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1.

0 ABSTRACT This experiment is conducted for students to evaluate and study the performances of the cooling tower at difference operating conditions. This experiment is divided into two parts. Initially for both experiments, the load tank is filled with distilled water to the wet bulb sensor reservoir o the fullest while the makeup tank is also filled with distilled water up to zero mark on the scale. The temperature set point of temperature controller is set up to 45C then the 1 kW of water heater is switched on and heated until 40 C. The damper is set to fully open, and the fan is switched on. The valve V4 and V5 are opened and adjusted to check the pressure across the orifices while the valve V3 and V6 is to check the different pressure across the column. Then, for the first part of the experiment, the power of the heater is set at 0.5 kW, 1.0 kW and 1.5 kW then, for each different power, the differential pressure from the orifice and column, and all the related temperatures are recorded. For second part, firstly the general start-up procedure are repeated for three times and this times the manipulating variables is the per cent % of damper opened; 0%, 50% and fully opened and the differential pressure from the orifice and column and the related temperatures are also recorded at different % opened of damper. As in results, it shows that, the increment in cooling load power provides a better efficiency as it increases when cooling load increases. However, the cooling tower shows the best performance when the damper is half-opened as its efficiency is the highest when it is 50% opened. The cooling range and approach to wet bulb temperature also varies with different amount of heat load and condition of damper. The cooling range increases greatly as well as heat load when the cooling load increases. As for the second experiment, the cooling range increases when the damper is half-opened while the approach to wet bulb temperature decreases as the damper is fully opened. Heat load and efficiency is the highest when the damper is half-opened. The experiment was a success.

2.0 INTRODUCTION Regarding to Ananthanarayanan (2005), cooling tower is used in conjunction with the watercooled condenser. Water passed through the condenser water tubes only to get warm up but does not get any contamination. Therefore, the water can be used again after cooling process. The cooling water also cools the warmed water for recirculating it into the condenser making it as water-conservation 1

equipment. Heat that is removed by refrigeration system to the space is thrown to the atmosphere through cooling tower in a water-cooled condenser system. The cooling process is brought about the sensible heat transfer with air as well as through evaporative cooling by the evaporation of a very small portion of water. In order to get the maximum heat exchange between water and air, the surface area of water exposed to the air stream is increased by breaking the water stream into droplets. There are two ways of air circulation within the tower, which is either by mechanical means or natural air movement. Therefore, there are two types of cooling tower existed which are atmospheric (natural draft) and mechanical draft towers. The selection of cooling tower is based on the heat rejection load on the cooling tower. In United States, the natural draft tower is used for large electric utility condenser cooling with the flows that could reach as high as 500,000 gpm. Basically, the natural draft tower is designed to take advantage on the temperature differences between ambient air and the hotter air inside the tower. This design could create a chimney effect as it causes the cold air at the bottom of the water to push the warmer out of the top (GC3 Special Chemicals Inc., 2013).

Figure 2a : The component of natural draft cooling tower that is being implemented in industry. Source: GC3 Special Chemicals Inc., Houston.

3.0 AIMS At the end of this experiments, students will be able to: To determine the performance characteristics of cooling tower. To compare the effects of variation in temperature, flow speed and packing filling packages. To understand the vaporization towers operating principles.

4.0 THEORY When a gas flows over a surface of liquid, the heat and mass transfer that occur is referring to the process of evaporative cooling. According to Incropera (2005), evaporation occur from the surface of liquid, which the phase change utilizes the energy in the form of latent heat of vaporization of the liquid.

Figure 4a: Latent and sensible heat exchange at a gas-liquid interface. (Incropera, 2005)

Based on Figure 4a, evaporation process initiated when liquid molecules embedded on the surface experience higher collision activity thus increase their energy level. The ever increasing energy later overcome the energy that are needed to overcome the surface binding energy. This deduces that the energy of evaporation must come from internal energy of liquid, which later would reduce their temperature (cooling effect). To maintain steady state condition of evaporation, the latent heat of evaporation losses by the liquid must be replaced with energy transfer from surrounding liquid molecule. This will result in further evaporation process across the liquid surface. The transfer is made possible by convection of sensible energy where the liquid undergo heat addition from heat source (eg; electric heater), where radiation effect is considered negligible. The conservation of energy in a fixed surface area is qconv + qadd = qevap where qevap = where = evaporative mass flux hfg = latent heat of vaporization hfg (Eq. 1.2) (Eq. 1.1)

In order to understand the principle of evaporative cooling, cooling tower is used as the model. Cooling tower is an essential equipment to be operated in a plant, which act as the cold utility unit where all the excessive heat from streams (hot stream) is dissipated. Then, the energy is to be used to prime the feed by heating them in feed preheater. By practising this efficient energy management in long run, the plant is more cost-efficient and effective in reducing cost related to its energy expenditure.

