Performance Curves for Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers

Abstract

This paper presents cooling tower theory and methods for analytical verification of manufacturers’ guaranteed performance curves for mechanical draft cooling towers. Both ASME PTC-23 and Cooling Tower Institute Bulletin ATP-105 are being revised and both test codes have historically used performance curves as a means of evaluating cooling tower capacity. Techniques and methods are given for calculating performance curves for both counterflow and crossflow type cooling towers. These procedures can be used during bid evaluation to assess and predict tower performance at various operating conditions other than the design point.