l2
CrncurRrnc
WnrrnSysrrnls
Dayid J. Brill
I2.I INTRODUCIION
In accodancc with the second law of thennodynamics, oper-
ation ol a power cycle requires thar hear be rejected ar ihe
low lemperature of ihe cycle. The efiiciency of the power
cycle twically imFoves as rhe temperature at which rhe hear
is rejected is lowered- This is illusraied by reference io the
Camot cycle for a two phaseworking Ruid as shown in Fig.
12 L The powcr cycle them:l efficiency is generally defined
Wort producedby thc cycle
Heat sulplied to rhe cycle
Fo. the Camot cycle, the drennai effciency becomes rhe
foUowing:
(r2t)
where
?h= absolute
temperatueof thehlgb remperature
heatsourcel
Ir = absoluteremperalureof rhe low temperaluehcarreser
voir. oi heatsink.
Equation(12-i) indicatestharthe Camotcycle efliciencycan
be improvedby either inffeasing the temperature?h or low
ering the temperatue I.
Sincemostpowercyclesdependon relativelywarmam-
bienttemperaturesfor heatrejecrion,rhemagnirudeof waste
heat is largc. For each kiiowatt hour (kwh) of electriciry
generatedby a convenlional steam power cycle. approx-
imately 2 kwh of waste hear musr be rejected by some
mannerio ihe ambientenvironment.Througha wide variety
of Focessesdndequipment,mostpowercyclesusea cooling
systemto rcje.ciwasle heat.
Mosi power plants usea circulating water sysremas the
mechanismby which steamcycle wasteheat is rransfered
Aom the steamcycle to the ambienlenvironmenr(low-
temperarureresefloir) Gig. 12-2).Many facrorsdeiemine
the sizednddesignof power planrcirculatingwatersyslems.
Of primary impotance is determiningdre desiredlevel of
circulating water systemperfomance orow efficiently rhe
wasteheatis trnsfered to the low-rempefatureresefloir). A
power plani steamcondenserthai condenses the turbine
exhausisteamat the lowesi possibletemperarureandcol]e
spondingpressureachievesmaximun sieamcyclc effj-
ciency,which in turn minimizes$e amouniof wasreheatto
be rejecied.A typicdl powerplant hearratecurveis sbownin
Fig. 12 3. As ihe steam turbine exlausr temperarureand
pressureare reduced,the powercycleefficiencyrypically
improves. At extremely low condensingtemperaruresand
pressures.futher imFovements in cycle efliciency are di-
mjnishedasaresuhof otherphysicalopemtinglimirationsof
the sieamturbine and condenser.
However, designing a more efficient circularing water
sysiem to achievelower condensertemperaturesand prcs
surestypically rcsulis in highcr systerncapital andoperating
cosls-During dre powerplant conceptual designphase.a
detailed economic analysis is perfbnned 10 detemine rhe
opnmumbalanceberweenpower cycle efficiencyandcircu
lating watersystemcapitalexpendituresandoperaiingcosts.
12.1.1 0nce-Throush
Coolins
In a once-throughcirculating water sysiem,water is taken
from a body of watersuchas a dver late, or ocedn.pumped
.hrough the planr condenser,and dischargedback ro the
source.A schematic of thistypcof circulatingwarersystem
is shownjn Fig. 12-4.Thecirculatingwaterflowingthrough
the condenser is healedin the processof condensing dre
turbine exhallst steam.The temperaturerise (TR) of thc
cnculating warer in the condensermay be calculatedfrom
the folowing equaiion:
rR = o(rr)(cPM)q) (122)
q = condenserdury (Bt!^')i
11=.onstant= 500
cPM = circtrlating $ater flow rate Gtm)i ald
C; = spccincheai of circulating wster (Btu/lbf F)
= =1.0 for mosr fresh water circulating warer sources.
353
354 P.rer PL1h1Lqrn.eting

---_l
F

.r'4D",dr 1,.' q q . P a t P r i dI
Fig.lr-1. A Cmot cycleurilirng r two pha\enuid 3sihe rvorkingsubslance.
.lr I P "ttltdt. lrdd
copyriglucl 1985.Repinredby lemi*ion or Jolu wiley & Sons,Inc.)

For many years,ihe once-th.oughcncdating water sys- 7,90O

tem was lhe most popular arrangemeni for power planl cycle 7,350
h e d r r e J e c l o n\ ) n e r \ . A r n r c r h J o u g hc i r c J l J l i r ! u d r e l
7,300
sysrem has rwo significant advantages. First, lhe relaiively
1ow temperature ol most water sources used for once-
tlrough cooling makes this thc most eflicienl cycle heai 7,700
rejeclion sysiemdesign.Second.the sinplc systemarrange-
ment lypically makes once'throughcooling the cycle heat 7,600
rcjcction systemdesignwifi ihe lowesrcapitalandoperatiry F
7,550
The disadvaniage ofrhis sysrem is that the heated \\,ater 1s
discha-€ed track io the original water source, where the
added heal is gradually dissipaled to the eanh's atmosphere- o 5 0 1.00 1.s0 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00450
Howevct i1 mry kLe a long time for the sourcc waler TURBINE
EXHAUST nE, n. H9A
PRESSU
temperature to rctum to norrnal, or a new equilbriu'n tem
peraiue may be reached at a lcvel higher than ihe normal Fi!. lr-3. Typicai poser tla.i heat latc cuNe.
lemperature as long as the plant is in opcration. Before
constuctionof a once'through coolingsystem.envnonnen-
tal permits iypically requirc dererminationof flow and tem
HIGHTEMPERATURE perrlurc pattemsaroundthe circulating water dischargeio
HEATSOUBCE
estimatethe thermalimpaci.
Waterqualityregulaiions rccendyissuedby fcdeirl and
local environnentxl agencieshave made rhe once through

TURBINE

COLDWATERN

HOTWA]EROUT
OCEAN
LOW.TEI\,4PERATURE
HEATNESEFVOIR

Fig. 12.2. Cncdaringsl€r sysen. (Fron Prq?r Plari SNrrD

DeriA,. Kan W Li md A tuul Priddy. Copyriglrt O 1935.Repinled
by pemnssionol John Wiley & Sons,lnc.) Fis.l2-,1, Once rhroughcndhine waler systen.
 Cnarbis WatetSlnenf 335

cooling systen very diffrcult, ifnot inFossible,ro implement are complex.The processcs lnvolvedh rhe heatingand
in domesticnewpowerplint consrruction. Also, rhelargecool- cooling of ihe cooliry pond warermasscan be sunmadzed
rng waierrequiremenrof a oncc rhroughsystemLimitspoten
tial plant sitesto bcaiionsnearlargerivers.lakes,andoceans.
For exisiingplantlocationswith a once-ihrouglr circulat
ing waiersystemthatmay facc.evisedenvironmcntal regu . Absor+nm ol shofii.ve . Enrision oi sbonware sole
lalions on the heatedcirculaiing water discharge,a helper &diation liofr rhe sun and the
. Emissionof lonewaverldiation
coolng tower systemma] be required.As shownin Fig. . Absoetiondl lonCsave
12 5, helpercoolingtowerscanbe reroliuedto the exisdng radiationtnn $e armorpheE ' Conv€.tionb€twecnihe Rrter
oncc tbrough syslem to rejeci a portion of dre circulatjng . rieat Fjectcd to the l.nd fmm
water heatload directly to the atmosphereratherthanro the . Evrpor.ln'n of pond watcr into

12.1.2 Coolins
Pond 12.1.3 Recirculatins
Coolins
System

Given the scarcityof environmentallyacceprableldrge
bodiesof watefavailablefor once-through cooling.alterna-
live coolingsysiemanangcmenr! mustbe devclopedeco-
nomically.A coolingpond crn be the sinplcsr nnd leasr
expensjvealternatemcthodfor providingplart circulaiiner
water.The key to dre economicvinbility of coolingpond
conslruciion is the availability of suffrcieni land ar reason
ablecostandgeoEEaphic condirionssuirablcfor pond or late
A coohrgpondis a bodyof waterinio whichthecircutar-
ng watcr'€Jectsthe powcrcyclewasieheat_The cooling
pond then ultimately rejects the acquiredheat ro the arno,
sphere.The plant circulating water systcm a[angemenr is
similartodlatof theoncethroughcnculatingwarersysren.
Cootingpondsrequirelargesurfaceareasbecauserhcy hnve
low heat transferrates. Thc temperarureol rhe circulaiing
watcr retuned io thepower plant dependson the hearrrans
fcr capacityof the pond. If the cooling pond doesnor have
suflicieni surfacc areato reject the acquiredhear fionr the
clrculating waterbeforeir is recirculared,fie pond tempem-
turewillrise until an equilibriutnis esiablishcdbetween the
healingdndcooiingprocesses in thepond.Thehearrransier
mechadsmsbetweenthe water sudaceand ihe ahosphere
Wasiehealcventualy findsiis way rothe earrhk armosphere.
In the once tfuough cooling water system,hearis rcmoved
Iron1 the iteam tu$ine exhaust and rransferrcdto waier
bodicssuchas oceans,rivcrs!and lakes.The hcaris rhen
graduallytransfenedto the .itmosphercby evaporation.con-
vecrion,and radirtion. However the body of waier may be
negaiively affectedin dris wasreheatrransferprocess.In a
recirculatingcooling syslcm.the circulaiingwater serves
as an intermediateheat transfer medium from which the
wastc heatis dlecdy rejectcdto rhe atmospherc.
The most colnmonrecirculatingcoolingwater sysrem
arrturgement ncorporatesin evaporarive coolinetower as
shownin Fig. 12-6.In this affangement,wasrcheatremoved
frotn the sieamixrbinc exhaustis carried by the circularing
water lo ihe cooling tower, which rcjects the heat to rhe
atmosphere. Becauseof this dired parhto rhe atmospherc.
sunounding waler bodics typically do not suffer adverse
thermal eftlcis. Cooling towers have been used for many
years at powcr plants in locanons whcre some warer is
available for cooling system use, but where once tbrough
coolingis nol viable.
I2.2 CIRCULATING
WATIRSYSITM
COMPONTNTS
AND
ARRANGIMTNTS

1-l onl) J [e$ 'ndto-.q, itrlenl conpolent.,,,Tpri.emosl

TUFBTNE circulaiingwatersystens.Basicdcscriptions
of rhecompo
=--- I
| LD VI/ATEB
IN
(<F
coNDENSERI

T-
-
.T-
I 1,fi?1"
our /ocEAN,
LAKE.
COLDWATEBiN
r) COLD OR R]VEF
HOT J"
WATER

COOLING
TOWEB

Fig,U-5. HelFr torer coolnrg

slnem. F i g .U - 6 , R e r i r c ! l J r ' n! a
e , , l n B$ J r e r\ s r e m .
356 Pa||d Plant ErcnEerhg

nentsarc provided in this secfion.including the most com- I SHELL 2SHELLS 3SHELIS
mon equipmentarangementsusedin power plani circulat
ing watersystems. Detaileddescriptions
++ ++ f + ++ +t t+
of condensers arc oNFPAss
---l f l f.l [-.] n T'l
includedin Chapter9, Stean CycleHeatExchangers,
pumpsare discussedin Chapter11,Pumps.
and H +H H#+
tt tt lt tt Il tl
12.2.1 Condenser
r w o P A s| s | | lL ll I
The powerplant condenser is essentiallya sbell,nd lube -j-T -IT
TT- TI T-T TT
heatexchanger 12 7)- Th€ functionof thecondenser is tf tt tt tt tt tt
Gig.
tocoDdense exhauststeamfromthemainpowercyclesteam OR
turbineand boiler feedptrmpturbine.The condenser has
other turctions, as well: t-t
. R@over condensed st€m as condensate. nft
L-J L=J
. Provide for sholt term stonge of condensate.
tt It
. Prolide a low-presure collection poidl fo. .ondedsate .Lains
fion other systens in the pldr. ftg. 12-8. Si.gle-prcsm condenscrdrdecmcnis
. Provide fd deadation of lhe collected condensate.

Steamftom the turbineis condensedby rejectingtheheat 12.2.2 Coolins

of vaporizationto the circulating water. The condensateis
collectedin the condenserhot well from which the conden-
saie pumpsiate suction.
Condensersare cldssified as single pressureor multi-
pressure,dependingon whedrerfie circularing water flow
path createsone or more tubine back pressures.The con-
denseris descdbedturther by the numberof she s (which is
dependenron the number of low-pressuretu$ine casings)
and as either a single-passor a.wo-passiype dependingon
the numberof parallel water flow patbsthrougheacbshell.
Flolv scbematicsof commonsingle- andmultipressmecon-
deDsercirculating water flow a.raqemenis are shown in
Figs. 12-8and 12-9.,Mosipowerpla condenser arrange
mentshave iubesrunning perpendicularto the longitudinal
axis of the turbinc gcnerator.
Tower
The cooling tower rcjects wasteheat from the steamcycle
to the aftnospherc.The use of cooliry rowershas become
increasingly widespreadas tbe availability of large water
sourcesrequned for once-duoughsystemshas deffeased
and as environmenialrestricnonson themal dischargesas-
sociatedwith once-ihroughsystemshave incleased.
The conventionalwet cooling tower transfbn heatpdnci-
pally ihrough evapomlion.Becauseof the evaporativeheat
transfer process,waler lossesare actually higher for this
recirculatiry cooLingsystemal]angemelltthan for a once-
though sysGrn.However, wiih&awals of waier from the
planl waler sourceare reduceddramaticallyand no signi€
cant thermal impact to the water sourceoccur!
ln Jrcasqhere qarercon.eNarionis d rop priorit). air-
cooledcondensenanddry cooling towers,usingonly sensi-
ble heattransfet are availableto rcducewaterusageto near
zerc. Also, hybrid wet dry cooling tower designsare avail'
ablethat car be customconfiguredto mergethe respec.ive
benefits of wet and dry cooling as may be requircd for a
paticular plant site.
Cooling iowe$ are discussedin more detail throughoul
thjs chapter.

SHELL 2 SHELLS 3SHELLS

C;tl;h
t-
-tt rl.tt*l+;h
- - -ti
ONEPASS
ll tt || tt tl
lLPl IHP lrpl lLpl lHpl
rr rr +f ll ff
|_-l
| ^ tl
HOT tLPt trPt tFlFt
f+ ff tt
Fig. 12.9, MulLipressd codetuer ldMgene.ts.

