How Low Can a Closed Circuit Cooling Tower Lower the Temperature? Getting to the Bottom of the Question
How low can a closed circuit cooling tower cool the water down? This is undoubtedly the technical question that companies requiring closed circuit cooling towers most want to know. Next, Wuxi Ark, with 22 years of manufacturing and service experience, will answer it for you!
How low a cooling tower can cool depends on your inlet water temperature, as well as the type of cooling tower selected and the cooling tower infill/packing. Generally, there are standard industrial cooling towers, industrial high-temperature cooling towers, high-temperature cooling towers, etc. Different models yield different cooling effects. Of course, it is also related to the surrounding environmental impact and ambient humidity.
It is determined based on the local wet-bulb temperature. In theory, the outlet water temperature can approach the wet-bulb temperature infinitely. However, in actual practice, there is an approach temperature of approximately $1.6^\circ\text{C}$ between the outlet water temperature and the wet-bulb temperature. In other words, if the local wet-bulb temperature is $28^\circ\text{C}$, the outlet water temperature can be reduced to a minimum of $29.6^\circ\text{C}$! (Wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that the current environment can achieve solely through water evaporation).
1. Working Principle of Open Type FRP Cooling Towers:
Following a spray pattern, the circulating cooling water is sprayed into the glass fiber packing material. Heat exchange is achieved based on the contact between water and air. Centrifugal/axial fans promote air circulation within the tower casing, cooling the water through the heat exchange with the warm airflow. This cooling method requires a smaller initial capital investment, but its operating costs are higher (water consumption, energy consumption).
2. Working Principle of Closed Type FRP Cooling Towers:
It features two circuits: an internal circulation and an external circulation. It operates without infill/packing, with the primary core component being the copper tube heat exchanger coil.
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a. Internal Circulation: Connected to the target equipment, it forms a sealed system (the circulating medium is softened water). It cools the target equipment and carries its heat away to the cooling unit.
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b. External Circulation: Within the cooling tower itself, the cooling tower performs self-cooling. It does not come into direct contact with the internal circulating water, but exchanges heat through the surface of the copper tube coils inside the tower. Under this cooling method, motor operation is configured according to the temperature via an automatic control system. Both cycles need to run simultaneously during spring and summer when ambient temperatures are high. During autumn and winter, the operation depends on ambient seasonal temperatures.
