LV-17-C033 -- Energy Cost of Architectural Walls around a Cooling Tower and Mitigation Measures

This work estimates excess energy usage when cooling tower fan operates at higher speeds to compensate for the entrainment and recirculation ofexhaust air caused by architectural walls around a cooling tower with no exhaust stack. Air properties (i.e. temperature and relative humidity) forboth near the cooling tower, i.e. inside the walls, and away from it, i.e. outside the walls (air properties of free stream air) were monitored andanalyzed. Analysis shows that 18% excess energy was used to overcome this increase in entering air humidity.