12.2.3 Cncubtins
WaterPumps
Cncuhiing watcr punps supplycooling water ar the re
quired flow rate andheadio rhe power plant condenseran.t
theplDt auxiliary cooling waler heatexchangers.
The circu
lating water pumpsmusr operateeconomicaUyand reliabty
over the lilbrime of the planr_
The threetypesof pumpsmosrcommonlyusedfor cncu-
lating waier seriice are vertical wer pii, hodzontal dry pir,
and venical dry pir pumps. Typical anaugemenrsof rhese
pumptlpes areshownin Fie. 12-10. For once-through
coot-
ng sysiems.verical wet pit pnmpsare mosr commonly
used,with occasional useof honzontaldry pit pumpsand
!e rn!l dl] pir pLmp,.l-or rc(L.utadne (ooring.yLcm,.
vertical wei pit andhorizontal dry pii pumpsareusedabout
equally, with occasionaluseof venicat dry pn !u!rps.
12.2.4 Circulatins
WaterPipins
Circulating water piping carriesihe cooting water liom rhe
circulatingwaterpumpsro thecondenserandrctumsrnewarcr
to thecoolingtower(or dischargeshcture. in thecrje or once-
throughcooling). The rouring of this piping jncludesabove
andbelow-gradepiping bctweenrhe following componenrs:
. Thecirculating warerpumpsandauxiliarycootinswater
pups to Lhecondenser inletwarerboxes.
. Thecondenser outlerwaterboxesrothecoolngrowerriscf(oi
dischdgestructure).ed
. Thecftulating w er pun! sucriondping (*herer€quired).
The large Row raies associaiedwith circulating warer
systemsqrpicallyrcquire$e useof large-diameter
piping.
Conlmon pipe sizesrange from 36 ro 96 jn. (900 io 2,400
mm) in diameter although.nuchlargerpipe diame.ershave
The designof the circulaiingwaterpiping systemmusi
considerthe environmentintemal to ihe pipe, lts well as rhe
Fig. 12.10, Typical
cnrubtinE |ltdter Srstens 3sj
e]ltemal envionment. Commonmaterialsusedfor circula!
ng waterpiping, in order of increasingcapiral cost.irctude
carbon steel. reinJorcedconcrereembeddedcylinder pipe,
and tiberglass-reinforcedplastic pipe. The lar8e wa!e. re
quirement associaaedwirh circularine waier systemsr)?
ically rnakes it uneconomical to use high-quaiiry water
soxrces.The sourccof circularing waterusualty dependson
ihe locationof the power plant. Coasialplant sitesrypicaly
usc seawaier or brackish water as the circulaling warer
source.whether wirhdrawn by pumping direcdy from the
body of wateror by inslalling wells ro exrracrnearbyground
water Inlandplant siresusualiyarelocatedneara lake.river,
or othernaturalwatersource.Again, wateris iypically either
withdrawn drectly liom the source or indirectly itrroueh
gound wells-
The warerfrom rhesesou.cescancontainhigh concenra-
tions of conosive contaminants.Any pipe maierialsconsid-
eredmustincludemeasxresto proiectthepipefor rheseffice
liteoi rhepla' . Fore\dmple. carboi.reetpipe,in .eawarer
se rce usualy require an iniemal coaring o. an imFessed
cunent cathodicproteciion systeln.or boah.concrere pipe
may requrrea specialdenseconcreremix to withsrandcllo-
ride attack.Theseprorec.ivemea.sures signincantlyincrease
the capilal cost of an installation such that ir can be as
economical to insta fibcrglass-reinforcedplasiic pipe to
obtain the sameservicelife. As exisring water sourcesbe-
comemore strainedandnew waier sourcesmorc scarceand
expensiveto develop, the qualiry of circularing wdtef in
tuture power plantsis expectedto declinetunher. This wil
likely turther the trend loward corosion resisranipiping
12.2.5 tiquidTransient
Analysis
The large flow rates of a rypical circulating water sysrem
wilh flow velocities rangingfrom 6 to 12 frls introducerhe
358 P.eer Plahtu\in.erine
potential lor signilicant pressure transienft rhat could be
damaging. Liquid transient analyses re performed on circu
laring watersystemsto preventcostsassociatedwith damage
to sysiem components fiom walerhammer and other un
steady flow phenomena. The potential risk ol desrruction of
the large capiial invesnnent of a circuladng water system and
the threat of lbrced shutdown of the power planr are conpel
ling reasonsto perfolm such an analysis-
A conservativeselectionofdesien pressurelor aI cncu-
lating water systen components sltould providc a suficient
margin lo protcct against damage fro,n watcrhammer How
ever, these design margins are nor always sufficient and each
system should be reviewed for waterhammer potential. The
modeling techniques available arc accurate md ihe results
are often used in the prepantion of system operating proce-
duresas well a-sthe selectionof snrgepotection devices,if
The iypical analysis rcviews normal valve Nnd pump
operating scenarios and foreseeable abnonnal operating sce-
nanos. The lbllowirg is a nonexhxustivelisi of mechanical
equipmenl operating scenarios that wanaDt siudy:
. The lripping of one or morc ldge cicllating water !ump,
. The shning of one or morc circulating waler pump,
. Tlp closuE or oFning of a valve within a circulatins waLer
. The filling of a clJculatingwatersystemwnh velociles grcatcr
For more information on this subiect, retb io the refer
ences at the end of this chapter.
12.2.6 Intakeand oltfdll Structures
lntake pumping slructures are requied for most wel lype
cycle heat rcjection syslems. lniake stlucture applications
fall into two b.rsic categories: intake structurcs localed on a
river, lake, ocean, or cooling pond for use in a once-ituough
cooling system, and iniake stucturcs for cooljng tower sys-
tcms. The circularing water intake structure provides ihe
following:
. Housing for lhe circnlalilg watcr pumls.
. Prolcr hy&aulic flow condiLions1othe pnmp suclion, ud
. Envionftenrally acceplablewithdrawal conditions iiom the
An outfall st ucture typically is included as part ofa once
ttuougl circulating water sy(em as a means to relurn dre
discharge circulatiry water flow to the \,r'rterway. Many
oncc through system piping arangeme s cdn incol?omlc
s;phonrecovery1oreducethe sysiempumping headrcquire
ment. A siphon piping andngemeni works on the principle
that no pumping head is losr in a pumping sysrem betwccn
two points haling the same elevaiion becauseof elevation
differences that tnay occur between lhe poinls. When pump
ing from one point to another ai thc same elevaiion. lhe only
lossesare causedby friction and valves,elbows.ctc. A pipe
lhat rises and then lalls is caled a siphon. A pipe $at fals
thenrisesis caled an invc ed siphon.On dsing, thc pressure
head is tansforned nrto elevation head and the rcverse takes
place on fnlling. Most once-throughcnculating waGr sys-
lems canuse a siphonto somedegreebecausethc condenser
clevation is usually wcll abovethe waier level offie lvaler
Tlrc siphon principle hoids true provided rhat the circulat
jng wrter piping ltows ful I and is free of vapor and air. These
requiremenls impose a lnniting hcight lbr an effective s;
phon. Thc pressure in a siphon is a minimum at the hiehesl
pohi in tlre system (typically the top of the ouiler condenser
water box). To prcvent vaporization of the liquid al the
lrighestpoini, the pressuremusi exceedihe vapor pressurcof
the water Thus, rhe siphon nray need io be hoker rn the
circulating water discharge piping ahead ol the outfal] struc-
twe by installationof a seal we1l.The seal well exposesthe
circulating water liow io atnospheric pressure and ihe eleva-
tion is based on maintaidng the back pressue needed io
prcvent ltashhg of the circulaling water in the outlet con
denser water box. A dischargewater chaflrel typically ;s
consiructed to carry lhe clrcularing water lrom the seal well
to the outlall structure.
12.2.6J Once-ThrowhCooqhgSlstenlntake Stwtur.. PlD
and clevarion views of r typical intake stucture for vertical
wetpitpumps areshown inFigs.12l1and 1212. Two major
design pammeten are considercd for the once-tlrough rntake
strucrurc. Thc filst parameter is the hydraxlic,^lytuologic
chsraclerisiics of the water source. For a river or lake intake
srructure, ihe waier level may vary on a seasonal basis. For
an ocean intake stuctul€. rhe watcr level varies hourly de
pendingon tidal inltuences.Ir either casc,the intake stuc-
lure musi be designed io provide adequate punp submer-
gence and nei posirive suction head at low water levels.
whilc assuring rhat the pumps md moiors will not be llooded
at higi water level.
The second design parameler is rhe environrncntal regula-
tions applicable io each plant locaiion. An intake structure
located on a narural body of waler is usually subiect to
regulaLions corceming the water approach velocity to pro
TFAVEL1NG
VER']'ICAL
NS
SCFIEEN
TMVELINGSCFIEEN
WASHP!I\,4PS
l i g . U - U , D . ' . i e q. I o r. e n . : l \ - ' n, .o
 L it.uLtin! Itit.r S|le,tr 359

BRIDGE VEB-I]CAL \ . r e c n i r p . \ ' , e n , h d . i . l \ r f c b o o \ e r e q L ic r n e n t .

CFANES WET rypicatly arc classilied in two calegories:traveling screen
systemsaDd passivescrcen sysiems.The most connnonty
TMVELING used iravcling screenis Lheve$ically rotatiry, singlc enrry.
SCREENS single-exil, ltuough-ilow screenmounted facing rtre waier
ACCESS
NIGH HATCH source-A through-Itow traveling screen is shown nr Fig.
12-13.
LEVEL Tlre vellical travcling screenconsistsofscrecDsanached
Loa continuousbck rhat rravelsin the verticai ptaDebeiwecn
iwo sprcckels.Thescfeen.which ir typically 3/8 in. (10mn,
ncsh, is usually supplied in individual renovable panels
rcfered lo as basketsor tlays- The entire scrcenassembllris
LEVEL supponedbv rwo or tbur slcel posts.The drive tbr ihe screen
sysiemrs typically a rwo speeddd\,e,with normal operation
at low speed io reduce eqxipment wear, :nd high-speed
SCREENS/ operationduring periodsofhigh debrisloading. Screensare
availabiein verLicallen-lthsxp to 100ft (30m) and widths up
Lo 14 ti (,1 n). Operation of fic system can be performcd
manualy at rcgular inrervals or rulomatically hased on con
linuousl) monirored dillcrential pressurc dfop across the
screen.A typical diffcrential headio initiare operatjonof rhe
. c r c e n j. . 6 r o l 0 , 1 5 0r o 2 5 n r r n r /o s ? r ( .
AnoLher type of verLical travellng scrcen used in power
Fia.lf,-12. Elelarion
viewofm inrakcsrucrure
tor a lcnicrr*et pir
plant intnke facilities is the dual flow screen.Dudt flow
sd€ens a€inshlled rvith fte screcnsin parailei 1()the direc-

tcctive intake scrcens!inrake stucture tocxtion. and oLhcr

sitc speciiic enviroDmentalcoDcems_

12.2.62 Cooliag To*et Ihtake Sre.rur.. Thecoolingrower ANONOZZLES

iftake srrucrurereceiveswater tiom rhc cooljng towcr baiin.
The designof the cooling tower inl*e srrucrureis similarro
lhe once through systenl.Howcver. since the cooliDgtower
system is a closed sysiem. the pump slrtr.ture rvater lcvel
varies ovcr a narow range. keeping dre operaiing rcgion
well-deftred. which albws for a much more shaltow struc-
lure. Also. the intakc structuredoc! nor interfaccwirh a river,
lake. or ocean, so most of the associxLcdconcems with
environmentalregutationsare avoided.

12.2.6.3 Intake Structute S./.?uus Srsr?r,J. Intake sti-uc

lures locatedon a lake,ri\,cr. ocean.or cooling pond rcquirc
a screeniDgsysiem lor debris remov{|. To be consideled
practicalfor use in prcrecredpower plant circuraur-l'lwarcr
pu'nps!a screcningsystemnrull meei ihc following crjlcia:
. Efiictiely screendD reqrfted amour of sa1e.wilhour ctog-
gtugor alldvnrgbypas of sc.ccnednarena\.
. Be cosLeffcctive.
. Uselroven nechdic.l conpncnts for reti.rbtclong Lem
terfo i r . r\o.. J.d co!e-'i1 ,.,ldr.o
. Be naintainable lirhout interfering ujth ttre requirementsof
rhecoollngwaLe.suplly.
. U c c o ro i , 1 F , c . ra' ,,.a r r , d \ . n o p i , . J r ' c . o : n - . . \
'lqulfd nr long llfe operatiotr wirh lhe expedcdcirculaling
Fig, 12-13, Throtrgh RoLrMvelnr! *arcr screen.(From F\,lc
. Be eitctive in screening
andprotectineaqualiclife. CoDorationUled wnh penission)
 Po||o Plnnt Eh he.tiht

tion of warer flow to the intaLe structure. A typjcrt arange-

ment is shown in Fig. 12 14. The advantage of the dui flow
sffeen is that twice as much screenareaper screenis rvail-
able as compared to the ihrough-ltow affangement.
There are several disadvantages associatedwith the verti_
cal traveling screens.Experience has shown that the screens
require high maintenance,especially if located in a high
debris or sedimenl laden environment, or if located rn a
severely corosive environment such as seawater.ln ttuough
flow arangements there is somedmes debris carryover to the
pump side ofthe s €en. Also, the screensmay be environ
mentally unacceprable because of damage io aquatic life. A
fish handling and bypass system is avdlable to aftemptio
savefish impingcd againstihe sffeens.
The major difference between iraveling screens and pas
sive sdeensis that passivescreeDshaveno movlng parts.A
tlpical passivescreenarangement is shown ilr Fig. 12'15.
Passivescreensare typilied by low apFoach vetocines.low
r h J o u g h - s c f e e\ n
elo(Iie.. rnJ mini.nun debn' impr,rPe-
ment and blockage. Any debris or marerial tbat may become
impinged on the screensis removed by a periodic air or water
backwash. The screens typically ate designed lor a maxt-
Inum intake velociry of 0.5 fils (fps) (0.15 m/9 through the
Fig, U-15, Passive
scrco dmsenent
screen. The low velocity reduces lhe flow forces that cause
the entrainment and impingcment of debris and aquatic life.
. AJeasirhcrc stasndntwarercould occnr should be lilcd in.
A typical anangcncnt for river and lake appiications is
. Averagevelocitiesnust b€ kerr below 2 fps (0.6 n/t on the
shown in Fig. 12 16.
approachlo the pum! s!mp. and I hs (0.3 n/s) or below on
122.6.1 I takeSnuture Sizing. The intake stmcture must the approachto lhc pum! bellmoulh.
provide acceptable pump suctlon hydraulic operanng condr- . Tfah racksand screensshouldbe locatcdso lhey canako act
tions at all possible water levels. accommodate the selected as flow straighten€r\.
sclccning system, and satisfy applicable environmental reg
12.2.6.5 outJall Strtuctues Oudal stuctures have two
u j d i n n \ . S r a r J t u d .c o m n o n l ) u , e d f o r n r a n e . ! r u ( r u - e. i /
componenis: dle seal well and the discharge channel. The
ing arc the British HydromechanicsResearchAssociation
seil well provides a minimun discharge clevation lbr ihe
Standards and dre Hy&aulic Inst;tute Standards. General
circulating waler io mainiain a siphon and prevent flashing in
criieda considered for the design of the intake structure are
the outler condenser waler box and circularing water piping.
The required seal well elevation is based on mainraining dle
. The flow approachlngthelumps shouldbo unilbm ac.o* lhe brck pressnre needed to prevent fiashing of the circuhnng
width of the pump cell. wrter at the lowesi absolute pressure point in the system
. Kiredc eneref due to chdges h level should be dissipated
weu in adldce of rhepunps.
. A1I flow obstructionsshouldbe streamlinedto miniftize flow
seldation ned thc illakc stnclurc.

CIRCIJLATINGOOUBLEENTRY,SINGLE TO PUMP
WATERPUMP EXITSCREEN PSCENDING SUCTION

INLET

SCREENS
DESCENOING
!1EW
ELEVATION

Fig.lz-14. Dualnow lfuleling screc. schcnatic. Fig, t2-16, TFicd paslile s.Mn rircr md Laieapplicalion.

(usuallythe rop of ihe oullet condenserwarer box). A mini-
mun 6 ft (1,800mm) of water absoluieFessureheadar any
point in the circdaling water systemis reconmended.The
elevationof the waier in the sealwell is iypically maituained
by a sharp-cres.edweir fomed widr adirsrable srop logs.
The d;schargecharmelprovidesthe ltow paih of the circular-
ing water flow frorn the sealwell io .he watcNay. ln some
cases,it is necessaryto speciallydesignthe dischargechan-
nel to impan 3n optimal dischargedircction and velociry to
the dischargec;irulating waterfor properdispenion inro rhe
122.6.6Mo.lel Tesnng. Model testing is reconmended
for inlrle structuresusing pumps with capac,ucsscaler
than50.000spm (4,700L/s). andlor smallerpumpsil dEre
are conditionsin the i ake approachthat generareunusual
circulation.Intakestructuremodelingoffers severalbenefits:
. May rcducecoslsby optimizingthe sizeof thelump cels.
. ldentinestheneenfo. iniakestructureflowbdffles,fiUers,ed
otherpump structuremodificalionsrcquted to elininate
lump daftagingsudacemd sLbsurfaco vorrexfomalions.
Tle nodcl atsoprovides lhysicaiverificarion
of theeffecrive
ressof thesemodilicdtions.
. Helpsreducenaifienmce dd improveeffrciencyfor thc
]2.3 COOLING
TOWTRS
The cooling towersdescribedin ihis secliondreevaporarive
towers thai dcrive their primary coolirg effecr lionr the
evaporationtbat takesplacewhenair andwaier are brought
n,o olecl conla(1.fhe e'I( ieqcyol lhe cooirg froceis
dependson ihe ambient condirions and the heat rejeciion
I
lttl
lt
\ tt
ll ll
INLEI
7\ NIEI
Fig. 12J7. lnduced drxi a.d forced dnft counldfiow cooting toweN.
Cir.uLlting Wut.r Ststens 361
load within which the tower musroperare.Orherfacrorsrhar
influenceefficicncy, alld over which the cooling lower man
ufactwer has some measue of conaol, are the amounrof
heat transfer surfacearea,the iime duration thar ihe warer
surfaceis exposedto the airsteanL aid themtio of airflow ro
water liow in the cooling tower Thesefactors can be bal
rnced in an innnib anay of combinalioDsdrar Foduce the
sameendresult of cooling ihe waler to the designconditions.
Coolingtowerscanbe characteriz-ed in severalways.The
most common ways are by type of drali (rnechanicalor
natural) or by the relaiionship betweenrhe air and varer
flows(crossflow or counterflow).Theycanalsobeclassined
accordingto lhe main modeol heattransfer(evaponiive, or
wei. iower versussensible,or dry, tower). This secrronde-
scribes the sdlient features of evaporarivecooling tower
classilications.
Portionsofrhis secrionwerecompiledftom
docunents published by the Marley Cooling Tower Com-
panv.
12.3.1 Mechanical
Draft
A mechrnicaldraft cooling tower useslargefans to produce
airflow through the tower fil. Wateris distriburedover the
tower fili, and heat tnnsfer takesplace by evaporarionalld
co ,ection as a rcsult of waler to air inrerface.
Thcrc arc two types of mechrnicdl drafr rowels: forced
draft itnd induced dmft (Fig. 12 l7). Aldroush Fig. 12 17
showsa counterllowcooling tower desigr. boih fan anange
ments dre also applicablefor crossflowcooling towers.
Forceddraft cooling torvershavethe fans mountedar ihe
base of the tower. Air is forced in at the bottom and dis,
chargedthroughthe top of ihe tower This arangemenrhas
the advantageoflocating the fan anddive mororoursidethe
tower, where it is convenientfor inspection,maintemrce,
\
I ll
tl
tl
..+
'l {{
y/\
 Pnwt t P Ldnt EnEine.rrtg

