Cooling towers can be seen near commercial or industrial buildings, but people generally don’t know how they function and what they are for.
The Two Types of Cooling Towers
So basically, there are two types of cooling towers that may have caught your eyes: mechanical draft and natural draft.
Mechanical Draft
A mechanical draft cooling tower is smaller in size. It is generally more expensive to run as it uses fans to generate airflow.
Natural Draft
This type of cooling tower generates airflow by the natural convection of air. This is the reason it is less expensive to run. Unlike a mechanical draft cooling tower, it is larger in size. Inside a natural draft cooling tower, the air becomes moist and warm and the airflow naturally rises above the cooler air that is being drawn in from outside.
How Does the Cooling Tower Function? Why Does It Need Maintenance?
No matter the type of cooling tower, you will find either of the following components inside: Splash Film Media or Film Fill Media. These are important to ensure optimal heat transfer. They determine tower efficiency by increasing the duration of contact and surface area between water and air. Tower efficiency and optimal heat transfer is achieved when the water is exposed to the air for long. This is because the longer the duration of this contact, the quicker water will evaporate and cool it down. A film fill makes way for the water to spread into a thin film, exposing a larger surface area of the water to a smaller area, whereas a splash fill exposes water in a continuous momentum to the airflow. Splash fill does this by splitting the water into little droplets.
It is important to clean and maintain the cooling tower for the films to work efficiently. Make sure you hire an HVAC company in Gilbert, AZ so as to ensure that the cooling tower is free from debris and the water inside remains clean too.
Another reason why it is so crucial to maintain a cooling tower is health. The heat in Gilbert AZ encourages the birth of mosquitoes, and since water is primary to a cooling tower fan, you have to make sure it doesn’t stand still for these pests. Make sure you maintain your cooling tower fan so that bacteria like Legionella does not grow and cause breathing difficulties for people living in your building.
Conclusion
Water is primary to a cooling tower, so make sure it doesn’t stand still for mosquitoes or bacteria to grow in the heat of Gilbert, AZ. The main components that facilitate contact between air and water ( Film fill and Splash fill) also need to be running smoothly. Thus, you must hire a reliable HVAC company to clean your cooling tower of debris and unclean standing water.
Summary
Water is primary to a cooling tower, so make sure it doesn’t stand still for mosquitoes or bacteria to grow in the heat of Gilbert, AZ. The main components that facilitate contact between air and water ( Film fill and Splash fill) also need to be running smoothly. Thus, you must hire a reliable HVAC company to clean your cooling tower of debris and unclean standing water.