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Mechanical / HVACaka: evaporative cooling toweraka: CT

Cooling Tower

In Plain English

A large evaporative heat exchanger on a roof or ground that cools water returning from a chiller.

Definition

A heat rejection device that removes heat from condenser water by evaporating a portion of the water to the atmosphere, cooling the remainder. Cooling towers are used with water-cooled chillers to reject heat that has been extracted from the building's chilled water system. They are characterized by approach temperature (difference between leaving water temperature and entering wet-bulb temperature) and cooling capacity in tons.

Example

A 600-ton cooling tower on the building roof rejects heat from the water-cooled chiller plant to maintain 85°F condenser water return.

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