EXPERIMENT 11

SIMULTANEOUS HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER:

HUMIDIFICATION
(Cooling Tower)

Submitted by:

Castro, Ethan Zachary G.

Group 4
INTRODUCTION
When a relatively warm liquid is directly contacted with a gas that is unsaturated, some of the liquid is
vaporized. The liquid temperature will tend to drop mainly due to latent heat of evaporation. This direct contact
of a gas with a pure liquid occurs most often in contacting air with water. This may be done for various
purposes, such as humidification of air for control of the moisture content of solids in drying; dehumidification
of air, where cold water condenses some water vapor from warm air, thereby cooling the mixture; or water
cooling, where evaporation of water to the air cools warm water. The last of the listed purposes was dealt with
in this experiment, which was demonstrated by using a cooling tower model.
In a typical water-cooling tower, warm water flows counter-currently to an air stream. Normally, the
warm water enters at the top of a cooling water and travels down through the packing, exiting at the bottom as
aided by gravity. Air enters in the opposite way, as it flows upward through the descending water. The flow of
air upward from the bottom of the tower may be induced by the buoyancy of the warm air (since hot air floats
and cold air sinks), or can be aided by the action of fans. A typical cooling tower set-up is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Typical Cooling Tower Set-Up

Water cooling towers operate by transfer of both latent and sensible heat. As aforementioned, when
warm water is contacted with air, some of the water evaporate and is absorbed by air. The latent heat due to the
evaporation of the water is then absorbed by the air mixture as sensible heat, thereby inducing an increase in
temperature. The liquid water, on the other hand, after losing small amounts of water vapor, which have brought
heat upon them, will decrease in energy, and thus, its temperature is expected to be lowered. The whole
operation may be categorized as humidification, since in the point of view of the contacting air, the operation
resulted in the increase of the moisture content of the air.
Aside from the demonstration of how to operate simple water cooling tower systems, the experiment
also aims to provide basic knowledge on the parameters used in the design of cooling towers. Cooling towers
are designed in such a way that it effectively cools the liquid water to a temperature near the adiabatic saturation
temperature (wet-bulb temperature) of the air mixture. At this point, no more heat and mass transfer will occur.
The ability of the cooling tower to cool the water towards this temperature is quantified in terms of a parameter
called effectiveness. The effectiveness of water cooling tower systems takes into account the approach and
range of the operation.
 Figure 2: Equilibrium and Operating Curve
Figure 2 exhibits a common equilibrium and operating curve for water-cooling tower systems. The
curves, as shown, have the temperature as the abscissa and the enthalpy of saturation as the ordinate. The
operating curve is plotted by connecting the points corresponding to the top and bottom temperature and
enthalpy of the warm water in the system. The equilibrium curve meanwhile is plotted by readily available data
for saturated air-water vapor mixtures at a certain datum temperature. Important parameters in the design of
cooling towers shown in the figure are the temperature of the cold water leaving the tower, temperature of the
hot water entering the system, and the wet-bulb temperature (which is practically the same as the adiabatic
saturation temperature) of the air mixture. The term range refers to the difference between the entering and
leaving temperature of the liquid water in the cooling tower system. Meanwhile, the approach is the difference
between the exiting temperature of the water and the adiabatic saturation temperature of the air. Recall that the
aim of a water cooling tower is to cool the water towards a temperature near the wet bulb temperature of the air.
Therefore, the effectiveness can be quantified by the following equation.
𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 Equation 1
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 = × 100%
𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 + 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ
If there is no approach, then the effectiveness of the tower is 100%, indicating that the system was able
to cool the water towards the limit, which is the wet bulb temperature of the air, at given conditions.
The experiment aims to demonstrate these concepts by the use of a simulated cooling tower system, and
in the process, to apply knowledge in material and energy balance in the determination of important parameters
that describe the used water cooling tower system.
METHODOLOGY
In this experiment, a physical model of a cooling tower and UOP6-MKII software were used in
analyzing how a cooling tower and the effects of varying several factors (such as the temperature and the flow
rates) to the overall performance of the water-cooling tower system.
To begin with the experiment, the cooling tower was set up by filling in the sump tank with enough
amount of distilled water needed in order to execute the experiment properly. Next, the set up was adjusted on
the software, UOP6-MKII, by noting the type of packing used, the ambient temperature and pressure, as well as
the humidity.
 Figure 3: Water-Cooling Tower System
The experiment is subdivided into three parts, wherein the water inlet temperature is varied in the first
part while the air flow rates and the water flow rates were altered in the middle and last part, respectively. In the
first part of the experiment, using the software, the water flow rate was set at constant to 1 liter per minute and
the air flow rate at 40 liters per second. The PIF controller was set to T1 equal to 30°C and the system was
allowed to stabilize. The data obtained at this temperature were recorded –the outlet water temperature, inlet air
temperature, outlet air temperature, relative humidity of inlet and outlet air. Using the psychrometric chart, the
corresponding wet bulb temperature and the enthalpies of air entering and leaving the tower were determined.
Lastly, to complete the data, the effectiveness of the cooling tower was solved using Equation 1. The same
procedure was repeated while varying the temperature of the inlet water.
