The Effect of Nanoparticles in Augmentation of Cooling Tower Heat Dissipation

Abstract

Cooling towers with water as the heat transfer medium are commonly used in various industries for rejecting heat from heat sources to the atmosphere. However, there is much room for improving the performance and efficiency of the cooling towers. One of the less investigated ways in using a water based nanofluid as the heat transfer medium. Nanofluids which are base fluids with nanoparticles added to them has many benefits including increasing the heat rejection and increasing the range of the cooling tower. This has the effect of lowering energy usage and reducing water consumption. In this study, the cooling tower heat rejection process in the infill was simulated using water as the base working fluid, and Multi Walled Carbon Nano Tube (MWCNT)-water nanofluids. It was observed that the heat rejection was improved by up to 40% using 0.1wt% of Multi Walled Carbon Nano Tube (MWCNT)-water nanofluid. It was found that there was an improvement in heat rejection. It can reduce energy usage by up to 20% and reduces energy costs using a similar amount. The results indicate that nanofluids may allow existing and future cooling towers to achieve an improvement in heat rejection performance.