Category Archives: Cooling Towers

Let’s take a look at the most common cooling tower types.

Types Of Cooling Towers

A cooling tower can be thought of as a specialized heat exchanger where water and air meet with the purpose of reducing the temperature of the water. When this happens, a small total of the water evaporates, hence reducing the water temperature that is circulated throughout the tower.

This water is pumped through pipes to the cooling tower. Nozzles are used as the water sprays onto material known as fill that slows the flow of the water as it travels through the cooling tower and maximizes air and water contact. When they meet, a cooling action is created and the cooled water is then pumped back to the processing equipment where it absorbs hear. From there it is pumped back to the cooling tower and obviously, cooled again.

Crossflow Cooling Towers

With a crossflow tower, hot water flows downward from a distribution basin while air flows horizontally. They are filled with splash type fillings and can be applied when water has higher suspended particles. At Industrial Cooling Solutions, we offer crossflow towers in induced draft, forced draft, concrete, FRP, and wood structure as well as splash fill, film fill and low fouling fill materials. ICS cooling towers are built to withstand the most demanding of situations and provide the most cost-effective solution for you.

Benefits:

• High Performance
• Low Maintenance
• Low Noise
• Optimized Power Consumption

Counterflow Cooling Towers

A counterflow mechanism is one where air flows vertically through the fillings or packing at the top while water flows downward. In a counterflow cooling tower, there is an induced draught fan that is attached to the motor. This fan pulls in air to draft it upward resulting in air that is exhausted faster than it is pulled in. In turn, you’ll see lower pressure and circulation.

Benefits:

• Low Power Consumption
• Low Fouling Film or Splash fills
• Plume Abated Systems
• Low Pumphead
• High Performance with Minimal Maintenance
• Optimized Footprint
• FRP Wood or Concrete Structures

Forced Draft Cooling Towers

Industrial plants often choose forced draft cooling towers for their many benefits. First, they are very powerful and affordable at the same time. These towers remove low-potential heat which is generated during the production process. A counterflow of air and hot water will result in a heat transfer in the cooling fill. These towers are typically preferred by paper and chemical industry plants.

Benefits:

• Low Noise Levels
• Dry Air Stream Drive
• Ease of Maintenance
• Low-Absorbed Capacity

Induced Draft Vs Forced Draft Cooling Towers

Induced system have fans on top of the units and they pull the air through the fill. On the other hand, air is pushed by blowers located near the base of the air inlet on draft towers that have been forced.

Cooling Tower Maintenance Service

All Kote Lining, Inc. is the one-stop solution for all your cooling tower maintenance, repair, and replacement needs in Phoenix Valley. Our team of experienced technicians will ensure your cooling system issues are identified and solved in a timely and effective manner, saving you considerable money on electrical expenses in the process.

Call 480-966-4446 or Contact Us

Let’s take a look at the similarities and differences between fluid coolers and cooling towers.

What Is A Cooling Tower?

 A device used for taking the heat from a system is called a ‘Cooling Tower’. These devices are used as heat rejecters. They reject the heat by cooling down a stream of water that is channeled from industrial processes and/or channeled from an HVAC system, whereas, the unwanted heat gets taken out of the liquid by way of the cooling tower, using different methods.

There are two types of cooling towers, the dry bulb & the wet bulb. Each of which use a process different than the other for cooling the liquid in the cooling tower down.

Dry Bulb Systems

This type has to rely on a cooling tower that has a closed circuit, operating close to the dry bulbs air temperature. The dry bulb temperature gives a reading that comes from a thermometer which hangs freely in the air, however, it is being shielded to keep from the moisture, and also from the radiation.

Wet Bulb Systems

This type has to rely on the evaporation. The towers function is solely based on the temperature reading of the wet bulb, and it is taking into account the humidity in the air, circling the cooling tower.

What Are Cooling Towers Used For?

Some of the cooling towers are used for the HVAC systems that are used to cool down huge commercial buildings, which also includes cooling down the water used by thermal power stations, chemical plants, oil refineries, and petrochemical plants. There are two different kinds of cooling towers, depending on their location, as well as their applications. The air to be cooled is channeled through in two different ways from the cooling towers, they are the induced draft and the natural draft.

