Cooling towers are simple mechanical equipment in their design, but they need minimum care of their elements and periodic maintenance.
The fillers in cooling-towers
The filler in the cooling tower is like the heart in the human body.
The principle of evaporative cooling takes place in the filler as an exchange surface between water and air. Fit filler allows a heat exchange by the thermal program for which the tower was designed.
On the other hand, the accumulation of dirt and fouling in the fill only leads to:
- a deterioration of the performance and efficiency of the tower,
- a reduction of the pumped flow rate and air flow rate and, therefore
- losses in process efficiency.
Besides, if the water-quality is aggressive, components such as the filler will suffer more degradation, and it will be necessary to take extreme care to minimize the mentioned effects.
Keep this in mind. More efficient fillers (less airflow to meet the thermal program) are less tolerant to water fouling. More efficient filler smaller tower, less electrical power, and lower consumption.
Do not forget to check the cleanliness of the fill and drift-eliminator by lifting part of the drifteliminator on the side opposite the collector channel. In the case of laminar filler, part of the top layer must also be lifted.