The industrial world brings with it a number of complexities that, while requiring basic solution formulae generally require larger than life structural elements in which to accomplish them. When it comes to cooling methods, there are quite a variety of options peculiar to each industrial environment that take into consideration the size and scope of an operation in order to facilitate the appropriate solution. This article will briefly outline some of the cooling methods utilized in the industrial markets.
Air Cooling Units
Relying on thermodynamics, air cooling is a process of dissipating heat by transferring the energy from the heated source into the air surrounding it. Successful cooling depends upon the surrounding air temperature being lower than that of the unit being cooled. The most familiar of air cooled devices is the internal combustion engine (ICE), most effectively applied to aircraft. Automobiles are predominately liquid cooled, yet still utilize the passing air through the radiator or a heat exchanger.
Other machines that rely on air cooling are gas turbine engines, such as turbofans or turbo jets; computer electronics, needing to keep CPUs cool as a result of the heat generated by their processors; and HVAC units that rely on fans to force the air in order to keep large industrial locations cool.
Heat Exchanger
A method of efficiently transferring heat from one fluid to another is known as a heat exchanger. This is seen in air conditioning systems, chemical plants, power stations, refrigeration, space heating, an automobile’s radiator, and more.
The types of heat exchanger flow are outlined as follows:
• Parallel flow – fluids flow in the same direction
• Cross flow – fluids flow at right angles to one another
• Counter flow – fluids flow opposite to one another
Industrial Cooling Towers
When considering the scope of industrial plants such as food processing plants, refineries and petro chemical plants, power plants, semi-conductor plants, natural gas processing plants, just to name a few, it is no surprise to learn that the cooling requirements become as large as their endeavors. Industrial cooling towers are massive in order to accommodate the circulation rate of hundreds of thousands of gallons of cooling water per minute.
Oil Cooling
Similar to air cooling that uses a radiator, oil cooling allows heat to dissipate as it infiltrates a system’s tubes and reservoirs forcibly drawing the heat from the machinery it is cooling. The oil continues to cycle safely as it has a much higher boiling point and reduces the risk of explosion that can occur with water.
Next time a journey takes a course that passes by one of these installations, the traveler need only look around to see the size of these mammoth cooling systems to get an idea of what it takes to keep such grand endeavors operating in a manner that is cool, calm and collected.
If you are looking for industrial cooling, Allied Heat Transfer specialize in the design, production and servicing of industrial heat transfer equipment including industrial fans, oil coolers, radiators, air coolers, plate heat exchangers and much more.
