VIBRATION ISOLATION FOR COOLING TOWERS

GENERAL

Paul Meisel PE, VP Engineering, Kinetics Noise Control, Inc.

Cooling towers and evaporative coolers come in a wide range of shapes, sizes and
configurations. Depending on the type and configuration, these may be rugged in
construction or may be relatively fragile. Isolating and restraining this kind of equipment
requires that many parameters relative to both the equipment and the application be
reviewed and understood to have a successful installation. For simplification, both will
referred to as cooling towers for the duration of this document.

Cooling towers are designed to release heat, using an evaporative process. They are
generally constructed in such a way as to draw air across a cascading stream of water,
allowing a portion to evaporate, thereby reducing the overall temperature of the water.
The water that remains is collected in a pool and returned to the circuit for reuse.
Large, relatively low speed fans are used to draw the air through the tower, generating a
relatively strong low frequency vibration. There is typically minimal vibration associated
with the water flow in these systems or with air turbulence.

ISOLATION CHARACTERISTICS

Frequently, this equipment is mounted on the roofs of structures. Because it tends to

be heavy, it is not uncommon for the supporting structure to exhibit a relatively high
level of deflection. This results in significant transmission of the fan generated vibration
into the structure. Effectively isolating this equipment requires the use of springs that
have significantly more deflection than is present in the support structure. Two-inch
deflection is normally the bottom limit to consider for these applications. It is not
uncommon to require deflections of 4 inches to obtain a reasonable degree of
performance.

Where cooling towers are mounted at grade and the resulting support system is stiffer,
1 deflection isolators are frequently adequate to control the transfer of vibrations into an
adjacent structure.

MAINTENANCE AND SERVICING ISSUES

As a minimum, spring supported cooling towers will normally use vertically restrained
spring isolators. This type of isolator restricts the vertical movement of the cooling
tower and its ability to damage interfacing piping during those periods when water is
drained, either for maintenance or because of seasonal equipment use. Because a
substantial amount of the weight of an operating cooling tower is the water weight, a
drained tower can conceivably weigh half to a third as much as a full one. With high
deflection coils, the removal of this weight will result in the tower being forced
significantly upward by the isolators. It is this motion that can damage the interfacing
piping or utility connections. While the vertically restrained isolators prevent this motion,
they do so at the expense of adding a vibration path (or short) around to the isolation
system.

VIBRATION TRANSMISSION IN MULTI-CELLED TOWERS

For single cell towers or multi-celled towers that operate as a unit, the shorting of the
isolation system is not a significant problem in that when the unit is drained and
shorted it is also not operating. If it is operating, it is full. The same cannot be said for
multi-celled cooling towers in which one or two cells may be drained, but the remainder
continue to run and the overall unit functions at reduced capacity. In these cases, the
change in weight at the empty cells will result in an isolation short and the continued
operation will generate a vibration that will pass into the structure through the shorted
isolators.

VIBRATION TRANSMISSION UNDER VARYING OPERATING

CONDITIONS
Additionally it is not uncommon to have a relatively wide range of operating weights in
cooling tower during transient events. Changes in the amount of water flowing through
the cooling tower water circuit tower can cause significant variations in the level inside
the individual cells. Even significant rainstorms will affect the operating level.

Anything that varies the weight will also vary the operating height of spring coils and as
a result, the height of the isolators themselves. In order to isolate under a wide range of
weight conditions, adequate clearance must be built into the vertical restraint
mechanism to permit these elevation changes or the operating elevation must be held
relatively constant. The criticality of accomplishing this becomes more significant when
towers are supplied for seismic applications. Proper seismic design involves limiting
clearances in restraints to . This means that with a 4 deflection coil spring, the
operating weight of the unit can vary only +/- 6% before the restraint system shorts
out. This can result in significant vibration transmission issues.

STRUCTURAL SUPPORT DESIGN ISSUES

Many cooling towers manufacturers offer units that are not rigid enough to be supported
at localized locations. These units are intended to be supported evenly along the
perimeter members. If the unit being used is of this type, an intermediate frame
(dunnage) that can interface between the distributed support requirement for the unit
and the concentrated resultant load at the support points is required. This should not be
confused with the similar frame (grillage) that acts as an interface between the isolator
and the building structure. Failure to provide such a member can result in a failure of
the type shown in the photo below.
 Cooling tower failure resulting from lack of dunnage

When designing supports for cooling towers, the potential exists for large lateral forces
either due to wind or seismic loads to fail the support beams, As such, both the
dunnage and the grillage steel members should be adequately cross braced. Failing to
do so can result in a failure at the junction between the web and the flange on the
primary structural members as shown here.

Inadequately cross braced grillage steel members

Lastly, isolators used in cooling tower applications must be installed and operate within
their design range. As far as the allowable vertical travel is concerned, the variation is
relatively small and is limited based on the design of the internal restraint mechanism in
the isolator itself. When designing a structural support system for the cooling tower, the
support beams should be designed stiffly enough to maintain their alignment within the
maximum permitted range permitted by the cooling tower manufacturer while still being
point supported. For design purposes, the isolators should be considered simply as
blocks of a given height as if there is excessive distortion of the grillage and/or building
structure the isolators internal clearances will not allow them to be used as leveling
devices to bridge between a flat dunnage frame and a bowed grillage structure.

If the support surface is made of concrete, it must be thick enough and be of adequate
size to permit the proper installation of anchor bolts. Considerations should also be
given to the possible requirement of oversized baseplates under the cooling tower.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COOLING TOWER

INSTALLATIONS
1) Limit the water level variations for operating cooling towers with appropriate level
sensing controls and by appropriate overflow pipe selection and/or adjustment.

2) Where there may be a seasonal need to vary the number of active cooling tower
cells, consider separating the cells into individual units and supporting them on
independent support systems.

3) Where multiple cell towers are required, but intermittent individual cell operation is
expected, select air springs that can support varying cooling tower weights without a
change of elevation.

4) Select dunnage and grillage members of adequate size to meet the cooling tower
manufactures stiffness requirements.

When mounting on concrete, ensure that solid poured pads are provided that are
suitable for the worst-case restraint scenario. Pads should not be poured without some
form of analysis being done on the units that will allow them to be specified thick
enough for the required anchors as well as long and wide enough to allow any needed
oversized mounting plates and the appropriate required anchor edge distance.
.
Optionally, through-bolts or adequately sized embed plates tied into the internal rebar
should be specified. If fitted with embed plates, these must be large enough to facilitate
the alignment of the isolators and to adequate room for an appropriate weld to anchor
them in place.

If through bolted, care must be taken to ensure that there is access on the underside of
the slab to the bolt locations.