and rcpairs. Since the equipment is o 1of the hot, humid area
of the tower the fan is not subjected to conosive conditions.
The distiDguishing airl]ow characteristic is a high inlet arr
velocity and a low exit air velocity. This characieristiccan
lead to excessive recircularion tnd dccreased siability of
thermal perlbrmance when comparcd to the induced dratt
tower. Recircnlation describes rbe phenonenon of portiolrs
of dle wann, noisl air of ihe tower exit air plume being
drawn back into the lower air intake, raishg the inlet wei-
bulb temperature. The locaiion of the tower fans in the
entering airstream also malres them subject to potcntial icing
problems. tcing cdn be aggravatedin periods wh€n thc
forced draft lower is experiencing recirculation, because of
dle high moisture content of the recirculated air
The induced draft tower has rhe fans located downstream
of the iower fill section so that thc air is puled rhrough the fi U
seciion. As opposedto thc forced dralt arangement. thc
disringuishing airflow charxcteristic of lhis induced draft
arrangement is a lower irlel air vclocily and a Ingher exit air
velocity. Exit air velociries ttue€ to four times higher than
inlet velo!:ilies are common. The higler exit velocity reduces
the rendency for a rcduced prcssure zone lo be created at the
air nnet by the aciion of $e fan. This greatly reduces ihe
potential for excessive rccirculaiion- When recirculattun oc
curs on an induced dr:|fl lowet il is usually the result of
exrernalconditions such as ambient wind conditions.Icing Fig,1218. Wood,rcctxrgularnechanicdd li coohBio{cf
of the mechanical equipment is also reduced becausethe fans ndndactur€dby tnc Muley CoolingTowerConptuty.(Fmn Norrhem
are located in the w!1m airstream. The induced &atl tower ts sL{esPowcrUsedwidr pemisrn,n)
by far the most comnon type of nechrnical draft used in
utility power plant service.
crelc conslruclion. Rece adranccs in lhe design and fabri'
Thcrc are lwo primary iypes of rnechanical draft rower
cation of llberglass struclufal members have enabled the
arrangemenls:rectangular, in-line tan arrangement.and
comnercial introduction of large-scdle fiberglrss structure
round, clustered fan ansngement.
cooling towers to the markel
The inline fan alT ngement (Figs. 1218 a1ld 1219) is
As shown in Fig. I 2 20, the round coollry lower affange
commonly refe(ed to as a rectangular cooling tower and is
n1enl is nearly circular in plan ffnngemenl, with fans clus
the most conmon type of mechanical draft rower arrange-
mcnt. Rcclmgular towers are construcied in modular lash
ion; the tower leDgth and number of cells arc ncreased as
necessary to accomplish a specilied thennal pertomance.
Each cell of the rectangulfi lower is neady identical in
design. This modularity allows standardization in ihe design
of the saucture and nechanical component!. and in dcler
nining the lhermal laiings. The reciangular tower design is
usually the lowest capiial cost cooling tower arangement.
A drawbackof rhe rcctangularamngementis Lheneedlbr
a long nanow strip of land on which to locate the tower On
large,mulriple-unirpower plant sites.siring ofmultiple rows
of long rectangularcooling towerscan be nearly nnpossible.
Also, when multiple reltangular towers are localed next io
each olher lhe hoi moist air exit plume from one towcr can
be drawn inio the air inlet of another lower This phenome-
non is called inteference. As with recirculation, lower inter-
ference affects the themai performance of the towcr by lais- Fig,12-19- Co..rcte. rtalgul[ mechui.al draft cooling toner
ing the average wer-bulb temperatwe of lhe tower inlel air minlla.rnrcd by dre Hamn Cooling Tower conpa.y. (Frcm Floda
Rectangular tower stuctures are iypically wood or con Power co.poiaiio.. Used with pennission.)

Fig, t2-20. Round,conc€tc, n*banicd draft coolils iower
nuuta.tured by Balcke Diir (Fron Iowa nnnois cas & Etcdnc. used
tercd as close as practicdt around the centcrpoirr of rhe
tower.The round lower arangementallows cooling of very
large water flows wiih less planl site areafian requiredby
mulriplecell rccrangular coolingiowers.The roundtower
arrangemenioffers olher advaniagesovcr the rcctanguhr
. ReducedgroundleveleffecLsof fog resultingfton a consoli
daled,morebuoydt plunei
' Reducedcirculatingwaterpipinglcngrhs;ud
. Les t|emal lerfomarcedegradalion caused by recircu
The round,clusteredfan rower generallycostsaboui 357.
to 507. morethantherccian$]ar tower.Theround,clustercd
fan lowers usually can be located closer io rbe planr and
closerto one anoiher(on a muliiple-unil site). This spacing
consideranon savcspipingcosrsandpumpingpowercosls.
Wlren iotal system cosis are considered,ihe round lower
arrangemenigenerallyhasa comparable,il not lower, toial
evaluatedcostthantherectangulararrangemertfor uniis 500
negawatts(MW) andlarger For units 250MW andsmaller
tbe cost for ihe round tower can be nearly doubledlar of a
rectangnlartower andis genenlly not competirive.For units
between250 md 500 MW pmjeclandsire-spe.citic
cribna
deiemine if a round tower arrangementis cosr ellective.
Circulatint wdter Slstens 363
12.3.2 Natural
06ft
The nalural draft cooling tower producesanflow through
utilizaiion of the stack.or chinme)r,etrect.The densi.y dif
ferencebeiwecnthe walm (lessdense)air insidethe srack
and the relalively cool (morc dense)ambienr air oulside
producesthe rcquired airflow
Thesetowerstend to be very large,both in heighr and in
ihe amountof waier flow eachtower can cool. The hyper-
bolic naLral draft cooling tower derivesirs namefrom rhe
geornetricshapeof the shell.Early natwal draft iowers were
nearlycylindncalin shapeandmadeof wood.As thedesigr
of naturaLdraft iowels evolved andthe rowersbecamevery
tall and 1arge,ihe hyperbolic shapeof today's reinforced
conffeie iowels was found ro ofier supenor strength and
resistanceto ambientwind loadings.Tlrc hyperbolic shape
of the tower shell has liide to do wirh rhe hear transfer
processoccuning within the towcr.
Figures 12 2l alrd 12-22 show schematicsof crossflow
andcountedow hyperbolicnalural draft towers.As the fig-
ureslrldicaie, ihe fill is locatedwithin ihe lower ponion of
theshe[, wiih theupper857oro 907,of the shellemptyand
used solely to achieveihe chinney effecr. A dng-shaped
fonndation supports .he tower. Columns nsing fron nte
foundarionFovide an oper air inlet basewith the hyperbolic
cuved shell above.A counierflownatur.rldfaft cooling
tower is shown in Fig. 12-23,and a crossflownarual dralt
coolingiower is shownin Fig. 12-24.
As menlionedpreviously,dle airflow th.oughihe natural
draft lower is inducedby the densitydifferencebetweenihe
warm (lessdense)air insidethe stackalrdrhe relatively cool
(moredense)ambientair.The driving force developedby rhe
densi4' differential is balancedby rhepressure&ops wirhin
the tower as the air passestlrough. The driving force (AP,
lbf/ft,) is civen by thc fbllowjnc:
AiA OUTLET
HOT
I
INLET DRIFT
ELIMINATORS
AIF INLET
\
coLo
INLET
OUTLEI
Fis, 12-21. crcssflow hyperbolicnanual duft cooli.g told
364 PawerPlanthBineeriu

DRIFI
ELIMINATOFIS
HOT

INLET

INLET INLET

I ig. Iz-22. ( ourerfow lyp._boh raturaldr.fr cooLjnsbr<r

(123)

po = density of outsideair, lbm/tt3:

pj = densiryof lnsideair,typically rakenatexit of thelill. lbm/4tr; r,ig.12-24. Crossflownatual drult cooling tower (Fron Mul€y
Cooli.g To{er Compmy. Used wi|n pemission.)
11= height of tower abovethe lill. tri

8 = gravitalional ac@lentlon, ft/s,)i md

a" = i'ravitalional constet = 32.2 lbm x ftillbf x sr.
Fig.12-23. Couhterllow nxtural drati cooling rovd ar &e Stmto.
Enc4f Cenler in Orlmdo, Fbnda, nmufacturcd ht tne Mtulcy Cooln8
Tower Conpmy. (Fmn Orlando Uiiliiies Co.mission. Usedwirh
Since po - pj is relatively small, l/ must be large to
genente the AP necessaryto producetbe requircd airflow.
Hyperbolic tolvers are generallyquite expensive.Srack
heighrsarc occasioDally in excessof 500fi (150m). Com-
parcdto an equivalentcapacityrectangularmechanicaldraft
tower,costsfor hyperbolictowerscanrangehom two and a
half times as expensivefor a larye plant to five times as
expensivefor a small plant. However,the hyperboljc tower
hasan economicadvantageover ihe mechanicaldraft tower
in tharno energyis required1ooperalefans.ln addition,the
high stack oudei precludesmost concemsof recirculalion,
interference,and fogging. As opposedto conventionalme-
chanicdl draft towers, natural &aft towe$ can be located
nearerio the plant and to eachother
The hwerbolic natural draft tower operatesmosi e11bc-
tively jn areasof higher rclarive humidity, sincethe ratio of
seisibleto latenthealtransleris geater thanatlower relative
humidities.The geater the prcponion of sensibleheai trans-
fer. the greaterthe densitydiffercntial betweenthe stackail
and the ambjent ait and thus ihe greaterthe airflow for a
given stack heighi. Becauseof this chffacterisiic, and be-
causeof thehigh first cosi of hyperbouccooling towers,theil
application generally llas been limited to areasof higher
relative humidity. In arid or high-altitudeareas,mechanical
&afi iowers are the dominantchoice.
 12.3.3 Fan-Assisled
Natural
Draft
The fan assistednatural draft cooling tower is a hybrid de-
sign(Fig. 12,25).Thc intentof thedesignis to augmcntthe
airflow producedby fanswith airflow producedby rhe srack
effecr of a natwal draft iower Becausethe fans assisi in
producingthe rcquircd aidow. rhe cost impacr of a large
siackis reduced.Becausethe srackaugnenrsthe airflow, far
horsepowerrequiremenrsare reduced.ff designedproperty
in tcmperateclimales,the fansmay needto be operatedonly
during relatively shon periods of high ambient wer-butb
temperaturesand high wind loads.
The fan-assistednaturaldraft cooling rower hasmany ot'
the sameadvantagesas the hyperbolicnaiural drafi, snchas
tre high air dischargewhich precludespotenial problems ------..>
rNLET
with recirculaiionandintederence.The tower is alsosmaller COLD
than the hwerbolic natural draft cooljng iower, resultingin
lcss visual impacton dre sunoundingarea.Figure t2-26 v,fl's
shows a schematicof an induced draft counterflow fan- Fig,12-26. Indu.ed dFft counlerflow.fan asistcd nrtural draft cooli.g
assistednatural draft cooling tower.

12.3.4 Crossflow
Thec.ossflowcoolingtowerhas a fillconfiguration
ttuough
which the air flows horizontally.acrossihe downwardfall of
water Figure 12 27 showsa rypical crosssectionof a rect
aryular, rnechanicaldralL crossflow cooling rower. Figure
12-28 shows a round mechanicaldmfl, crossflow cooljng
tower As theseligures show.rhe lill is containedin rheouter
perimeter of the iower. The ai] enrersthe tower rhrough
louvers.passesthroughthe fili and drift eliminarors.eniers
the cenlral air plenum, and ii drawn up through the lan
srack(s).Hot wateris deliveredro open hot waierbasins
abovethe fil1 areas.The hot wareris distriburedio ihe fi by
$avity througl orifices in ihe floor of the hor warer Dasn.
Crossitowtowerfil1q7pically is asplashbarrype. Splashbxr
fil1 functionsto impcde the progressof the falling water by
brcakingit into tiny droplers.The barsaretwically ananged
in staggered.ows. Heat and masstransleroccur at the sur,
tace of thc droplets.As the water is brokeninro nore sma
&opleis. nore heaiandnass transfercanrnlc placebecaxse
increaseddroplei surfacc area is in contact rvifi the ai.
Figurc1229 showsa comlnorarangernent of a splashbar
crossflowfil]. Thesplashbarscanbe alignedwith thc longi,
tudinalaxis eitherperpendicular or parallelro rhe airffow
throughthe fill The barsarc supponed horizonrally.Long
term peformance reliability .equiresthai the splashbarsbe
suppotedon closecentersto preventdanragefrom long
telm themal loadings.high winds.andiceloads.Themajor
advantageof splashbar 1i[ is ihe abilily to mainrainrhemal

Fig. 12-25, lar-a$hted natrat dmtt .ooling rower (Frcm Hanon

cooling Tower Conpdy. Used wiih pcmission.) Fig,12-27, Rc.languur nechanical draft crossnowcoolins towcr
 P.\|tr PlnL Entih..rnq
Fie.12-28. Mecnmical dmn, crossiow cooling loser mdnufacturedbt
the MdLey CooLingTower C,m!!ny. (rrom Coopediee Powe. Uscn
pefonnance capability when circularing warer qudlrry is
poor This liil is nearly impossibleto plug.
In recentyears,new crossflowfills havebeendeveloped
rhatusecloselyspacedtilm iype lill sheetssimilafto those
typically lbund h counierflow cooling iowers.
12.3.5 Counterflow
The countedow iower hasa fll configurationduoughwhich
air flows verticall] upward, counier io the falling water
Figure 12 30 is a crosssectionalschematicdia8ramof a
q'
Fig, 12-29, Crossflow fil desisn.
\l llt t
l*ll | 1 1 1 / i /
Fig,12-30, Crc$ sectionof rlpical ne.hmicd drail coudno{
mechanicaldrait counterflowcoolh-q tower. The fill is ar-
rangedover the eniire tower plan arearatherthanjust ar the
outerperimcler as in lhe ffossflow tower The air entersthe
tower throughthe openingsin ihe lower portion of ihe rower.
tums 90 degrees,andpassesupwardihroughihe lill section.
wherc heat and masstransferbetweenthe air and the water
takeplace.The air then passesthroughthe drift eliminators
abovethe fill, entersthe lowef plenumspace,andpassesoui
rhroughthe fan stack.
Thehot waterdistribut;onsystemin a counlcrflowlowcr
iwlcally is a closed-pipedistribution sysrem with risers
fcfJinFr hedder rhdrh tum leedcdismbulron o.purgcon-
taining nozzlesfor unilbrn distribuiion of waier on ihe lili.
Alternatively, the hot water is purnpedup 1oopen flumesat
the waier distribution level that feed ihe hot water to the
distribution piping and nozzlesby gravity.
The lill in the counterflowtower is typically a film type
6ll. Figure 12-31showsa iwical film fi aransement.The
Iill coNistsofdenselypacked,verticailyoricntedsheetsof
material tusualy polyvinyl chloride (PVC)1,and functions
by causingthe hot waterio flow down the surfacesof the fill
in a thin continuous film. As air pr.sscs
overthe waterfilm,
heatandmasstransferoccur at the surfaceofthe waterfilm.
This tlpe ol lill promoresmaximumexposureof the waterto
the airltow It hasthe capability io provide maximum effec-
iive coolilrgcapacityiD a smallamomt ofspace.Howeve.,
rhe thermal perfomance of rhis type of fill is extremely
scnsiLiveto poor water distriburion, as wel as io the air
biockagealrd turbulencethai a poorly desigDed611sdpporl
systemcanperpetuate.The overall tower designmustassur€
xnilbnn air aIId warer flow ihroughout the entire fill area.
Becausethe Ii1l sheeisare closely spaced,tlle qualiiy of the
circulatingwatcris of crlticalimportanceto keeplhe Jill

