Bottom vented wet-dry water cooling tower

Abstract

A generally rectangular, bottom-vented, mechanical draft combination wet-dry water cooling tower is provided which has excellent water conservation properties and resistance to recirculation of heated discharge air, and which is designed for minimizing undue low level deflection and spreading of hot moist discharge air with essentially complete elimination of visible fog plumes above the tower. In preferred forms, the tower includes a pair of elevated, two-pass, obliquely disposed heat exchange conduit banks, a plurality of spaced, underlying evaporative cooling sections located between the conduit banks for serially receiving partially cooled water therefrom, and separate induced draft fans and structure presenting individual air discharge paths for the dry and evaporative sections respectively, in order to pull air currents through each of the latter and separately discharge the resultant dry and moist airstreams upwardly into the atmosphere in a pattern such that the dry air at least partially surrounds the central moist air. Bottom-venting of the tower between the evaporative sections allows prevailing wind currents to flow under the dry section banks and transversely through the tower for venting wind-created negative pressure eddies or vortices on the lee side of the tower which in turn minimizes recirculation of hot discharge air back to the downwind tower air inlets. Moreover, the air discharge pattern of the tower lessens low level deflection and spreading of the central moist air so that unwanted deposition of moisture on adjacent equipment or structures is minimized.