Using the Analogy Approach to Extrapolate Performance Data for Cooling Towers.

Typically, catalog information for cooling towers is available only for a limited range of operating conditions for sea level applications. The information is often not suitable for the selection of a tower at other operating conditions (e.g., high altitude, different ambient temperatures), the evaluation of measured performance, or the simulation over a wide operating range. The analogy approach (Braun et al., 1989) provides a general method for representing the performance of cooling towers over a wide range of conditions. The accuracy of this methodology is 2% compared to catalog values. The methodology is able to extend catalog information to other operating conditions, including water inlet and entering temperatures, wet bulb temperature, air and water flow rates, and altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]