Cooling towers vary a lot in terms of their features, making the buying process intimidating for many purchasers. While there are many decisions to make when choosing a cooling tower, there are three major factors that will narrow down your options to a much more manageable number.
Cooling Tower System Capacity and Performance
This is the headline specification for any cooling tower system, but different manufacturers measure it in different ways. Getting a large enough capacity is essential as returning overly warm water will prevent cooling equipment from working properly, and may even damage it.
The heat rejection capacity of a cooling tower system is often measured in tonnes. This measures the number of tons of ice that could be melted by the heat removed by the cooling tower over 24 hours. A cooling tower’s capacity is also often measured in terms of flow rate, which measures the amount of water that it can handle in gallons per minute. The capacity of your cooling towers needs to be enough to handle all of the water flowing through your cooling system.
A cooling tower’s performance is often measured by its approach. This is the difference between the output temperature of the water and the wet-bulb temperature of the air used to cool the water. The other common measure of cooling performance is the range, which is the difference in temperature between the hot water entering the cooling tower and the cooler water exiting it.
Cooling Tower Size
Your cooling tower needs to fit into the space that you have set aside for it. Remember that not all locations will be suitable for a cooling tower as the air intakes should not be close to a structural wall, and the tower as a whole should not be near the building’s air intakes.
The cooling tower system’s footprint is very important no matter where you want to place the cooling tower. Height matters more for indoor cooling towers than outdoor ones, but care should be taken to ensure that the fan discharge is above the level of any nearby walls.
Cooling tower product users looking to save space often opt for counterflow cooling towers. These use pressurized nozzles to spray water vertically downwards through the cooling tower fins against an upwards flow of air. This type of cooling tower system can have a smaller footprint than a crossflow cooling tower system, but will be less energy efficient and require more regular servicing. They also have more limited maintenance access, making cleaning cooling tower basins more difficult.
Open Circuit or Closed Circuit?
Open circuit cooling towers pass water from the cooling system directly through the cooling tower, exposing it to the outside air. Closed-circuit cooling tower systems use a separate heat exchanger loop between the water circuit used to cool the building and the flow of air from outside.
Open circuit cooling towers are simpler designs and therefore tend to cost less up front. The simpler design also saves on space. On the other hand, they can allow contaminants from outside into the entire cooling circuit, so they may not be suitable for high-pollution areas.
In a closed circuit cooling tower, the cooling circuit water is kept inside a coil that is cooled by spraying it with water, keeping it separated from any outside air. This makes fouling less likely, meaning that cooling tower maintainers can use up less time cleaning cooling tower fins.
Do you need a cooling tower cleaned, repaired or upgraded? Get in touch with Pinnacle Cooling Tower Service for your free inspection and estimate.
Contact us
To learn more about cooling tower maintenance or to find out how we can help when it comes to routine cooling tower service and maintenance, contact Pinnacle Cooling Tower Service today at 732-570-9392. Our primary goals are safety, service, and customer satisfaction.
