1. Introducing AQUAFAN
Motorless Hydro-Powered Cooling Tower Technology

2. The AQUAFAN principle
Good slide to introduce the watco group’s activities.

3. Main Characteristics
Uses system pressure of the cooling water to drive the fan.
No fan motor, gear box or traditional bearings (lubrication by water and Teflon bearing ring).
System pump powers the fan via high-efficiency turbine.
Forced Draft Cooling Tower Principle:
Moving water and air are in contact in the tower to allow cooling through evaporation of a small %-age of the water.
The tower infill increases retention time of water in the tower to facilitate the evaporation. Electric pumps and fan motors are required in conventional systems.

4. Principles of Operation
Water pressure from system pump drives the fan
Water pressure varies with cooling requirements
Fan draws required air quantities over infill of the tower
Water exiting the turbine evenly distributed over the infill
Optimal cooling performance with limited energy demand

5. Reduced CAPEX and OPEX
Decrease >25% CAPEX in new cooling tower setup:
Cost of AQUAFAN cooling tower equipment typically 15% below conventional systems
Cost of installation (no electric to cooling tower, no vibration switches, no spring isolators required) can be reduced >10%
Decrease OPEX 25% - 75%
Lowered energy consumption up to 75% decrease
Cost of maintenance over 75% decrease

6. Operational Advantages
Sustainable – Low Energy Consumption
Reliable – Low System Downtime
Durable – Long Operational Life Span
Worry Free Winter Operations
Low Noise
Explosion proof

7. Low Energy Consumption
AQUAFAN cooling system is (at design conditions) on average 10-15% more efficient than conventional counter flow cooling towers 3-5 m pump head remaining at top of cooling tower (required for water spread from the nozzles) are conversed into fan energy
Typical energy saving in (VFD controlled) operations > 30% up to 75%, due to optimal response of the AQUAFAN to:
changing ambient conditions (Wet Bulb Temperature)
varying cooling requirements

8. Low System Downtime
Turbine is the only moving part: runs on Teflon bearing rings, lubricated by the water.
Modular system allows 24/7-operation
Routine maintenance of the AQUAFAN cooling tower is hardly necessary.
Only non-corrosive materials are used

9. Low Noise Explosion Proof No noise from fan motors or gear box
Use of light weight fan (placed below drift eliminators)
Noise Power Level (SPL) < 80 dB and at 10 m < 58 dB
No electrical parts in the cooling tower
Suitable for high-risk environments
Explosion Proof

10. Engineering aspects AQUAFAN

11. Modular Systems
Flexible in capacity and construction by a applying a modular system.
Extension of existing cooling towers is possible by simply adding modules.
Cell sizes:
7 ft (prefab): up to 175 m3/hour
8 ft: up to 200 m3/hour
10 ft: up to 265 m3/hour
12 ft: up to 325 m3/hour
No back-up units required for fail safe operations, Reduce system footprint

12. Construction Information
Cooling Tower part
Material
Turbine
Nylon and Stainless Steel
Fan
ABS
Structural Parts
Pultruted FRP
Cladding
FRP
Fasteners
Stainless Steel 304
Piping
PVC
Drift eliminator
Infill
PVC or ABS

13. Structure All FRP with Stainless Steel Fasteners
FRP meets CTI 137 standard with UV protection and 20+ yrs lifetime. Colors on demand
Basins optional in FRP
Components can be hand carried for easy assembly on site

14. Architecture Friendly
Drift eliminator is placed above fan stack: no visible fan cones
The box-shaped the structure is easy to fit into architecture for buildings
Possible variations in cover (= drift eliminator) of the installation offers a pleasant sight when viewed from above

15. Construction Turbine Light weight non corrosive materials only:
Aluminum Turbine House
Stainless steel Turbine Ring and Hub Plate
ABS / FRP / Alu fan
PA6 molded turbine scoops and nozzles
All parts can be assembled with simple wrench key
On site repairs within 15 minutes and with 1-cell / lane shut down
No vibration switches needed (total weight of 12 kg all centered in hub)
(Plays in Power Point Show)

16. Water Distribution system
Add-on for critical selections
FRP collector dome guides water over low pressure spray nozzle system
Guarantee optimal distribution over CT surface
Dome design variable to water volume and cell size

17. Variables in turbine control
Water pressure / volume
Nozzle size
Number of blades
Angle of blades
All variables extensively tested and documented for selection purposes.

18. Selection Calculation Approach
Required exchange surface
Enthalpy balance  Optimal L/G ratio
Pressure Losses over different stages of Tower
Check fan diagram for required RPM at air movement level
Select pump pressure and nozzle configuration at given water volume

19. AQUAFAN+ Variation Hybrid with motor backup
For critical water cooling jobs (low approach)
Ensures that all cushion safety margins on hydraulic engineering of the system are put to use (in energy conversion)
Typical: 0.5 bar equals to 25% of fan energy requirement
Geared motor backup kicks in when needed. Guarantees performance and offers extreme flexibility over a wide cooling spread with minimum energy use.

20. AQUAFAN+ with VFD control
When energy savings on the cooling tower become possible and interesting due to variable WBT or thermal load.
Principles:
VFD on the backup motor with following functions:
Reduce fan speed to save electricity
Switch off motor support and run fan at water pressure only
For extended flexibility and savings:
VFD on system pump
VFD's in communication: pump VFD only reduces volume/pressure when fan VFD is fully scaled down (eg fan powered by water pressure only).

21. AQUAFAN allows…
>25% reduction of investments and operational cost of cooling tower operation
Reduction of your footprint (carbon and physical)
Substantial reduction of maintenance cost on the power system of your cooling towers

22. Application Areas Diary Industries Paper Mills Steel & Non-Ferro Mills
Power Stations
HVAC - Comfort Cooling (hotels-office-hospitals)
Pharmaceutical Industries
Contaminant removal processes
Chemical and Petrochemical Industries
Casting & Die Casting Industries
Plastics Industries
Mining Industries
Semi Conductor Industries
Sugar Industries

23. History
After its development early 60’s applied in NW-Europe for industry purposes
Successful 80’s and 90’s as WACON-AQUAVEN
Re-engineered since 2012 for higher duty and bigger cells
Early installations in action

24. Projects