Different Types of Open-circuit Cooling Towers: A Quick Guide

Industrial and manufacturing establishments must use cooling towers. The most prevalent cooling tower designs are the closed-circuit and open-circuit cooling towers. To better understand open-circuit cooling towers, we’ll go through the five most prevalent configurations.

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Even though most cooling tower systems are located in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, an increasing number of office buildings might benefit from them. Power plants, oil refineries, and petrochemical complexes need cooling towers to cool equipment. The water used in different operations is cooled, and the temperature is decreased to remove and reject waste heat from industrial, manufacturing, or large-scale offices.

Open-circuit and Closed-circuit cooling towers are the most frequent. Each sort is subdivided into several types and designs. Although cooling towers have the same purpose, the methods employed to achieve the goal to cool the water varies.

Various designs and sizes of Open-circuit cooling towers are available. When it comes to open versus closed cooling towers, several important considerations must be made.

Open-circuit Cooling Tower

An Open-circuit cooling tower is when hot water is cycled overfill or packing and cooled by air. The labyrinthine fill allows water and air to exchange heat. Heat is mostly transferred by evaporation. It is necessary to cool down the water before it evaporates. As they flow through the fill, the waterfalls cool it down. A cold basin will catch any water that falls below the fill line. The hot, wet air escaping the fill causes it to be discharged into the outer world.

This kind of innovation has made low-temperature processing viable. The temperature of the water has also risen significantly. Open-circuit cooling towers are less expensive to operate, but they need more water treatment over time. Heat exchangers that become clogged up cost more to operate. The heat exchangers in the cooling towers must be maintained regularly to minimise or eliminate fouling and other problems that impede system performance.

Closed-circuit Cooling Tower

Closed-circuit cooling towers function in the same manner as Open-circuit cooling towers. In contrast to the latter, the fluid being cooled is not immediately exposed to the outside environment. A heat exchanger coil is also part of the closed-circuit cooling tower. This coil separates the cooling water from the water in the cooling tower.

A closed-circuit system is a cooling tower with two fluid circuits. Closed-circuit cooling towers do not accumulate dirt and oxygen, unlike open-circuit cooling towers. To safeguard the cooling water, it is kept inside the coil.

Different Types of Open-circuit Cooling Towers

Five types of Open-circuit cooling towers are available. These are:

Round/Bottle Cooling Tower

The round/bottle cooling tower is your best option if you’re in need of a small cooling tower. Flute sizes range from small to large. Because of its round shape, airflow and heat transmission are maximized per unit volume. Thermal conductivity of cross corrugated PVC film is utilised to produce the round/bottle cooling tower. It’s made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic.

Before being sent to the project site, round cooling towers are typically designed and built at an industrial cooling tower manufacturers’ factory. Chemical plants, plastic processing plants, and pharmaceutical factories are just a few of the places where process cooling may be put to use.

Fan Less, Fills Less Cooling Tower

Unlike traditional cooling towers that utilise water to cool them, fanless cooling towers employ waste heat water. This is in contrast to the fact that it uses the outside airflow as a cooling medium. It is furnished with wooden louvers that serve as a barrier, keeping water from leaking out into the surrounding area.

Compared to the other types of cooling towers, the fanless and fills less cooling tower is both the most cost-effective and the one that requires the least maintenance.

Cross Flow Cooling Towers

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Cross Flow cooling water is especially beneficial to industrial applications. The water flows vertically down the tower while air passes horizontally through the fills of this kind of open-circuit cooling tower. It is very beneficial in oil refineries and chemical process cooling applications, where ammonia compounds, sugar, oil, fats, and other nutrients and pollutants may accumulate in the water supply.

Square/Rectangular Cooling Tower

The rectangular or square shape is the most typical form for a natural draft cooling tower. The counter flow-induced draught is also employed in the square cooling tower and the round cooling tower to provide cooling. Heated PVC film fills with cross-corrugated patterns are utilised as a heat transmission medium.

In addition to structural components made of mild steel that has been hot-dipped galvanised, the rectangle or square cooling tower is composed entirely of fiberglass-reinforced plastics. Some models have a pultruded fiberglass frame and a direct-drive electric motor with a gear reduction, while others have a steel frame.

The rectangular cooling tower is available in both single-cell and multi-cell configurations. Numerous applications include light to medium and heavy industrial operations like pharmaceutical plant refrigeration, process chilling, energy production from HVAC systems, steel melting/heating furnaces, power generation, chemical plants, and plastic processing plants.

Field Erected Cooling Towers

According to the International Standards Organization, all industrial and manufacturing enterprises can’t locate the appropriate standard-designed cooling tower for their specific requirements, particularly those operating in the most hostile industrial environment. For this reason, Field Erected Cooling Towers have been introduced. This specific kind of Open-circuit cooling tower is custom built to order for each customer. The design incorporates pultruded fiberglass, and the modeling incorporates stainless steel fasteners, pultruded FRP sections, fiberglass-reinforced polyester sheets for cladding, and other hardware. Pultruded FRP is a great material for cooling towers. However, Pultruded FRP Cooling Towers cost competitive and of high strength.

Both existing and future building projects might benefit from the field-erected cooling tower. FRP has several distinct benefits compared to wood, concrete, or steel. FRP is a good option when it comes to weather. This cooling water is ideal for high-temperature applications since it is recyclable and ecologically friendly. Filthy water such as seawater, chemical wastewater, and brackish water may all be treated using it.

Cooling towers come in a wide range of designs. However, even if they all have the same objective, not all of them can meet your specific requirements. Consider your industrial area’s needs before making a cooling tower purchase. The kind of cooling tower you choose has a significant impact on its performance and efficiency. Contact Towertech, the renowned industrial cooling tower manufacturer, for further information if you’re still unsure.

Direct

This is an enclosed structure, with warm water fed to a fill material (vertical surface or horizontal elements) that create an expanded air surface for heat transfer, through gravity drip that collects below in a cool water basin while allowing some of the water to evaporate. The structure must be far enough away from the tower to dissipate heat away from the tower. Pumps are used to circulate the cool water back into the system.

An open cooling tower is a heat exchanger that in order to cool down water makes use of the direct contact with the air. The heat transfer occurs partially thanks to a heat exchange between air and water, but mainly thanks to the evaporation of a small quantity of the water that needs to be cooled. This will allow to cool down to a temperature lower than the ambient temperature.

The heat exchange happens through the evaporation of a portion of the water that needs to be cooled. This will allow the water to cool down to a temperature lower than the ambient temperature and a delta of the high temperature point to this final temperature. Read more about direct systems here.

Indirect

When the water that needs to be cooled cannot be allowed to come into contact with the air (e.g. in the food industry), it is necessary to use an indirect sytem with a heat exchanger.

The heat exchanger separates the process water that needs to be cooled from the “evaporation water” of the cooling tower. This will avoid contact between the process water and the air.

For starters, as the name suggests, there is no direct contact of air and water in this closed system. A dual fluid system transfers heat through the walls of coiled tubes or radiators to the secondary fluid which is circulated to evaporative cooling and recycled back to the system after being cooled.

Indirect cooling can be divided into air-flow types:

Counterflow (air flows vertically upward) and Crossflow (water flows vertically through the fill while the air flows horizontally).

These different configurations can be further identified by the fan type, shape, water flow or efficiency. Read more about indirect systems here.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Open Type Cooling Tower(pt,es,vi). Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.