Category Archives: Cooling Towers

This article covers “Cooling Tower Drift Eliminators“.  Understanding the components that make your cooling tower work helps understand the required maintenance. Regular cooling tower maintenance cuts down on wasted water, energy usage, and extends the life of your equipment.  Cooling Towers are complex devices that utilize many various components to achieve their cooling functionality.

From Fills and nozzles, there is a symphony of parts being played out as the natural process of evaporation is synthesized. The process of evaporation synthesis takes a ‘team effort’ so making sure all of your components work in concert is key to getting the most out of you towers. One of the vital components of cooling towers is the drift eliminator. This entry is going to briefly profile the drift eliminator in order to give more clarity to the picture of cooling tower functionality.

What Are Drift Eliminators?

Drift eliminators greatly reduce water loss in cooling towers by minimizing the ability for water droplets to get caught up in the air being discharged from the cooling tower. They achieve this reduction in water loss by producing directional change to the air flow throughout the tower to interrupt the upward motion of the water droplets. Water is fundamental to the functioning of a cooling tower reducing water loss can turn into great savings. Making sure you have high quality drift eliminators installed will set your cooling tower up for long lasting and efficient service and set you up for major savings over an extended period of time.

Every cooling tower loses a portion of water through evaporation into the environment during operation. Generally when cooling towers are working properly this loss is in the form of water vapor which is pure and poses no harm to the environment. In contrast loss that has mineral and chemicals from the cooling tower is drift. This undesirable loss of water is sometimes caused by the fast moving air carrying it out of the cooling tower. Treated water which is common in cooling towers can in fact pose a negative impact on the surrounding environment.

How Drift Eliminators Work

Drift eliminators are designed to prevent large water droplets from escaping via the cooling tower air stream.  They do this by forcing the droplets caught in the stream of air to causing a change in direction which reduces their velocity. They are directed into the blade walls and run back down into the tower.  When drift eliminators are properly installed and maintained they prevent the treated water from escaping the cooling tower. This saves operators money on treating additional water and helps mitigate damage to the environment. The best drive eliminators keep drive losses under .001%.

Professional Drift Eliminator Maintenance

Cooling Towers can be massive and keeping them running at a high level of efficiency takes a lot of work and maintenance. That amount of maintenance that is needed can actually be quite intimidating if you aren’t approaching it from a place of knowledge and understanding of your tower’s maintenance needs and how it is supposed to work. Having all of your components well maintained and in like new condition will allow you and your facility to enjoy the effects of a properly functioning cooling tower for years and possibly decades to come. If you have a cooling tower in Arizona and you have experienced excessive loss through drift, or you just want to have your cooling tower tuned up, please call All Kote Lining, Inc. at 480-966-4446.

A lot of commercial properties are searching for cooling tower efficiency improvement methods.  One way to achieve this is through maximizing cooling tower efficiency through improving water quality.  By implementing solutions to reduce the concentration of dissolved solids circulating through the cooling tower system the water consumption can be greatly reduced.

Keys To Cooling Tower Efficiency

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The cooling tower, depending on climate, can consume up to 25% of the property’s total water usage.

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Cooling towers lose water 4 ways: Basin leaks and overflows, blowdown, drift, and evaporation.

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Unchecked dissolved solid concentration leads to corrosion, scaling, and biological growth.

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Fine tuned blowdown in cooling towers is a common area for significant improvement.

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Benefits To Improving Cooling Tower Efficiency

Clearly with the cooling tower being a major component of your commercial or industrial property there is a potential for significant savings.  There are other benefits to maintaining your cooling tower properly.

Environmental Benefit

When you tune your cooling tower to use less water it reduces the volume of chemicals needed to keep the water conditioned.  This also means fewer chemicals which need to be discharged into the environment.

Financial Benefit

Using less water saves money on the water bill, but also helps reduce sewer costs.  In addition the less water you use the less that needs to be treated and that saves money on buying chemicals.

Safety & Health Benefit

Reducing the labor needed maintaining the cooling tower by tuning its efficiency also leads to being able to direct staff to maximize their time.  Proper running of a cooling tower and saving water supports healthier communities and environmental stewardship.

How To Improve Cooling Tower Efficiency

The follow are 5 ways you can improve your water consumption and achieve better cooling tower efficiency.  For more information about your specific cooling tower and efficiency challenges talk to your local cooling tower maintenance company.

1 – Blowndown Rate

Match your blowndown rate to manufacturer specifications for your cooling tower to maintaint the total dissolved solids.  A good rule to remember is adjust the rate to be able to maintain five concentration cycles.  It is the job of a cooling tower water treatment specialist to determine the specific regimen for you cooling tower.  They will take into consideration the makeup water available along with the maximum number of cycles your system can handle.  Every region has different challenges with local water supply and will have varied amounts of hard water and dissolved solids.  It’s important to keep in mind the safety of your cooling tower and facility when designing a water conservation strategy for your cooling tower.

