterfaceairfilmtotheup
streamair,therebycoolingthewaterfromHWTtoCWT.
Thiscoolingprocesscanbestbeexplainedona FIG. 1

PsychometricChart.The 140
processisshowninfigure2 130 Water Operating Line, hw
knownastheDrivingForce 120
110 Enthalpy Driving Force: hw - hA
Diagram.Theairfilmisrepre

ENTHALPY[Btu/lb]
100

[Btu/
sentedbytheWaterOperating 90
Air Operating Line, hA
LineontheSaturationCurve. 80

ENTHALPY
70
Themainairisrepresentedby 60 Saturation Curve
theAirOperatingLine,the 50
slopeofwhichistheWater/Air 40
Tan = L/G
30
[L/G]ratio.Thecoolingcharac

WBT

CWT

HWT
20
teristic,adegreeofdifficulty 10
tocoolingisrepresentedbythe 0
MerkelEquation: 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120
TEMPERATURE [F] FIG. 2
HWT
dt
KaV / L = 0.250
CWT
hW hA
0.225
TheMerkelEquationprimarily 0.200
saysthatatanypointinthe 0.175
tower,heatandwatervaporare
[ hW h-AHa

0.150
]

transferredintotheairdue
1 / 1/[Hw

0.125
[approximately]tothedifferen
0.100 Performance
ceintheenthalpyoftheairat Demand [KaV/L] is
0.075
thesurfaceofthewaterandthe area under curve.
mainstreamoftheair.Thus, 0.050

thedrivingforceatanypointis 0.025
theverticaldistancebetween 0.000
thetwooperatinglines.And 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120
therefore,theperformance TEMPERATURE [F] FIG. 3
demandedfromthecooling
toweristheinverseofthisdifference.ThesolutionoftheMerkelEquationcanberepresentedbythe
PerformanceDemandDiagramshowninfigure3.TheKaV/Lvalueisequaltotheareaunderthe
curve.
AnincreaseintheenteringWBTmovestheAirOperatingLinetowardstherightandupward
toestablishequilibrium.BoththeCWTandHWTincreases,whiletheapproachdecreases.The
curvatureofthesaturationlineissuchthattheapproachdecreasesataprogressivelyslowerrateasthe
WBTincreases.
AnincreaseintheheatloadincreasesthecoolingrangesandincreasesthelengthoftheAir
OperatingLine.Tomaintainequilibrium,thelineshiftstotherightincreasingtheHWT,CWT,and

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approach.Theincreasecausesthehotwatertemperaturetoincreaseconsiderablyfasterthandoesthe
coldwatertemperature.
Inboththesecases,theKaV/Lshouldremainconstant.However,achangeinL/Gwillchange
theKaV/Lvalue.

CoolingTowerDesigning
Onthebasisoftheabovediscussion,itisclearthattherearefiveparametersthatincombination
dictateanddefinetheperformanceofacoolingtower:1.HotWaterTemperatureHWT,2.ColdWater
TemperatureCWT,3.WetBulbTemperatureWBT,4.WaterFlowRateL,5.AirFlowRateG.
Thefirstfourdataaretheones,whicharegivenbytheuser.Thefifthone[G],isselectedbythe
coolingtowerdesigner.Oncethesefivedataareavailable,thetowercharacteristic[KaV/L],canbe
calculatedthroughtheMerkelEquation.
ThefirststepincoolingtowerdesigningisthegenerationofaDemandCurve.Inthiscurve,the
KaV/LvaluesareplottedagainstvaryingtheL/Gratios.Thenextstepistosuperimposefill
characteristicscurvesanddemandcurves.[CoolingTechnologyInstitutehastestedavarietyoffill
configurationsandgeneratedfillcharacteristiccurvesforeachtype;CTIsTechnicalPaperTP8805can
bereferredtointhisregard.]
CoolingTowerdesigningisbasicallyaniterativeprocess.Thefactorsthateffecttheselectionof
designL/Gandconsequentlythefillheightare:celldimensions,waterloading,airvelocitiesacross
variouscoolingtowersectionsandpressuredrops,andfanselection.
Pleaserefertofigure5below,whichisascreenprintofJalalEngineeringscoolingtower
designingprogram.

