Modern Industrial Cooling Towers Put Sustainability First

Cooling towers are essential in building and facility-based HVAC systems — removing indoor heat through air passage and water evaporation. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, over 1,500 industrial buildings utilize cooling towers to cool power plants, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants, petroleum refineries and food processing plants.

Due to their massive size and complex processes, cooling tower operations require critical skill sets, expertise and attention to detail to ensure the utmost safety and energy efficiency. Building managers and cooling tower operators are becoming more aware of cooling towers' environmental impacts, seeking ways to make their use more sustainable. Here is how modern industrial cooling towers are going green.

The Environmental Impact of Cooling Towers

Despite the benefits of large-scale HVAC systems, they tend to pose an environmental risk. Industrial cooling towers use ample water resources to ensure continuous heat rejection — nearly 20% to 30% of the facility's total water consumption. As such, operators often look to nearby water bodies like rivers and lakes to meet the requirements. If water is extracted improperly from these sources, the effects could significantly damage surrounding ecosystems and wildlife.

Cooling towers also consume a lot of electricity to power the fans, pumps and chillers. When operators fail to control the system, cooling towers can overconsume power.

Additionally, cooling towers pose an environmental-based public health crisis. For instance, heat and moisture make the most conducive breeding ground for bacteria growth, of which Legionella and Pontiac Fever are among the worst outcomes.

Legionella is known to cause Legionnaires disease, a potentially deadly form of pneumonia people become infected with within 10 days of inhaling water droplets containing the bacteria. The initial symptoms often include headache, muscle aches and a fever of 104° Fahrenheit. By the third day, infected individuals might develop a cough with bloody mucus, breathing difficulties, chest pain, gastrointestinal problems or cognitive impairment.

Today's cases have increased four times in just 20 years, often due to improper cooling tower monitoring for bacteria growth.  Legionella and other hazardous pathogens spread through drift emissions from cooling towers, while the World Health Organization says 5% to 10% of Legionnaires cases are fatal.

Sustainable Measures for Greener Cooling

The average person might find it hard to believe the large smoking towers they see while driving down a back road could be environmentally friendly. Still, it is possible to make cooling towers more sustainable. Here are some ways industries can put sustainability first regarding cooling towers.

1. Conduct Routine Preventative Maintenance

Routine maintenance goes a long way in preventing system malfunctions and energy inefficiency. Construction and operations of industrial cooling towers can be expensive, as are the environmental implications of a flawed process.

Preventative maintenance ensures maximum water consumption efficiency for the tower to complete cycles of concentration. It also helps prevent potential corrosion from potentially occurring due to excess moisture. Cooling towers usually contain metals such as copper and zinc, which can negatively affect ecosystems if broken down and discharged into the environment over time.

By focusing on routine maintenance, operators can also monitor the towers for bacterial growth — particularly Legionella. Bacterial growth is hazardous to human health, requires harsh chemicals for removal and often conceals deterioration and breakdown of essential parts.

2. Reduce Electricity With VFDs

Unnecessary start and stop functions of industrial cooling tower components — pumps, fans, chillers and heaters — are some of the most significant energy consumers. Therefore, utilizing variable frequency drives (VFDs) would be a wise investment for enhanced sustainability.

VFDs enable better control over electric motor speeds and the frequency of the electrical power supply for a considerable reduction in energy consumption. Unlike conventional systems built to manage peak loads, VFDs are more efficient in delivering easier start-ups and slower speed increases to meet load requirements. These factors account for most industrial cooling towers' electricity use.

Projections indicate that the global VFD market will grow 4.8% from $16.58 billion in 2021 to $17.37 billion in 2022. By 2026, that number will likely reach $21.23 billion.

3. Use Green Cleaning Alternatives

Although humans don't drink water from industrial cooling towers, it's wise to clean them with green cleaning solutions. Cooling towers emit aerosols from cleaners into the air during evaporation. Air pollution can negatively affect one's respiratory tract and other bodily systems and may even lead to severe illnesses like cancer. Environmentally, the hazardous particles absorb into local ecosystems.

About half of the carbon dioxide (CO2) and aerosol pollution humans emit through industrial processes stays in the atmosphere. The other half ends typically ends up in the land, vegetation and water bodies. Continuous aerosol pollution will further contribute to global warming without proper control of emissions

4. Reuse Water

Some facilities may have water reuse options available depending on various factors, such as water reuse regulations and resources at the tower's location. Water reuse comprises reusing discharged water by applying a special treatment and using it again in another cooling process.

Operators can collect condensation and transfer it back to the tower system. They might also implement reverse osmosis to purify the water. In turn, they'll require fewer chemical treatments to clean the discharge. Although water reuse systems are relatively easy to operate, they can be expensive, making them financially counterproductive for some facilities.

5. Ensure Proper Training for Cooling Operations

A greener industrial cooling tower is only as sustainable as the skilled operators behind each component. Ensuring operators are fully trained and equipped to handle the cooling tower processes is critical.

Team members must be knowledgeable and ready to respond to problems more sustainably. That means they are adept at identifying issues and deploying environmentally-sound mitigative strategies. Training programs and expert mentorship for greener solutions are necessary to ensure cooling towers put sustainability at the forefront.

Sustainable Industrial Cooling Towers Are the Future 

Industrial cooling towers are no exception, as more sectors aim to improve their sustainability and eco-friendliness. Most can expect cooling towers to become greener in the near future as more implement new technologies and sustainable procedures