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SPX Free Cooling Article

Cooling water without the fans being on

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Ian Fletcher
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15 views12 pages

SPX Free Cooling Article

Cooling water without the fans being on

Uploaded by

Ian Fletcher
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Number: H-002 Date: December 1982

SUBJECT:

The Application of Cooling Towers for


Free Cooling

BACKGROUND
Considering the amount of recent coverage in trade Having lost its added heat, the chilled water is thereby
journals concerning the use of cooling towers to achieve cooled for its return to the load source. Meanwhile,
“free cooling” without the expense of operating the chiller, the refrigerant vapor is pressurized within a compres-
uninformed users may get the impression that such use sor (adding the heat equivalent of compression work)
represents new technology. Also, since many of the releases and flows to a condenser, where the total added heat is
have come from a limited-scope cooling tower manufac- transferred to the condenser water circuit. Ultimately,
turer, one might easily be led to believe that forced draft, of course, this total heat is rejected to the atmosphere by
centrifugal blower, counterflow type cooling towers are the cooling tower, and the water is cooled for its return
the best answer to a free cooling problem. to the condenser.
Neither of these impressions are true. Important to note is the fact that the load rejected by
Without searching archives too deeply, the use of Mar- the cooling tower exceeds the actual process load by the
ley towers in free cooling applications extends back at amount of heat (or work) necessary to affect the refrigera-
least 30 years, during which time Marley-manufactured tion function of the chiller. In the refrigerant compression
crossflow, counterflow, induced draft, and forced draft system shown, this added “heat of compression” causes the
towers were so applied. Therefore, if there is a storehouse tower to have to dissipate approximately 25% more load
of knowledge and experience on free cooling it belongs than that actually imposed by the process. Therefore, al-
to Marley, and it was compiled from the use of various though a “ton” of refrigeration (by definition) is equivalent
types of cooling towers—not just one type. to a heat dissipation rate of 12,000 Btu/hr, cooling tower
designers for this type system routinely think in terms of
Based upon the experience gained from having manu- 15,000 Btu/hr/ton.
factured all types of cooling towers a previous article
was written entitled “Cooling Tower Energy and its Similarly, in an absorption chiller system the cooling
Management.” Much of the operational-type information tower would also be required to dissipate the heat added
contained in that report applies equally to the application to effect absorption and release of the refrigerant vapor. In
of towers on free cooling, and it is recommended that that case, the load at the tower would be about 2.5 times
the reader obtain a copy to enhance full understanding the load imposed by the process, or approximately 30,000
of the present paper. Btulhr/ton.
The flow rates and temperatures indicated on Figure
1 are typical of those encountered in an air conditioning
THE CLASSIC CHILLED WATER SYSTEM system operating at full load in summertime conditions.
Air conditioning and refrigeration systems, as well as Note that the usual pumping rates are 3 gpm/ton in the
numerous industrial processes, require cold water at a condenser water circuit, and 2.4 gpm/ton in the chilled
temperature well below that which a cooling tower is water circuit. These pumping rates are reflective of the
capable of producing during a normal summer. In those aforementioned difference in heat content, and result in
cases, various types of chilled water systems are utilized, a 10°'F water temperature rise in each loop.
the most common of which is depicted in Figure 1 for As a general rule, process loads do not require a tem-
purposes of discussion. perature as low as that indicated on Figure 1. Typical
In this system, a chilled water circuit picks up heat from low temperature processes might want temperatures
the air conditioning or process load and transfers this heat between 55°F and 70°F and, for purposes of illustration
to vaporize a refrigerant flowing through the evaporator. in this paper,
7401 WEST 129 STREET | OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS 66213 UNITED STATES | 913 664 7400 | [email protected] | spxcooling.com

In the interest of technological progress, all products are subject to design and/or material change without notice.
©2008 SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc. | Printed in USA

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