August 2024

There are a variety of materials used for evaporative cooling equipment, like cooling towers. Some common choices include galvanized steel, 304 stainless steel, and 316 stainless steel. Each material has different corrosion resistance properties; thus, the makeup water quality will affect decisions about material of construction. Water quality is not the only factor affecting the material of construction, but it should be taken into consideration. Water treatment programs are necessary for maximizing heat transfer efficiency and the cooling equipment’s service life. Choosing an effective water

The use of solid chemistry in water treatment will result in lower shipping costs, the elimination of drum disposal, the elimination of chemical spills and the necessity of spill containment, as well as a reduction in required PPE. Smart Shield® solid chemistry water treatment is available for cooling towers, coolers and condensers, and has many advantages over liquid chemistry. Smart Shield® solid chemistry contains a higher percentage of active ingredients than liquid chemistry, resulting in lower shipping costs. Because the product package sizes are much smaller, the chemistry is much more

Effective water treatment works to control scale, corrosion, and microbiological growth within an evaporative cooling system. It also helps to ensure heat transfer efficiency and extend the service life of the equipment. When an evaporative cooling system rejects heat to the atmosphere, only pure water is evaporated. As this occurs, the dissolved ions—naturally occurring in the makeup water source—are left behind. Without proper water treatment, the dissolved ion concentration increases as evaporation continues and, at some point, will reach saturation of the ions, which can lead to scale. The

A minimum flow needs to be maintained in all closed circuit coolers to prevent potential freezing/bursting of the coil(s) during cold weather operation. Also, when the flow falls below a certain threshold it becomes laminar, which will significantly reduce performance during normal operation. The recommended minimum flow for each EVAPCO fluid cooler is located in its respective marketing product brochure. You can find all up-to-date materials in our comprehensive Document Library. Regarding cold weather operation, the most foolproof method to prevent freezing is the use of ethylene or

You can find the coil volume of your closed circuit cooler in 3 places. Each model’s product brochure contains this important information. Visit our comprehensive Document Library to locate up-to-date materials related to your specific fluid cooler. You may also find the coil volume in the project submittal, or within EVAPCO’s selection software, Spectrum. If you do not have access to any of the above or the unit is an older unit and no current brochure is available, please reach out to your local EVAPCO sales representative for more information. Each EVAPCO closed circuit cooler product

Glycol has antifreeze properties that protect coils in a closed circuit cooler from potential freezing during winter operation in northern climates. Glycol solutions are rarely used for closed loop systems in warmer climates, such as Florida or Arizona, unless they are being used as corrosion inhibitors. In general, about half of closed circuit cooler applications use water and about half use glycol. Which is better for a closed loop system and why? Water has superior heat transfer properties compared to propylene or ethylene glycol and is more frequently used in the southern half of the

No, the recirculating pumps supplied on EVAPCO closed circuit coolers are ON/OFF and require full flow to maintain system efficiency and prevent premature scaling of the coil. They are not designed to operate on a variable frequency drive (VFD). Every fluid cooler pump is sized for a set flow rate to adequately wet the coil and provide 100% heat transfer via evaporation from the coil. If a recirculating pump is operated on a VFD at a lower speed and flow rate than required at 100%, not only will the system efficiency decrease, but premature scaling of the coil could occur from continuous

A dry bulb switchover temperature refers to the temperature at which a closed circuit cooler can run fully dry (with just the fans running, without the spray pumps on) and reject 100% of the design heat load. This is an important term in the engineering community as a higher dry bulb switchover temperature results in reduced water consumption throughout the year. Since the process fluid is contained within a steel coil, when ambient conditions are colder than the dry bulb switchover temperature, closed circuit coolers can utilize airflow over the coil to achieve the required heat rejection