Influence of packing configuration and flow rate on the performance of a forced draft wet cooling tower

Present work deals with the design and construction of a forced draft counter flow cooling tower unit using Celdek 7090, Celdek 5090, corrugated and honeycomb as packing materials. Experiments are conducted for the varying air and water flow rates at an inlet hot water temperature of 60 degrees C. The performance parameters of cooling tower range, evaporation rate, cooling tower efficiency, cooling characteristic coefficient, and heat transfer are determined. Results showed that the type of packing has a significant impact on the cooling tower performance. Celdek 7090 packing gave a maximum cooling tower efficiency, range, evaporation rate, and cooling characteristic coefficient equal to 73%, 24 degrees C, 3 g/s, and 3 respectively. All the performance parameters increase with the rise in the air Reynold's number in the tested range. The effect of the water flate has a positive effect on the performance up to 3 LPM, but for larger water flows, the performance deteriorates. Among the four packing types studied, Celdek 7090 provided the best performance, and also it is energy efficient.