Figure 4b: Cross-section of simple cooling tower. (http://www.thermopedia.com/content/663/)

Based on Figure 4b, water stream is introduced through overhead inlet of cooling tower. The entering water falls over packing material that function to increase the surface area for heat transfer by many fold. At the same time, air is let to flow through the bottom inlet of tower and flowing upward inside there. Once water and air in contact through series of packing, the water evaporates into air stream at the water-air interface. Latent heat of evaporation is carried away by evaporated water vapour, thus lowering the water temperature. In order to detect the difference in temperature of air and water at their respective inlet and outlet, the cooling tower is equipped with various thermocouple which measure the dry and wet bulb temperature of air. From this, the change in enthalpies of water and air and their energy balance through evaporative cooling process can be determined. The water flow is controlled by the gate valve, monitored by flow meter and pumped from a load tank to distribution cap for even and efficient droplet distribution all over packing area. Since water eventually will flow down to the bottom, one thermometer is fitted there for water outlet temperature reading. The remaining water then reheated and re-circulated through the column. For air, the air is pulled from surrounding by a damper. The damper cover is adjustable where the level of 5

openness can be set as variable. The wet and dry bulb temperature of the air are taken at various points along the length of the column. The temperature of air is taken again after it pass by a droplet arrestor and exit to surrounding via orifice. The pressure drop through the orifice can be used to estimate the air flow rate. The principle theory applied in cooling tower is the First Law of Thermodynamics. According to Newton, this conservation of energy theory stated that energy neither created nor destroyed, they only change form. This is prove as entering water lose heat through evaporative cooling, its temperature reduce. The heat eventually gain by counter-current flowing air thus increase its heat energy, resulting in higher temperature at the outlet. From the theory, enthalpy is defined as H=U+PV (Eq. 1.3)

Where H is the enthalpy,U is internal energy, P is pressure and V is volume. The enthalpy is in equal amount as heat as

q=H

(Eq. 1.4)

To do a heat balance, enthalpy of water of any temperature can be obtained in the steam table as the example of the table is shown in Appendix 1.1. The water temperature of inlet and outlet of cooling tower is used as reference to measure the enthalpy of air at dry and welt bulb temperature of both inlet and outlet tower. The equation for the energy balance is as below:

in =

out

(Eq. 1.5)

where H = Hin - Hout. For air, the enthalpy is H = CpT (Eq. 1.6)

Where H is the change in enthalpy, Cp is the specific heat with respect to constant pressure and T is the temperature change. Note that due to low pressure of air, the air can be treated as an ideal gas and

Eq. 1.6 can be used. After obtaining the dry bulb and wet bulb temperature of the inlet and outlet air, psychometric chart is used to cross both temperatures to obtain enthalpy of air.

Figure 4c: The layout of the cooling tower. 5.0 Experimental Apparatus

Figure 5 : The Water Cooling Tower ( model : HE 152-5 )

1 6.0 Experimental Procedure.

6.1 General start-up procedure:

1. The valves V1 to V6 are closed and valve V7 is partially opened. The valve V8 is also closed before the experiment is started. 2. Then, the load tank is filled with distilled water or deionized water to the wet bulb sensor reservoir to the fullest. 3. The makeup tank is filled with distilled water or deionized water up to zero mark on the scale. 4. In addition, the distilled water is added to the wet bulb sensor reservoir to the fullest. 5. The cooling tower packing for the experiment is installed appropriately. 6. All tubing is connected to the different pressure sensor. 7. After that, the temperature set point of temperature controller is set up to 45C. The 1.0 kW water heater is switched on the water is heated until 40C. 8. The pump is switched on and valve V1 is opened and the water flow rate is set to 1.6 of 1.2 LPM. A steady operation is obtained where the water is distributed and flow uniformly through the packing. 9. Next, the fan damper is fully opened, and the fan is switched on. The differential pressure sensor is checked either it give reading or not. a) The valve V4 and V5 are opened while the valve V3 and V6 are closed and different pressure across the orifices is measured. b) The valve V3 and V6 are opened and valve V4 and V5 are closed. The different pressure across the column is measured. 10. The unit is run for 10 minutes to 15 minutes for the float valve to correctly adjusted the level in the load tank. The makeup tank is refilled as required. 11. Then, the unit is ready for use.