!ig.l2-3L Typicalnln fill desisn
irom fouling and plugging the fil1 wirh debris accumulaiion
or bioloSical rrowth-
The major operaling differences lbr a corDterflow tower
as comparedto acrossflowtower arereduccdpumping head
and slightly increascdfan |orsepower Thcsc differercescan
be explainedby comparirg Figs. 12 27 and 12-30.As rhese
ligures show,the fill sectionof the counierflowiower covers
the entireplan are3,whercasthe lill for ihe crossnowtoweris
confinedto the outerpcrimeterof ihe tower Becauseofthis.
ihe height of fie nll section is SEearerand, as a result. ihe
pumping he;d is geater on lhe crossflow tower for a eiven
dxty.
The crossflow tower also has !l ldrger air inler arca than
the counterllow tower as a result of ihe llll configurarion.
'Ihis
leads |o a lower entering air vekrcity dnd a lower
pressure drop th.ough the air lnlets. The counterflow lill is
also more densely packed, which often leads to a grealer
pressurc drop ttuough rhe fiIl secrion. even rhough thc dif
travel distance through the lill section is less than ir the
crossltowrower Thc increasedpressuredrop in ihe counier-
flow tower air inlets and lill seciion increasesrhe counterllow
iowcr's fan horsepower rcquirenenr when comparcd to a
crossflowcooling lowcr. This is miiigated sonrewharby dre
counterllow heal Lnnsfer process,which is nore eflicied
lhan the crossflow process, and the crossflow tower, there
fore, rcquires a gieater air mass flow lor given duty than does
the counle low tower. Some of the conrpar,ttive advanrages
and disadvartagesof ihe two lower types are as fbllows:
. Crosslowadvmtaees:
Open ho1 water dlstriburion deck allows easy inspeclion
andclemingof nozzLes.
-Crcsnow sphsh fills cdr opente md maintail designthcf
Cn.ulaLihg llakt Slstc s 361
ndl pc'lbmmce even wilh very poor circulating water
l.wer llr stalic pressurelosses.
Crossflow design accelts wide range ol rh€ circulalne
J 1 r el,l . . i i h o , r \ i p L j 5 c dr ' ) a f l e , , i nr r. , k - r p - r ' r p r e
heador disnibutionnozzlespraypaLtem.
. Confiedo* adldnlages:
Mdinun rhemal €inciency,
Sm!]lesl tower.
Lowesl caPiralcost,
Tbically crateslowe.towcrpumlinglEadthdc.ossflow
- l t t n i r n m e D o . .r eo - ' l l r . d s . r F d . r n o u u o\n) e m ' o
surlieht redtrcesthe poLentialto. algaegro\rth, dd
-Design a]los,s morc effective ice conLrolin lrcczine cli
12.4 COOLING
IOWERSIZING
For a new power plant projeci, the condcnserand cooling
towc. anangemelts a]e optimized during lhe conceprual
designof rhe cycle heairejccrion sysrem.Cordenserdesign
parameiers are delennined based on an ecoromic optimiza
tion study that evaluatesand comparesthc numerouspoten-
tial condenserarangemenls and sizes,s,hich are evaluaied
rn combination wiLh various cooling tower efficiencies (ap
proacher, to select ihe most cost-efleclivc condenserar-
rangenent. size, and back pressure.The optimization is
basedon the clieni's Feferenccs as well as $e project eco-
r o r n i . c r i r e n ad n J p r o , e c r c du n i r l o J d m o d e l .D ^ c u s s r o no 1
, h e o p r i m i / a , i . ' r o c n n d e n . e r. r z e d n d b a c { p r e i i u r c i ,
368 PNer Pldnt Encineennq

presentedin Chapter9. SteamCycle Heat Exchangers.Ar if the site has more than one tower). The 57. weGbulb
economic evaluarionof altemarive cooliry tower designs tempemtue is the wet bulb temperaturethat hash;storicaLly
and arangementsis performedbasedon the results of the be€nexceededanaverageof only 57' of the hou.sin the four
condenser optimization.
Thissectiondiscussesthefacto.sto wamest summermonths(typicallyJunethroughSepten
considerwhensizing andoptimizing cooLingtower anange- ber). The hoursin which peakwet bulb temperaturesexceed
dle 57, level arc seldomconsecutivehoursandusuallyoccur
in periods of relatively shofi duration. The 57, wet bulb
12.4.1 Desisn
HeaiLoad iemperatureis a commor design parameterfor industrial
cooling applications,and histo.ical weatherdarais usually
The plantcondenser andcoolingtoweraresizedio handle
readily availablelbr most Foposed plani sites.
the naximum expectedheatloadfrcm the tu$ire generator
In somespecialcases,ii may be necessaryio perfom a
manufacturer'svalve wide open,5E ovepressureheatbal
comprehensivestudy io detemine rhe appropriatedesign
ance. I1u515al'o colnmo ) referredro as .he md\iinuin
wet-bulb temperaturefor a project. The necessarysite
continuousrating (MCR) load point. During the courseof
weatherdata to pedorm such a study are usualy publicly
thc condcnserand coolingtower optimization,sufficient
availablein sone form. Hisiorical weatherdataare vital lo
designnargins are verified to ensurethat plant capacityis
manyindustrialcoolingapplications. Air temperatures (dry
neverresticred by insufficientcooling systemcapacity.For
bulb as well as coincidenlwe1bulb lemperatures), wind
e\Jmple.rnan)largesreamrurbuesarellmiledin ma mum
directionandvelocity, andolher dalaareroulinely measured
lteam exhauslpressweto about 5.0 in. HgA. ApFopriate
andrecordedby the U.S.WeatherBureau,worldwideU.S.
designmarginswould typicaly eliminaie evaluationof any
miliiary installations,ai4orts, dnd various odrer organiza-
condenser andcoolingtowerarmngement that wouldpro
tions io whom anticipatedweatherpatiemsand specilic air
duce a back pressureof grcaterthdn 4.0 in. HgA (100mm)
conditionsare a vilal concem.
under peat load and the site 17. wet-bulb temperaturc,or
4.5 in. HgA (150nln) whenthe wet bulb temperature is at
12.4.3 Recirculationand
lnterfercnce
the historicalmaximun for the site.Thesedesignconditions
allow adequatemargnr for unusually warm weather and Coolingtower recirculation.as shown in Fig. 12 32. de-
ensurethat unit capacity is not limited by excessiveback scribesthe phenomenonofportions ofthe warm.moist air of
pressues during pedk load and peak ambient conditions. the tower exii plumebeing &awn back into the air iniake of
Maximum steamturbine back prcssurclimihrions are spe-
cilic to turbirc generatormanufacturerand can vary as a
tunction of steamturbine size- BECIRCULATION

12.4.2 DesisnWet-Bulb
Temperature
An imporbnt cooling tower designparameteris the design
wet bulb temperature.Wet bulb temperatureis that satura-
tion lemperatu.eto which an canbe cooledadiabaticallyby
the eraporation of liquid warer at ihe same temperature. t-
Thus. the wei-bulb temperaturerepresentsthe lowest tem r't
'-/
peratureto which lhe circulaiing water can theoreticallybe L-l
cooled in the tower. Since ihere are inefficiencies in the
coolingiowerevaporative cooUng process, thecoolmgtower
t= ::-l

cancool only to within an approachofthe wet-bulbtempen-

ture. Selectionof the desigr wet-bulb temperaturemust be
made on dle basis of historical ambient conditions at the
plant siie.
Since,for a given cooling tower, the cold waier tempera-
lure will increaseasthewet-bulbtemperaturcincreases,and,
since condenserpressureis a direct funclion of the cold
water temperalure,the designwet bulb remperatureis usu-
all), selecledat r peak sunmer temperatwe.As discussed -:-l

above,this design merhodlimits peak condenserpressures

I-
so thai plani generatingcapacityis not restrictedduring ihe l-1
summer which is the peak electricity demand period for LI
mosi utilities. It is commonto selectthe designinlei wet-
bulb temperatueasthe 57, ambientwet-bulbtemperatureal
the siteplus an alowance tbr recirculation(andintederence Eig. 12-32. Cmling to{€r recirculationod iftdiKrci,

the cooling tower, thus raising the inlet wei-bulb lempera-
twe. lniederence is a similar phenomenon, bur is defined as
the discharge from one lowe. thar enters another rcarby
tower (alsoshown in Fig. 12-32).Sincethe heateddischarge
air thai recirculates or intederes is esseniialll saturated, ii
cannot cont.ibute to ihe hcat trarNfer process because the
predominantcooling mechanisn of a wet cooling tower is
Recirculation and interference increasesrhe wei-bulb
ternperatue of ihe entering air, negatively afecring iower
perfomance. The cold water temperature to the condenser is
increased. which in tum increases thc turbirc back pressure.
That. in tum, reduces rhe turbine generaior output and ihe
plant overall efliciency. Thus, rhe design of mechanical drafr
cooling towers must include an appropriate design margin to
conpen$te fbr recirculaiion or inteference eftects. The
nost common design margin is to add a recircuirtion af
lowance to the design ambienl wet bulb iemperaLure thar
mnnics ihe average increase in wet bulb remperarure ex-
pected tiom recircllation effects. The rypical mechanical
&afl cooljlg tower specificaiion provides a design inlet wef
bulb temperaturcdefined as follows:
/' D p \ i s n I n r e ,i e \- / D e l s n r b i e n r { e r t'
o u l br - m l c r a er u h,tt're-pFr.,.re
Rectanguiartowershaverhe mosi scvererecirculaiionprob
lems.As discussed
earlier,iheexitairoutletis ctoseLone alr
inlet, andthereis no benefitof plume reinJorcemenlexcepr
rn ceriain wind conditions.Also, rhe long. low tower profile
createsa low-pressurezore on the dowDwind side of the
towcr which tends1(]draw the dischargeair to rhat side and
subsequendyback into the tower ai. inler. A recircularion
auowanceof 2'F (1.1oC) for a rectangularmechanicaldraft
toweris typ'callyrecommended.
Roundmechadcal draft cooling iowers haverhe advan-
tageofacoffolidaredplune,whichind€asesbuoyancy, md
the rcund shapehelps reduce ihe size of the low pressure
zone on ihe downwind side of the cooling tower.However.
the af inlets arestill relatively closeto ihe exir airsrreanand
rccircnlalion does occur A recirculaiion allowanceof 1"F
(0.6" C) is rypically reconrmendedfor a round mechanical
draft cooling iower.
Naturaldraft coolingtowershaveno significantrcclrcula-
non and ifterference problems. alrhough ,nultiple rowers
localedcloserogeihercar causeunsrableider air condirions.
No recircuhnon allowanceis recomnendedfor this type of
Thc nagnitude of actualrecicularion effectson mechani
cal dralt cooling towers is a s bject of considerabledebate
within rhecoolingtower industry Mosr rccommendations on
recirculation ailowance have been based on wind runnel
testingor limiied site data.Operalingexperiencehassbown
that actual recirculation efiecrs appear ro be larger rhan
discussedabovefor boih reclangularand round mechanical
dlalt cooling towels.The CoolingTowerInsritutehassiaried
CicLtatihg Watet Sre.m 369
a program to obtain tower recircutation data when field
thermaltesling of cooling towen is perfomed. Ir is hoped
this progam will allow gathering of consisrenrfield data
from which useful recommendationscan be drawn.
12.4.4 Coolins
TowerFlow'Ranse,
sndAppmach
The condenseroptimization determinesthe designcircular
ing water ltow ratc. cold water iemperature,and cooling
rangebasedon the turbine-generaiorheatload ai rhe maxi
mum contnuous rating load point plus a 107,allowancefor
the heai load of the auxiliary cooling system. On some
projects,an additionalmarginis included.o alow for deteri-
oratlon in turbine-generator peformance. Recalling Eq.
(12 2), the calcuialionof the temperaturerise of the circulat
rng water in ihe condenseris as follows:
TR = 0/500(TLOW,gpm)
Sincethe cooLingtowerrejeclsthetotal hearloadfrom the
condenserand since the design flow raie of the circulaiing
water pumpsis fairly constant,the iemperatureralge of rhe
cfcntating water flow in the toner must be equal to that of
the condenserThe relationshipsbetweenihe cooling tower
,' rRt tcoc"urccueL n o, n range.apFoach,andver-bulb iemperatureareshownin Fig.
/
l2 33. The designtower cold waier temperatureis basedon
the cooling lower approachio the design ider wer-bulb
temperature.Cooling tower approachis definedas rhe rem
peraturedifferencebetweenthe cold watertemperarureleav
ing the lower basin and rhe wct bulb temperarureof rhe air
To iilustratefunher how rhe condenserandcooling iower
pedbrmrogerher:. !.)nem. andho$ he!' rejerLjor,)srem
opiimizationstudiesmust considerthe perfomanceand
coslsof all sysiemcomponents, Fig. 12-34showsrhecon-
denserandcooling .ower designperlomarce parameterslbr
a tlpical power plant cycle hearrejection systemthar ulri-
nately detemrinethe turbine-generatorback presswefor a
given heat load:
. Wefbulbtenperarure,
WBT= 75'F (23.9'C)i
. Coolingloweralproach.A?P = 15'F (8.3'C):
TEMPEFAIURE
H corownren
ETa\4PEFATUBE
INLETWET
BULB
TEMPEMTUBE
INLE OUTLET
WATERTRAVELDISTANCE
THiOUGH TO\IER
Fis.12-33. Relarionship
berweetr
coolineranee,a!Fo&h, dd wet-
370 P.Ntl PLant E ngi he.t ihg

TEMPEMTURE=
CONDENSING 125'F generally are not cosi effective for power plant use, and
PBESSUBE=
CONDENSING 3.S5INCHESHgA approachesbelow 5' F (2.8" C) usually cannot be guarante€d
-1- by cooling lower manufacturels. The role of the cycle heat
rejeclion system oplimizaiion is lo determine the optimum
TTD size and arrangement of the system equipmeni according io
J- the projecl economic criteria.

COOLING 12.4.5 Dry-BulbTempehturcand RelatileHuddity

ut RANGE,
Dry bulb temperature is nol usurlly !n essenlial c.iterion for
5 roo (IR)
sizing wet mechanicaldraft cooling towels. Howevet the
TOWEFICOLD design dry bulb temperalure or relarive humidity is used by
lhe rower marulacrurcr lo deremine de'ign inler 0irprcper
TEI\'PEMTUFE ties so an accurate deierminalion of evaporatuor can be
made. Also, for natural drafl, plume abatement, water con-
(APP)
INLETWETBI.JLB servation, and dry or wei dry cooling towers, dry bulb tem
peraturcis essentialin sizing the cooling tower.
The site elevrtion is alsoessenlialfor determiningthe size
of the cooling tower becausemoist irir propertiesare depen
CONOENSEB COOLING dent on atmospheric pressure. Generally. as elevation in-
TOWEFI creases, ihe required tower size and/or lan hoffepower de-
dd coolinsr,rwerpefommce palmeten.
Fig,12-34, Condenser creases if all olher thennal vadables remain constant.

