Objective

The objective of the experiment are :

1. To study the effect of variables changes on the temperature of the product

2. To study the effects of heater power on the exit temperature of water
3. To perform energy and mass balance on the cooling tower system

THEORY

Cooling towers are a proven and cost-effective method of cooling condenser water
loops and industrial processes. In operation, the condenser water flows directly over heat
transfer surface of the cooling tower.

During the operation of cooling towers, water changes its state from liquid to vapor, an
input of heat energy must take place which is known as the latent heat of evaporation. Cooling
towers take advantage of this change of state by creating conditions in which hot water
evaporates in the presence of moving air. Heat is extracted from the water and transferred to
air and the process is known as evaporative cooling. The physical mechanism of cooling tower
operation is the droplet of water are surrounded by a thin film of air which is saturated and
remains almost undisturbed by passing air stream. It is trough this static film of saturated air
that the transfer of heat takes place in three ways.

Figure 1 : The ways in which a water droplet loses heat

By radiation from the surface of the water droplet. This is a very small proportion of
the total amount of heat flow and it is usually neglected. The second way is by conduction. By
conduction and convection between water and air, the amount of heat transferred will depend
on the temperatures of air and water. It is a significant proportion of the whole ,and may be as
much as one-quarter to one third. The third way is by evaporation. This accounts for the
majority of heat transfer and is the reason why the whole process is termed evaporative
cooling. The evaporation that occurs when air and water are in contact is caused by the
difference in pressure of water vapor at the surface of the water and in the air. These vapor are
functions of the water temperature and the degree of saturation of the air respectively. In a
cooling tower, the water and air streams are generally opposed so that cooled water leaving the
bottom of the pack is in contact with the entering air. Similarly, hot water entering the pack
will be in contact with warm air leaving the pack. Evaporation will take place throughout the
pack and at the top of the tower the air is nearly saturated. This is cause by high water
temperature and consequently high vapor pressure. The amount of evaporation take place
depends on several factor including total surface area that air and water make contact and the
amount of air flowing. The greater the air flow the more cooling is achieved. This is because
as the air rate increases, the effect of the water on its temperature and humidity will become
less, and the partial pressure differences throughout the pack will be increased.

In cooling tower there have some fans that located beside the cooling towers. The air flow rate
depends on the fan speed. The pressure that exerted varies as the square of the fan speed. The
power absorbed also depends on the speed of the fans. The larger the opening of the blower,
the larger the air flow rate it will become. Contra flow forced draught design cooling tower
are used to remove heat absorbed in circulating cooling water systems. As the cooling tower
have a fan, it will rovide efficiency of 15-40% make in wet cooling. Using a fan it will make
optimal operational cost, more air with less power and efficient operation. The efficiency of
the cooling tower will reduces cause by corrosive environment which leadto a several cooling
problems like improper cooling and temperature is not stable.

Figure 3 : system of the blower

All energy including heat energy is measured in unit of kilojoules. The cooling tower is
needed to lowering the evaporative cooling tower supply water temperature to a certain point.
When the lower tower supply water temperature reduces the compression ratio so it uses a lower
energy. When the cooling tower use more energy such as pump and fan to achieve a lower tower
supply water temperature so it will use more power. When heat is to be extracted from a process
the rate of energy flow will become :

Q = m x Cpt

M= mass flow of material being cooled (kg/s)

Cp= specific heat capacity (KJ/kgK)

t = temperature difference (K)

In cooling tower, a low water flow through the exchanger associated with a high temperature
rise will cause the heat exchange larger. When the temperature range increases the flow
rate also be low.

REFERENCES

1. Hensley, J. C. (2006). Cooling tower fundamentals (Second ed.). Overland Park, Kansas USA:
SPX cooling technologies Inc.