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Introducing an Online Cooling Tower Performance Analysis Tool
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Date
2012
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Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu)
Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu)
Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu)
Abstract
Cooling towers are used extensively for numerous industrial, residential, and commercial applications. Yet despite how common their uses, operators often do not know how to properly evaluate and optimize their performance. This is due to the complex and variable nature of all of the factors that can influence performance; fan speed, wind speed, sump temperature, heat load, ambient temperature, relative humidity, etc. This can be overwhelming for a regular operator resulting in many cooling towers being set to a default operating condition and forgotten.
This paper will introduce a web-based cooling tower analysis tool being developed to help users understand and optimize operational efficiency. The calculations, evaluations, and models will be discussed in detail to highlight important design considerations and issues. This will include how the Merkel Theory, psychometric properties, tower types, and historical weather data are incorporated into the analysis.