6.2 Experiment 1 : The power of heater is varied.

1. The general start-up procedure are repeated, 2. The power of the heater is set as 0.5 kW before the differential pressure from the orifice and column are recorded. 3. The step 1 and 2 are repeated by increasing the power of heater to 1.0 kW and 1.5 kW. 9

6.3 Experiment 2 : The percentage of damper opener is varied.

1. The general start-up procedure are repeated for three times. 2. The step 9 is changed for each steps the repeated by only 50% opened the damper and fully closed damper.

6.4 General shut-down procedure

1. The heater is switched off and the water is circulated through the cooling tower system for 3 to 5 minutes until the water is cooled down. 2. The fan is switched off and the fan damper is fully closed. 3. The pump and power supply are switched off. 4. The water in the reservior is retained for the following experiment. 5. Lastly, the water is completely drained from the unit if it is not in used.

7.0 RESULTS 7.1 Experiment 1

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Constant variable: Flow rate = 2.0 LPM Damper = Fully-open

Manipulated Variable: Heater

Parameter Air inlet dry bulb, T1 Air inlet wet bulb, T2 Air outlet dry bulb, T3 Air outlet wet bulb, T4 Water inlet, T5 Water outlet, T6 P Orifice P Column Heater Power

Unit
o o o o o o

0.5 kW 31 26.8 28.3 28.7 32.5 26.5 93 11 422

1.0 kW 31 26.7 28 28 32.9 26.8 93 10 811

1.5 kW 31.12 26.9 29.1 28.7 36.4 27.3 93 11 1231

C C C C C C

Pa Pa W

Table 7a: Values of Cooling range, Approach wet bulb, Heat Load (Q), Overall heat Transfer coefficient (U), and Efficiency ( calculated at different Cooling Load (kW)

Cooling Load,kW

T5

T6

T2

Cooling range (T5-T6),

Approach To wet bulb (T6-T2), -0.3 0.1 0.4

Heat Load, Q (kW) 0.801 0.843 1.257

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, U 0.00135 0.00135 0.00135

Efficiency, ,( %)

0.5 1.0 1.5

32.3 32.9 36.4

26.5 26.8 27.3

26.8 26.7 26.9

5.8 6.1 9.1

160.2 84.3 83.8

Then 2 graphs are plotted;

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1.4 1.2 1

Heat Load, Q

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Approach wet bulb,

Figure 7a: Graph shows the Heat Load, Q versus Approach wet bulb,
180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6

Efficiency, ,( %)

Cooling Load,kW

Figure7b : Graph shows the Efficiency versus cooling load

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7.2 Experiment 2

Constant variable: Flow rate = 2.0 LPM Heater = 1.5 kW

Manipulated Variable: Damper

Parameter Air inlet dry bulb, T1 Air inlet wet bulb, T2 Air outlet dry bulb, T3 Air outlet wet bulb, T4 Water inlet, T5 Water outlet, T6 P Orifice P Column Heater Power

Unit
o o o o o o

0% opened 33.3 28.1 38.2 35.0 45.9 39.4 0 0 1214

50% opened 31.2 27 29.7 29.4 37.7 27.9 83 8 1224

100% opened 31.4 26.9 29.1 28.7 36.4 27.3 93 11 1231

C C C C C C

Pa Pa W

Table7b : Values of Cooling range, Approach wet bulb, Heat Load (Q), Overall heat Transfer coefficient (U), and Efficiency ( calculated at different Blower change (%)

Blower changes (%) 0 50

T5

T6

T2

Cooling range (T5-T6)

Approach To wet bulb (T6-T2) 11.3 0.9

Heat Load, Q

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, U

Efficiency,

45.9 37.7

39.4 27.9

28.1 27

6.5 9.8

0.898 1.354

0.00135 0.00135

59.6% 90.2% 13

100

36.4

27.3

26.9

9.1

0.4

1.257

0.00135

83.8%

Then , 2 graphs are also plotted


1.6 1.4 1.2

Heat Load, Q

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

-2

10

12

Approach wet bulb,

Figure 7c: Graph shows the Heat Load, Q versus Approach wet bulb

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100 90 80 70

Efficiency, ,%

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 20 40 60 Blower changes (%) 80 100 120

