09-20: Affecting Test Uncertainty

The CTI ATC-105 test codes give us guidance to conduct a cooling tower thermal performance test with results having a reasonable uncertainty. A test configuration with a different number of measurements and instrumentation can lead to changes in the uncertainty and the resultant calculated tower capability. This presentation will describe these changes for a project with water-flow measurements in the main line and on individual risers plus installation of additional wet bulb sensors beyond the code required minimum. The significance of sensitivity variation among the test measurement parameters as they related to tower capability is also discussed.