2 – Install Flow Meters

Installing flow meters on blowdown and makeup lines will help monitor the condition of the water in your cooling tower more accurately.  Regular checking of these meters or monitoring them with a data logger will help with scheduling maintenance inspections.   You can use the collected data to help calculate actual cycles of concentration and compare that information to your target.  The data will also be a benefit for tracking other cooling tower maintenance issues.  In some areas local water utility companies will offer rebates and credits for tracking the amout of water lost through evaporation.

3 – Install A Conductivity Controller

Blowndown is a major factor in saving water and improving cooling tower efficiency.  Installing a conductivity controller will help automatically adjust blowdown rate and save water.  The controller monitors the cycle water and only allows the induction of makeup water at a predesignated conductivity setpoint.  The best approach includes data loggers to provide the best real world data at your site.

4 – Alternative Water Conditioning Methods

While makeup water must be conditioned to cycle through the cooling tower chemicals are not the only method of achieving this priority.  Alternative water conditioning methods include: UV systems, ozonation, and ionization. These upgrades will reduce the need for buying chemicals to keep your cooling tower working properly.

5 – Efficiency Retrofitting Opportunities

Older cooling tower units may not have all of today’s advancements for efficiency.  Two common areas for significant improvement include automated chemical feed systems and sidestream filtration systems.  Both of these retrofit improvements can help improve you cooling tower’s efficiency.

Automatic Chemical Feed – These systems function similarly to conductivity controllers and monitor the cycle water’s level of dissolved solids.  This saves your facility money in that they only release the exact amount of chemicals when needed to treat your makeup water.

Sidestream Filtration – For dusty atmospheric conditions sidestream filtration can improve water quality by removing sediment for the tower sump.  This also helps reduce the level of dissolved solids in your cooling tower cycle water.

Phoenix Valley Cooling Tower Maintenance

If you have a facility in the Phoenix Valley that needs cooling tower maintenance, All Kote Lining Inc. is your source for the highest quality cooling tower maintenance.  Our team saves companies money by improving cooling tower efficiency and refurbishing cooling towers.  Either way our services are designed to extend the life of your cooling tower and make them more efficient to save your business money.

For more information about how we can help your commercial, medical, or industrial facility please give us a call.

480-966-4446

With the cooler months on the way the potential for freezing temperatures looms. While it isn’t very many days a year that Phoenix gets freezing temperatures it is important to know how to cope with it. This guide helps understand freezing weather cooling tower maintenance. Particular attention should be given to counterflow towers because it takes unique procedures to cut down the ice formation when it is running in below freezing temperatures.

Basics Of Freezing Conditions

The first and most important step is to understand each cooling tower’s needs in a given location and under various levels of use. The absolute best method is frequent visual inspections to get a baseline for each of the different operating conditions. Then you can predict the procedures that work for your given circumstances and your cooling tower.

Preheating the water in the basin is the key to successful winter start up and should be done before the water is directed up and over the tower. The industrial heat load must be applied to the tower with all of the return water being bypassed into the basin. After the water has reached about 80°F you can then stop the bypass and run the water through the cooling tower itself. Then the quantity of fans and their speed can be used to regulate the temperature of the water in the basin. If the temperature is low enough the fans might well all be turned off to maintain the temperature of the water in the basin.

During these colder operating conditions the thermal draft upward can be sufficient flow to keep the fans off or even at very low speeds. This system may well become an alternative to cold weather operation given the colder operating conditions.

Controlling Ice Buildup

Ice buildup can add weight and damage the cooling tower, concrete, and the fill. Ice that builds up on the lateral supports and columns should not be manually broken off as it is possible to damage the structure. The best method to removing the ice in these conditions is to utilize the heat from the industrial process to melt the ice. Fans should be slowed or even turned off to clear the supports of ice.

Extreme Weather Procedures

For some parts of Arizona below zero conditions do occur. In this conditions the standard procedure is to operate each of the individual fans in reverse every two to three hours. The period of time they are ran in reverse should not exceed 20 minutes.

Deicing control systems should be simple and follow a logical progression of events. It should look something like the following: The primary deicing switch would switch a group of fans to start slowing down, come to a stop, and shift into reverse. Having the ability to control individual groups of fans gives the flexibility to run extra deicing procedures on areas that are more prone to icing from direct wind or snow drift. The fans deicing cycle should not run longer than 30 minutes to prevent ice forming on fan stacks, fan blades, or drift eliminators.