. Condenser/coolingtower temperaturerarge, TR = 25'F
(l 3.9"c); and
. Condcnsc! terminal temperatlre ditreience. TTD = 10'F
(5.6'C).
While determination of thc above parameters defnes the
perfonnance.nd elliciency ot lhe clcle heat rejeclion .) *
tem, each of these paramelers also aflbcts the cosl of the
sysiem componenis.For the cooling lower, reducing the
tower approach temperalure reduces the turbine back pres
surc, but it xlso increases the capiial and opefating cosrs of
the cooling tower. Figue 12-35 shows how the design ap-
proach temperature affects cooliry rower size- The tower
cost usually increases in proportion 1()ihe size of the lower
Note ihe as)'rnptotic movement of the cufle toward a zero
approach.Tower approachesfrom 5 to 9'F (2.8 to 5.0'C)
12.4.6 SampleCoolinsToweroptimization
The objeciive of a cooring tower optimization is io establish
the mosi advaniageous iype of cooling tower for ihe power
plant. A typical cooling tower optimizarion is presenred
in the erample below, conducted fbr rhe lbllowing design
. Power pler net turbine output = 450 MW,
. Five leftenl werbulb €frlenldre = 74oF (23.30C),
. Circulating water flow rate = 190.000gprn (12.000L ),
. Condense/coolinS towernnee = 24"F 03.3" C). dd
. condenser/cooliDs towcf heat load tliom Eq. (12-2)l =
(190.000)(24X500) = 2.28x 10vBtu,h
The foilowing cooliry rower types will be evaluated:
. Pld Al rectaryuld dossflow iower of wood coNtruction,
. Plm A2 rcctdguld crossflowiower of concreteconstruc

. Plar 81 rectdguld colnterflow tower of wood construc

\
0 2.0
:: . Pld 82 rectdeuld counterflow tower of concrete con
n
N 1.s . Plan C1 rcund crc$flow cooling tower of padial wood ud
corcrete construction,
. Plan C2 round crosflow cooling tower of coNrete con

. Plm D rould counterflow cooIn8 tower of concretecon

510t5202530
Tablel2 I lists the preliminarydesignpsrametersfor each
APPROACH,
DEGREES
FAHRENHEI-I
type of iower as provided by cooling tower vendors. As
Ft. 12-35. Etrcctof designapprcach
rempenture
on coolns tower discussedpreviously, a recirculation allowance of 2' F (1.1"C)
size.(Fmn Mrl€t CoolingTowerConpmy.Usedwith permision.) is used to deternine the desisn inler wet-bulb temperature

Trble 12-1. Design Praneters rbr Coolins Toscr Alcfranres
Plm Al
Redmguld,
Wood
Cossdow
Pdmeb. Tower
]b{er width dd leluth or
( 1 7! 1 6 1 ) (20x 1321
12
BrRkehosepower per fu 125(93) r 88O40)
4l o2.j) 4 2( 1 3 )
for the rctangular cooling rower altemarives,and a rccir-
culationallowdnceof loF (0.6'C) is uscd for rhe round
mechanical dralt coolingtoweraltematives.
12.4.6JErdlutioa. The altemativecooling rower plans
are evaiuaiedbasedon an economiccomparison.Economic
criieria, typical of what nray be applicablefor an elecrric
ntility company,areshownin Table12-2.The firsr stepin the
analysis is ro estimate the compantive capital costs for
msiallationof eachol the altemare plans(Table12-3).Esli
matedescalationandinterestchargesitre addedio rhecapital
coststo determinethe total comparat;vecapiial costs.
Differencesin the operaringcharacterisiicsof rhe equip-
mentrequiredby eachplanresult ;n diffedng annualoperat-
ingcosts.Theditrerences in projectedannualoperating costs
needto be estimatedand consideredin ihe economicanat-
ysis- The differential capital cosrsare annualizedwitb the
nxed chargela1eto alow comparisonwith the differential
annuaropennng cosls.
After the capital and operating cosrs are calculaied, a
capital recoveryanalysisis perfomed to determineil a plan
with highercapitalcostsbut lowerannualoperaiingcosrsis
economicallyadvantageous. The paybackperiodis ahenum,
ber of yearsrequiredfor lhe cunrulativepresentworh sav-
rngs of the reducedoperating cosrs io equal the lifetime
Fesent wofh of the additional lixed charges.A rpical
acceplablepaybackpenod for a 30-yearplant life is 5 io 10
12.1.6.2DevelopnentoJ Cap,tatCor& The comparative
capital costsassociatedwith eachrower rype evaluated.]re
T{ble 12-2. Ecomnic Critcna
Fixed cluse de. peEent levelizcd
PFseni woih discoui mle. per.enr
!is1 yed tuel cost, $MBtu
Ayemeeplant capacityfactor. pdcenl
Equipmentescalationrare, perceni
Allowance for tunds ued duins constroction(AFUDC)
herey .o$, nills/twrr leleri4d
Annual dendd cndee, $Aw/yr
Circulatiry WdretSlst ns 311
PldnC2 Plb D
Round. Rob4
Con.de Colcrcte
CrosnoN Couniedo*
Torvei Tower
320 (98) 300(9r) 250(76)
111\ 232) ( 1 8x 1 4 5 )
12 t2 t2
'12
{54) 191(142) r25 (93) rr0 (32) 100(7s)
19 (6) 23 l7) 40{12) 39 02) 30 (9)
shown in Table 12 3. A11 cosls are based on rhe design
condilions in Table 12-1 and are deiemined as follows:
, Coolirgror.r. Coolingrowercrpitalco$tscm beobtained
directly Ilom cooLingtoivermanufactures.Their cosrquoresde
usualy basedon suppl) dnderectionofall tower equipnenl ard
'naterials.The cold waterbasjnt}?icall), is nor within the cool-
Dg towe. manulacturer'sstdddd scote ol supply dd is ad
dressed ils a seldatecostiten.
. Circalating vatet pipirg arl rzller. Ldge dimeter cir-
culatlng waler piping must be inslalled !o tresfer circulating
watcr betweenthe cooling towei dd condenserVdiarions in
pipile costs result hom veiaiions in lower location, towe.
length. ard tower.iser drugenenls anong rhe vdiotrs llans.
TowersthaLare locatedfarther from the plant od towers that
require individual riseN to each cell require more circulaLi.g
waterpiping.Esultingin bighercapitd cosrs.
ReclaDguld crosflow towers uslally have one or two
risers at the end of the lower closestto rhe pldi. Rectangltd
counterflowtowersusuall' requirc a pipe headerdong the base
of the lower, with a rise. lipe lbr each individual tower cell.
Roundcoollng towerstylicauy haveoneor rwo ldge riserpiles
!t the centerof lhe tower Pilin8 costsshouldbe calculatedas
total installed costs, Usualy rhe circularing water piping b€-
tweer the cooling tower dd the plant is buried;rhns.insrallation
cost estimatesshouldinchde excavationlnd backRllcosts.
Rectmgular counterflow cooljrg towe6 iequne additionai
valves for edchof the hdividual riser piles. Thesevalves t)'?
ically are motor olemted.
. Cit ctlalihg watet punps and hdd^. The cilcularing wa-
Lerpump and moror capital costsinclude diiTercnrialmarerial
and ilstallation cosls for pumls md notors. Cooling towe6
with hlgher rower pumpine headsand towes equiring lolg€r
lengthsof circulating watei plpe addio the systen resisranceof
. h e. i , . , i a I n g+ a . e rp i on E . A n I n c , e J . ien p u m pn g s ) \ L c m
16.0 resisLdcercquireslarger md dorc expensiveciicularing warel
t]0 pumps ud motore. For rhis exdple, loral circulati!8 warer
30 pum! headswerecdlcuiatedfor eachaitemarivebasedon ciicu,
latinS wate_rpipe fiicnon losses,condenserfriction loses, an.l
r r a r . a n ' l d l n m i , c o o l i n g, o $ f l o m p h e . d r e q u j e m e n r s .
Diffcrcnnd circulating water pum! dd molor costswcfe rhen
9.0 estimatedusing pD p mmufactureB' quores.The circulating
water pump and ndlo. cosrs for rhis exmple {e basedon
52.00
single speedveni.al wet pi! pumls.
I12.0
. Caolins towr basin. The cooling tower basin costs ln-
 Po\|er Pldnt Engih.eirg

Thbl€ l2-3, Com!&ativc Cosls for Cooline Toscr ALlcrnativcs

PLn A1 Pld C2 lld D

RechClld, Round, Ronnd,
Wood ConcEie Concrere
Crcssnow Crossdow Counternow
Iren Tower ToNef Tower

$t,00{) $ t.m0 $r,000 $1.000 $t,000 $1.0u) $ 1.000

300 4,300 5.550

CLculatins watcr pipin8
'720 550

Ctculadns wate. lunps 160 160 80 160 160 80

80 190 220 290 20 350

160 240 160 160 160
?11! !r!9 2! !!!9 ?!! E!!9 !3!9
1.600 1,,150 1.200
!!! 4r 1!! !2 !.!!!
r,303 2.105 1,903 1.579 6,369 7.I85
AF'I'DC J9 24! ?a 4 c!!
'1,229
!.1t11 9tq
Cmpdalivc calital cost 2.389 2,166 1,192 8,76ri ri.155
Dillerenlial capilal co$ 910 68? 313

bvelized annurl.osLof

113 315 197

153 158 82 L11 1
_l !9 E1E t11 E]!9 _ll1 -b! q!9
Conpantive hnul cost 77J 631 326 501 '2.63

Ditirenrial dnnal con ol 623 112 109

bveliTrd total tuual cosb

Difiqenlial nxed ch{ses 113 51 9,13 1,195 1.095
DilTdential tuual co$ ol !?t !11 !!!9 )l? l!9 ]!1 tq9
Conpdalive tokl mnual 623 626 lt3 221 t,542 I,204

Differenrial ioi.l mual 510 513 0 |,129 t.091

clude the costsassociatedwith ihe constructionof a concrete
basinfor ea.b towertype.For this exmplq the $naler footprint
of the qossflow towers would eslit in lower basin costs.
. Electical cohhedion. The elefirical connectioncostsare
fd connectingthe cooling lowe. fds md liglring to rhc lowel
pldt auxiliary power system.For rhis exmple. the plaff with
the loast nmbcr of fms had the lowest electdcal conneclion
' Fire ptutectioh. The towers ol wood construotionshould
have a fire lrotecrion system.The lirc plotecnon costsare for
inslallationofthe comlleic coolitretowei ire protectionsystem,
with lire waier supply Ilom the plart ire watei loop.
. Er.zlarioz. Escalalingthe capital costsllom the time of
ihe slDdy10the midloint of the pldt constnction period ap
proxituate! the csh flow of the coststhough the conslruction
period.Escalationis computcdfiom the dalethat the calital cosl
esimateis lrelued to the estjmatedmidpoint of pldt constru.
. ,4-ELrrC-The alowarce for n'nds nsed during construc
tion (AFLIDC) approxlmateslhe lnterestth.t would be paid on
lbeconslrucLion coststhrotrghlhe consltuctionperiod.AFUDC
is computedfron Lhefridpinl ol pla.1 constructionro the datlr
of commercial operlnon. I! is cdlculated by mtnnplying the
ditrerenlial escalatedclpital costsby the AFLTDCrate in Table
12 2. compoundedby the numberof yem betweenrhenldpoint
of planr constfurion lo rhe connercial opemliondale. For this
exrftple, the numberof yeds from the didpoinl ot consrruction
to the comercial operdliondalo is 1.5 yedrs.
12.4.6.3 Developnent oI Opetutra Costr. The compara'
tive levelized ann[al operating cosis associatedwith each
plan evaluared are shown in Table l2-3. Ttuoughoui the life
of ihe projeci, ihe annual costs vary as a resnli of changes in
the loading of ihe pla and escalation effbcts on fuel and
energy chfiges. The cumulalive present worLh of the iifetime
annual costs of operation, divided by the sum of the present
 Cit.Lloti\ ltat.r SJsten! 373

worLhfactors,gives lhe levelized amual costsofoperation. analysisshowsthatPlanB1hasa capitalrecoveryperiodof 3

All costsare basedon thc designconditionsin Table 12 I and
are detemined as fbllows:
. tnen .rrri. Energr costsde asociated wiLhthe dil1br-
ential clculatlng waLerpump andcooling toper fan horselowcr
requi.emcntsdd .r evaluatedto accon for direrences in
energyrcqllrementsper yearbetwcenthellds. PlansLhaL
lowercncryyreqnireftenLsper yea.havelower energy.osts. Fof
this exanlle, the fd horsepowcrrcquiiementsirotu Tabtei2l
d J r l , . . J l c uc r e d .i n . l a i n g { b r c ro u p h o r . e o o " F? , t , c
denrswer. multilliedby thelevelizedcnergy costln Tablel2-2.
. Dzzad.rris. Amual denand cosrsaE useoo ecotum,
calll equalizethe rcr plant ouL?utof thc alternarivellans aLlull
load. Thus, if the aDxihdl po*o consumptionof one rowe.
a'rangeinentnsesnore auxiliary lower $rd dolher towe. ar-
rmgemeni, ihe dena chdge approxinaies ihc incrcmenrll
cosi to the clienr ro build additionalcapacityinLothe planr. For
this exan!]e, fie fan horsepowerrcquired at full ioad and thc
circulaling water pump norsepowefrcquircd at full load wc.c
mdtiplied by the annualdenand cosr ln Table l2-2.
, Mointehdh.( Lasts.Coolins tower mainrenece costsde
diflicult ro predid and the magnitudeof rhesecosLsrendsro be
very site speclllc.Thc iblowing factors groatly impacrmainte
nmce costs.but lre difnculLlo qumtity accumtely:
-The quality of materiah and workmdshi! during con-
slruction of the cooling lower:
The qualiry of rhe prevenratile naintenancclfogram at
the plant, ellecidly as applicable10the cooLinetowers:
SeveiiLyof the climate eilremes at the llan! sitej
Abiliry of ihe triantto maintainconsisrenrconrrolof circu
laring waterquality wlth an effecdveratd tuearmenr
years.After 3 years.the cumulaiivcpresentwordr savingsof
lhereduccdoperatingcostsequalthe lifetimepresentworrh
of ihe additionallixed charges.
have 12.5 COOTING
TOWER
SPACING
ANDORIENTATION
Mechanical &aft coolingtowerspacingandorienLation can
.itsniFctnrl) aflecrcoolrg Iu$er|edorman!e be(bu\erecir.
culation and intedbence effects are dependenron wind di
rcction, pariicularly lbr rectangularcooling towers.Cooling
tower placemenlrequiresexaminationof the winterandsnm-
merwind roses.A typicaiwind roseis shownin Fig. 12-36_
Reclangularcooling towersshouldbe orientedso ihat rhe
longitudinalardsis parallclto theprevailingwind coincident
with the higheslambientwet bulb tempemture.This allows
the exit air to be blown clenr of the rower for shorr,ertowers
andallowsconcentration of thesepaniecellplumesintoone
ol geater buoyincy for longeriowers.EveDthoughthis
plumeconsolidationoccws on longertowers,considerarions
shouldbegivenio spiiuingtowerslongerfian 500fr (150m)
rnto muliiple units to reducethe impact of wind conditions.
On mullipleunits,rcciangular coolingtowersshoutdbe
placed so that the efltuent liom one tower will nor signifi-
cmlly affect the air idei of a secondtower uder predomi
sys

Annual lhennal lo.dirg capaciLyon ihc cooling iowers.

While dresefaciors greatly affect the magnitude of annual
maintenancc costs, the differential costs among alremare
plans mal not be signilicant. For this example, the difieren,
tial maintenance cosi estinrates were calculaied based on the
: . . u m p r i o n r r a r r h Fo n l J m a j o rd , d e f e r c ei r r r o w e rm a i r r e -
narce would be uscful seFice lift of the wood porions of
the rvood towers. Other mainrenance costs associated with
fan adjusnnents.gearbox lubricadon and oi1 changes,and
motor lubricationwere assumedto be rhe samelor all Lower
pl rs. The maierial cost for the wood portion of the rectangu-
lnr coolng towers is assumed io be approximarely 34oldof
the total nateriai cosis of rhe lower. Assuming ihar the wood
has a service lrft of 15 years. the annuat repl&ement cosi
is 2.3 7, per year oI Lheinitidl marerial cost over fte life of ihe
pldnt.

