97

Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils, Vol. 48, No. 2, May, 2012 (Russian Original No. 2, March-April, 2012)
EQUIPMENT
OPTIMIZATION OF CIRCULATION WATER COOLING PROCESS
IN FORCED-DRAFT TOWERS
V. A. Kuritsyn, D. V. Arapov, and R. L. Gorilchenko
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
ZAO NPP Tsentravtomatika . Voronezh State Technological Academy. Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya
Topliv i Masel, No. 2, pp. 12 17, March April, 2012.
0009-3092/12/48020097 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
A mathematical model of circulation water cooling process in a group of forced-draft towers is proposed.
The problem of optimization of this process is solved. A program package has been developed, which
allows calculation of the optimum rate of water flow into each tower and the optimum number of rotations
of each blower. The proposed model has been used to build a standard automated circulation-water
cooling process control system.
Key words: cooling tower, mathematical model, automated process control systems.
Expenditures on electricity to cool circulation water at oil-and-gas refineries and petrochemical plants
account for as much as 15% of the total electric-power costs at these facilities. Given the high rates currently in
effect for electric power use, it is important to minimize the expenditures on cooling circulation water in
forced-draft towers.
A standard water system for cooling circulation water includes a pumping section and a group of forced-
draft cooling towers in which heat exchange takes place between water and air. The overall rate of flow of the
water circulating from the tower group to the customers is kept constant. Make-up water is added depending on
the water level in the basin of a tower. Hot water is sprayed into the top of the tower, flows down through fill
material, and enters the basin. Modern fill materials are in the form of tubular plastic modules. The
counter-flow (or cross-flow, in the case of fills in the form of beams, lath, or frames) is moved by atmospheric air
sucked into (or blown into) the tower by a blower block. The heat-exchange process consists of the transfer of
heat of vaporization by small portions of water (~80% of the heat) and heat transfer resulting from the difference
between the temperatures of the water and the air (~20% of the heat) [1].
The amount of heat transferred to the air that circulates in the cooling tower depends on its temperature
and moisture content. One index that can be used to evaluate moisture content is the air temperature, determined
with a wet-bulb thermometer, at which the rate of convective heat transfer to the surface of the water is equal to
98
the rate of mass transfer from its surface. This temperature is the limiting temperature, and the water can theoretically
be cooled down to this temperature. In reality, the temperature of the cold water will always be higher than the
atmospheric-air temperature measured by the wet-bulb thermometer because it is impossible to obtain full contact
between the water and the air. The closeness with which the temperature measured by the wet-bulb thermometer
is approached depends on the design of the tower. The important factors here are the length of time that the water
is in contact with the air, the fineness of the water spray, and the area of the surface that is sprayed.
The performance of a cooling tower having the design described here is determined by the ratio of the
mass flow of water to the mass flow of air. The rate of air flow through the tower depends on the rotary speed of
the blower, which is controlled either manually by means of a speed switch on a variable-speed gear or automatically
by changing the frequency of the drives electric power supply. Tower performance is also appreciably affected
by wind speed and direction, ice deposits on the towers inlets during the winter, and other factors.
Over time, the sprayed surfaces of different towers are covered by silt deposits, and the values of the
coefficients that characterize total heat transfer from the water to the air start to differ between towers even if they
are of identical design. In this situation, it becomes necessary to optimize the distribution of the prescribed
hot-water load between the towers. The controlling variables in the water system are hot-water flow rate in a
tower and the speed of the shafts of the blowers. The controlled variables are the temperature, relative humidity,
and barometric pressure of the atmospheric air and the temperature and pressure of the hot water. The uncontrolled
variables are the change in the total heat-transfer coefficients of the towers, wind speed and direction, and silt
deposition.
Presented below is a mathematical model of the process of cooling water that is circulating in a
counter-flow forced-draft cooling tower.
w
. . .
t
t t
g
t
s
M a m a m a m a
h h
dt
hot
cold
4
75 0
3
5 0
2
25 0
1
+ + + =

