Cooling Tower Field Upgrades

In addition to performing regular maintenance and preventive maintenance on your cooling towers, you can also elongate the life of your towers by performing field upgrades. Depending on what type of cooling towers you have in use at your facility, you may be interested in different cooling tower field upgrades—or in implementing several—to extend the life of your towers. Read on to learn about different cooling tower field upgrades in New Jersey and how they can help.

What are field upgrades and how does it help cooling towers?

You need a cooling tower demolition when your cooling towers are no longer functional and are no longer an integral part of your system. If they have failed to work and upgrading or refurbishing is not an option, then you will need a new cooling tower install once the old cooling towers have been removed. For larger cooling towers, one of the best ways to remove them is through a cooling tower implosion. This is a controlled demolition that is performed by someone in the demolition industry, particularly someone familiar with the structure of cooling towers.

It is called implosion because, essentially, the building implodes on top of itself using a series of small explosions that are set from inside, usually with explosives such as nitroglycerin or dynamite.

What Is a Cooling Tower Installation and How to Do it Properly?

Field upgrades refer to replacing or upgrading components within the cooling tower, keeping the cooling tower structurally sound, or performing other upgrades to keep your cooling tower running as it should and the area around it clean and free from debris. Some different types of field upgrades can include:

• Access platform and catwalk replacement or additions. Look for OSHA-compliant, prefabricated access platforms that are designed specifically for your towers. Regular access is needed to check water levels, as well as to perform minor maintenance.
• Making the switch from galvanized to stainless steel. Stainless steel has a much longer life than galvanized steel does, so this makes it a better choice for cooling tower construction. Galvanized steel has a tendency to form what is called “white rust,” a type of corrosion.
• Internal upgrades. You may want to switch out certain mechanical components within the cooling tower or perform electrical upgrades, depending on what may need replacement.
• Sound attenuation. If your cooling towers are located in a residential area, you may want to consider noise reduction with two stages of sound attenuators.
• Install a variable-frequency drive (VFD). A VFD can increase efficiency while lowering energy costs when installed on motors and mechanical drives.
• Add a basement heater. This can help prevent winter freezing.
• Add protective barrier coatings. This includes galvanized coatings or paint.

In addition to field upgrades, you may also want to consider other upgrades to your cooling towers as well, such as upgrades to the drive gear (quieter fans, frequency-controlled motors, RPM-AC motors), upgrades to help fight against Legionella, such as upgrades to the water distribution system or drift separators, or you may want to configure your cooling tower to be equipped to handle a larger (or smaller) capacity or water flow.

To learn more about field upgrades for cooling towers in NJ, or if you need an estimate for maintenance or repair for your cooling towers, contact us at 732-570-9392 today and we’ll be glad to help!