12-15: Safe Cooling Tower Winter Operation

Cooling tower freezing may damage the internal or even the structure of the cooling tower with the consequences in repair cost and degrade thermal performance. The paper describes the existing winter protection devices and procedure to avoid freezing damages in cooling tower: natural draft; fan assisted natural draft, mechanical draft, in relation with the air temperature and heat load. It covers the maintenance rules and check list to avoid uncontrolled freezing. It gives procedure for safe cold start up during winter.