This equipment has been designed to experience with the construction principles and operational characteristics of
cooling towers and it mainly consists of a packed tower of transparent metacrylate. The water heated in a tank is pumped to the top of the tower and its flow rate is measured by a variable area flowmeter; then the water is distributed onto the packing uniformly to avoid any “channeling” phenomenon. The cooled water is collected at the tower bottom and then it is sent again to the heated tank. An additional tank will keep the level of heated tank constant compensating the water lost by evaporation. A forced air flow is blown by a centrifugal fan onto the column bottom; the flow rate of air can be controlled by an air lock and measured by a diaphragm at the column top. After leaving the packing, the air will cross a demister. The heated tank is equipped with 3 electric heaters and with a safety thermostat. Process temperatures are measured by digital thermometers; a differential pressure gauge will measure the pressure drops on the packing and on the diaphragm.
TRAINING PROGRAM
This unit enables to deepen the following issues:
• Fluodynamics of different packings with different flow rates of air and water
• Measurement of operational parameters in steady-state conditions
• Representation of the state of the system on psychrometric chart and energy balance
• Effect of the packing surface on the approach to wet bulb and on the pressure drops
• Performance with different cooling loads and inlet temperatures
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
• Rectangular tower of Plexiglas; height of 550 mm
• 3 packings of different specific surface (92, 131 and 235 m2/m3) being included in the tower and easily interchangeable
• Additional water tank of Plexiglas, with capacity of 1 litre
• Centrifugal fan, with max. flow rate of 1340 m3/h and maximum head of 80 mmH2O
• Tank of AISI 304 stainless steel for hot water, with capacity of 9 litres and 3 electric heaters of 500 W
• Pump for water, Qmax = 3 m3/h, Hmax = 5 m H2O
• Switchboard IP55, complying with EC standards and including digital thermostat, fan controls, resistors and ELCB
• Power supply: 230 Vac 50 Hz single-phase – 2,6 kVA (Other voltage and frequency on request)
• 6 digital thermometers with Liquid-Crystal Display (LCD)
• Flowmeter, with range of 20-200 l/h
• Inclined manometer, with range of 0-60 mm H2O
• 4 thermo-resistances Pt100 with sheath of AISI 304 stainless steel
• 2 digital thermo-hygrometers
• Flowmeter with transmitter
• Electronic transmitter of differential pressure
• Interface for the connection with a PC included in the switchboard
• Data acquisition software for Windows
