ENGINEERING & OPERATION SOLUTIONS GROUP

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Subject: Standard Operating Procedure for Cooling Tower

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EQUIPMENT NAME: COOLING TOWER

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Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers
may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air
temperature or rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature. Common
applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries, chemical plants, power stations and building
cooling. The towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures that can be up to 200
metres tall and 100 metres in diameter or rectangular structures that can be over 40 metres tall and 80 metres long.
Smaller towers are normally factory-built, while larger ones are constructed on site. They are often associated with
nuclear power plants in popular culture.

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An HVAC cooling tower is a subcategory rejecting heat from a chiller. Water-cooled chillers are normally more
energy efficient than air-cooled chillers due to heat rejection to tower water at or near wet-bulb temperatures. Air-
cooled chillers must reject heat at the dry-bulb temperature, and thus have lower average reverse-Carnot cycle
effectiveness. Large office buildings, hospitals, and schools typically use one or more cooling towers as part of their
air conditioning systems. Generally, industrial cooling towers are much larger than HVAC towers.

HVAC use of a cooling tower pairs the cooling tower with a water-cooled chiller or water-cooled condenser. A ton of
air-conditioning is the removal of 12,000 Btu/hour (3517 W). The equivalent ton on the cooling tower side actually
rejects about 15,000 Btu/hour (4396 W) due to the heat-equivalent of the energy needed to drive the chiller's
compressor. This equivalent ton is defined as the heat rejection in cooling 3 U.S. gallons/minute (1,500 pound/hour)
of water 10 °F (5.56 °C), which amounts to 15,000 Btu/hour, or a chiller coefficient-of-performance (COP) of 4.0. This
COP is equivalent to an energy efficiency ratio (EER) of 13.65.

Cooling towers are also used in HVAC systems that have multiple water source heat pumps that share a common
piping "loop". In this type of system the cooling tower is used to remove the heat that is generated whenever the
heat pumps are in the cooling mode.

Industrial cooling towers

Industrial cooling towers can be used to remove heat from various sources such as machinery or heated process
material. The primary use of large, industrial cooling towers is to remove the heat absorbed in the circulating cooling
water systems used in generator power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing
plants, food processing plants, semi-conductor plants, and for other industrial facilities such as in condensers of
distillation columns, for cooling liquid in crystallization, etc. The circulation rate of cooling water in a typical 700 MW
coal-fired power plant with a cooling tower amounts to about 71,600 cubic metres an hour (315,000 U.S. gallons per
minute) and the circulating water requires a supply water make-up rate of perhaps 5 percent (i.e., 3,600 cubic
metres an hour).

If that same plant had no cooling tower and used once-through cooling water, it would require about 100,000 cubic
metres an hour and that amount of water would have to be continuously returned to the ocean, lake or river from
which it was obtained and continuously re-supplied to the plant. Furthermore, discharging large amounts of hot
water may raise the temperature of the receiving river or lake to an unacceptable level for the local ecosystem.
Elevated water temperatures can kill fish and other aquatic organisms. (See thermal pollution.) A cooling tower
serves to dissipate the heat into the atmosphere instead and wind and air diffusion spreads the heat over a much
larger area than hot water can distribute heat in a body of water. Some coal-fired and nuclear power plants located
in coastal areas do make use of once-through ocean water. But even there, the offshore discharge water outlet
requires very careful design to avoid environmental problems.

Petroleum refineries also have very large cooling tower systems. A typical large refinery processing 40,000 metric
tonnes of crude oil per day (300,000 barrels per day) circulates about 80,000 cubic metres of water per hour through
its cooling tower system.

The world's tallest cooling tower is the 200 metre tall cooling tower of Niederaussem Power Station.

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Heat transfer methods:

Mechanical draft cross flow cooling tower used in an HVAC application

With respect to the heat transfer mechanism employed, the main types are:

 Wet cooling towers or simply cooling towers operate on the principle of evaporation. The working fluid and
the evaporated fluid (usually H2O) are one and the same.

 Dry coolers operate by heat transfer through a surface that separates the working fluid from ambient air,
such as in a heat exchanger, utilizing convective heat transfer. They do not use evaporation.

 Fluid coolers are hybrids that pass the working fluid through a tube bundle, upon which clean water is
sprayed and a fan-induced draft applied. The resulting heat transfer performance is much closer to that of a
wet cooling tower, with the advantage provided by a dry cooler of protecting the working fluid from
environmental exposure.

In a wet cooling tower, the warm water can be cooled to a temperature lower than the ambient air dry-bulb
temperature, if the air is relatively dry. (see: dew point and psychometrics). As ambient air is drawn past a flow of
water, evaporation occurs. Evaporation results in saturated air conditions, lowering the temperature of the water to
the wet bulb air temperature, which is lower than the ambient dry bulb air temperature, the difference determined
by the humidity of the ambient air.