Industrial Purposes

The size of a cooling tower on an industrial site will depend on the amount of heat their processes are producing. In industries that need to have a higher level of heat rejected away from their system will be using cooling towers like the ones used in nuclear power plants. They are monolithic structures standing more than 600 feet in height. However, not all of them are as tall as that, there are many processes requiring a cooling tower that is more than just roof mounted, which is common for the HVAC systems.

The cooling towers of an industry can reject heat at the highest levels. For instance, there is a whole lot of heat produced in power plants that run off of burning coal, and this requires a whole lot of water to keep the plant cooled down. That is the reason that it is piping around 315,000 gallons of water every hour through its system. Theoretically speaking, a cooling tower could be cooled down using water that comes straight from a pipe or another water source near the plant. Although, the system would need more than 2 million gallons of water every hour to stay cooled down. The same amount of water would need to go back to the source it came from, which means taking it from the plant again.

It is very clear that that kind of exchange in heated water, the water in the ponds, rivers, and lakes, will certainly change. A significant change in the waters temperature combine with the delicate ecosystem could kill all the plant and animal life. Now that the astronomical heat levels being created during the industrial processes is clear that it is rejecting the heat back into the cooling towers, and instead is destroying our eco system.

HVAC

Trying to cool down huge commercial building with the same type of air-conditioning as we use for residential applications would not only be costly, but impractical as well. The cooling towers used for huge commercial buildings can generally be found on their roof tops.

However, you will find that these cooling towers are much smaller than the ones used for industrial plants. Cooling towers that are used by HVAC applications is meant to reject heat that is being produced from the chiller. The cooling tower and the water cooled chiller work together.

What Is A Fluid Cooler?

Fluid cooler systems are generally used in applications featuring warmer temperatures. These systems come with copper tubes that feature aluminum fins and fans. The coolest practical leaving fluid temperature is around 10 degrees warmer than the air that enters the application from the outside.

These coolers are not as efficient as cooling towers, though. They will also come with a larger price tag and a larger footprint. Once installed, fluid coolers will come with less maintenance needs than the average cooling tower. The average operating costs of a fluid cooler will fall between that of a chiller and cooling tower.

Cooling Tower Maintenance & Repair

If you own or manage a property that uses cooling towers for HVAC or industrial cooling they need to be maintained and repaired when necessary.  All Kote Lining, Inc. offers cooling tower maintenance & repair as well as refurbishment

This article covers “Cooling Tower Drift Eliminators“.  Understanding the components that make your cooling tower work helps understand the required maintenance. Regular cooling tower maintenance cuts down on wasted water, energy usage, and extends the life of your equipment.  Cooling Towers are complex devices that utilize many various components to achieve their cooling functionality.

From Fills and nozzles, there is a symphony of parts being played out as the natural process of evaporation is synthesized. The process of evaporation synthesis takes a ‘team effort’ so making sure all of your components work in concert is key to getting the most out of you towers. One of the vital components of cooling towers is the drift eliminator. This entry is going to briefly profile the drift eliminator in order to give more clarity to the picture of cooling tower functionality.

What Are Drift Eliminators?

Drift eliminators greatly reduce water loss in cooling towers by minimizing the ability for water droplets to get caught up in the air being discharged from the cooling tower. They achieve this reduction in water loss by producing directional change to the air flow throughout the tower to interrupt the upward motion of the water droplets. Water is fundamental to the functioning of a cooling tower reducing water loss can turn into great savings. Making sure you have high quality drift eliminators installed will set your cooling tower up for long lasting and efficient service and set you up for major savings over an extended period of time.

Every cooling tower loses a portion of water through evaporation into the environment during operation. Generally when cooling towers are working properly this loss is in the form of water vapor which is pure and poses no harm to the environment. In contrast loss that has mineral and chemicals from the cooling tower is drift. This undesirable loss of water is sometimes caused by the fast moving air carrying it out of the cooling tower. Treated water which is common in cooling towers can in fact pose a negative impact on the surrounding environment.

