Warm water from the chiller condenser is sprayed or trickled over fill while fans pull air through, and evaporation removes heat. Towers are typically rated at 95 degrees F entering water, 85 leaving and 78 degrees wet bulb, which is a 10 degree range and a 7 degree approach. Evaporation concentrates minerals, so towers need blowdown, makeup water and chemical treatment, including control of Legionella bacteria.
Cooling tower's leaving water is 88 at a 72 wet bulb, that's a 16 degree approach, the fill must be scaled up.
Tower water treatment and Legionella control are not optional; a neglected tower is a public health problem.
Also heard as
- tower
- evaporative cooling tower
- CT
Related terms
Chiller
A refrigeration machine that cools water or glycol, which is then pumped to coils to cool a building or process.
Approach
The temperature gap between a fluid leaving a heat exchanger and the fluid or condition it is being brought toward.
Wet bulb
The temperature a wet-wicked thermometer reads in moving air, lowered by evaporation in proportion to how dry the air is.
Barrel
Shop name for a chiller's shell-and-tube evaporator or condenser vessel.