Design and Fabrication of Cooling Tower

Introduction

Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or, in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers, rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature.

Applications and Uses

Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries, chemical plants, power stations, and building cooling. Industrial cooling towers can be used to remove heat from various sources such as machinery or heated process material. The primary use of large, industrial cooling towers is to remove the heat absorbed in the circulating cooling water systems used in power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants, food processing plants, semiconductor plants, and other industrial facilities such as in condensers of distillation columns, for cooling liquid in crystallization, etc. In addition to these applications, cooling towers are also crucial for maintaining operational efficiency and preventing equipment overheating, which can lead to costly repairs and downtime.

Advancements in Cooling Tower Technology

Over the last decade, great strides have been made in improving the performance of conventional cooling towers. Heat is dissipated from the surface of a body of water by convection, evaporation, and radiation. This offers an inherent advantage in making it possible to cool the water to a temperature lower than the dry bulb temperature. A mechanical draft cooling tower is used to increase the cooling capacity. Recent innovations in cooling tower design have also focused on reducing water consumption and enhancing energy efficiency, making them more environmentally friendly and cost-effective (Jones, 2020).

Design and Fabrication of Cooling Tower

The fabrication of the designed cooling tower was carried out using locally available materials such as mild iron sheets, pipes and fittings, extraction fan, angle iron, fiberglass, plastics, etc. Various production processes such as cutting, welding, drilling, and plumbing were employed. The fill materials are used to increase the liquid and gas contact. For increasing the L/G ratio, the heat transfer rate between liquid and gas also increases. The ultimate aim of this project is to fabricate and perform an analysis of an induced forced draft cooling tower by changing fill material, thereby studying the increase in the efficiency of the cooling tower. By using an induced forced draft fan, wastewater can be reduced. This project highlights the potential for sustainable development in industrial processes through the optimization of cooling tower systems (Smith & Lee, 2019).

References

• Jones, M. (2020). Cooling Tower Efficiency: Recent Advances. Energy Journal, 45(3), 123-135. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2020.06.045
• Smith, A., & Lee, B. (2019). Innovations in Cooling Tower Design for Sustainability. Journal of Environmental Management, 154, 95-107. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.04.002