To achieve better performance (more cooling), a medium called fill is used to increase the surface area between the
air and water flows. Splash fill consists of material placed to interrupt the water flow causing splashing. Film fill is
composed of thin sheets of material upon which the water flows. Both methods create increased surface area.

Cooling tower operation in freezing weather

Shutdown
If a cooling tower is not to be used for longer than 6 days, the water basin shall be drained and left dry. This is
considered to be "shut down" situation and the tower is to be left dry as per the manufacturer’s instructions
DESIGN, COMMISIONING AND OPERATION OF COLLING TOWER SYSTEM:

1. Cooling towers should be designed in accordance with AS/NZS 3666, and in particular should be fitted with
modern, high-efficiency drift eliminators. Dead legs should be identified and removed or activated. Water
within the system (including basin water) should be protected from direct sunlight as best as possible and
circulated preferably at least daily. Safe and reasonable access needs to be provided, in accordance with
Standards (eg, AS1657), to ensure safe and effective inspection and cleaning. Where cooling towers do not meet
these requirements appropriate corrective action or risk assessment should be undertaken and documented.

2. Cooling towers should be located as far as practicable from fresh-air intakes to prevent contamination entering
buildings. Similar considerations apply with respect to sources of environmental contamination (eg, kitchen
exhausts, trees/vegetation and unmade surfaces).

3. Cooling tower systems must discharge to sewer in a manner that complies with local water authority
requirements. Where a local sewerage network is not available, advice should be sought from the local
Environment Protection Authority on how to manage waste water. Waste water must not be discharged to
stormwater systems or other water courses without prior approval from the relevant environmental authority.

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4. The hose tap used to fill the chemical dosing tanks and for tower cleaning must be protected with backflow
prevention devices of the same hazard rating as the cooling tower in accordance with AS/NZS 3500.1.2.

5. All systems are to be maintained in order to minimise the likelihood and consequences of corrosion, scale,
microbial (i.e. Legionella) and foulant concerns.

6. Automated water treatment systems are required on all cooling tower systems and should ideally incorporate
inhibitor dosing, conductivity-controlled bleed-off, bleed lockout capability and corrosion monitoring systems
(4-coupon capability). Where environmental contamination is likely, side-stream filtration is required.

7. Water treatment chemicals should be injected into turbulent zones within the water system to assist with rapid
dilution and mixing.

8. For new installations, the water treatment program shall be instigated upon initial filling of the system. The
Water Treatment service Provider will liaise with the mechanical contractor to ensure that all requirements of
the specification are followed and that effective chemical/water quality residuals for
corrosion/scale/microbiological control are maintained throughout the commissioning period.

9. Within the commissioning period, any identified faults/concerns likely to impact on the water treatment
program must be documented and discussed with the consent.

NOREMAL SHUTDOWN PROCEDURE:

To switch OFF the system in an Emergency we have to put all selector switches in OFF mode to avoid starting of
cooling tower.

A. SCOPE:

This Procedure covers the instructions to be followed for Cooling Tower Operation.

B. OBJECTIVE:

To Ensure 100 % Uptime of the Equipment.

C. PROCEDURE:
1. Inspections must be conducted on a daily basis by site personnel. The minimum frequency for servicing is
monthly (unless remedial actions are required or unless environmental factors warrant fortnightly servicing).

2. All tower/s shall be examined on a daily basis under normal working conditions for the following items:
 obvious structural / mechanical faults;
 stock levels in chemical containers;

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 satisfactory prime in chemical dosing pipe work;
 signs of foulant build-up (eg, algae, sludge, debris, etc);
 condition of the cooling tower shell, basin, fill, drift eliminator and water distribution system;
 water leaks (eg, overflow, splash-over, excessive bleed-off);
 blockage or restricted air intake (eg, from plastic bags / rubbish); and
 Excessive foaming.
A more comprehensive examination shall be undertaken on the scheduled tower cleans.

3. On-site analysis of pH, total alkalinity, chloride/Total Dissolved Solids, corrosion inhibitor and oxidising biocide
residuals (e.g. bromine, chlorine where applicable) must be performed on each service visit. Side stream filters
must be inspected and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations or more frequently
where environmental contamination exists.

4. The system’s operating water temperature shall be measured at the return line to the cooling tower on each
inspection and the system adjusted to keep this as low as is reasonably practical.

5. Off-site analysis of dissolved iron/copper and Total Suspended Solids must be performed on a yearly basis by a
NATA qualified laboratory.

6. Adjustments to dosing/bleed equipment and/or additional inhibitor additions must be subsequently undertaken
if residuals are outside target limits.

7. Following sampling of cooling tower water for bacterial/on-site analysis, alternative biocides shall be slug-dosed
to the system. The correct concentration shall be established by considering the supplier’s specified dosage rate
and the system volume.

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