COOLING TOWER DESIGNI NG

GPM -US 4250 HW T- oF 122.0 50 R -oF 27.0 2.5

W BT- oF 89.6 32 CW T- oF 95.0 35 A-oF 5.4 Design Point
o o Demand Curve
C C 4FT/ 700FPM
Heat Load -Ton[R] 4,781.3 4FT/ 500FPM
4FT/ 300FPM
Number of Cells: 3 GPM / Cell: 1417 2.0 2FT/ 700FPM
2FT/ 500FPM
Cell Model: 16S Cell Area-sft.: 256.0
2FT/ 300FPM
Water Loading-GPM/sft: 5.5

L/G: 1.00 KaV/L: 1.564

1.5
L -lb/min: [per Cell] 11,800.8 G -lb/min: [per Cell] 11800.8
KaV/L

Louver Height -ft 6.5 Louver Length-ft 36

Free Area-% 97.0 Louver Velocity-FPM 775.2

1.0
CFM / Cell: 181,978

Air Velocity Across Fill -FPM: 699.1 KaV/L

0.52
Fill Height Required -ft: 3 per ft.:
Fill Height to be Installed -ft: 4 Fill Designation 0.5
Fill Safety Factor 1.3 M19060 0.5 1.0 L/G 1.5 2.0 2.5

Fill Charac teristic Lines of Veloc ity [M19060/ M-Nozz.(B&C)] v s. D emand Curv e at D esign Approac h

QU ICK Fill Ht. -ft.: 3.01 L/G: 1.00 Fill F./ft.: 0.52 No. of Fans per Cell: 1 JalalEngineering
CH E CK Air FPM: 660 Rain: 5.5 GPM: 1419.8 CFM per Fan: 181,978
JALAL oshuja@cyber.net.pk
Fan Diameter -ft: 12
Hub Seal Diameter -ft: 5 Cus to me r N a me :
A ir Pro p e rtie s Inle t Outle t CT Static Press. -in. WC 0.40 OMV Pakistan Ltd.
Enthalpy-Btu/lb 55.36 82.36 CT Vel. Press. -in. WC 0.204 [w/ o vel. recovery] R un D a te :
3
Specific Volume-ft /lb 14.91 15.42 Fan Efficiency -% 75
o
Wet-Bulb Temp.- F 89.6 105.49 Macro OK Fan Shaft Power -HP 23.08
Motor Shaft Power -HP: 23.8 Gear Eff.-% 97
CT Designing Standard: CTI Technical Paper TP88-05 Input Power -HP: 25.9 Motor Eff. -% 92
FIG. 4

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CommonMisconceptions

MyTowerisCoolingtheWater20Manypeoplehavebeenguiltyatonetimeoranotherofdefining
whatacoolingtowerisdoingintermsofrange(HWTCWT).Often,thisisacceptedasalevelof
performanceofthecoolingtower.Nothingcouldbefurtherfromthetruth.Theequationforheatload
isasfollows:
HeatLoad[Btu/hr]=500xWaterFlowRate[GPM]xRange[oF]

Now,heatload,ofcourse,issuppliedbytheunitbeingservedbythecoolingtower.Thetoweritselfis
neitheraheatsourcenoraheatsink.Intheusualcirculatingsystemtheheatloadisindependentof
thecoolingtower.Thenumber500isaconstant,thereforeisindependentofthecoolingtower.The
circulatingwaterflowisdeterminedbythenumberofpumpsrunningandthepressuredropinthe
overallcirculatingwatersystem.Therefore,itlikewiseisindependentofthecoolingtower.
Ifheatload,theconstant,andthecirculatingwaterflowareallindependentofthecooling
tower,thenbymathematicaldeductiontherangeislikewisecompletelyindependentofthecooling
tower.Therefore,therangeisthesamewhetherthereisatwocelltowerorafourcelltower.Therange
wouldbethesameifthefanswereonfullspeed,halfspeed,orturnedoff.Consequently,sucha
statementasMytowerisnotperformingbecauseIboughtittocool20,anditisonlycoolingthe
water10hasnovaliditywhatsoever.Likewise,theconverseistrue.Someonewhohasacooling
towerwhichiscoolingthewater30whereasitwasonlydesignedtocool20,maynotbeinsucha
fortunatepositionashemightthink.
Boththesecasesshownoindicationwhatsoeverofactualthermalcapabilityofthecooling
tower.Whatthenisameasureofthethermalcapabilityofthecoolingtower?Itisnottheamountof
heatbeingrejected,ratheritisthelevelatwhichthisheatisrejected.Themeasureofperformanceofthe
coolingtoweristheresultantcoldwatertemperatureorevenmorespecifically,theapproach(CWTWBT)under
givenconditions.Coldwatertemperatureistheprimarydependentvariable,andvividlyindicates
coolingtowercapability.

