COOLING TOWER REBUILDING

Cooling towers require thorough, ongoing, and preventative maintenance throughout the years. Still, sometimes, even with best efforts, the structural makeup of a cooling tower will need to be addressed to keep it working at full functionality. Sometimes, it is possible to replace heat transfer components instead of concentrating on structure, but often, cooling tower rebuilding is necessary to extend the life of the unit.

What Is a Cooling Tower Rebuild and How to Effectively Do It?

When you notice that your cooling tower needs help beyond routine maintenance or a simple fix, cooling tower rebuild services are in order—or in some cases, complete cooling tower replacement. Cooling tower rebuilding will focus on mending the structural integrity of the cooling tower. Before doing any work on a tower, you should perform a job safety analysis (JSA) while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), such as an N95 respirator or another type of mask with a breathing apparatus. This is to ensure that the cooling tower is safe to work on, but it also evaluates what needs to be repaired during the rebuild. The inspection looks for:

• Deterioration in the structure of the cooling tower
• Leaky pipes and missing nozzles
• Corroded mechanical components and overall wear
• Fill clogging and damage
• Deterioration of guardrails and ladders
• Condition of drift eliminators

After the inspection is performed, the safety of performing work on the cooling tower is confirmed, but also, your repair and upgrade team will have a good idea of what repairs and upgrades should be performed.

What Are Upgrades Done on Cooling Towers?

Since you’ve decided to rebuild and refurbish your cooling tower, it’s a good time to think about cooling tower upgrades. A common upgrade is replacing wood components within the cooling tower with fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP). This greatly extends the lifespan of the cooling tower and can help prevent future necessary rebuilds. There are also different upgrades to maximize water efficiency and cycles of concentration (COCs) when you upgrade cooling towers. A conductivity controller upgrade is one way to maximize water efficiency, and another is the installation of a reverse osmosis system.

There are also thermal upgrades available for cooling towers. These are sizable upgrades, such as:

• Installation of a different distribution system
• Alternative (larger) mechanical equipment
• More modern and efficient heat transfer media

While these upgrades wouldn’t be a cooling tower replacement, they are substantial upgrades. However—they can be well worth it in terms of saving money in energy efficiency and can maximize the life of the cooling tower.

To learn more about cooling tower rebuilding, or to request an estimate for cooling tower rebuilding in New Jersey or cooling tower upgrades, contact Pinnacle CTS at 732-570-9392 today to learn how we can help.