Cooling tower units

[kunal2603]

We got two cooling towers with same capacity in the plant. Initial plan was to operate them independently but these towers have come with equalizers and flume lines.
Is it efficient to operate the towers independently or together as one unit? There is no float v/v and make up water connection for one tower. I can fabricate and order floating v/v from Marley though. Your help will be appreciated.

 

[coldasice]

I would say yea it is better to just run one cost wise ,but you have to consider your load factor. Are you set up for the other tower to turn on when you have high load days and if not then you either have to set it up for that so it operates automatically on and off depending on load or just leave it as it is now.
I dont know if this helps , but good luck.

 

[lilliput1]

Consider using variable speed fan control to operate both above say 55°F. Then operate one till chillers are all off. Adding makeup to the other cell plus a shutoff valve at the equalizer line and disconects for each fan would allow servicing one and draining the sump of the faulty one while the other operates.
The variable speed would optimize your power saving. You should control fan speed to obtain the condenser water temperature that the chiller operate most efficiently. At low temperature you may need to sequence cooling tower bypass valve control after fans have indexed to minimum speed or off. The bypass diverts fully (use two position control, not modulating)the condenser water to the sump instead of to the top of the cooling tower. There should be a dead band in the bypas control. Index bypass open when water temperature drops to minimum (60°F verify with chiller manufacturer - adjustable set point). Index bypass close when water temperature has risen to say 65°F (adjustable).