12.4.6.1 Catital RecoreryR"ralr. A capital recovery pe

/-\ ri k 7t,nsrr, z,
riod can bc determined when a plan thar has low capital costs
and high operating cosls is compared ro a plan with high \-}
capitalcostsand low operaringcosls.As canbe seenin Table
12-3,Plan A1, a reciangularcrossflow iower of wood con
strucdon,has ihe lowesi total differentialcapiral costs.Plan
81, a recingular counlerllow tower of wood consuucxon.
has the lowest differential annual costs. A capiral recovery Fig. U-36, TypicalNind mse.
371 P.wer P|dh1Ehgin edh8
1/2TOWER
LENGTH LENGTH LENGTH
MINIMUIM MINIMUM t\tlNlMUM
INTEFFERENCE SECTOROF NO
INTERFEFENCE
INTERFERENCE
Fie.12-37. Aaepbble recrdguh cooling lower sprcing
connaumtions.(From Mtrlct Cooli.g Tower Conpany. Used wnh
nate summer wind direcnons. Severalacccptablespacing
configulations areshownin Fie. 12 37.
Whd direction need not be consideredh siting round
cooling towersto rcducerecirculalion tendencies.However,
wind direction must be consideredfor other possibleprob-
lems such as fogging .nd icing from the tower plune, dnd
tower inierference with multiple tower arrangemenis.To
minimize inlerferenceon sites with trvo round towers. ihe
cooling towers should be locateda minimum ol one iower
diameter apart, wift the centerline passing through both
lowers oriented perpendiculff to the predominatesunmer
wind direction. For four tower cluster affangements,mini-
mum tower spacingof I and 1/2 rower diametershouldbe
Everyeffon shouldbe madeto providethe leastpossible
rcsficrion to ihe ftee ltow of air 10tbe cooling tower on a
plant sile. Other frctors to consider when siting cooling
towers include the distarce from dre iower lo the plant and
eleclrical swirchgear.distancesbeiweenihe tower andplant
boundaries,and distancesbetweenihe tower and surround
ing roadways.The resuliing effect of distanceon piping and
electrical wiring costs,and the offsite impact of roise from
the tower must be considered.Where a large enoughplani
siie is available,mecha cal draft cooling towers shouldbe
placedno closerthan80011(240m) fron lnainpldntstmc-
turcs and no closer than 1,000ft (300 In) fron electrical
substationsto minimize cooling tower drifi impaci. Also, the
tower shouldbe locatedsuchthat plevailing winter winds do
no' bl'r$ plrmeandIo! inrorheplanror 5Llrrrdon.
Natural drafi iowels twically are not affecredby wind
direction, recirculalion. or interference.Likewise, ground
fogging and icing usually are not problems. This allows
morc flexibility in siring a naturaLdraft tower versusa me-
chanicaldlaft iower However,becauseof the way natural
draft towen developai.flow rluough dre tower naturaldrafl
towersare sensitiveto restrictionsto the hee flow of air into
the tower Also. natumi draft cooling tower drift deposition
on dre main plani buildings and plant substationcan be a
problem. Natural draft cooling towers shouldbe localed at
led.st500 ft (150m) from main plant buildinssand planr
substations.For multiple natural draft tower affangements,
spacingbetweentowers should at least equal the lengrh of
one lower basediameter.
12.6 COOLING
TOWTR
MATIRIALS
Coolins tower construdion materialsare a prime factor in
determining tbecoslof a coolingtower,andtheengineering
char&teristicsofthe materialsarecriticdl in detemining rhe
usetul iife of .he rower. This section discussesmarerials
twically used in utilily coolng tower consl ction-
12.6.1 TowerSt'uctuhlMatedals
The primary load-canying srructuralmaterialsusedin cool-
ing towersarewood andreinfbrcedconclete.From a hislori
cal standpoint, woodis thepredominant matedalof clroicei
however.reinforcedcorcrete hasbeenjncreasinslyusedin
largepowerplanl coolingtowels.Both materialsare satis
factoryin tems of providinga suitirblydurablesrructure.
Carc must be takenin the specification stageto identify
poss;bleenvi.onmentalfactorsthat nay causeuntimely de-
terioration of either maleridl, and adequatequality conrrol
must be maintainedduring constructior As a new altema-
iive, Iiberglassstiucture iowers are now available on the
Iargecoolingtowcrmarkct.
The iojlowing,ub.ecrion. di,cu5'lhe,epdma4 su!c-
tural marerialsas well as materialsused for hardware,air
inlet louvers, casings,and fan cylhders.
12.6JJ wood. Becauseof its availabfity. workabiliiy,
relatively low cost, and dunbiiity under dre very severe
operatingconditionsencountered in coolingtowers,wood
is tbe predominantstructural material used.The dominant
woodusedin coolingtowerconstruction is WestCoastDou-
slas fir which begar rcplacing Califomia redwood in ihe
early 1960s.Basic stuctural standardsare specifiedir the
"National Design Specificationfor Wood Constrtrction
(NDS)," publishedby thc NationalForestProductsAsso,
To augmenithe NDS standards,the Cooliry Tower Insti
tuie (CTI) hasissuedstandards pertainingto the designof
coolingtowerswilh Douglasfir lumber(STD ll4) andred,
wood lumber (STD 103). The llatulal flexibility of wood
gives it cefain advaniagesover concrete,particularly in
areaswhere seismicloads or freeze thaw cycling must be
considercd.Douglastu is a nechanically strongerlumber
thar redwood;however,ii hasalmosino naturalresislanceto
certain lypes oI delerioralion. Among thcse 8re chemical
$urface attack,biologicalintemalattack,andironrot. These
typesof wood deterioration are outlinedin CTI Bulleiin
wMslo4, "Wood Maintenanc€for Water-CoolinsTowers."

Most specificationsrequire all lumber used in cooling
loqer consh1lcrion bc pre,5ureLredled $ irh r pre\en0li\ e ro
inhibit fungal atiack.Douglastu is a very densevood rhatis
very difficult to penelratcwiih preservaiivechenicals. CTt
Bulletin WMS-10,1identifed that ihe besrpreservativesare
acid coppercllromale (ACC), creosote,and chromaredcop-
per arcenate(ccA)- creosote and clromated copper arse-
nate arc not used often becauseof environmenralconcems
and difiiculties in handlingihe ireatedwood. The preserva
tive teatrnentsare typically appliedro the wood by irnmer
sion in a pressurevessel.The pressureis maintainedeirher
until a speciGedamouni of preservativeis retainedby the
wood, or until the wood refusesto accepilurther treatment.
Woodhasbeenthe Inost popularcooling rower strudural
material for nany yearsbecauseof the availabiliiy of rela-
tively low cost lumber.However in rhe tururealtematema
ierials ffe likely to receive morc attenrion.The long term
supplyof low costDouglasfir is jn doubrbecause ofdwin
dling domestic and worldwide suppliesof avaiiable forcsr
land for harvestingthe lunber Also, the use of chemical
preservaiivetreatmentsis receivingmore environmenial
ssutiny because of the leachingof ihe chemicalsinto the
circulatingwater Disposalof dismantledcooting rower
strucrwescan be expensiveif a signifcani concenrraiionof
residualchenical Feservativesremainsin ihe lumber.This
condition can causeihe lumber to be classified as a haz
12.6.1.2Concrcte. Concreteconsftrciion ofibrs rheprom
ise of a longlife, low maintenancecooling tower structwe.
Concreteconstruclion typically is more expensivethan a
comparablewood structwe tower concrete cooling rower
struclural membersmay be a combination of Fecast and
cast in placeconstruciion,with designvarying accordingro
applicableloads and tower conligurarion.Conplete precasi
constructionis becomiry a popularchoicefor corcreie con-
srudion of mechanicaldmft cooling rowers. The use oi
standardized,modular cooling rower ce designsofprecast
stuuchrralconcrete members has reduced tower erect'on
costssignificady, narrowingthe price differential between
wood and conrete constructior The higher initiaL cost of
concreteconslruchor sometimescan be justified by irs re,
ducedlire risk and higher load-canying capabiliq,.
For naturaldraft cooling towers,reinforcedconcrerecon
slruction is currently the dominant choice. Natwal &afi
coolmg towersrequirecustomizedtower designs,and high-
lift pumping of concreteis requiredfor the hyperbolic shell is to contain water wiihin the tower. provide an air plenun
Concrete Looling Iouerrarenorrece:qdrilJ maintendnce It shouldhavediaphragm
free. The exlreme operating conditions exisring in rnany
cooling towers requie that much a$eniion be paid to the
.|ecified.oncreremi\e.. reinlo(Ingreel requiremenrs. beslos cement board, which is no longer used. The most
mnllmum concrctecoverageover lhe reinforcins ste€I,and
The phenomemthat cancontributeto ihe deieriorationof
concreteo{len do so by inducing intemal expansion.These
Circulativ Watet Srne6 375
phenomenainclude ftost action, sulJareaiiack, andcl odde
attackon reinlbrcing steel.Deteriomrionof conc.etedlsocan
occur from nonuniforn contnction. leachingof rhe sollble
const'tuentsof the cementpasre.and as a secondrryconse-
quenceol slructuraloverloading.Ir a cooling tower thermal
cxpansion lbrces musr be adequatelyallowed for in rhe
structuraldesign sinceunsontolled iemperarurevariarioff
caninffeasethe concrete'svulnerabiliiy to sulfateaftackand
Designphilosophies lor condetecoolinglowerconstruc
tion qpically coincidewith thoseespousedby rhe Ame.ican
ConcrcleInstitute(ACl). cenerally a rich concreremix
(high cemenicontent)is specified,wirh a low free water+o-
cementratio. In addition,if high sufate levels areprcsent,a
sutab-fesisianL portlandcemeniis specified(ASTM C150
Type V or a modified T}pe II). ff high cbloride levels are
pre5e4r. cnn.ide-arion.houldbf fi\ cn ro ingd mini
"pecrt)
mum 2 in. (50 'nm) cover over ihe rebar.If surare levels are
$ealer than6.000ppm, conside.ation shouldbe given to
coating concretelocated in immersedservice,sucn as me
coolrng lower basin-
12.6.2 Miscellaneous
Srructure
Mateials
Misce aneousstructuralmaterialsincludemaieriatsusedfor
rheJir inlerlou\er,oq . ro\\floqlowers.therowerra\ing.
and the lan cylinders.
Air inlei louvcrs retair cinulatiry water wirhin the cool,
ing iower as well as help equalizeairflow into the rower.
Although louversarenecessaryon crossllowcooling iowers,
they are seldom requiredfor countedow towels. Air inlet
louversmustbe capableof supportingsnowandice loads.In
the pasi, the predominatematerial for air inlet louvers was
asbesloscementboad. Becauseof environmentalconcerns
and FederalOccupationalSafety and Health Standards
(OSHA) regulations regarding the handling of asbestos-
carryiry materials,this malerial is no longerused.Common
materialscurrently usedon large utiliiy cooling towers are
iiberglass-reinforcedpolyesrerand .reaiedDouglas 6r ply-
wood.Advanlagcsof fibergldss-reinforcedpolyester include
its lire retardanl characteristicsand inert chfiacter, which
precludeschemicaland biological attack.Precas.,pre
stressedconcrte louver panelsarc typicaly used on con
creie cooling towers.
Thccoolingtowercasingis theextenorenclosing wal of
a coolingtower,exclusiveof the air inlet louvers.lrs tundion
for the fan, andiransmitwind loadsto rhe iower frarnework.
strength, be walertight.ndcorro-
sion resistant,and have fire reta.dantqualities.As with
louvers, the tmditional material for tower casingswas as
commonmaleriat used today is conugatedfiber reinlorced
polyester.The panelsare overlappedand sealedto prevent
air leakage.On concretetowers,the casingis typically con-
 PNer Plaat E\ircetiae
Fan cyliDdersare extremely importdnt becausethey di
rectly affect the proper flow of air ttuough the rower. Fan
efficienciescanbe severelyreducedby a poorly designedfan
cylnrderor significantlyenhanced by a wel designed one.A
well designedfan cylinder wili have an easedinlet to pro-
mote smoothfiow of air to dre fan, a ninimal fan blade tip
clearance.a smoodlprofile aboveandbelowdle fan. andsuf-
ficient struciuralstength to maintaina siableplan andpro-
file. Fan cylinderswiih a gradualincreasein cross-sectional
areabeyondihe fan (cal]edvelociiy recoveryslacks)serve10
reduce the air exil velociry. This shapepnrtially converts
velociry Fessure to static pressure,allowing an rncreasein
airfiow over that acconplished with a straight stack at the
samehorsepower.Typicaly, fan cylindermaierialsareeither
fiberglass-rcinforcedpolyesterorprecastconcrete. Concrete
lan cylinders ffe more expensivethan fiberglass-rcinforced
polyeslercylinders,but theyallowtheuseofsma{lerfantip
clearances,which increasesfan efficiency.
12.6.3 Hadware
andStructublConnectors
Materialstypicaly usedfor hardwareandstructuralconnec-
tors includecarbonslccl, stainlesssteel.fiberglassrcinforced
plaslic, siUcoDbronze. and aluminum bronze. Fiberglass-
reinforcedplastic.stainlesssieel,or silicon bronzecon
nectorsaretypically usedin woodenstuctures as shearand
diagonalconnectors.Fiberglass-reinforced plasiic is advin
tageousbecausethe inef nature of ihe malerial eliminales
reactionswith chemicalspeciesln the circuiating water and
deposiiionof metallic salts on the wood which can tead to
accelemledbiological atrackof $e wood.
The type of netalic hardwareuseddependson the circu-
lating water chemistIy. Bolting for lieshwater service is
typically hot-dippedgalvanizedor stainlesssteel.For brack
ish waler andseawaterapplicattuns.chloride,rcsistantstarn-
lessste€l(usually]},pe 316),siliconbronze.or aluminum
bronzeare typicilly used.Care is requiredwiih silicon
bronze since it is subjeci to impingementanack. Exposcd
portions of ihe bolting shouidbe cappedlvith lrl inert mate
rial suchas pol].vinyl chloride.Precastconcrctcconnectors
for freshwaterapplicarionsare lypically cdrbonsteel if
gouiedor stair esssteelifexposed.Siliconbronzeor aluni-
num bronzeprecastconcrcrecomeciors are typically used
for brackish water or seawaterapplicadons.
12.6.4 Mateialsfor Coolins
Towerlntemsls
Cooling towerintemalsincludea[ componentsrelated10the
basic heai transfer function of the cooling tower. These
includethe fill a fi]l srpport systen. hot waterdisiribution
syslem,and drlfl eliminators.
n.6.4.1 FiI. Coollog rower fill acceleratesihe dissipa-
tior of heai liom the circulatiq waier To tunction effi
ciendy, the fill shouldpromotea high mte of heat transfer.
providetow resistanceto airdow, andprovide uniforn water
and air distribution ihroughout the tower. The ideal fill
should be higlrly resistant to deterioration. able io withsiand
moderaie ice lGdiry, and able to mainiain efiicient heal
transfer capabilities for many years.
The crossflow cooling tower rypically uses a splash bar or
open-lype of 1i11sysiem, whereas the couniedow cooling
tower generally uses a lilrn or closely packed lill systen.
However, tilm lype lills are available lbr crossflow cooling
towers, and splash type fills ffe available for countcr8ow
Before the advent ofplastics, the prcdominatematerials
for splashbar fill tuttcrials were asbestoscementboard and
teated wood lath. These malerials are used inirequendy
ioday because of environmenlal restrictions and OSHA reg
rlations in the use of asbestoscement,and becauseof the
refinementof plasticstechnologyand availability.Today.the
predominat€ material on new cooling towers is potyvinyl
cHoride. which has advantages over wood of a low flame
spread rating and relative inertress to biological alrd chemi-
Film fill is a nore recentdevelopmenl.Fora 81lnfill, it is
cxtremely importanl that 6ll sheetsrre spaceduniformly
since air has a tendency to take the path of leasi resistance,
and "channeling" ofair and water flows caDtake place in a
poorly designed system. Because of ihe close spacing of the
sheers. fiLn fili should be avoided il1 situations where the
circulating water has high solids concenrrarions. high tbuling
or scaling potential. or can become conraninated with de'
bds. Early lilm lil marerials were closely spaced sheets of
asbestos cement board. Today, the Fedominate marerial is
polyvinyl chloride becauseof its low flame spread rate,
adequate strengrh, and fomability to desired shapes.Marii-
mum research and development effort has gone inio the
various q?es and shapes of lil.n filI.
Anolher malerial thal has a long hisiory in air condition
ing towcrs but has also beeDused in large utility cooljng
lowers is vitrified ceramic tile fill. This fill l1laterial is used
exclusively in counrerflow cooling rowers. The fill is rnade
of hdividual ceramic tiles or bricks, wilh several large holes
to a1lowpassageof air and walel The tiles are stackedin a
pattem thal allows unifoml air and water distribution.This
tlpc of fill is sometimescalled a combinationsplasltfiln fill
since it is more open than a iypical filjn 1i11.The ceramic tiie
has strength, durabiliiy, and is nol subjecl 1()destuction by
nre. Its major drawbackis ils hervy weight aDdlower rher-
mdl efficiency as conpared to other types olcounierflow lill.
Advaniages include long life, low maintenance, and clean
ab fty. This {in can be considered for poor waLer quality
applications wherc film frIl may be inappropriate.
12.6.1.2 FiI Sappon Slsterr. The fil] suppo s]stem is
crilicxl, sinceit suppots the heattransfersudace.The ideal
sysrem has minimal impaci on air and water distribuiion and
is stong, durable, and lire-retardanl-
For crossflowcooling towers,the Rll shouldbe supported
on closecenterssincesaggingofthe splashba.s can lead io
channeling of rhe air and warer into separare flow padN,