} (1)
( )
( ) ( )
t
s
t
g
t
s
t
g
t
s
x
h h h
f f
m
dt
df


=
1
(2)
The initial conditions
( )
fin
g
t
g s s
t
s
in
s
t
s
h , h t h , h f f = = = at t=t
x
( )
( )
cold hot
fin
g
in
s
t t .
h h
m

=
1868 4
(3)
where h
g
t
, h
s
t
are the enthalpies (kJ/kg) of the air flow and saturated air at the water temperature t; h
s
in
, h
s
fin
are the
enthalpies (kJ/kg) of the air flow at the inlet (superscript in) and outlet (superscript fin) of the fill at the
wet-bulb temperature; The quantities h
s
in
, h
s
fin
are calculated similarly to h
s
t
; m is the mass ratio of water to
ai r; f
s
t
, f
g
are t he masses of moi st ure per uni t mass of moi st ai r on and near t he phase boundary,
respectively; a
1
...a
4
are regression coefficients; t
hot
, t
cold
are the temperatures of the hot water and cold air,
respectively; 4.1868 is the specific heat of water, kJ/(kgdeg.).
99

t
s bar
t
s t
s
f
P . P
P .
3779 0
6221 0

=
t
s bar
t
s
t
s bar
t
s t
s
P P
P .
t
P P
P .
. h

+
|
|
.
|

\
|

+ =
0575 1550 20065 1
01 1
(4)
( )
( )
fin
g
in
s
cold hot
cold in
s
t
g
h h
t t
t t
h h

+ =

5 0
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2 1
. t
s
b b b b b b b b P + + + + + + + =
where u = 0.001(t + 273.15); P
bar
is the barometric pressure (N/m
2
) of the atmospheric air; P
s
t
, P
s
in
, P
s
fin
are saturation vapor
pressure (N/m
2
) at the water temperature t and the wet-bulb air temperatures (C) at the inlet t
m
in
and outlet t
m
fin
of the fill; the
values of P
s
in
, P
s
fin
are calculated similarly to P
s
t
with the replacement of t by the corresponding
temperature; b
1
...b
g
are regression coefficients.
3600 / Q M
w w w
' =

|
|
.
|

\
|

+ =
fin
g
fin
g
w
ev
f
f
m
M
M
1
1
(5)

2 4
5 4 3 2
353914 3 060804 5
044205 0 9 862179 0 6 132264 0 5 9513 0 2 561365 0 26 1000


+ + + + = '
h h h
h h h h h w
t . t P .
P . t E . t E . t E . t E . .
where Q
w
, M
w
are respectively the volume flow rate (m
3
/h) and mass flow rate (kg/sec) of hot water in the tower,
respectively;
w

is the density of the hot water at its pressure P

hot
(kgf/cm
2
) and temperature t
hot
(C); M
ev
is the amount of
water evaporated, kg/sec; f
g
fin
is the mass of moisture per unit mass of moist air at the outlet of the fill.
m
M
k
m
M
k N
w w
2
3
1
+ |
.
|

\
|
=

2
N/n N
red
= (6)

0
2
2
=
c
c
+ ' dx
x
w
dx g
y
w w
(7)
100
where N is the active electric power (kW) consumed by the electric drive of the blower; N
red
is the active power reduced to the
rotary speed, kW/sec; n is the rotary speed of the shaft of the blower, sec
1
;
w
,
w
are the viscosity (Pasec) and
density (kg/m
3
) of the film of water; o is the thickness of the film of water, m.
The boundary conditions
x

x
w
; x w
w
y
y
= =
c
c
= = at 0 at 0
where t

is the frictional stress at the phase boundary, determined from the loss of air pressure AP in a tube of the
diameter (d 2o) and length l:
( )
2
4 2 l, N/m P/ d

