| |
cooling tower is a heat rejection device, which
extracts waste heat to the atmosphere through
the cooling of a water stream to a lower
temperature. Common applications for cooling towers
are providing cooled water for air-conditioning,
manufacturing and electric power generation.
The generic term cooling tower is used to describe both
direct (open circuit) and indirect (closed circuit) heat
rejection equipment. A open-circuit cooling tower is an
enclosed structure with internal means to distribute the
warm water fed to it over a labyrinth like packing or fill.
The fill may consist of multiple and vertical wetted
surfaces upon which a thin film of water spreads. An
closed circuit cooling tower involves no direct contact of
the air and the fluid, usually water or a glycol mixture,
being cooled.
Cooling towers are also characterized by the means
which air is moved. In a counter-flow cooling tower air
travels upward through the fill or tube bundles, opposite
to the downward motion of the water. In a cross-flow
cooling tower air moves horizontally through the fill or
tube bundles as the water moves downward.
The below tables illustrates the types of cooling tower by
the various methods. The classifications of cooling tower
could be defined by presence of air moving device, by
method of contacting air and water, by direction of
contacting air and water, or by location of installing air
moving device.
|
|