Approach
ApproachisCWTminusWBT.Anothermisconceptionthatconstantlycropsupincoolingtowerwork
isconcerningapproach.Onewillsay,Iboughtatowertomakea10approach,yetIhavea15
approachtoday.Therefore,thecoolingtowerisnotworkinginaccordancewithitsdesign.
AstheWBTgoesdown,theCWTalsogoesdown.However,thisisnotaonetoone
relationship.Itismorenearlyatwotoonerelationship.Thatis,foreach2FdropinWBT,theCWT
willdropapproximately1F.Therefore,iftheWBTis10belowdesignWBT,thenbydefinitionthe
approachwillbeincreased5abovethatspecifiedasdesign.Ofcourse,theconverseisalsotrue:aswet
bulbincreasesabovedesign,thenthecoldwatertemperaturewillincreaseroughlyonedegreeforeach
twodegreeincreaseinwetbulb.Theseareroughapproximationsandcanbechangedsomewhatby
differentL/Gratios.
Therefore,whenattemptingtodeterminewhetherornotperformanceappearstobesatisfactory
atotherthandesignconditions,itiswisertoutilizethecoolingtowerperformancecurvesortheCTI
BlueBook[withcoolingtowercharacteristiccurves]ratherthantojustcomparetheactualapproachto
thedesign.

DriftLoss
Today,weseemoreandmoreinterestinlowdriftlosscoolingtowers.Thisincreasedinteresthasbeen
broughtaboutbyseveralfactors.Themajorfactoriscontinualinsistencebytheregulatorybodiesthat
driftlossbeminimizedtoreduceecologicaleffects.
Asecondfactorisanattempttoreducewatercostsandtreatingcostsbyreducingwater

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consumption.However,letusnowlookatthebasicconceptreducingdriftlossreduceswater
consumption.Waterislostoutofacoolingtowerinthefollowingways:drift,evaporation,blowdown
andwindage.
Driftlossisalossofwaterduetophysicalentrainmentofliquiddropletsintheairstream.This
placeswater,withitsattendantdissolvedsolids,inliquidformintheatmosphere.Windageisofa
similarnaturebutusuallymuchsmallerinquantity.Windageisthesometimeslossofwaterthrough
thelouveredareaofthetowerduetowindblowingthroughthetower.Thisoccursmoreoftenwith
operationofthefansathalfspeedoroff.Forthepurposesofthisdiscussion,wewillconsiderwindage
aportionofdriftloss.Thefactthatdriftleavesthecoolingtowerasliquidwater,therebycontainingits
proportionateshareofdissolvedsolids,istheimportantfactortoremember.
Inordertomaintainapropertotaldissolvedsolidscontentlevelinacoolingtower,itis
necessarytocontinuouslyblowdownorthrowawayaportionofcirculatingwater.Thisisdoneto
preventthetowerfromaccumulatingexcessiveamountsoftotaldissolvedsolidswhichwouldcause
severescaleand/orcorrosionproblems.Thislossofwaterfromthesystemisabsolutelyessentialand
cannotbeavoidedforthesuccessfuloperationofthecoolingtower.Therefore,driftismoreproperly
definedasinvoluntaryblowdown.Itnowbecomesreadilyapparentthatanydecreaseinthedriftloss
fromthecoolingtowerwillresultinanequivalentincreasenecessaryintheblowdowninorderto
preventexcessivesolidsbuildup.Whenviewedinthismanner,itisevidentthatloweringdriftloss
doesnotreducewaterconsumptionandconsequentlydoesnotsaveanythinginbasicwatercostor
chemicaltreatingcosts.
Anothercommonmisconceptionoccurswhenlargecloudsoffogemanatefromcooling
towersundercertainatmosphericconditions.Manypeopleassumethatdriftisamajorcontributing
factor.However,thisfogisquitedifferentfromdriftasthiswaterleavesthesysteminthevaporstate
andrecondensestosmallliquiddropletsafterencounteringtherelativelycolderambientair.Thefog
itselfdoesnotcarrywithitthedissolvedsolidsandconsequentlydoesnotfitintothecategoryof
involuntaryblowdown.Furthermore,itcannotbestoppedbyreducingdriftloss.Therefore,one
shouldnotspecifymorestringentdriftlossrequirementstoreducefogging.Energyandmoneywould
beexpendedforabsolutelynobenefit.
Theonlyrealjustificationforreductionofdriftlossisbasedonthenatureoftheareawherethe
driftfallsanditsaffectsonthemechanicalequipmentofthecoolingtower.Ifthedissolvedsolidsinthe
driftarebeingdepositedonsensitiveareasthenitisimportanttokeepdriftlossaslowaspracticable.
Ifacoolingtowerisofinduceddraftdesign,excessivedriftwillcertainlyerodethemechanical
equipment.Therefore,oneshouldbecertainastothedesiredeffecttobeaccomplishedpriortomaking
veryrestrictiveandcostlyrequirementsinreductionofdriftloss.

