INTRODUCING AQUAFANMotorless Hydro-Powered Cooling Tower Technology

The AQUAFAN principle

Main Characteristics

• Uses system pressure of the cooling water to drive the fan. • No fan motor, gear box or traditional bearings (lubrication by

water and Teflon bearing ring).• System pump powers the fan via high-efficiency turbine.

Forced Draft Cooling Tower Principle:Moving water and air are in contact in the tower to allow cooling through evaporation of a small %-age of the water. The tower infill increases retention time of water in the tower to facilitate the evaporation. Electric pumps and fan motors are required in conventional systems.

Principles of Operation

• Water pressure from system pump drives the fan

• Water pressure varies with cooling requirements

• Fan draws required air quantities over infill of the tower

• Water exiting the turbine evenly distributed over the infill

• Optimal cooling performance with limited energy demand

Reduced CAPEX and OPEX

• Decrease >25% CAPEX in new cooling tower setup:– Cost of AQUAFAN cooling tower equipment typically 15% below

conventional systems– Cost of installation (no electric to cooling tower, no vibration switches,

no spring isolators required) can be reduced >10%• Decrease OPEX 25% - 75%

– Lowered energy consumption up to 75% decrease – Cost of maintenance over 75% decrease

Operational Advantages

• Sustainable – Low Energy Consumption• Reliable – Low System Downtime• Durable – Long Operational Life Span

• Worry Free Winter Operations• Low Noise• Explosion proof

Low Energy Consumption

• AQUAFAN cooling system is (at design conditions) on average 10-15% more efficient than conventional counter flow cooling towers3-5 m pump head remaining at top of cooling tower (required for water spread from the nozzles) are conversed into fan energy

• Typical energy saving in (VFD controlled) operations > 30% up to 75%, due to optimal response of the AQUAFAN to:– changing ambient conditions

(Wet Bulb Temperature)– varying cooling requirements

Low System Downtime

• Turbine is the only moving part: runs on Teflon bearing rings, lubricated by the water.

• Modular system allows 24/7-operation• Routine maintenance of the AQUAFAN cooling tower is hardly

necessary.• Only non-corrosive materials are used

Explosion Proof

• No noise from fan motors or gear box• Use of light weight fan (placed below drift eliminators)• Noise Power Level (SPL) < 80 dB and at 10 m < 58 dB

• No electrical parts in the cooling tower• Suitable for high-risk environments

Low Noise

Engineering aspects AQUAFAN

Modular Systems

• Flexible in capacity and construction by a applying a modular system.

• Extension of existing cooling towers is possible by simply adding modules.

• Cell sizes:– 7 ft (prefab): up to 175 m3/hour– 8 ft: up to 200 m3/hour– 10 ft: up to 265 m3/hour– 12 ft: up to 325 m3/hour

• No back-up units required for fail safeoperations, Reduce system footprint

Construction InformationCooling Tower part Material

Turbine Nylon and Stainless Steel

Fan ABS

Structural Parts Pultruted FRP

Cladding FRP

Fasteners Stainless Steel 304

Piping PVC

Drift eliminator PVC

Infill PVC or ABS

Structure

• All FRP with Stainless Steel Fasteners• FRP meets CTI 137 standard with UV protection and 20+ yrs lifetime. Colors on

demand• Basins optional in FRP• Components can be hand carried for easy assembly on site

Architecture Friendly

• Drift eliminator is placed above fan stack: no visible fan cones• The box-shaped the structure is easy to fit into architecture for buildings • Possible variations in cover (= drift eliminator) of the installation offers a pleasant

sight when viewed from above

Construction Turbine

• Light weight non corrosive materials only:– Aluminum Turbine House– Stainless steel Turbine Ring and Hub Plate– ABS / FRP / Alu fan– PA6 molded turbine scoops and nozzles

• All parts can be assembled with simple wrench key• On site repairs within 15 minutes and with 1-cell / lane

shut down• No vibration switches needed (total weight of 12 kg all

centered in hub)

(Plays in Power Point Show)

Water Distribution system• Add-on for critical selections • FRP collector dome guides water over

low pressure spray nozzle system• Guarantee optimal distribution over CT

surface• Dome design variable to water volume

and cell size

Variables in turbine control

• Water pressure / volume• Nozzle size• Number of blades• Angle of blades

All variables extensively tested and documented for selection purposes.

Selection Calculation Approach

• Required exchange surface• Enthalpy balance Optimal L/G ratio• Pressure Losses over different stages of Tower• Check fan diagram for required RPM at air movement level• Select pump pressure and nozzle configuration at given water volume

AQUAFAN+ VariationHybrid with motor backup• For critical water cooling jobs (low approach)• Ensures that all cushion safety margins on hydraulic engineering of the system are

put to use (in energy conversion)Typical: 0.5 bar equals to 25% of fan energy requirement

• Geared motor backup kicks in when needed. Guarantees performance and offers extreme flexibility over a wide cooling spread with minimum energy use.

AQUAFAN+ with VFD control

• When energy savings on the cooling tower become possible and interesting due to variable WBT or thermal load.

• Principles:– VFD on the backup motor with following functions:

• Reduce fan speed to save electricity • Switch off motor support and run fan at water pressure only

• For extended flexibility and savings:– VFD on system pump– VFD's in communication: pump VFD only reduces

volume/pressure when fan VFD is fully scaled down (eg fan powered by water pressure only).

AQUAFAN allows…

• >25% reduction of investments and operational cost of cooling tower operation

• Reduction of your footprint (carbon and physical)• Substantial reduction of maintenance cost on the power system of your

cooling towers

Application Areas

• Diary Industries• Paper Mills• Steel & Non-Ferro Mills• Power Stations• HVAC - Comfort Cooling (hotels-office-

hospitals)• Pharmaceutical Industries• Contaminant removal processes• Chemical and Petrochemical Industries• Casting & Die Casting Industries• Plastics Industries• Mining Industries• Semi Conductor Industries• Sugar Industries

History

• After its development early 60’s applied in NW-Europe for industry purposes

• Successful 80’s and 90’s as WACON-AQUAVEN• Re-engineered since 2012 for higher duty and

bigger cells

Early installations in action

Projects