How does water cool in a cooling tower?

🌬️ Cooling Tower Concept: Heat and Mass Transfer Explained

Cooling towers are vital components in industrial and HVAC systems, designed to remove excess heat from water by using the natural process of evaporative cooling. They take advantage of the difference between the dry bulb temperature (DBT) and the wet bulb temperature (WBT) of air to achieve cooling.  

💧 Principle of Operation

When hot water enters a cooling tower, it comes into contact with moving air. A portion of the water evaporates, and during this phase change from liquid to vapor, heat is extracted from the water and transferred to the air. This phenomenon is known as the latent heat of evaporation.  

- Evaporative Cooling: The majority of heat transfer (about 70–75%) occurs through evaporation.  

- Conduction and Convection: Additional heat transfer (25–30%) takes place due to direct contact between water and air.  

- Radiation: Heat transfer by radiation is minimal and usually neglected.  

🌡️ Why Water Evaporates in Cooling Towers

- Unsaturated Air: Air and moisture cannot coexist in equilibrium unless the air is saturated. Unsaturated air forces water to release moisture, driving evaporation.  

- Latent Heat Transfer: Each particle of moisture that migrates into the air carries approximately 2256 kJ/kg of latent heat, cooling the remaining water.  

- Specific Heat Difference: Air has a much lower specific heat compared to water (about 4.5 times smaller). This ensures heat flows naturally from water (high energy) to air (low energy).  

🔄 Role of DBT, WBT, and Approach Temperature

- Driving Force: The difference between DBT and WBT provides the driving force for cooling.  

- Approach Temperature: Defined as the difference between the cooled water temperature and the WBT of air. While it represents a loss of efficiency, it is essential—without it, there would be no driving force for cooling.  

- Continuous Cooling: Since DBT–WBT is never zero, cooling continues as long as air and water interact.  

⚙️ Thermodynamics of Cooling Towers

The cooling process can be explained using enthalpy and internal energy:  

Thermodynamics
Water side H
Water = U water + W water
Air side H Air = U air + W air,
H is enthalpy
Both W water and W air are = 0
W is work

(H water - H air) = (U water - U air)

The difference between the internal energy of water (U water) and the internal energy of air ( U air) drives a cooling tower.  

🔥 Heat and Mass Transfer

- Moisture released by water carries 2256 kJ/kg of heat into the air.  

- This combined process of heat transfer (energy exchange) and mass transfer (moisture migration) makes cooling towers highly effective in reducing water temperature for reuse in industrial systems.  

✅ Conclusion

Cooling towers harness the natural principles of evaporation, conduction, and convection to cool water efficiently. By leveraging the difference between dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures, they provide a sustainable and cost-effective solution for heat rejection in industrial and HVAC applications. Understanding the thermodynamics and heat transfer mechanisms helps engineers optimize cooling tower performance and improve energy efficiency.