What is a Cooling Tower?
 Cooling
towers are evaporative coolers used for cooling water or other
working medium to near-ambient temperature. In cooling towers,
water from the chiller is pumped through a series of coils where
air is blown across it by a fan to produce the cooling. In other
cooling tower designs, such as power plants, the water is sprayed
directly through an air stream, where some of it evaporates and
the rest is cooled. Other designs may use a combination of coils
and water spray. They vary in size from small roof-top units to
very large round structures that can be over 120 meters tall and
100 meters in length.
Cooling towers have two classifications for use:
- Industrial - Industrial cooling towers can
be used to reject heat from various sources such as machinery
or heated process material. The primary use of large, industrial
cooling towers is to remove the heat absorbed in the circulating
cooling water systems used in power plants, petroleum refineries,
petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants and other
industrial facilities.
- HVAC (air-conditioning) - An HVAC cooling
tower is a subcategory rejecting heat generated by a chiller.
As heat loads increase, water-cooled chillers are more energy
efficient than air-cooled chillers. Large office buildings,
hospitals and schools typically use a cooling tower as part
of their air conditioning systems.
Cooling Towers, by design, flush airborne contaminants such as
biocides, heat, slime or silt into the system, where they deposit
on heat exchange surfaces. Suspended matter in the cooling water
also supplies living microorganisms with a constant food source
for sustaining life and multiplying.
Our permanent media filtration system can remove these contaminants
before they increase the cost of operating the water-cooled equipment
or shut the system down.
Cooling Tower Side Stream Filtration
The most effective filter system for cooling towers and process
water is a permanent media unit with side stream filtration. With
side-stream filtration, a portion of the water filters continuously,
while the whole system is filtered every hour. Side-stream filtration
works on the principle that continuous particle removal will keep
the system clean. The filtration goal is not to make drinking
water but to remove the fine dirt, dust, smoke and organic particles
that collect in water.
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Keep with Regulations
As a result of aggressive laws which are now being enforced,
industrial companies, institutions and commercial operations are
re-evaluating methods to treat their cooling tower waters. Additionally,
increased chemical, utility, disposal and training costs make
this issue a priority with many organizations.
Filtronics will design the proper treatment approach based upon
influent quality, economics and space management.
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