Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. For many years, cooling towers and air strippers have been in use to transfer heat out of certain areas to ensure optimal performance of various things like manufacturing equipment.
There are a number of different types of cooling towers that are used for a variety of different purposes. For example, in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers, the tower will rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature. Cooling tower systems are implemented in many different industries to cool different things.
Dry cooling towers operate by heat transfer through a surface that separates the working fluid from ambient air, such as in a tube to air heat exchanger, utilizing convective heat transfer. Ultimately, cooling tower performance is the most important aspect of a cooling tower, because if a cooling tower were to not work to the utmost capacity, the industry or company that uses the cooling tower would be in peril.
Common applications for cooling towers include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries, petrochemical and other chemical plants, thermal power stations and HVAC systems for cooling buildings. Cooling towers can vary in size from small rooftop units to large, hyperboloid structures that can be up to 200 meters tall and 100 meters in diameter, or rectangular structures that can be over 40 meters tall and 80 meters long.
Through the use of air strippers, which can convert hot liquid into air which can be cooled, and cooling towers, which allow air to ventilate to cool enclosed areas, many industries can keep their equipment and products cooled. This is especially important in certain industries in which cooling is absolutely necessary.