Cooling Towers

Cooling towers are effectively an organic heat exchanger. Warm or hot water from a process is cooled by passing it through the tower and back out again into the process. A cooling tower enables the water to meet the air so that some of the water evaporates, lowering the overall water temperature.

Water is pumped – usually from either the basin of the tower or a sump tank below the cooling tower – through pipework to the process. This then returns to the cooling tower. The water is either sprayed by nozzles onto the fill media (counterflow) or returns to a top tank to gravity drain onto the fill media. This part of the process maximises air to water contact. The water flows over the fill media – or packing – meeting the air which is pulled (induced draft) or pushed through (forced draft) by a fan. This is referred to as evaporative cooling.

Water treatment and regular maintenance are key to keeping a cooling tower operating safely and efficiently. The correct treatment plan will protect against scale build up, corrosion, fouling and microbiological contamination, including Legionella. Please note, good care of a cooling tower is a legislative requirement. Our Service team can give you full support here – call 0333 004 4433 for free, no-obligation advice.

There are fundamental differences between a cooling tower and a chiller, although both can be used within a process cooling system. Both remove heat from liquids, it is just the way they do it that differs. A chiller removes heat from the coolant source by the refrigeration process contained within the chiller system. A cooling tower uses evaporative cooling to remove heat. The two also have different component parts. A cooling tower will have fans and a water basin, whereas a chiller has a refrigeration system. Both have different benefits depending on the application being considered.