For the determination of the effectiveness of the cooling tower while changing the flow rate of air and
water, the temperature was maintained at 40°C. In the part where the flow rate of air was varied, the water flow
rate was set to 1 liter per second. The fan setting is constantly adjusted to the corresponding flow rate of air.
Meanwhile, the air flow rate is adjusted to give a constant speed of 40 liters per second for the part where water
flow rate varied. In this part, the pump setting is changed to the required flow rates of water. The same
procedure was repeated and the corresponding calculations were done.
Finally, a certain condition was chosen (in the case of this group, the condition chosen was T1 = 40°C,
inlet air flow rate equal to 30 liters per second, inlet water flow rate set to 1 liter per minute) and an overall
mass balance was performed to determine the rate of water evaporation.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
As aforementioned, the performance of the water-cooling operation was quantified by solving for the
effectiveness of the operation for each condition given. In the first part of the experiment, the temperature of the
inlet water was varied, and the effectiveness was calculated after the simulations have been done. The data
obtained may be seen in the attached data sheet. From Table A, it can be seen that as the inlet water temperature
was increased, the effectiveness decreases. Recall that the effectiveness of a water-cooling tower system is
measured by its ability to cool water to the adiabatic saturation temperature (practically the wet-bulb
temperature) of the air-water vapor mixture: higher effectiveness means higher range and lower approach. It is
only rational that when the inlet water temperature is relatively low, the effectiveness of the cooling operation is
greater, since only a small amount of energy is needed to be transferred to cool the water towards the wet-bulb
temperature of the air-water vapor mixture. However, it must be clarified that the effectiveness of the operation
does not directly measure the efficiency of the cooling tower, since the effectiveness depends solely on the
difference between the hot and cold water temperatures, and the term specifically describes how close did the
operation cool the warm water to the wet-bulb temperature of the air-vapor mixture. Meanwhile, when the term
efficiency is used, it most likely refers to the overall performance of the cooling tower equipment.
Furthermore, the second part of the experiment dealt with varying the inlet air flow rate, while keeping
the temperature and flow rate of the inlet water constant at 40°C and 1 liter per second, respectively. From
Table B, it is seen that as the flow rate of the inlet air increases, the effectiveness of the water cooling operation
increases as well. It must be noted that although the inlet air flow rate was varied, the temperature and relative
humidity of the inlet air remained constant, implying that the molal humidity of the air is also constant. This
means that for varying flow rate, the only parameter that varies is the amount of contacting air with the warm
liquid water. As one may already know, increasing the amount of contacting air will also increase the extent of
the heat transfer operation, since the energy of a system is directly proportional to its mass. Therefore, it is
reasonable that the extent of heat transfer between the liquid water and air is higher at the condition where the
flow rate of air is highest.
Lastly, for the third part of the experiment, the flow rate of the liquid water was varied, while all other
parameters are constant. From Table C, it is seen that the effectiveness decreases with increasing amount of
inlet water. This may be simply explained by common sense: the lower the amount of water, the easier it is to
cool. When water is supplied at a higher rate, the rate of evaporation required to cool it down increases as well.
This causes the water to cool down to a slightly higher temperature relative to that of when water is supplied at
a lower flow rate.
In addition to varying the parameters, an overall material balance was also done around the cooling
tower to determine the rate of evaporation from the liquid water to the air mixture. The condition chosen by the
group was from Table B, which calls for a setting of T1 = 40°C, inlet air flow rate equal to 30 liters per second,
and inlet water flow rate set to 1 liter per second. The calculation can be seen in the attached computation sheet.
Humidity values were obtained from a suitable psychrometric chart. It must be noted that several assumptions
were made in the calculation of the evaporation rate of water, meaning the value shown (0.29 grams per second)
is a rough approximation of the true value. One assumption made is that the air-water vapor mixture behaves
ideally, and this was used to compute for the density of the mixture. This may have been done by solving for the
humid volume of the air using the given conditions and a suitable psychrometric chart; however, the same
assumption that air is an ideal gas would be made, so overall, it will just be the same. Another assumption is
that none of the water from the original air-water vapor mixture condenses to the liquid phase upon contact. In
the calculation shown, it is assumed that only water from the liquid phase is transferred to the gaseous phase.
Following these assumptions, an evaporation rate of 0.29 grams per second will be obtained.
CONCLUSIONS
The experiment was successful in demonstrating the basic procedures of operating water-cooling tower
systems, which are of importance in the industry, since high-temperature water cannot be discarded to the
environment as it is: it must first be cooled before it can be released. In addition, the effectiveness of water-
cooling operations was evaluated, and several parameters were varied and kept constant, to determine which
condition will yield the highest effectiveness. It was witnessed that effectiveness is at optimum when the inlet
water temperature is low, the inlet air flow rate is high, and the inlet water flow rate is low.
Finally, a material balance was performed to determine the rate of evaporation of water. Although
several assumptions were considered, a rough approximate of 0.29 grams per second was obtained for the
condition where T1 = 40°C, inlet air flow rate equal to 30 liters per second, and inlet water flow rate set to 1 liter
per second.