Cooling tower operators should keep log books that record all of the data needed to develop an effective deicing strategy for your cooling tower. This log should include weather conditions, how many pumps are operating, individual fan speeds, and number of fans operating.

Regular Cooling Tower Inspection & Maintenance

The key to knowing what your cooling tower’s condition is, and what steps to take to fix it relies completely on regular inspection, repair and maintenance. This not only helps keep your cooling tower energy efficient but it ensures that all of the parts are ready for more extreme changes in weather conditions and either hotter or colder weather conditions. Don’t let them fall into neglect and end up failing you when you have work to do. Get your cooling towers maintained, repaired, or refurbished by All Kote Inc.

Proper cooling tower maintenance is the foundation for managing every HVAC system.  When systems are designed well and properly maintained they will offer occupants in residential, industrial, and commercial properties comfort all year long.  While this is the goal cooling towers are many times not given much attention until something is wrong.

The cooling tower is a critical element of a well-functioning HVAC system but will have problems without proper and regular maintenance.  The monolith cooling towers common at power plants are made from concrete require less maintenance than the smaller units common on industrial sites, commercial buildings, or large residential buildings.  Cooling towers are neglected many times simply because they are on the roof and difficult to repair or maintain.

Cooling Towers Are A Corrosive Environment

While large power plant cooling towers are typically made from concrete these smaller roof top units are made from galvanized steel.  Over time the hot and humid conditions in cooling towers leads to chemical attack and corrosion of the steel.  With air, heat, chemicals, and water coursing through the cooling tower as its primary function it isn’t surprising that it is an exceptionally corrosive environment.

Most Common Cooling Tower Problems

Various parts of the cooling tower are made from different materials and are exposed to varied degrees of heat, water, air, and chemicals.  So which are the most common cooling tower problems?  The key in maintaining equipment instead of paying to replace it is regular inspection.  Catching cooling tower maintenance issues while they are small preserve the condition of your cooling tower and reduce costs.

Chemical Attack & Corrosion

Cooling towers are a heat exchange device which functions by passing hot water and air by each other to cool the liquid.  This accompanied by the presence of chemicals which reduce dissolved solids adds up to an incredibly corrosive environment.  Even with the best made parts from select materials like galvanized steel corrosion is a real problem. Corrosion will lead to diminished performance and worse mean the cooling tower is unsafe.  Common areas which experience corrosion are seams and joints along with some parts like the holding pans, diffuser trays, and framework.  These repairs if not caught while small can add up to costly leaks and repairs.

Pipeline Corrosion

The pipelines that connect the HVAC system to the cooling tower are also susceptible to issues.  Internal and external conditions can cause the development of corrosion that lead to thin and through wall defects in pipes.  These issues or leaks impact the efficiency and overall performance of the HVAC system significantly.  One common issue is the paint systems designed to protect the cooling tower from corrosion.  These paints or coatings when not properly applied or not of the highest quality will not last as long or provide a durable cooling tower coating.  More than simply costly repair issues leaks along with heat and water provide the perfect environment to develop a Legionnaries’ disease outbreak.

Mechanical Failure & Damage

When inspections and maintenance are not done regularly or properly mechanical issues can mean excessive strain and wear on your cooling tower system.  Loose pulleys and fan hubs will end up scored and mean worn fan shafts.  When the mechanical components of your cooling tower are not well lubricated or maintained properly it will mean downtime and costly repairs.

Impingement Erosion

Dust particles and moisture commonly cause damage to the leading edge of the fan blades due to impingement.  This process causes erosion and corrosion of the fan blades that diminishes the efficiency of the entire system.  In extreme cases corrosion can be so advanced that there is no option but complete replacement.

Cooling Tower Corrosion Solution

Clearly corrosion is a major issue for cooling towers and needs to be addressed.  Ignoring the issue allows corrosion to fester and potentially go beyond mere repair and require replacement of parts, or worse the entire cooling tower.  Replacing a cooling tower is an overwhelmingly large expensive for any industrial or commercial property. Avoid this budget killer and invest in prevention with inspection, regular maintenance, and quality polymeric coating solutions.

Polymeric cooling tower coatings can be used to seal and protect pipework, restore and protect fan blades, rebuild mechanical components, and help prevent internal corrosion.

Phoenix Valley Cooling Tower Maintenance

If you have a residential, industrial, or commercial cooling tower that needs maintenance in the Phoenix Valley, All Kote Lining Inc. is here to help!  We inspect your cooling tower to catch potentially costly repair issues while they are small, offer affordable repairs, and provide long lasting durable corrosion protecting cooling tower coatings.  For more information about how our cooling tower maintenance services will help extend the life of your cooling tower and help you save on energy costs running it, call us today!