GB1573843A

GB1573843A - Cooling towers

Info

Publication number: GB1573843A
Application number: GB1303577A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Balcke Duerr AG
Current assignee: Balcke Duerr AG
Priority date: 1976-05-03
Filing date: 1977-03-29
Publication date: 1980-08-28
Also published as: FR2350568B3; IT1084909B; BR7700831A; ES236215U; ES236215Y; DE2619407A1; DE2619407C3; BE851189A; FR2350568A1; DE2619407B2; JPS52133152A

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO COOLING TOWERS (71) We, BALCKE-D(YRR AKTIEN GESELLSCHAFT, a German body corporate, of Homberger Strasse 2, 4030 Ratingen, West Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to trickle plates for wet cooling towers or combined wet and dry cooling towers of contra-or cross-flow construction and to cooling towers incorporating such plates.

Trickle plates are manufactured of metal or preferably of asbestos cement or synthetic resin and are subjected to a flow of cooling air either in contra-flow or in cross-flow to the trickle direction of the cooling water.

According to the present invention there is provided a trickle plate lying in a vertical or substantially vertical plane and carrying two liquid-catching means at or adjacent a lower edge thereof, one said liquid-catching means being disposed to catch liquid which has trickled over one face of the plate and the other liquid-catching means being arranged to catch liquid which has trickled over the other face.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a wet cooling tower or combined wet and dry cooling tower for operation in contra-flow or cross-flow arrangements, comprising an assembly of corrugated trickle plates, each plate lying in a substantially vertical plane, the corrugations and the inter-spac- ing relative to a neighbouring similar trickle plate being so arranged that the water film derived from a distributing device disposed above the trickle plate assembly distributes the cooling water over both surfaces of each trickle plate and each trickle plate carrying at or adjacent its lower end two water-catching means, each of which serves to catch water which has trickled over a respective one face of the plate.

Trickle plates, trickle plate assemblies and a cooling tower embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cross-section of a first embodiment of trickle plates in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a cross-section of a second embodiment; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a part of a trickle plate assembly, which has been constructed from the trickle plates of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an illustration of a fragment of a contra^flow cooling tower incorporating, as a lower layer, the assembly of Figure 3; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a crossflow cooling tower with two stages, which are constructed of trickle plate assemblies incorporating the plates of Figure 2.

The two embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of trickle plates 1 show that the trickle plates 1 are sinuous and extend substantially vertically. The corrugations and the interspacing of the trickle plates 1 are so arranged that the water supplied to the trickle plates 1, which is distributed from above the trickle plates 1 by a distributing device (not shown) flows over both faces of each trickle plate and trickles downwardly as a substantially equally thick film of water. The spacing of the plates is such that no drops of water can fall directly through the trickle plates without becoming part of the films of water on the plates.

In the embodiment of Figure 1, at the lower end of each trickle plate on both faces a watercatching gutter 2, is provided in which the respective water film is caught and led away laterally. Both water-catching gutters 2 have a trough-like cross-section and are joined together at the lower end edge of the corresponding trickle plate 1. By this means it is possible to construct both water catching gutters 2 rigidly with the trickle plate 1.

In the embodiment of Figure 2, at the lower end edge of each trickle plate 1 a watercatching gutter 3 is arranged which is trough like and is curved outwardly on one side and accumulates the water film from one surface of the trickle plate 1. On the other face of the trickle plate 1, a further water-catching gutter 4 is arranged above the lowermost corrugation. In this embodiment, which is likewise a one-piece construction with the water-catching gutters 3 and 4 and the trickle plate 1, a lower pressure loss for the cooling air is achieved when this is directed in contra-flow to the water.

A trickle plate assembly 5, is illustrated in Figure 3, which is built up from trickle plates 1 according to Figure 1, and is supported by two transverse supports or beams 6 and 7. The seating surface of the rear transverse support 6 lies slightly higher than that of the front transverse support 7, so that the water-collect ing gutters 2 of the trickle plates 1 have a fall in the forwards direction. The cooling water leaving from the forward edge of the trickle plate assembly 5 is accumulated in a water discharge channel 8 which is formed in the front transverse support 7.

In order to accumulate cooling water falling off the lower end of the trickle plate assembly according to Figure 4, the lower layer of multi-layers of trickle plate assemblies is formed in accordance with the trickle plate assembly of Figure 3. This trickle plate assembly 5 accumulates water by means of the water-catching gutters 2 or 3 and 4 at the lower end edge of the trickle plates 1 and also the corresponding cooling water, which is fed to the trickle plate assembly 5 by a flat plate assembly 9 lying above it. The assembly 9 consists of arbitrarily arranged flat trickle plates 9a. In the illustrated example, the cooling air flows in contra-flow to the cooling water, as is indicated by an arrow. The trickle plates 9a of the assembly 9 are carried approximately at mid-height by transverse beams 9b.