How Drift Eliminators Work

Drift eliminators are designed to prevent large water droplets from escaping via the cooling tower air stream.  They do this by forcing the droplets caught in the stream of air to causing a change in direction which reduces their velocity. They are directed into the blade walls and run back down into the tower.  When drift eliminators are properly installed and maintained they prevent the treated water from escaping the cooling tower. This saves operators money on treating additional water and helps mitigate damage to the environment. The best drive eliminators keep drive losses under .001%.

Professional Drift Eliminator Maintenance

Cooling Towers can be massive and keeping them running at a high level of efficiency takes a lot of work and maintenance. That amount of maintenance that is needed can actually be quite intimidating if you aren’t approaching it from a place of knowledge and understanding of your tower’s maintenance needs and how it is supposed to work. Having all of your components well maintained and in like new condition will allow you and your facility to enjoy the effects of a properly functioning cooling tower for years and possibly decades to come. If you have a cooling tower in Arizona and you have experienced excessive loss through drift, or you just want to have your cooling tower tuned up, please call All Kote Lining, Inc. at 480-966-4446.

A lot of commercial properties are searching for cooling tower efficiency improvement methods.  One way to achieve this is through maximizing cooling tower efficiency through improving water quality.  By implementing solutions to reduce the concentration of dissolved solids circulating through the cooling tower system the water consumption can be greatly reduced.

Keys To Cooling Tower Efficiency

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The cooling tower, depending on climate, can consume up to 25% of the property’s total water usage.

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Cooling towers lose water 4 ways: Basin leaks and overflows, blowdown, drift, and evaporation.

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Unchecked dissolved solid concentration leads to corrosion, scaling, and biological growth.

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Fine tuned blowdown in cooling towers is a common area for significant improvement.

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Benefits To Improving Cooling Tower Efficiency

Clearly with the cooling tower being a major component of your commercial or industrial property there is a potential for significant savings.  There are other benefits to maintaining your cooling tower properly.

Environmental Benefit

When you tune your cooling tower to use less water it reduces the volume of chemicals needed to keep the water conditioned.  This also means fewer chemicals which need to be discharged into the environment.

Financial Benefit

Using less water saves money on the water bill, but also helps reduce sewer costs.  In addition the less water you use the less that needs to be treated and that saves money on buying chemicals.

Safety & Health Benefit

Reducing the labor needed maintaining the cooling tower by tuning its efficiency also leads to being able to direct staff to maximize their time.  Proper running of a cooling tower and saving water supports healthier communities and environmental stewardship.

How To Improve Cooling Tower Efficiency

The follow are 5 ways you can improve your water consumption and achieve better cooling tower efficiency.  For more information about your specific cooling tower and efficiency challenges talk to your local cooling tower maintenance company.

1 – Blowndown Rate

Match your blowndown rate to manufacturer specifications for your cooling tower to maintaint the total dissolved solids.  A good rule to remember is adjust the rate to be able to maintain five concentration cycles.  It is the job of a cooling tower water treatment specialist to determine the specific regimen for you cooling tower.  They will take into consideration the makeup water available along with the maximum number of cycles your system can handle.  Every region has different challenges with local water supply and will have varied amounts of hard water and dissolved solids.  It’s important to keep in mind the safety of your cooling tower and facility when designing a water conservation strategy for your cooling tower.

2 – Install Flow Meters

Installing flow meters on blowdown and makeup lines will help monitor the condition of the water in your cooling tower more accurately.  Regular checking of these meters or monitoring them with a data logger will help with scheduling maintenance inspections.   You can use the collected data to help calculate actual cycles of concentration and compare that information to your target.  The data will also be a benefit for tracking other cooling tower maintenance issues.  In some areas local water utility companies will offer rebates and credits for tracking the amout of water lost through evaporation.

3 – Install A Conductivity Controller

Blowndown is a major factor in saving water and improving cooling tower efficiency.  Installing a conductivity controller will help automatically adjust blowdown rate and save water.  The controller monitors the cycle water and only allows the induction of makeup water at a predesignated conductivity setpoint.  The best approach includes data loggers to provide the best real world data at your site.