Figure 7d: Graph of Efficiency versus Blower changes %

8.0 CALCULATIONS

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Sample calculation: Experiment 1:-

Independent Variable: Cooling load (kW)

Constant Variables: Flow rate (2.0 LPM) Blower (fully open)

Conversion:

2L min

1 min 60 s

1 m3 1000 L

1000 kg m3 S

= 0.033kg

To find cooling range ( ( (

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To find Approach wet bulb temp ( ( (

To find Heat Load, Q

To fond Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, U

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To find Efficiency,

Then, same step are repeated to find the cooling range, Approach wet bulb, Heat Load (Q), Overall heat Transfer coefficient (U), and Efficiency for experiment 1 at cooling load 1.0 kW and 1.5 kW. All the values calculated are tabulated as in table below:

Table : Values of Cooling range, Approach wet bulb, Heat Load (Q), Overall heat Transfer coefficient (U), and Efficiency ( calculated at different Cooling Load (kW)

Cooling Load,kW

T5

T6

T2

Cooling range (T5-T6),

Approach To wet bulb (T6-T2), -0.3 0.1 0.4

Heat Load, Q (kW) 0.801 0.843 1.257

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, U 0.00135 0.00135 0.00135

Efficiency, ,( %)

0.5 1.0 1.5

32.3 32.9 36.4

26.5 26.8 27.3

26.8 26.7 26.9

5.8 6.1 9.1

160.2 84.3 83.8

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Then 2 graphs are plotted;

1.4 1.2 1

Heat Load, Q

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Approach wet bulb,

Figure : Graph shows the Heat Load, Q versus Approach wet bulb,
180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6

Efficiency, ,( %)

Cooling Load,kW

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Figure : Graph shows the Efficiency versus cooling load

For experiment 2 the same step calculation also repeated in order to find the cooling range, Approach wet bulb, Heat Load (Q), Overall heat Transfer coefficient (U), and Efficiency( but in this experiment,

the value of cooling load (kW) are constant, while the manipulated variable are the Blower change (%) at 0% opened, 50% opened and 100% opened.

All the values calculated are tabulated as in table below

Table : Values of Cooling range, Approach wet bulb, Heat Load (Q), Overall heat Transfer coefficient (U), and Efficiency ( calculated at different Blower change (%)

Blower changes (%) 0 50 100

T5

T6

T2

Cooling range (T5-T6)

Approach To wet bulb (T6-T2) 11.3 0.9 0.4

Heat Load, Q

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, U

Efficiency,

45.9 37.7 36.4

39.4 27.9 27.3

28.1 27 26.9

6.5 9.8 9.1

0.898 1.354 1.257

0.00135 0.00135 0.00135

59.6% 90.2% 83.8%

Then , 2 graphs are also plotted 20

1.6 1.4 1.2

Heat Load, Q

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

-2

10

12

Approach wet bulb,

Figure : Graph shows the Heat Load, Q versus Approach wet bulb

100 90 80 70

Efficiency, ,%

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 20 40 60 Blower changes (%) 80 100 120

Figure : Graph shows the Efficiency , % versus Blower changes, %

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9.0 DISCUSSION This cooling tower experiment was carried out to determine the performance characteristics of a cooling tower and to compare the effects of variation in some parameters such as cooling load and condition of damper. Besides that, this experiment was also carried out to understand the operating principle of vaporization towers. Generally, cooling tower is a heat rejection device that extracts waste/undesired heat to the atmosphere by cooling of a stream of water to a lower temperature. This heat rejection is also known as evaporative in which it allows a little portion of the water being cooled to evaporate into a moving air stream which provide significant cooling to the remaining in the water stream. The heat that was released by the water stream transferred to the air stream, thus raising the airs temperature and its relative humidity to 100% which later discharged into the atmosphere (Cooling Tower Institute, 2012). In designing a cooling tower for a chemical plant, several parameters should be considered, in which each will affect the size, capacity and efficiency of a cooling tower. For a better understanding, the effect is simplified in terms of parameters such as heat load, range, approach and wet-bulb temperature. If one parameter is changed while the rest are held constant, this will indeed affect the tower size and efficiency (Marley, 2013). However in this experiment, two parameters are being manipulated that causes the cooling range (T5-T6) of cooling tower varies which are the variation of heater power (cooling load) and damper opener. In the first experiment, the cooling load parameter was manipulated. The experiment was repeated three times with different electric power of 0.5 kW, 1.0 kW and 1.5 kW respectively. The graph of heat load versus approach wet bulb in result section showed that the approach wet bulb temperature increases as heat load increases. The approach wet bulb temperature refers to the difference between the temperature of water leaving the tower and the wet bulb temperature (Ananthanarayanan, 2005). The wet bulb temperature of air is the determining factor for the amount of water vapour that the air can take. This is based on the wet bulb depression of air, which is the difference between the dry and wet bulb temperature. The greater value of wet bulb depression can take more water vapour, thus the amount of water that can evaporate will naturally depend on the capability of the circulating air to take in water. The cooling range also increases greatly as cooling load increases. However, the efficiency calculated decreases as cooling load increases. This is because heat load increases as cooling load increases. A bigger heat load provides better efficiency. Since the rate of evaporation is equal to heat