=
The model makes it possible to relate the heat- and mass-transfer processes taking place in the fill to the
consumption of electric power by the blower block. The model is valid with the following assumptions:
the air temperature at the phase boundary is equal to the local mass-mean temperature of the water;
the air at the phase boundary is saturated;
local heat flow from the water to the air along a normal to the boundary depends on the difference
between the enthalpies of the air and the water at the boundary and the mean-mass enthalpy;
the water and air are distributed uniformly over the horizontal plane of the cross section of the fill.
Equation (1) is a modified version of Merkels equation [1]. It relates parameters that characterize the
prescribed cooling requirements to the heat-transfer characteristics in the fill. The left side of (1) is calculated
without data on the characteristics of the fill, while the right side - which depends on those characteristics - is
determined [2, 3] experimentally from data on water flow rate and the ratio of the mass flow rates of the water and
the air.
Equation (2) reflects the change in the relative humidity of the air as it passes through the fill. It is
obtained from the material balance for the water. Equation (3) was obtained from the enthalpy balance for the air
and water.
The regression coefficients in Eqs. (4) and (5) were calculated by the least squares method in an analysis
of the tabular data in [1, 4] on the saturation vapor pressure and density of water.
Equation (6) was obtained from a formula [5] for calculating the electric power consumed by a blower
( )
kW

P Q

P P P P P Q
N
cs g ad un mc tr ck g
1000 1000
=
+ + + +
=
(8)
by expressing the volume flow rate Q
g
of the moist air and the hydraulic resistance of the tower P
c
through the
ratio M
w
/m and by making certain simplifications.
Differential equation of hydrodynamic equilibrium (7) was obtained from the Navier-Stokes equation. The
film is subjected to the force of gravity, the force associated with the viscosity of water, and resistance of the
counter-directed flow of air (see Fig. 1). Integrating (7) twice, we obtain
101
Air
Water
2 1
2
1
2
C x C x
w

g
w

y
; w C x
w

g
w

x
y
w
+ +

= + =
c
c
With allowance for the constants C
1
and C
2
calculated from the boundary conditions, the final expression
for the velocity of the film has the following form (the subscript y is omitted)
Fig. 1. Counter-flow of water film and air in a 1-m
2
element of the fill: a) flow diagram;
b) diagram of water and air velocities (dx - thickness of an elementary layer of the
film, m; o
c
- average thickness of the film).
102
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

x
g
w

x
w

g
w

w
2
2
2
2
When x = o, the velocity of the water at the phase boundary is equal to

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
g
w

.
w

g
w

w 5 0
2

The average flow velocity of the water film
|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
}
g
w

g
w

dx

c
w
2 3
1
0
1
2
The linear density L of the spray directed onto the fill is expressed as follows
K
Q
g
w

g
w L
w
w
w
c
3600 2 3
1
3
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
where K is the number of tubes in the fill (for towers with a modern fill comprised of plastic tubes).
The loss of air pressure AP in the fill is determined from the Darcy-Weisbach equation
( )
h
h

w
d
P
2 2
1

=
where w
g
and
g
are the velocity and density of the moist air, respectively; is the drag coefficient.
According to data from numerous experiments [6], the drag coefficient for a flow of gas passing through
the interior of a tube counter to a liquid film is equal to
5 0 2
205 0 358
.
.

+ =
where
5 0
65 0 4 0
6 0
2
Re
Re
76 4
.
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
d

.
.
w
h
.
h
w
.
w
h
;

( )
h
h h
h

d w 2
R

= e
;
103

w
w
w

L 4
R = e
The water film transitions from laminar to wave flow with an increase in spray density L and an increase in
the Reynolds number to Re
w
> 20. The upper limit for wave flow of the film is Re
w
= 1600. Assuming that the wave
is sinusoidal, a theoretical analysis of the wave motion makes it possible to obtain the following value for the
thickness of the water film o
c
3
1
3
1
2 787 2
4 2
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
K
Q
E .
g
L .

