Cooling tower shutdown

[incontrol]

Just wondering what is involved with Cooling tower shutdown for winter.

[ozone drone]

Shut off the make-up water and drain the basin.

[maxster]

drain down the supply and return lines just to inside the building or to the pumps if there in an adjacent penthouse.wash down the top section troth,remove the belts for winter storage,and if the tower fan is 460 3 phase type covering those bearings and windings won't hurt.

[sigma]

Don’t forget to drain make up water lines also.
If there are long horizontal runs where water can be
trapped, use wet vac to remove it.
I learned this the hard way. Sweating 2 inch
pipe on a windy spring day is not fun.

[hvac_czar]

I like to pump some glycol into any low spots in the piping, also if the towers use spray pumps I remove them to a dry/warm area for the winter. Most mfgs. include rubber couplings in the spray lines for this purpose and I add a waterproof plug setup with a whip to make it fast.

[jeep6275]

hey guys a little off the subject but there is a new grocery store going in, in my town and it is all water cooled and they are running a cooling tower. what will they do in the winter? i am in the midwest so 0 temp is not uncommon. surely they would not use city water in the winter.

[smilies]

Originally posted by jeep6275
hey guys a little off the subject but there is a new grocery store going in, in my town and it is all water cooled and they are running a cooling tower. what will they do in the winter? i am in the midwest so 0 temp is not uncommon. surely they would not use city water in the winter.

The heat from the racks will keep the water fluid from the circ pump churning it. The fan will cycle off of the water temp. The water lines probably have heat tape.

[jeep6275]

so no antifreeze?

[smilies]

We have accounts in the northern part of our state with water towers. We do not use any antifreeze or glycol in 'em. Going down the drain and all.

[viceman]

you need sump heaters and fan control. this will not guarantee you won't end up with icing. antifreeze will have serious effects on water treatment.

[jogas]

Originally posted by maxster
drain down the supply and return lines just to inside the building or to the pumps if there in an adjacent penthouse.wash down the top section troth,remove the belts for winter storage,and if the tower fan is 460 3 phase type covering those bearings and windings won't hurt.

I gotta disagree.
In Northeast Ohio, I saw a tower system drained to inside the building. That year (1982?) we had a BAD cold spell.
In the equipment room, 4" galvanized pipe froze and pulled out of threaded elbows. 8 water-cooled condensors froze.
It was ugly.

Drain the whole system.
Put pump-aid in the tower pump.
Shut off and drain the makeup line to the tower or sump.
Remove drain plugs in tower sump if possible.
Jogas

[Carrene #2]

The chemical treatment company can inform you of the process, for dealing with a condenser water lay-up for the winter, wet or dry shutdown. You will have to drain anything that may freeze if doing a wet shutdown.
Most customers I have, will do an online cleaning before shutdown.

[hcr]

if it is not being used at all and doesnt have sump heaters it can be drained but you need to make shure that you turn off chiller (equipment)AND POST THAT EQUIPMENT IS OFF .MUST MAKE SHURE PUMP CANOT RUN AND SUMP HEATER IF HAS ONE IS OFF .AND CONDENSORS CAN BE DRAINED ONLY IF YOU ARE SHURE OF ALL THE ABOVE IS DONE . AND IF IT IS A FLUID COOLER YOU MIGHT WONT TO MAKE SHURE NO BUILDING H. P. ORE EQUIPMENT ARE BEING COOLED .I HOPE THIS HELPS .