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load, therefore heat load also refers to the load on the condenser. However, the pressure drop is constant despite the increment in cooling load. In the second experiment, the manipulated variable is the condition of the damper. Damper functions as capacity controlling accessory item of cooling tower. In this case, blower is equipped to the cooling tower, in which it provides airflow stream to absorb heat that was rejected by water stream in the cooling tower (Yunus A.Cengel, 2008). In this experiment, observations and results were recorded in three conditions, which are when the damper was 0% opened, 50% opened and 100% opened. The observations recorded that the cooling range increases when the damper is half-opened while the approach to wet bulb temperature decreases as the damper is fully opened. Heat load and efficiency is the highest when the damper is half-opened. The observations are illustrated as in both graph of heat load versus approach to wet bulb and the graph of efficiency versus blower changes. In the fully opened condition, they are like a thin piece of sheet metal in a moving airstream oriented parallel to airflow. As the damper is closed, the sheet metal become less parallel to airflow, hence turbulence disrupts the air stream. This damper is usually adjusted when exiting water temperature becomes too low, which is to adjust the airflow (Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff, 2000). Damper also creates a difference in pressure inside the cooling tower. The change in reading of pressure drop in orifice and column when the damper is in open and close position proves that damper creates a change in pressure.

10.0 CONCLUSION In conclusion, the performance of cooling tower can be characterized by heater power(cooling load) and the condition of damper. Increment in cooling load provides a better efficiency as it increases when cooling load increases. However, the cooling tower shows the best performance when the damper is half-opened as its efficiency is the highest when it is 50% opened. The cooling range and approach to wet bulb temperature also varies with different amount of heat load and condition of damper. The cooling range increases greatly as cooling load increases. Heat load increases as cooling load increase hence the approach wet bulb temperature also increases as heat load increases. As for the second experiment, the cooling range increases when the damper is half-opened while the approach to wet bulb temperature decreases as the damper is fully opened. Heat load and efficiency is the highest when the damper is half-opened. The experiment was a success.

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11.0 Recommendations Based on the experiments, it is highly recommended for students to:11.1 To repeat three times the general procedure before starting the experiment 2 as to ensure the efficiency of the performances are not being affected with temperature of the power provided for the first experiment. 11.2 To make sure in experiment2, pressure difference and the temperature reading is stable before the readings are recorded to ensure the accuracy of the results. 11.3 12.0 References

1. Cooling

Technology

Institute

(2012)

retrieved

from

http://www.cti.org/whatis/coolingtowerdetail.shtml 2. 2. P.N Ananthanarayanan (2005), Basic Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning, published by Tata Mc-Graw Hill Education. 3. Yunus A. Cengel (2008), Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer Sixth Edition, published by Wiley. 4. Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff (2000), Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment, published by Butterworth-Heinemann. 5. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass transfer, 6th edition, Incropera/DeWitt/Bergmann/Lavine, ISBN-13:978-0-471-794714. Evaporative Cooling, 381-384 6. (http://www.thermopedia.com/content/663/) DOI: 10.1615/AtoZ.c.cooling_towers 7. Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, 7th Edition in SI units, Cengel/Boles, ISBN 978-007-131111-3. Enthalpy, 124, properties of gas mixtures:ideal and real gas, 697-698. Property tables and charts, 904-908. 8. P. N. Ananthanarayanan (2005), Basic Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Third Edition; Tata McGraw Hill 9. GC3 Special Chemicals Inc.; Houston,
th

ACHE,

Singham

J.R.

retrieved

from

website

http://www.gc3.com/Default.aspx?tabid=90 on 17 November 2013. 24

13.0 APPENDICES

Figure 13.1 : The temperature reading for water cooling tower.

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Figure 13.2 : The water cooling tower

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