Cooling tower

Abstract

A dew point cooling tower system utilizes cooled water produced by the system to reduce the wet bulb temperature of ambient air before the ambient air is directed through fill in the cooling tower.

1 . A cooling tower system to reduce the temperature of a coolant to below the wet bulb temperature of ambient air and to approach the dew point of ambient air, comprising
 a) a cooling tower with a housing and fill;   b) a system to direct a liquid coolant through said fill;   c) an air-to-water heat exchanger to sensibly cool ambient air to produce cooled air having a wet bulb temperature less than the wet bulb temperature of ambient air, said heat exchanger having an outlet directing air into the cooling tower inlet through which air exists after passing through said heat exchanger;   d) a system to direct cooled air from said heat exchanger through said fill to produce chilled liquid coolant having a temperature below said wet bulb temperature of the ambient air; and   e) a system to direct said chilled liquid coolant from said cooling tower to said air-to-water heat exchanger to sensibly cool ambient air to a wet bulb temperature less than the wet bulb temperature of ambient air.   
   
   
       2 . The cooling tower system of  claim 1  wherein said heat exchanger comprises an adhesively bonded plate gas-to-liquid heat exchanger comprising a plurality of spaced apart hollow heat transfer units each comprised of a pair of spaced apart metal plates adjoined by adhesive polymer strips to form the boundaries of a multi-pass channel intermediate said pair of plates for a pressurized liquid to flow through said channel to transfer heat through said plates and between said liquid and a gas flowing intermediate said spaced apart units. 
   
   
       3 . The cooling tower system of  claim 1  wherein said cooling tower has an approach temperature and an air to water heat exchanger where the sum of the approach temperatures is equal to or less than the difference between the dry bulb temperature and wet bulb temperature of air at said outlet of said heat exchanger.