w
w w
w
w
c
Thi s expressi on hol ds whet her or not t here i s a count er-di rect ed fl ow of gas, as l ong as t he
condition w
g
s w
inv
is satisfied. Here, w
inv
is the inversion velocity at which flow of the film ceases.
Air velocity w
g
at the outlet of the fill is calculated from the continuity condition of the air flow
( ) K . r
/m M
w
g
w
g
785 0
2

=
where r is the radius of the tube, m.
The limiting value of air velocity w
g
max
, which is the velocity at which the surface layer of the water film
ceases to be carried off by the air flow, is found from the condition under which the surface velocity of the water
becomes equal to zero. Then it follows from the velocity of the film at the phase boundary w

that

( ) ( )
( )
( )
g .
d
w

l
d
P
l
d

w g
g
5 0
2 2 4
2

4
2
2
max
=

from which

g
w
g

g
w 2
max
=
The unknowns in this formula are
g
,
w,
and = (
g
,
w,

g
,
w
). Let us determine them.
The density of the saturated air
g
, which presents resistance to the film, is calculated from the
well-known [5] formula

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
bar
t
s
g
P
P .
T
.

3779 0
1
464643 0
104
where T is the absolute temperature of the water, K.
The density of the water film, which depends only on the temperature of the water, is determined from the
regression equation
7 6 5
4 3 2 5 0
653167 18 988563 68 426804 98
78427 57 252834 10 390571 63 107909 2 67857 999
t t t
t t t t
w
. . .
. . . . .
.
+ +
+ + + + =

where t = 0.01t. This expression is valid within the temperature range 4C s t s 90C. The error is several g/m
3
.
The viscosity of water [1] at atmospheric pressure is equal to
( ) ( )
(

+ + = 120 435 8 4 8078 435 8 1482 2 1 0

2
. t . . t . .
w
In accordance with the Chapman-Enskog theory [7], the viscosity of an ideal gas is equal to
c se Pa

T M
. ,
v
m

c
=
5
10 69 26
2
where M
m
is molecular weight; c is the radius of a sphere, ; O

is the collision integral.

For dry air (nonpolar gas)
( )
( ) ( )
- -
-
+ + = ' =
T .
.
T .
.
T
.

.
v v
43787 2 exp
16178 2
7732 0 exp
52487 0 16145 1
14874 0
where T
*
= T/78.6; c = 3.711 .
For water vapor (polar gas)
-
= ' =
T
.

v v
2
2 0
where O

is calculated with T
*
= T/78.6; c = 2.52 ; A = 1.
The viscosity of a mixture of air and water vapor can be determined by using Wilkes approximation
wB B w
w w
wB w B
B B
g
y y
y
y y
y

+
+
+
=
;
5 0
25 0 5 0
1 8
1
.
Mw
MB
.
MB
Mw
.
w
B
Bw
M
M
M
M

(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
;
105
Mw B
MB w
Bw wB
M
M
=
where y
a
and y
w
are the molar fractions of dry air and water vapor in saturated air.
MB MB
MB
B
/M d/M
/M
y
1
1
+
=
;
MB Mw
Mw
w
/M d/M
d/M
y
1 +
=
where
t
s bar
t
s
P P
P
. d

= 6221 0
For the specified rate of water flow in the tower M
w
*
, the condition for the absence of the entrainment of
water by air will have the form
( )
-

=
w
g g
M
K . r w
m
785 0
2 max
max
The left side of Eq. (1) was integrated by means of Simpsons formula with an integration step of 0.1 deg.
A fourth-order Runge-Kutta method was used to solve Eq. (2). The quantity w
g
max
was calculated by simple
iteration [8].
The right sides of Eqs. (1) and (6) are linear regressions in a
1...4
, k
1,2
. Thus, the running values of these
coefficients can be evaluated in an automated process control system (APCS) by the method of adaptive
identification. With use of the single-step algorithm in [9, 10], the formulas for evaluating k
1,2
are
3
1 1 1
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =

