Using makeup water to recycle cooling tower evaporated water: a feasibility study using experimental data

Wet cooling towers are one of the most water-intensive technologies, which are widely used in air conditioning applications, especially in dry regions. Considering the current water crisis around the world, it is essential to improve the design of these cooling towers to reduce their water consumption, while maintaining their cooling performance. Makeup water of cooling tower is usually a constant-temperature water which is cold enough to condensate the moisture content of the cooling tower exhaust air. Therefore, it has great potential to recycle water evaporation of cooling towers, which is not considered so far. This paper investigates a novel design for cooling towers utilising the makeup water to recycle part of the evaporated water. To perform a realistic evaluation of this idea, the experimental data of a real world cooling tower were measured. Using this data, a dynamic simulation was performed in TRNSYS software to evaluate the water saving potential. Results show that using this idea 105 litres water will be saved during two hours of cooling tower operation. This paper has highlighted the importance of using makeup water in reducing the water consumption of wet cooling towers.