Working Principle of Cooling Tower
There are various types of
cooling towers developed to meet diverse industrial needs. The common working
principle employed by most of the towers is “evaporative cooling”.
Evaporative
cooling is described as a process in which warm water from the industrial
process is pumped into the tower until it reaches the distribution system. This
tower nozzles distribute this water to the wet chamber and simultaneously draws
the dry air to process heated water. The water gradually loses its temperature
and water droplets are collected at the basin at the base of the tower.
However, the lighter droplets that strive to move upwards into the atmosphere
is prevented by an eliminator provided at the top. This type of process is
utilized in the natural draught fan cooling tower. Some of the tower employ forced and induced draught fan. In this type, the fan is placed outside
the tower and at the top to circulate the atmospheric air from top to bottom.
Advantages
and Disadvantages
The advantages and disadvantages of the cooling tower include
the following.
Advantages
- High cooling efficiency
- Needs less maintenance
- Reliability and sustainability
- Can be operated for a longer time
Disadvantages
- Possibility of scale and corrosion at the base and body of cooling towers