Evaporation
Themostcommonmisconceptionconcerningevaporationisthatcompetingtowermanufacturersand
designscanaccomplishwidespreaddifferencesintheamountofwaterbeingevaporatedinacooling
tower.
Thetruthofthematteristhatthelargemajorityofheatexchangeinacoolingtoweris
accomplishedbytheevaporationofaportionofthecirculatingwater.Thisremovesheatfromthe
remainderofthecirculatingwaterbyremovingthelatentheatofvaporizationnecessarytoaccomplish
thisphasechange.Inasmuchasevaporatingwateristhebasicfunctionofthecoolingtower,oneis
misleadtobelievethatacoolingtowercanoperatesuccessfullywithouttheproperevaporation.
Thereareafewdesignfeaturesthatcanhaveaminoreffectontheevaporationrate.For
example,coolingtowerswithidenticalduties,butoperatingatdifferentL/Gratios,willhaveslightly
differentevaporationrates.Thenormalruleofthumbfordeterminationofevaporationis0.1%1oF
thecirculatingwaterflowforevery1.0Frange.

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TheMoreWaterSyndrome
Themorewaterfallacyisimportantandworthyofinclusionhere.Thissituationcommonlyoccursin
anoperatingcoolingtowerwhen,intheheatofsummer,thetemperaturebeginstoriseon,say,ashell
andtubeexchangerinarefineryunit.Operationcallsformorewaterinordertoholdthetemperature
ofthecooledprocessstream.Additionalwaterispumpedoverthetower,andthisresultsinadecrease
inthetowersperformancecapabilities,therebyraisingtheCWT.TheraisingoftheCWTgoingtothe
exchangerinsomecasesmorethanoffsetstheeffectofincreasedheattransfercoefficientinthe
exchangerduetoincreasedwaterflow.Therefore,thesituationbecomesworseandagainmorewater
isdemanded.Ittakesawelltrainedoperatortorecognizethefactthat,whentroubleisoccurring
temperaturewise,lesswaterratherthanmorewaterisoftennecessarytobringthetemperatures
down.
Ofcourse,situationscanexistwheretheincreaseinvelocitythroughanexchangeroccasionsa
betteroverallheattransfer,eventhoughthetemperatureofthewaterthroughtheunitisrising.This
tradeoffmustbelookedatverycarefullyratherthanjustassumingthatmorewateristhecureallto
summertimeoperatingcoolingproblems.

PowerConsiderations
Oftentheeffectoffanpoweroncoolingtowerthermalcapabilityismisunderstood.Forinstance,itis
quiteoftenthoughtthata10%increaseinpowerbyincreasingfanpitchwillaccomplisha10%increase
inthecapacityofthecoolingtower.Aquickcheckofthefanlawswillrevealthatthisisfarfromthe
truth.
Ifweareneardesignfanpowerandareoperatingatanessentiallyconstantfanefficiency,air
flowrate(andhence,coolingtowercapability),willincreaseinproportiontothecuberootofthe
powerincrease.Forexample,ifthehorsepowerwereincreasedto110%ofitsoriginalvalue,theair
flowandthermalperformancecapabilityofthetowerwouldonlybeincreasedapproximately3.2%.

Conclusion

Thisarticledemonstratesratherpointedlythatcoolingtowerperformanceandoperationarenotso
straightforwardastheymanytimesarethoughttobe.Thesemisconceptionsandinadequate
knowledgeofcoolingtowerdesigncancostyoumoneyinallphasesofdealingwithcoolingtowers.
Purchaseofanewtowerwillcostmoreinthelongrunifplantoperationsdonotrunefficiently
duetoanilldesignedcoolingtower.Toweroperation,intermsofenergycost,willbemoreexpensive
ifutilizationoffanpowerismisunderstood.Upgradinganexistingtowermayturnouttobefutile
becausetowerperformancewasviewedintermsofrange.
Itisnecessarytohaveaworkingknowledgeoftheperformanceofcoolingtowers,without
misconception,inordertopurchaseandoperatethemtothebestadvantageformaximumproduction
atminimumcost.

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