with a resulianldecreasein tower capability.Cufiendy,
the Fedominant matcrials for splash bal Ii[ support are
tiber-reinlbced plaslic, 300 senesstainlesssre€l.and poly-
vinyl clloride coaiedsLeelwire grids. The disadvantageof
thecoatedsieelwire grids is dratthe coatiq on ihe wire grids
can be subjec!lo abrxsionand subsequenicorrosionof the
Two basiclypcs of suppot systemsarein commonusage
for counterflowcooling iowels: a bottom supportedsystem
anda top suppotedsystem.Boftom-supported RII systems
tpically use precastconcrcrebeams,fiberglassreinforced
polyesterbeams.or casi iron lintels on precastconcrete
suppof beamsfbr concreletowers.For wood coolingioweff,
fiberglass-reinforcedpolyesterbeamsor wood giris areused
lbr bottomsuppotedfil1.Top-suppofedsysLems typically
useType304or 316skinlesssleeltubesorw;reshungfrom
concrete or woodbeamsabovethcnll- Thefi ll is atiachedby
\,'rioJ\melhods ro rhe.ri nles .rr. rul-e,o- wirc5.
12.6.1.3 Hot WatetDistibutionSlsteh. Crossflowand
counterliowlowe$ l)?ically h,r!e ditrerenrtypesof hot wa-
ier disiribution systems.In a crossflow tower, hot water is
elevatcdto a distribution basinabovethe fill, whereit fiows
by graviryoverthe lill throughorili cesin the bash floor The
counierllolv towcrnormallyusesa prcssure sysiemofclosed
pipeind sp y nozzles.
Commoncoolingtowerriserpipematerialsareconcrctc,
steel,or liberglassreinJorced plastic.Typically,thc cooling
towcr manutacturerprovidesriserson a round tower but not
on aEctangnlartower Crossflow rectangularcoolingtowers
are lsually servedby one or rlvo risers ai one end of the
towe! with distribution headen running the lenglh of the
tower ar the ilm deck leyel. On a rectangularcounredlow
coohngrowe! an individualriserusuallyserveseachcell,
with ftc nse$ sewedby a commongroundlevel distribution
headcrrunning rhe length of ihe tower A round tower typ
ically hasoneor rwo dsersdepeDdingon the mdnuiacturers
design.Concretcrisers.trealnost exclusivelynsedon round
In crossflowtowers. distribution itumes or headersfeed
thc hot water distribulion basinsabovethe fitl through ad
justable wens or itow contloi valves.The hot warer basin
material is usurlly treaiedDouglastu plywood lor wooden
iowers and concrerefor concretetowers. In counterflow
towers.the distribniion llumesor headersfeedbranchpiping
which disrributesthe water to ihe efiire fil] area through
nozzles.Typical distriburion piping materialsdre polyvinyl
chloride and fiberglass-reinforcedplastic.
12.6.4.1Dnft E\ninato8. Drifr cmissionsarccircularing
water droplers enaainedin the cooLingtower exhaustair.
Because&ilt nasne ly the samewaterchemistryas the
circulatingwater,ii can be lroubtesome if th€ toweris 10-
catedupwindof the plant boundary,porverLines.subsra-
tions. or the electrical switchgear.The tunciion of ihe ddft
elimhators is to removeas much drift as practicalliom the
tower exhauslwilhoul addinga large airsidepressuredrop.
CnL\btiry Water Slsem\ 317
Dnft eliminntors rcmove entrainedwater from the dis
chargeair by causingit ro makesuddenchangesin direction.
The resultingcentrifugal forc€ separatesihe dropsof water
liom the air depositingthem on the eliminaior surface,fiom
which they flow back into the iower Eliminators are nor
nally classifiedby thenumberof direciionaichanges theair
mtrst m.*e wlen passingrhrough rhe eliminalors or the
genernlshapeof ihe afltow passages throughthe eliminator.
Sincedrili eliminalon are subjectto impingenert of ihe
circularingwaterdropleis,ihey rnustbe ascorosion-resistant
asthe till. Asbesioscemenlandtreatcdwood were usedfor
manyyears.Today,mostd.ift eliminators arcconstructed of
polyvinylchloride.
12.6.5 Mechanical
Equipment
Themajodiy of the mechanicalequipmentin a coolingtower
operatesin a corrosiveenvironmcnt,andmaterialsselection
is very impofant. The mechrnical equipnent in a cooling
lower includesthe fans, speedreducers,and ddve shafts.
12.6.sJ Fans. Cooling tower fans are Fopeller iype
lans designedto produceair velocjtiesthat are asunifonn as
possibleacrossthe effectiveareaof rhe fan. Bladeshave an
airfoil ffoss-sectionandare taperedandtwisted.Fiberglass-
reinJbrcedplastics, wiih polyester or epoxy resin, afe the
mosi commonlyusedbladenaterials today becauseof their
lighl weighl and exccptional corosion resistance.Fiber-
glassreinforcedplastic bladesconsturctiontypically in-
cludes a meansof protectingagain$ ulrravioler damage-
Ian hubsshouldbe of a material that is stflrcturaliycom
patible with blade weight and lo,iding.Typjcal naierials
include galv.tnizedsteel.nd ductile iron for freshwaterap-
plications,andepoxycoal iar-coaredsieelfor hackish water
or seawaterapplications.
12.6.5.2SpeedReducers annr.tye SLati. The turction of
thespeedreduceris roreduceihemotorspeed, rhatis usually
1,800rpm, down to a speedthat allows rn accept.tblefan tip
speed[it?icall)rlimilcd to about12,0001"n(60 n/s)]. The
speedreduceris mounteddirectlybelowthefanhub.andthe
casing matenals must be corosion resisranLThe casing
marerialis t]?ica y epoxy-coaiedcast imn-
Since the motors :re mountedoulsidc thc fan cylinders,
the fan drive shaft can be very long. depending on the
diameterof the fan. Almosi ihe entire tength of the drive
shafris exposedro ihe saturatedtower exhrusl air Materials
lhat lre suitablefor thc drive shaftare stninlesssteeland
newly developedcarbonfiber composites.
Typical applicationsuse18-8slaidesssteelfor fteshwatcr
applicationsand 316L slainlesssteelfbr brackishwater and
seawaterappiications.The main disadvantageof stainless
ste€l drive shafts is their heavy weight, which for large-
diameterfanshasnecessitated a lwo-piecedrive shaftwith
:n intermediate beanngcouplingrhetwopicces.Historically
rhi' inrem(diare bedrints ha beenr highmainren$ce irem.
ln receni years,carbonfiber compositedrive shali tubes
 Po\|.t Plmt EtAineerirE

havebeendevelopedand successfullyusedin cooling tower curvesfbr a mechanicaltuaft tower The perfo.marcecwves

service.Carbon fibef composi.ionscan be usedwith prac-
ticalty all circul ing water applicanons.Advrntngesof rhe
carboniiber compositeshafisinclude their light weight and
lratuml resistanccto corrosion. The composite shdfts are
light enoughto be installedwithoui m inlemediate bearing
even lbr ihe largesttypical coolhg tower fans. which are
40 ft (12 n) in diameier.
se e two jmpofant tunciions:
. Providepldt engineeB*iih infomdtion as to how the coid
wate. tempeEtureof the cir.ulating water liom the cooling
tower is a11bc1edby off design rower conditions.
. AJe required for neld testiry of cooling rower pedormuce
sirce rhe designcooling tower conditionsnrely exist dujng
actualtower operatioDof testing.Thesecufles allow verinca
non oi cortractual themal perfommce guaranles.

12.7 TOWTRPERFORMANCT
CRITTRIA
ANDDESIGN Perfomdnce curves are drawn with the wet-bulb tem
TTATURES pcraturc on the abscissa and the cold water tempenture on
the ordinaie. In addition ro the pedonnance curve at rhe
12.7.1 l,lanufscturer's
Perfomance
CuRes design cooling range. the tower specilicadon should requirc
perfomance curves at cooling ranges above and below the
Cooting tower ihermai pedonnanceis determinedby rhe
basicpaftmeten of air8ow, water itow, type andquaniiry of designrange1o al1owfor off designplan heat loads.Mini-
heai transf-ersurface,inlet wet-bulb iemperatue, and hear m ly, the additional ranges rcquested should be 209. above
and 207" below the design range. This encompasses the
load imposedon the cooling tower The designwater flow,
vanance rn range liom the design point which is allowed by
wea-bulbtemperature,heaiload, andcold watertemperarure
are specified.The cooling tower manufacturerdesignsthe the CTI test code. In 1tddition. curves for cooling ranges ftar
cooling tower to obtainthe specifieddesigncold warerrem corespond to expected plant operaiing points should be
penture by selectinga designairfiow rale and heattransfer
surtaceareacombination.Oncetbesehaveb€enselecled,tbe Each set of performnce curves is drawn for a specilic
lower's perfbmance at off desigr conditions is fixed alld circulating water flow rate. In addition ro rhe design flow
perfonnancecurves can be dmwn. rate, a set of performaffe curves for off-design flow rates
Figun 12-38 shows typical cooling tower performance should be requesied. Minimally, ctrrves requesred should be
for flow rares 109, above and 107, below rhe design point to
encompass the vlriance in flow alowed by ihe test code. ln
addiiion, curves shotrld be requested for expected operatiry
OESIGN: flow rates coresponding to circulating water pump runout
100
FLOW=275,000 with a pump. or pumps, out of service. Each ser of perfor-
HOTWATEFTEI\,IP= 1J6.9 nance cuives should be drawn for the design fan blade piich
COLDMTEF TE]\,4P-
'TEI\,4P= 91 seiting, which reflects consranr volumerric airflow through
WETAULB '/
the cooling tower. If ihe tower is to have rwo-speed fans,
275,OOO
GPMFLOWRATE cuNes should be requesled for low-speed fan operation.
,, 85
For natural dmfi cooling towers, pefomance cuwes
Hao should also be drawn for various off-design values of relarive
DESIGN l u n i d n ) . A r ) p i c a ln a r u r adl r a l r o { e r p e - l o r m a n cceu r \ c i .
shown in Fig.12-39. As the rclalive humidib' decreases for a
;70 given wet-bulb remperalur€, the a {ow mie decreasesand
the cold water iemperature increases. As described for me-
ffos chanical draft cooling iowers, additional sets of curves
36() should be requesred io show the effects of off-design range
and circulating water flow on cold water tempcraturc.
4..
12.7.2 CoolinsTowerPerfomsne

The cooling tower mdnufacturer designs tie cooling rower ro

35
,10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
lNLETWET-BULBTE]\,4PERA]UFE,f
Fig. 12-38. Typicalcoolinglowerperfommcdcuryefor a mechdi.al
obtaiD the desired cold water temperatue ar the specilied
condiiions by selecting a design airfiow |ate and heat fansfer
suface area. The tower manufacturer has many design airer
natives available ihai affect tower performance and cost. The
manulacturer may offe. a relatively smal iower with a high
abflow Iaie ard high tower pump head, balancing low capital
cosls againsl larger fan ho$epower and circularing water
pump opemtrng cosis. Altemately, the manufacturer can
 Cn. dtre WdterSlnen{ 379

110
COUNTEFFLOWNAIUML DFAFT TOWER
i05 DESIGN: FLOW GF'L/ 200,000
HOI WA]ER-IEMP=113.3f
COLD WATEF TEMP= 91 O'F
I roo f ]ELATIVEHUM'DITY=55%
E
d
g*
2OO,OOO
GPM FLOW RAIE
70
WETBULBTEMPEMTUBE
fD
Fig. 12-39. Trpicalcoolinero*e. perfomancecunc for x naruraldraft
adjust ihe tower conli$ration to decrcase any combimtion
of lotal aiffioq ajrflow rcsistance, or punping head, all
leading to lower operatiry cosh. The rower marufacturer
generally attempis io optirnize the cooling iower design to
obtain the least toral evaluatcd cosr impaci. as may be deler
mrned ftom a cooling iower oprimization similar to that
discussedin Section 12..1.6.Where possible. the cooling
tower specification should contain operating cosi evaluation
facton for ihe iower manufacturer's optimization expressed
as capital equivalent doUars per fan horsepower and per
lbot of cooling tower pumping hexd-
A tower lhat does not pedorm as specifled resulis in
bigher than expected circulating water temperatures to the
pla condenser This in rum leads ro higher rurbine back
Fessures, lower plant outpui, and highcr plant hear raies.
The end results are significant economic penalties to rhe
plant as a result of higher fuel costs and the costs of replacing
lost pldnt genemting capacity from other sources. The eftec1
of deficient cooling tower pedonnance on the overull planr
pertinnancc can be estimaied, and the potential economic
damages quanrified. The potcntial damages shouid be spe
cified as liquidaied dmages to the cooling tower manufac
twer if performance guaraniees are not achicved.
iest codcsrre the CTI ATCI05 anddreASME PTC 23. The
CTI h.rsa licensing programio cenify independentresting
contactors qualified to perform cooling towe. acceptance
tesiing.Utilities andotherplani operatorscansolicit compet-
itive bids for testing services.
12.7.4 \ilinter0peration
At plant sites where winter temperaturcsoften dmp below
freezing,specialcooling tower designconsiderations are
rcq ircd. Cooling towersarc designedto promotethe maxi-
mum possiblecontactbetweenair and water for the ma,\i
mtrm possibleiime period.This designrequirementresulls
in the highesi thennal cfficiency in the summeflime, but
increases thetendency of therowerto developdamaging ice
lbrmations during winter operarion.If lefi uncontrolled.ice
fomations can build quickly and causesubsrantialdamage
1o the cooling tower. The design of the plant's cycle heat
rejcction systemmust include meansfor plant operatorsio
linit rhe developmentof darnagingice formations.
Acceptabieice fomations may be definedas icc of reln
iively thincrosssectionthaiformson ihelouversor air inlet
areaof the iower structureas shownin Fig. 12-40.ff anrici
patedin a tower'sdesigrloading,suchice is not nornally
a structural concem and, in mary cases,retads airflow
rhroughthe rower, achievingpassiveconlrol of further ice
formarion. Unacceptableice fomations can be categorized
as either significant amountsof ice that havefomed on ihe
fill. jeopardizing the operation and existenceof the heat
transfer surface.or excessiveice formaiions on the tower
stmcture.Figure12rll illusftaiesan excessive ice buildup.
Methods of ice contol vary somewhatwith types of
toweff, waterdistributionsystems,and mechanical equip-
meni arrangements. The following guidelinesapply ro most

12.7.3 CoolinsTowerTestins

The coolirg tower specificationshould Eovide fbr cooling

tower acceptancc testing to verily ihat tower performance
gu'rantees have been achieved. It is recomrnendedihar
lower acceptance testing be perfomed by an independenl
third pal1y iesiing agency. The agency should be specially
trained in cooling tower pedomance iesting of large utility rig. 12-40a. Ac.elrable counr€.flos ice fomation. tlrcn Mdley
cooling towers. The two major cooling lower pedomance Cmli.g Tower Codpoy. Used sith pemissior)
3IJO Pow?r Plnnt E\ine.ring
Fig, U-40b, Aceplablecrosnowicc lomation. (Fron Mrley
CoolinsTowerCompany. Usedwilh pemission.)
. The pote i.l for ice varier dnecly lith the quanlity of air
flowing through rhe Lowei Reducingthe airflow retdds thc
fomalion of ice.
. Where airffow ls unconirolled (as in the caseof hype$olic
towes), lhe Ftentjai tbr icc tomation vdies iNe6ely rlth
rhe heaLload impos€d on the iowcf, A reducedhear load
iMeases the probability tlut unaccepiablcicc will form.
. The lorential for ice varicsinveFely wjth the amountoi water
llowins over thc fill. A reducedlunping iate indeases lbe
likeljhood of uaccoptable ice fomation.
All mechanical &aft iowers afibrd somc degrce of air
side control. the variability of which depends on the nunber
o i t a n 5{ i . h $ h i . l ' r 1 e r o w e ri . e . t u i p p e d n d .m o n i m D o r -
tanily, ihe speed change capabiliry of the moiors. Towers
operatedin cold climatescan also include waler side conlrol
measures.In mechanical &aft iowers, bolh air sidc ltDd
waler side contols are mutually supportive.
Fig. 12-41', Unacceptable.ounterfiow ice fomtion.
'lowd
Cooliry Conpant Used *ith pennision )
dosnow ice fomation.(rrm Marlev
Fis,l:-41b. Unaccepl,ble
CoolnrgToNerConpany.Usedwiih petlrission.)
12.7. Air-Side Conttul. Manipulation of the airnow is an
invaluible tool. not only in the retdrdatiorofice fonnaiion,
but also in dre reduction or elimination of ice already lbnned.
In addiiion io brineing less cold air into contact with the
circnlating water, reducing the enlering airflow velocity d1
lers Lhepath of thc falling water.This allows more water io
fall along the tower per;meier to melt ice previously fonned
a r o u n Jr h e a i r i n l e r . b ) r a n d o md r o p l e r so r $ L r d g u . r , .
Single-speed fins aftbrd lhe leasl opportunity for aiilow
variation.Towersso equippednay require significantatten-
tioD from plani operators to detemine the proper cyclic fan
operation that best controls ice. Two-speed fan moiors offcr
improved operaring flexibility at a relatively small increase
in capilal cost- Their usc is rcconmended in fteezing cli-
naLes.Fms may bc individually cycled track and fol1h be-
rween tull-speed and half-speed as requied ro balance cool
ing effeci and ice conlrol- An abnonnal numbcr of speed
changesper houl rnay causc the motor insulationtenpera-
ture to rise. Carc must bc taken dunng cyclic operationnot
r o , \ , e e J r h em J \ i m u r l J l l n ul b l e m o r o fi n , L h . r o r . e m p e F
alure. The planr distuibnted control syslem can be pro
grammed to make some of thcse changcsautomaticaliy.
Complctcair sidc control can be achievedtbroughthe use
of variable-speed fan moiors and switchgear. Such syslcms
al1ow infiniie flexibility to prevent the towcr witer tempera-
ture from dropping below rccommendedlimits. These fea-
lures are expensive and dre typicaly used only in extremely
cold climaies. The additional capilal cost, a complicated
contlol scheme,and thc dccreasedreli.tbility ofthe variable-
speed f,tn drives arc significant disadvariages when corn
parcd io a slight increase in operating Rcxibilitr,.
Round cooling lowers ma] or may not be equippedwidr a
separate plcnun for each tower fan. ff plenum isolating
patitions are specified. individual fans may be shut ofi,
providing ircremenis in operaiing ltexibility similar io rcct

