Cooling Tower

COOLING TOWER
- Drift Eliminator
COOLING TOWER
 In every cooling tower there is a loss of water to the environment due to the evaporative
cooling process. This evaporation is usually in the form of pure water vapor and presents
no harm to the environment.
 Drift, however, is the undesirable loss of liquid water to the environment via small
droplets that become entrained in the leaving air stream. There, water droplets carry with
them chemicals and minerals, thus impacting the surrounding environment.
Drift Eliminators
 Drift eliminators are designed to capture large

water droplets caught in the cooling tower air
stream. The eliminators prevent the water droplets
and mist from escaping the cooling tower.
Eliminators do this by causing the droplets to
change direction and lose velocity at impact on the
blade walls and fall back into the tower. Efficient
drift eliminators will keep drift losses to less than .
001% of the re-circulating water flow rate.
High Efficiency Drift Eliminators
 Cellular type
 Blade type
 Metal type
 Cassette type
 Fill integrated type
Blade type
BENEFITS
 • Maximum drift capture through efficient design
 • Light weight
 • Easy to handle, lift and remove for inspection and servicing of water distribution
system and heat transfer surface (fill and coil)
 • Nested modules to guarantee watertight seam
 • Corrosion free
Cellular type
BENEFITS
 Maximum drift capture through efficient design
 Nested seam modules
 Corrosion free
 Light weight
 Easy to handle
 The modules are constructed of a series of sinusoidal-shaped corrugated CTI STD-136 PVC sheets that are mechanically
assembled to mating sinusoidal structural waves to form closed cells. These cells force the drift droplets carried in the
leaving airstream to make three distinct changes in direction. This disruption of the air flow creates centrifugal forces on
the drift droplets, forcing them to be captured by inertial impaction and direct interception with the module walls and
thereby removed from the airstream.
 This design is for applications requiring very low drift levels in Counterflow Cooling Towers, Evaporative Cooling
systems, Scrubbers, and High Humidity Cooling systems.
Cellular Drift Eliminators for Counter-Current
Flow
Drift Loss Drift Loss
0.001% recirculation is possible in new installations that are 0.0005% recirculation is possible in new installations that are
properly designed and installed ,fully-nesting design. Retrofitting properly designed and installed and take advantage of fully-nesting
older cooling towers with this drift eliminators will also result in design Retrofitting older cooling towers with Counterflow Drift
significant improvement in drift emissions. Eliminators will also result in significant improvement in drift
emissions.
Blade
Drift Loss
0.002% recirculation (Test Method CTI-HBIK Standard 140)
It use a tightly-spaced series of sinusoidal-shaped,

PVC (or HPVC) blades that force the leaving air
to make 3 distinct changes of direction, resulting
in maximum drift droplet removal.
The blades are held together with one-piece end
caps, forming an assembled module that is
lightweight but strong enough to span up to 6 ft.
(1.8 m) between supports, saving material & labor
costs and reducing air blockage.
Blade
Materials
 Blade Drift Eliminators are available in PVC and HPVC (for high temperatures)
 UV stabilized
 Outstanding resistance to weather exposure
 Nearly impervious to chemical degradation by alkali, acids, greases, fats, oils, and biological attack.
 Excellent fire rating due to their self-extinguishing characteristics.
Metal type
BENEFITS
 Nested seam modules
 For high temperature application
 Rigid structure
Cassette type
BENEFITS
 Robust but easy to lift and to remove

 Maximum drift capture
 Corrosion free media
 Ideal for retrofitting
WIRE-MESH
 WIRE-MESH mist eliminators are by far the most

common. Knitted wire mesh pads remove entrained
liquid droplets from gas streams.

Wire-mesh mist eliminators, such as the one shown
here, are made of knitted metal mesh. Wire-mesh is
the most commonly used method to remove entrained
liquid drops down to 3mm in diameter from a gas
stream with velocities above 1 ft/s. Wire-mesh pads
are most often used in vertical flows, but may also be
used horizontally.
 The popularity of wire-mesh mist eliminators is
due to their efficiency, modest pressure drop,
and low capital and operating costs.
 EQUIPMENT DESIGN
 Impingement mist eliminators remove liquid
droplets from a gas stream by three
methods: inertial impaction, direct interception,
and Brownian diffusion. All three require the
mist to contact the wire mesh surface, where
liquid droplets are separated from the gas stream
and collected, as shown in the animation.
BAFFLE-TYPE

Baffle-type, also known as chevron or vane,
mist eliminators change the direction of the
gas flow in an attempt to force liquid
droplets to collect on the baffle surface. The
pictures below show baffle-type mist
eliminators.
GENERAL INFORMATION
 Baffle-type mist eliminators are useful for both vertical

and horizontal gas flows. Little pressure drop occurs
from baffle-type mist eliminators, making them popular
for processes in which pressure loss must be kept to a
minimum. However, baffle-type mist eliminators are
only effective for droplets larger than 3 micrometers in
diameter and for velocities above 500 ft/min.
EQUIPMENT DESIGN
 Baffle-type mist eliminators force the gas stream to change

direction, resulting in the droplets contacting a surface and
being collected by the same mechanisms as wire-mesh mist
eliminators; inertial impaction, direct impaction or
diffusion. Baffle-type mist eliminators are not as efficient
at collecting very small droplets, but cause little pressure
drop.

Baffle-type mist eliminators are most commonly used for
horizontal gas flows with high flow rates. They are the best
choice when the entrained liquid contains undissolved
solids
 The contacting surface may be in the form
of louvers or blades. Louver-type baffle mist
eliminators consist of between three and six
rows of blades at angles 30° to 60° to the
flow. They are widely used in cooling
towers. Louver baffles are easy to fabricate
and have high capacities, but are ineffective
for droplets smaller than 20mm in diameter.
Blade-type mist eliminators are typically
made of one row of baffles with half an
inch to three inches between blades. The
blade spacing controls the amount of mist
collected: Smaller blade spacing increases
mist removal, but also increases
manufacturing costs and pressure drop.
The blades are six to twelve inches deep in
the direction of gas flow.
USAGE EXAMPLES
 Baffle-type mist eliminators, especially louver-types, are common in cooling towers,

pictured here, where they remove water from the air escaping the tower.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
•Very low pressure drop. Cannot remove droplets smaller than 3mm in
•No clogging, useful for streams with diameter.
entrained solids. Gas stream velocity must be controlled to
•Blade spacing can be manipulated to avoid reentrainment
yield desired results.
•Easy to fabricate.
•High capacity.

Cooling Tower - Drift Eliminator

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Cooling Tower - Drift Eliminator

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 Drift eliminators are designed to capture large

Drift Loss Drift Loss

It use a tightly-spaced series of sinusoidal-shaped,

 Robust but easy to lift and to remove

 WIRE-MESH mist eliminators are by far the most

 Baffle-type mist eliminators are useful for both vertical

 Baffle-type mist eliminators force the gas stream to change

 Baffle-type mist eliminators, especially louver-types, are common in cooling towers,

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