Performance of a cooling tower with the use of a new kind of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) packing

Abstract

This research work deals with the performance of high-density polyethylene sheets arranged in splash used as a fill for a cooling tower. "A forced-draught counterflow cooling tower" of 400 mm × 400 mm cross-sectional area and 1.7m in height was built. The fill has been studied theoretically and experimentally. Air rates of 0.6, 1.2, and 1.8 kg/s.m2were utilized with water flow rates within the range of 1 to 1.6 kg/s.m2. The overall volumetric heat transfer coefficient, volumetric mass transfer coefficient (Mt), and the tower characteristics (Mt/L) are shown to be functions of the air and water flow rates concurrently. Four available input parameters were inlet water temperature, airflow rate, water flow rate, and full height. A computer program was prepared to perform numerical analysis for reducing data sets obtained from the plant. In addition, analysis was carried out for evaluating the volumetric heat and mass transfer coefficients along with the performance coefficient.