Does the fan in a circulating water cooling tower require inverter control?
Thread Content
Recently, I’ve seen many articles discussing the use of frequency converters to control the fans in circulating water cooling towers in order to save energy, and I’m a bit confused. In the operation of our circulating water system, it is necessary to keep the temperature of the circulating water as low as possible; therefore, the cooling tower fans are usually operated at full capacity. Even in winter, when they operate at full capacity, the water temperature still remains at 8℃ ； From a process operation perspective, there is no issue of variable load for the cooling tower fans. My question is: if it is limited to air separation units, is it necessary to use frequency converters to control the fans in the circulating water cooling towers?
In the design of cooling water systems, the temperature is generally set around 25 degrees (different values are used by various organizations); in winter, when the temperature reaches 8 degrees, it is already far above this set value, so there is no need to turn on the fans. What you mean is that \"in the operation of our circulating water system, it is necessary to keep the temperature of the circulating water as low as possible; therefore, the cooling tower fans are usually operated at full capacity.\" Is it because the design values set by you are too low?
Lower circulating water temperature results in lower compression energy consumption； So we generally do not control the temperature of the circulating water; as long as it doesn’t freeze, the lower the better. Even when both units are operating at full capacity in winter, the temperature can only drop to 8°C.
:) In terms of energy-saving upgrades for central air conditioning systems, when our company carries out such upgrades, the cooling towers are kept fully operational – no matter how many sets there are, they are all run at full capacity. And we do not install variable frequency drives (we do in special cases). Ensure the filler functions to its full potential!
Is it the same in summer? Isn’t it necessary to increase the air flow?
I’ve never seen variable frequency control used for fans in air separation cooling towers~~ Compared to compressors, isothermal compression achieves the highest efficiency; therefore, the goal is generally to maintain as low a temperature as possible for the circulating water~~ In other industries, such as those related to heating and ventilation, there is an optimal temperature level, so it’s not true that the lower the temperature, the better. This is where variable frequency control comes in, helping to save energy and reduce consumption~~
Simply lowering the water temperature also increases energy consumption; the efficiency of a compressor is conditional as well, with the highest efficiency being achieved when it operates at its designed operating point. The power consumption for operating the two cooling tower fans must also be significant; the energy savings achieved by the air compressor and oxygen compressor are likely similar as well
No additional power consumption~~ At this point, it’s like relying on the weather~~
In my opinion, there is no need to perform variable-frequency modifications on the fans in air separation cooling towers; the energy saved by reducing the water temperature is considerable, especially during the summer.
If the water temperature is low enough in winter, one or two units can be shut down for backup use~~
Adding high and low speed settings to the fan allows for better control of water temperature, preventing frequent start-ups and stoppages.