4 – Alternative Water Conditioning Methods

While makeup water must be conditioned to cycle through the cooling tower chemicals are not the only method of achieving this priority.  Alternative water conditioning methods include: UV systems, ozonation, and ionization. These upgrades will reduce the need for buying chemicals to keep your cooling tower working properly.

5 – Efficiency Retrofitting Opportunities

Older cooling tower units may not have all of today’s advancements for efficiency.  Two common areas for significant improvement include automated chemical feed systems and sidestream filtration systems.  Both of these retrofit improvements can help improve you cooling tower’s efficiency.

Automatic Chemical Feed – These systems function similarly to conductivity controllers and monitor the cycle water’s level of dissolved solids.  This saves your facility money in that they only release the exact amount of chemicals when needed to treat your makeup water.

Sidestream Filtration – For dusty atmospheric conditions sidestream filtration can improve water quality by removing sediment for the tower sump.  This also helps reduce the level of dissolved solids in your cooling tower cycle water.

Phoenix Valley Cooling Tower Maintenance

If you have a facility in the Phoenix Valley that needs cooling tower maintenance, All Kote Lining Inc. is your source for the highest quality cooling tower maintenance.  Our team saves companies money by improving cooling tower efficiency and refurbishing cooling towers.  Either way our services are designed to extend the life of your cooling tower and make them more efficient to save your business money.

For more information about how we can help your commercial, medical, or industrial facility please give us a call.

480-966-4446

With the cooler months on the way the potential for freezing temperatures looms. While it isn’t very many days a year that Phoenix gets freezing temperatures it is important to know how to cope with it. This guide helps understand freezing weather cooling tower maintenance. Particular attention should be given to counterflow towers because it takes unique procedures to cut down the ice formation when it is running in below freezing temperatures.

Basics Of Freezing Conditions

The first and most important step is to understand each cooling tower’s needs in a given location and under various levels of use. The absolute best method is frequent visual inspections to get a baseline for each of the different operating conditions. Then you can predict the procedures that work for your given circumstances and your cooling tower.

Preheating the water in the basin is the key to successful winter start up and should be done before the water is directed up and over the tower. The industrial heat load must be applied to the tower with all of the return water being bypassed into the basin. After the water has reached about 80°F you can then stop the bypass and run the water through the cooling tower itself. Then the quantity of fans and their speed can be used to regulate the temperature of the water in the basin. If the temperature is low enough the fans might well all be turned off to maintain the temperature of the water in the basin.

During these colder operating conditions the thermal draft upward can be sufficient flow to keep the fans off or even at very low speeds. This system may well become an alternative to cold weather operation given the colder operating conditions.

Controlling Ice Buildup

Ice buildup can add weight and damage the cooling tower, concrete, and the fill. Ice that builds up on the lateral supports and columns should not be manually broken off as it is possible to damage the structure. The best method to removing the ice in these conditions is to utilize the heat from the industrial process to melt the ice. Fans should be slowed or even turned off to clear the supports of ice.

Extreme Weather Procedures

For some parts of Arizona below zero conditions do occur. In this conditions the standard procedure is to operate each of the individual fans in reverse every two to three hours. The period of time they are ran in reverse should not exceed 20 minutes.

Deicing control systems should be simple and follow a logical progression of events. It should look something like the following: The primary deicing switch would switch a group of fans to start slowing down, come to a stop, and shift into reverse. Having the ability to control individual groups of fans gives the flexibility to run extra deicing procedures on areas that are more prone to icing from direct wind or snow drift. The fans deicing cycle should not run longer than 30 minutes to prevent ice forming on fan stacks, fan blades, or drift eliminators.

Cooling tower operators should keep log books that record all of the data needed to develop an effective deicing strategy for your cooling tower. This log should include weather conditions, how many pumps are operating, individual fan speeds, and number of fans operating.

Regular Cooling Tower Inspection & Maintenance

The key to knowing what your cooling tower’s condition is, and what steps to take to fix it relies completely on regular inspection, repair and maintenance. This not only helps keep your cooling tower energy efficient but it ensures that all of the parts are ready for more extreme changes in weather conditions and either hotter or colder weather conditions. Don’t let them fall into neglect and end up failing you when you have work to do. Get your cooling towers maintained, repaired, or refurbished by All Kote Inc.