i
wi
i i i
m
M
A k k
;
i
wi
i i i
m
M
A k k + =
1 2 2
where

2 6
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
i
wi
i
wi
p i
i
m
M
m
M
N N
A
i is the number of the current measurement step in the APCS; N
i
, M
wi
are the values of active electric power and
water flow rate measured for the i-th step; m
i
is the water:air ratio calculated for the i-th step; N
p
is the active
power, which is calculated from the expression
106
i
wi
i
i
wi
i p
m
M
k
m
M
k N
1 2
3
1 1
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
The coefficients a
1..4
are calculated in a similar manner.
The initial values of the parameters k
1,2
are calculated from Eq. (8) and the specifications of the blower,
while the coefficients a
1...4
are determined by analyzing the data in [2, 3].
As the optimization criterion for the cooling of circulation water in a group of forced-draft cooling towers,
we will take the total active power N
total
consumed by the electric drives of the blowers of all of the towers in the
group
total
J
j j
wj
j
j
wj
j
N
m
M
k
m
M
k =
(
(

+
|
|
.
|

\
|

=1
2
3
1
(9)
where j is the number of the tower in the group; J is the number of towers.
This criterion is subject to certain constraints - the equations for total water consumption
total
J
j
wj
M M

=
=
1
(10)
and for the cooling characteristics of the towers

+ + + =

+ + + =

}
}
J
h
J
c
J J
J
h
c
t
t
wJ J
.
J J
.
J J
.
J J
t
g
t
s
t
t
t
w
. . .
t
g
t
s
t
M a m a m a m a
h h
d
..... .......... .......... ..........
M a m a m a m a
h h
d
4
75 0
3
5 0
2
25 0
1
1 41
75 0
1 31
5 0
1 21
25 0
1 11
1
1
1 1
1
(11)
The design rating of the towers is expressed through the limit on water consumption in the j-th tower
max
M M
wj
s (12)
The condition that expresses the absence of the entrainment of water by air

( )
wj
g g
J
M
K . r w
m m
785 0
2 max
max

= s
(13)
The optimization problem consists of searching for the values of M
wj
and m
j
which will ensure minimization
of criterion (9) under the conditions that the specified amount of water M
total
(10) is cooled to the required
107
temperature t
xj
= t
x
*
determined by Eqs. (11) and that restrictions (12) and (13) are observed. After the
penalty-function method [11] is used to convert conditions (10)-(13) into the penalty function Pen(m
1.. f
, M
w1..j
) and
this function is combined with criterion (9), the unconditional optimization problem is written as follows
( ) min
1 1
1
2
3
1
+
(
(

+
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
...J w ...J
J
j j
wj
j
j
wj
j
,M m Pen
m
M
k
m
M
k
(14)
Equation (14) is solved by the Hooke-Jeeves configurations method [12]. The result is optimum values of
water consumption M
wj
*
and the water-air ratio m
j
*
in each j-th tower.
The optimum amount of power consumed by the drive of the blower is equal to
-
-
-
-
-
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
j
wJ
j
j
wJ
j j
m
M
k
m
M
k N
2
3
1
This power corresponds to the optimum number of rotations of the blower n
j
*

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
-
-
npj
j
j
N
N
n
where N
npj
is the measured active power reduced to blower-shaft speed.
The optimum volume rate of flow of water in the j-th tower is equal to

w
wj
wj

M
Q
'
=
-
-
3600
The calculated values of n
j
*
and Q
wj
are either displayed for the operators as recommendations on the
cooling regime for the circulation water or are automatically sent to the appropriate controllers as control points.
Thus, a solution has been found to the problem of optimizing the distribution of the hot-water load among
different cooling towers while also calculating the optimum blower speed. The mathematical program that was
developed was used as the basis for a standard ACPS now being introduced at the OAO Nizhnekamskneftekhim
to control the cooling of circulation water.
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P. G. Romankov), Khimiya, Leningrad (1969), Vol. 1.
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Izd-vo Standartov, Moscow (1982), p. 111.
108
5. K. F. Pavlov, P. G. Romankov, and A. A. Noskov, Examples and Problems for a Course on Processes and
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