Industries have been turning to cooling towers to remove excess heat caused by all the industrial processes. For the cooling tower system’s optimal performance, it is critical to remove heat from the facilities between the system switches and routers, where the server farms and server clusters are generally located. Keeping a periodic check on the cooling tower services then becomes a requirement for its optimal operation.
How does cooling take place?
Evaporative cooling
When water changes state from liquid to vapor, it requires an input of heat energy when evaporative cooling occurs. The use of evaporative condensers or cooling towers for the modern heat rejection requirements is the most efficient and cost-effective method. It helps by increasing the contact between air and the water for cooling.
Legionella Bacteria
Cooling tower components are a common source of Legionella. Legionella bacteria are bound to cause deadly diseases transmitted through inhaling the mist droplets carrying the bacteria. The UV water treatment makes certain that microbial contaminants are effectively immobilized. It ensures that even slime formers are inactivated, which affects the cooling tower performance drastically. These microorganisms do not show any tolerance or resistance to UV light, unlike the chemical disinfection systems.
The bright side to cooling towers is that it requires around 66% less power when it comes to rejecting a given amount of heat as compared to alternative “dry methods.” Moreover, they inhabit a smaller footprint and are quieter.
Dissolved solids
The cooling towers’ job is to evaporate pure water by leaving behind the suspended or dissolved solids like minerals in the retained water. The solid build-up or concentration factor is likely to leave the water unusable, which ends up decreasing its operating efficiencies and possibly damaging the recirculating system. Hence it becomes essential to reduce the build-up, which can only happen with the help of blowdown or through bleeding a proportion of the system water.
Many novel approaches are being applied, including the use of reclaimed or wastewater for cooling to reduce the use of potable water. In such conditions, it becomes critical to have an efficient filtration system, and hence a high efficiency media filters are always encouraged when it comes to cooling tower components.
Airborne contaminants
Being effective air scrubbers, cooling towers flush airborne contaminants into the system. These contaminants deposit on the system’s surfaces and foul the heat exchange surfaces. The put-up matter in the cooling water even supply waterborne microorganisms along with providing nutrients. The UV systems utilize automatic wipers keeping the optical path free from contamination. These airborne contaminants, along with the iron in the water, are likely to foul the quartz sleeves and avert the cooling tower’s optimal disinfection.
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Fouling and Microbial concerns in the cooling systems
Fungi
Cooling tower systems become the breeding ground for many kinds of fungi such as Candida krusei and Trichoderma Viride. Filamentous fungi are multicellular structures with branching; once formed, they rot any exposed wood, and yeasts are such fertile slime formers that will eventually impair the cooling performance.
Algae
It is common to find Algae including Scenedesmus Obliquus and Chlorella pyrenoidosa in the cooling tower systems. At times, different species of algae produce the growth that foul screens and block distribution decks. Algae fouling can lead to unbalanced water flow and drastically reduce cooling tower efficiency if not appropriately treated.
Fouling, Biofilm, and Slime
Fouling problems in the cooling towers often occur when a single microbial group or species starts to dominate. It is anticipated that these microorganisms control each other’s growth as the mixed population co-exists, they start competing for the available oxygen and nutrients. When one group wins over the other and displaces them, its growth can skyrocket with no competition, which leads to the quick formation of biofilm and slime.
Colonizing of Bacteria
There are a variety of bacteria responsible for colonizing cooling tower systems. Some are spore-producing bacteria that survive adverse environmental conditions like dry periods or high temperatures. Aerobic that need oxygen to survive and anaerobic that can survive in the absence of oxygen, both kinds of bacteria are found in cooling towers. The anaerobic bacteria are directly linked to Microbial Induced Corrosion (MIC) since they assimilate sulfur and form hydrogen sulfide as waste produce. This entire process eventually leads to hydrochloric acid formation, which causes corrosion of pipes and structures.
In Summary
Cooling tower manufacturers incorporate the components in cooling systems capable of filtering the entire flow of current cooling loops. Supreme level filtration is critical to attaining optimum ROIs. Having your cooling towers operating efficiently can lead to multiple benefits such as reduced maintenance costs and getting higher operating efficiency. Contact our experts at Tower tech India for all kinds of cooling tower services.