angulartowers.Wherc two or more fans operatern a com-
monplerum. $e fansshouldbe hought to the otr positionin
unisonto prevent a down &aft of cold, moisturladen air
ilom icing up the nechanical equipmeniof an inoperative
frn. Most round cooling towen incorporateihe necessnry
plenum padjtionsto at leasr segmenrihe overall tower
plenum into quadrants.
t2.7.4.2 watetsid. Conttul Sincethe potentialfor icing
of lhe iill dependsso much on ihe inco,ningwater tempera-
lure, a Fovision for knal water bypassdiectly to the cold
water basin is advisable.During cold weathersiartup, dle
basin water Dlay be at a temperaturevery near fteezing. A
tower bypassallows rhe toial circulaiing water retum flow
lrom rhe condenserto be directed back into the cold water
basinwithoutpassingtlnoughfte fil1.This bypassmodeis
typically continuedurtil the cold water iemperatureto the
condenserreachesan acceptabletemperanrelevel lusually
about80" F (49' C)l, at which time ihe bwass may be closed
to allow total flow over the fill.
Bypassmodeis ihe primary freezeprotectionmeasurefor
naturaldraft cooling lowers during siartupandoperation.ff
damagingice beginsto form on the cooling tower.it nay be
necessaryio revert io lotal bypassflow in orderto marniarna
reasonablebasin water tempenture.Parlial implementntion
ofthe bypa-ss, wherebya pofion of thewaierflow is allowed
to continueoverthe1i11 area,shouldnot be used.Thc reduced
waterloadingon the fill could lcad to rapid ice fomatron and
signilicani damagecould occur
12.7.5 firc Pfotectlon
Woodcoolingiowerstypicallyrcquirea completefire pro
teclior spdnkler system.Fire pfotectionsystensfor cooiing
towersaredefned andgovernedby ihe NationalFire Protec-
tion Association(NFPA)Bulletin 214.A fre protedion sys-
tenl normally consistsol an arrangemenL of piping. nozzles,
valves,andsensorsor fusible headswhich causedretower ro
be auiomaticallydelugedwirh water soonafier the siart of a
tue. Piping within the tower is usually lree oi waier lo
prevent{ieez;ng. Water at a prescdbedresidualpressureis
available at an automatic valve, located within a nearby
heaied space.Operationof the vaive is iniiiaied eirher by
thermostalictype sensorslhat reaci to an abnormalmte of
tcmperature rise.orby fusibleheadsthalcatrse pressureloss
wiih a pneumaic control system.
Paltition walls betweencel1sof a rectangulartower are
designedto act as fire walls to preventor delay the spread
of tue.
12.7.6 Mechanical
Equipment
Mechanicalequipmentincludesgear reducers.fans, and
drive shalis. This equipnrentmust provide safe. reliable
operanonftr manyyearsofnearly continuousoperation.For
ihis reason, several areas of concern exisr regarding the
designof melhanical equipment.
Cir.uLttin:< Watet SJStens 3Al
Coolingtower gearreducershislorically havebeenorc of
thc leastreliablepiecesof equipment on the coolingiower
The ge,r rcducers de t),?ically located in the moisi exit
airstreamdircctly below the fdrs. dnd routine scheduled
maintenmce is oftenneglectedsincetheioweris &equendy
a significantdistancefrom tbe main planr structure.lnade-
quate lubrication, inappropriatelubricant viscosities,infie-
quentoil changes.andgercral rcgleci will eventuallylead to
bearingfailure. For easeof maintenance,lhe oil level sight
glass,oilfi]l a,'d openrional venting,anda[ necessaryvalv
rng should be located ouiside the fan cylinder To guard
agahst gearreduceroperationwilh inadeqratelubrication.
eachgearrcducershouldbe equippedwith a low oi1levei
switch.
Oiher Foblems can arisehom inadequateselvicl3factors
and bearinglifc rating-CTTStanddd lll recommends a
mhirnum servicefactor for cooling tower gear reducersof
2.0 ,nd a ninimurn outputshaftbearingL l0 life expectancy
of 100,000h. TheL 10life expectancyrating is definedasthe
life expectancyin hours dwing which 907. or nore of a
given $oup of bearingsunder a specific loading condition
will still be in service.To Fovide designmarginson these
.rdnd ds and ro eniance rclrabilir).a minirnumservice
factor of 2.5 and minimum L10 rated life of 130,000h is
In large cooling to\{'ers, fans have lrrge diametersto
hdndlethe largevolunes of air moreefficiently andto reduce
fan horsepowerrequirements.For many years,ihis has ne-
cessitateda two-pieceddve shafi with an iniermediatebear-
ing couplingbetweenthetwopieces.Tbc intemediatebear
ing historicallyhasbeena high-naintenance iten. For this
reason,the useof an irtennediate bearingin cooling tower
lan drive shafis is noi desirable. Avoiding the Foblems
associatedwilh the intermediate bearing requirenent is
mucheasie.sincethesuccessful inroductionoflightweight
carbonfiber conposite drive shafts.
I2.8 DRYANDWET DRYCOOLING
TOWERS
Wet or evaporativecooling towersiypicaly evapod€ aboui
2E of the circulating water A 20O-MWpower plant with a
circdatingwaterflow of 100,000gpm (6,300L/s) overthe
cootingtowe! operatingat a capacig'factor of 65E , requires
an amual makeuprcqunementof approximately2,000acre-
ft (2.5x 106n13)of water In areasof waterscarcity,necessity
and econonicshavedictatedthe useof dry and wet dry
12.8.1 DryCoolins
Tower
Dry cooliry toweN tnnsfer hearby convectionandmdiation
insleadof by evaporationasihe wei towersdo. The circulat-
ing waterrnal(euprequirementsarereducedto zero,mating
this an idcal anangemcntfrom nn environmentalslandpoint,
paficularly in areas of water scarciiy. However, the dry
382 Po\|er Pldnt Enlinetring
tower twica y resultsin lrigherplant fuei costs.This is
becausethe heattransferprocessin the dry tower is totaliy
sensible,aIIdthe controlling variableis the ambientdry-bulb
tempelanrle.This is alwaysa higher value thanihe ambient
wet-bulb temperature,which is the coo{ing variable in ihe
evaporativetower This results in higher operatingturbine
back pressure,decreasedturbine efficiency, and higher tuel
cosrswhencomp3red Io a typi(ale\aporau\e desrgn.
Thcre JIe two types of dry cooling systems:direci lnd
indircct. The dircct rype. shownschematicallyin Fig. 12-42,
involves condensingthe turbineexhaustsieamin air-cooled
heatexcianger bundlescalled an air-cooledcondensexThe
indireci iype, shown schematically in Fig. 12-43.usesa
taditional steam surface condenserand circulating waier
systemto transfe.the wasteheatto cooling towersusingair
cooled heat exchangerbundles.Altematively, the indirect
system can utilize a dirccr contact Ceo steam condenser.
Both t]"es of dry cooling canbe appliedwith eithermechan-
ical or naturaldraft cooling iower designs.Advantagesofthe
direct systemover the indirect systeminclude lower capiial
cost and theorctically lower exhausipressures,snce the use
of an intermediatecooling fluid anda secondheatexchanger
wiih iis associaledther"malrcsistanceare nor required.The
large exhaustduct requiredto transpon the steamfrom the
turbineto the air cooledcondenserai an acceptablepressure
dropis a drawbackto thedirect system.The direct ai. cooled
condensermust be locaiednear the TurbineBuilding to
ninimize the steamexlaust Fessure drop. Air-cooled con-
densersare discussedin more detail in ChapterL
In an indirect system,circulating waier ltow is cooledin
fin tubed,air cooledheatexchangebundles.The air cooled
cooling waterflows backto a surfacecondenserto condense
the tubine exlraust*eam. Becausethe indirect systemre-
quires the use of two heat trdnsfer processes-the steam
condenqer anJ rhe arFcooled hedterLhdnger. Iht' Ing
arithrnicmeantemperaturedifference(LMTD) for the over-
all heat transfer process is lower than that of the direci
system (Fig. 12 44). This can be compensaledorny by a
larger cooling surfa@, increasedcooling afflow, or both.
The indire.i system representedin the figure ircludes a
cooling surfaceincredseof about 30E as comparedto the
air cooled condenser basedon equdl cooling airflow and
heattransfer surfaceperformance.
Fig, 12-42. Dirt dry qrpc cooli.g.
FiE.12-,13. IDdirci dry ttpc coolnrgbw€.
Tower(Plume
12.8.2 Wet-DryCoolins Abatement
Towe4
The use of a wet &y cooling lower andngementcan be
anothersolution to ihe problem of low water availability.
This tlpe o{cooling tower typicall)rhasan air cooledsection
as well as a convennonnlelxporative section.To consefle
water,only the air cooled sectionsare usedduring most of
the year.The evaporativesectionsareusedonly in periodsof
lngh ambieni temperatures.This lype of systemgreatly re-
ducesrhe a lual makeupwaterrquircments andallows the
use of conventional,low back pressureturbines, which a
iotally dry systemusually does not allow. Fuel costs are
reducedandplant capacityincrea,tedas comparedto the &y
systemsincelower lurbinebackpressuresareobrainedh the
In additionto waterconservation,wei-dry coolingtowers.
havean applicaiionwherevisible plumessre undesjrable.ln
this capacity, it is often refened to as a plume abatement
Plumeformation from a cooling lower occursmost often
durnE dre cooler months ol the year. Figur€ 12 45 is a
simplilied psychometricchan that shows typical summer
and winter operationsof a wet cooling tower. Line 1-2
showstbe winter modeof operaiion.andLine 3-4 showsthe
summermode.As evapolarionoccursin .he tower the nois-
ture conlent of ihe air increases.The dry bulb temperatue
alsornurases, andthe air is discharged11)the atmospherein
a satumiedsrare(Poinrs2 and4). The exit an rhennixes witr
the ambient air, and mixing occuls aiong a straight line
(either 2 I or 4-3). rn the wintet this mixing outside rhe
rower occursin ihe supersaturated region (abovethe satula-
tion cuve) of the psychometricchan and a plume fbnns. A
nlumedoe,norlormforthesunmercd\e r4 J)qinremi\irg
occws rn the supefiearedregion of the psychonetric chaf.
Therearetwo basiclypesof wet dry cooLingtowers.The
nnjt type is the seriespa$ wei-dry iower as shown in Fig.
12 46 with an acconpanying psychrometricprocess dia-
g]am. Ambient air is heatedds it passesdrough fte dry
section (ProcessLirc 1-2), undergoingan increasein dry
bulb and wet-bulb iemperatures,and a decreasein relative
humidity. The air then passesthrough the wet secdon(Pro-
cess Line 2-3), bringing the condition to the satwation
cu e. Once the ajr exits the tower. it mixes (M) with the
ambientair aiong Line 3-i, which is totally outsiderhe fog
 Cir.LLitins Water s'st.% 343

Fig. 12-44. LMTD .ompanson for dn4t dry coofurgversusardi€cr dr] .oolins

^:
SUPEFSATUFATION
(Foc) AFEA

>=:
i>o
FV ?:o-
o^ue
3 SUPEBHEAT li<^u
(NON-FOG)AREA 'sF
@:ifi MXNGAIR

DFYBULBTEMPEMTURE,
"F
DFY BULBIEMPEMTURE f
Iig.1?.46b, Psychrcmetricchal for seriesan path wer dry wnh coils
Fig, 12-45. Psychrometic clun for conventionalwel cooling lover upstuam .r lill. (From Mdey Coolins Toser Conpmy. Us€d wilh
urder winid and sunner condnions.(ron Marley Caoling Torer
Conpary. Used wirh pemision.)

M region (below the saturationcurve).The dry sectioncanaho

, +,
I MIX|NG
be placedafter the wet section,with lhe sameresult.
The secondtype ol wet dry tower is the parallel path
coolng rose-,hownin FiB.l2 47 u:rh Jn rcconpan)inf
1I p.)ch-rome tricprocc..diagrum. Tnrh...)srem. rhedupasse.
ilrough botb the wet (ProcessLine l-2) and dry (hocess
3 Line I 3) sectionsh para el paihs,mixing togetheras ihe
OUTLETAIR
streamsgo throughthe lan (ProcessLine 2 4 3). Above the
tan, the exit air mixcs (M) with the ambientaf along L;ne
4 I . Again, this is braly outsidethe fog region.The parallel
pathwet-dry cooling tower is theprefenedwet dry cooling
tower becausethe dry secaionis not locatedin close prox-
imiqT to the evaporativefi]l section. In fiis affangement,
INLEI circulatingwarerimpingemeni,which couldresultin scaling
md restricied aidlow, is also minirnized. A parallel padr
wet dry mccbanical drdft cooling tower is shown in Fig.
1248.
SECTION Capital cosis for wei-dry and dry cooling systens arc
quileluph when.ompaJed ro d con\cnrioa,l e\aporadve
COLDWATE
tower This tuclor and excessivcunit fuel and energycosts
Fig.l2-46a. Senespath crossnos wel dry .ooling to*er €rcn have madethesetowers pactical only whereertreme envi-
Marley Coolins Towef Conpmy. Used wnh pemission.) ronmentalcondiiions have necessitatedtheir use.
384 PNer Platu Lnih.. hr

T
T

'I
+Ml
J
Fig. U-48, Paralel path wet-dry mechdrical drxli cooli.g tower
n,nLfacrured by the Hamon Coolhs'lbwer Cornpdy. (Ftuh (irerler
Dcbon Re$urce Recovery.Used win permission.)

r2.9 RETIRINCES

CHAL'DRY, M. H. r979.Ippli.d H!.|tuulic Ttunsi.nt!.yM Nos-

mnd Reinhold. Nerv York. Ncw York.
CoolERmv! Po$ER.CoalCrcekStation.PO. Box 780.Undcf
wood,ND 5rJ576.
Fig. U-47* Peallcl tu path. senesv,ter lrath- crcssiow wct-dry FMc CopoluroN. 400 Hlghpoinl Drile, Chalr'ont,PA 18914.
cooling to{er (Frcn Mdley Cooling To*er Comrdy. Used sith
F|oMA PowERCoRpoRMoN.320134rl St.S.,St.PereNbnrg, FL
33711.
HaMor CoorNc TowlR CoMpANy245US Hwy.22W.. Bridge
waref,NJ 08807.
HNSLE! JoN C., EDnor. 1985.Coaling Taeet Fundaruntals,
2nd edir.MarleyCoolingTover Companl Mlssion,KS.
';- lowA IrNors GAs & EccrRrc. 206 E. 2nd Street,Davenporr,L{
SUPEFSATURATION
(FOG)AREA SUPEFHEAT 52801.
(NON-FOG)
ARE]A Lr, KAM W. and A. P^rn-PRrDD\.19u5. Powt Pldnt Srrt.n D.
i=o

4ls
rtsr. john wiley & Sons.New York. NY.
eE2 Mrstry CooLNGTowERCow M. 5800FoxridgeDrive,PO.
?,15 Boa 2912.Missio!, KS 662019875.
fi8fi lF(| tS l\'hcEGAN WASE ro-EMRGx 5700 Russel Steet. Detioir. Ml
tlF 48211-2545.
NonaHFlNSr{!s PowER.:114Nlcollel Ave.,Mimcalolis. MN
55,102.
'F
ORYBULBTEMPEBATURE,
ORL^mo Urtr tms CoMMssroN.PO. Box 3191,Orlando.FL
r2-47D. Psychrcnelic cbd for pdallel air path, serieswat- palh, 32802.
vet dry tower (Fron Mdley Cooling Towe. Company.Lisedwnh STREETIR, V L. ud E. B. WrLtE. 1982.Fhtid Transkn^.FEB
Pres, Ann AJbor, MI.