Figure 5 shows a cross-flow cooling tower, which consists of two layers of trickle plate assemblies 5. The trickle plate assemblies 5 of each layer are supported on transverse supports 6 and 7, of which the front transverse support 7 is formed with a water discharge channel 8. It is thus possible to provide for discharge of cooling water from the assemblies layer by layer. A distributing device 10 for the cooling water consists of a trough 10a of U-section, with apertures 10b formed therein, from which cooling water can leave downwardly. This cooling water passes to spray plates 10c which are spaced below the apertures 10b and effect an even distribution of the cooling water over the whole upper inlet area of the trickle plate assembly 5.The flow over the trickle plate assembly 5 is effected transversely to the flow direction of the cooling water, and is indicated by the arrow in Figure 5.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A trickle plate lying in a vertical or sub stantially vertical plane and carrying two liquid-catching means at or adjacent a lower edge thereof, one said liquid-catching means being disposed to catch liquid which has trickled over one face of the plate and the other liquid-catching means being arranged to catch liquid which has trickled over the other face.

2. A wet cooling tower or combined wet and dry cooling tower for operation in contra flow or cross-flow arrangements, comprising an assembly of corrugated trickle plates, each plate lying in a substantially vertical plane, the corrugations and the inter-spacing relative to a neighbouring similar trickle plate being so arranged that the water film derived from a distributing device disposed above the trickle plate assembly distributes the cooling water over both surfaces of each trickle plate and each trickle plate carrying at or adjacent its lower end two water-catching means, each of which serves to catch water which has trickled over a respective one face of the plate.

3. A cooling tower according to claim 2 wherein the two water-catching means of each plate are vertically spaced on that plate.

4. A cooling tower according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein at least one water-catching means of each plate is integral or rigid with the trickle plate.

5. A cooling tower according to any one of claims 2 to 4 comprising two transverse supports carrying the two ends of a said trickle plate assembly, at least one support being provided with a horizontal water discharge channel to receive water from the water-catching means of that assembly.

6. A cooling tower according to claim 5, wherein the trickle plate assembly is inclined in relation to said water-discharge channel so that the water-catching means have a fall adequate to drain water accumulated thereby.

7. A cooling tower according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein one said transverse support is formed in one piece as a water discharge channel.

8. A trickle plate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.

9. A trickle plate assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A cooling tower incorporating trickle plates substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. like and is curved outwardly on one side and accumulates the water film from one surface of the trickle plate 1. On the other face of the trickle plate 1, a further water-catching gutter 4 is arranged above the lowermost corrugation. In this embodiment, which is likewise a one-piece construction with the water-catching gutters 3 and 4 and the trickle plate 1, a lower pressure loss for the cooling air is achieved when this is directed in contra-flow to the water. A trickle plate assembly 5, is illustrated in Figure 3, which is built up from trickle plates 1 according to Figure 1, and is supported by two transverse supports or beams 6 and 7. The seating surface of the rear transverse support 6 lies slightly higher than that of the front transverse support 7, so that the water-collect ing gutters 2 of the trickle plates 1 have a fall in the forwards direction. The cooling water leaving from the forward edge of the trickle plate assembly 5 is accumulated in a water discharge channel 8 which is formed in the front transverse support 7. In order to accumulate cooling water falling off the lower end of the trickle plate assembly according to Figure 4, the lower layer of multi-layers of trickle plate assemblies is formed in accordance with the trickle plate assembly of Figure 3. This trickle plate assembly 5 accumulates water by means of the water-catching gutters 2 or 3 and 4 at the lower end edge of the trickle plates 1 and also the corresponding cooling water, which is fed to the trickle plate assembly 5 by a flat plate assembly 9 lying above it. The assembly 9 consists of arbitrarily arranged flat trickle plates 9a. In the illustrated example, the cooling air flows in contra-flow to the cooling water, as is indicated by an arrow. The trickle plates 9a of the assembly 9 are carried approximately at mid-height by transverse beams 9b. Figure 5 shows a cross-flow cooling tower, which consists of two layers of trickle plate assemblies 5. The trickle plate assemblies 5 of each layer are supported on transverse supports 6 and 7, of which the front transverse support 7 is formed with a water discharge channel 8. It is thus possible to provide for discharge of cooling water from the assemblies layer by layer. A distributing device 10 for the cooling water consists of a trough 10a of U-section, with apertures 10b formed therein, from which cooling water can leave downwardly. This cooling water passes to spray plates 10c which are spaced below the apertures 10b and effect an even distribution of the cooling water over the whole upper inlet area of the trickle plate assembly 5.The flow over the trickle plate assembly 5 is effected transversely to the flow direction of the cooling water, and is indicated by the arrow in Figure 5. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A trickle plate lying in a vertical or sub stantially vertical plane and carrying two liquid-catching means at or adjacent a lower edge thereof, one said liquid-catching means being disposed to catch liquid which has trickled over one face of the plate and the other liquid-catching means being arranged to catch liquid which has trickled over the other face.