Heat rejection devices, including cooling towers, condensers and closed circuit coolers, having side-mounted backward-curved centrifugal fans mounted on top of the device, above a fan plenum instead of a top-mounted axial fan. Heat rejection capability can be easily modified by adding or subtracting fans without impacting unit footprint. Also, the ability to handle higher static pressures allows for the use of a more densely packed heat exchanger in the same footprint unit, which will increase the unit performance.

Cooling arrangement and method for cooling of a heat source. The cooling arrangement comprises a closed loop, a semi-open loop and at least one fan. The closed loop comprises a primary side of a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger receiving a first cooling fluid heated by the heat source, a first air-to-liquid heat exchanger downstream said primary side, and a first pump returning the first cooling fluid to the heat source. The semi-open loop comprises a tank storing a second cooling fluid, a second pump drawing the second cooling fluid from the tank, a secondary side of the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger receiving the second cooling fluid from the second pump, an evaporating pad downstream said secondary side, and an inlet fluidly connected to a source of the second cooling fluid. The at least one fan causes an air flow through the evaporating pad and through the first air-to-liquid heat exchanger.

A wet surface air cooler (WSAC), including a tube bundle having a process medium therein, a first inlet, a nozzle assembly positioned adjacent to the first inlet for spraying water over the tube bundle to cool the process medium, an outlet, a fill section spaced from the tube bundle and positioned directly below the outlet, a second inlet provided in an outer wall of the WSAC and positioned below the fill section, the second inlet being configured to provide air from outside the WSAC to the fill section, a fan assembly for causing cause air to flow through the inlet, then past the tube bundle, to be mixed with air flowing through the second inlet, and out the outlet, and a basin extending an entire width of the WSAC for receiving water sprayed from the nozzle assembly.

Cooling arrangement and method for cooling of a heat source. The cooling arrangement includes a closed loop, a semi-open loop and at least one fan. The closed loop includes a primary side of a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger receiving a first cooling fluid heated by the heat source, a first air-to-liquid heat exchanger downstream the primary side, and a first pump returning the first cooling fluid to the heat source. The semi-open loop includes a tank storing a second cooling fluid, a second pump drawing the second cooling fluid from the tank, a secondary side of the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger receiving the second cooling fluid from the second pump, an evaporating pad downstream said secondary side, and an inlet fluidly connected to a source of the second cooling fluid. The at least one fan causes an air flow through the evaporating pad and through the first air-to-liquid heat exchanger.

A cooling assembly includes a plurality of dry coolers. Each dry cooler has an air intake, an air outtake, a heat exchanger panel for exchanging heat with air pulled into the dry cooler, and a fan rotating about a fan rotation axis for pulling air into the dry cooler and rejecting heated air out of the dry cooler. The heat exchanger panel includes a tubing arrangement for circulating fluid therein. The dry coolers are arranged in a plurality of dry cooler stacks. Each dry cooler stack includes a first dry cooler and a second dry cooler disposed above the first dry cooler. The dry cooler stacks are positioned such that the dry coolers of each dry cooler stack reject heated air into a common heat rejection zone. Each dry cooler is oriented such that the fan rotation axis of the dry cooler is substantially transversal to a vertical axis.

A hybrid wet/dry cooling tower and novel splash fill material are provided. In one embodiment, the cooling tower includes a wet cooling section having a draft fan disposed above the wet section for drawing air through the wet section to cool liquid traversing the wet section. The cooling tower also includes a dry cooling section disposed laterally adjacent the wet section and configured to enable the draft fan to draw air through the dry section. In another embodiment, the dry cooling section has one or more added draft fan(s) for drawing air through the dry section with or without operation of the draft fan disposed above the wet section. In other embodiments, different structures and configurations of plastic splash fill material are described.

A hybrid heat exchanger apparatus having a heat exchanger device with a hot fluid flowing therethrough includes a cooling water distribution system and an air flow mechanism for causing ambient air to flow across the heat exchanger device. The cooling water distribution system distributes evaporative cooling water onto the heat exchanger device to wet only a portion of the heat exchanger device while allowing a remaining portion of the heat exchanger device to be dry. The air flow mechanism causes ambient air to flow across the heat exchanger device to generate hot humid air from the ambient air flowing across the wet portion of the heat exchanger device and hot dry air from the ambient air flowing across the remaining dry portion of the heat exchanger device. Methods are also described.

In one aspect, a heat exchange apparatus is disclosed having a liquid distribution system configured to distribute liquid onto a liquid absorbent material and an airflow generator operable to cause air to flow through the liquid absorbent material and toward an indirect heat exchanger. The heat exchange apparatus includes a controller configured to operate in a dry mode where the controller inhibits the liquid distribution system from distributing liquid onto the liquid absorbent material and a wet mode where the controller causes the liquid distribution system to distribute liquid onto the liquid absorbent material. The controller is further configured to operate at least one of the liquid distribution system and the airflow generator to inhibit drift of liquid from the liquid absorbent material toward the indirect heat exchanger in response to the controller switching from the dry mode to the wet mode.

A hybrid wet/dry cooling tower and novel splash fill material are provided. In one embodiment, the cooling tower includes a wet cooling section having a draft fan disposed above the wet section for drawing air through the wet section to cool liquid traversing the wet section. The cooling tower also includes a dry cooling section disposed laterally adjacent the wet section and configured to enable the draft fan to draw air through the dry section. In another embodiment, the dry cooling section has one or more added draft fan(s) for drawing air through the dry section with or without operation of the draft fan disposed above the wet section. In other embodiments, different structures and configurations of plastic splash fill material are described.

The invention relates to a multi-component air conditioning system that cools air below the pre-treatment wet bulb temperature without the use of a mechanical vapor compression system. A heat exchanger cools air followed by an evaporative cooling process that further cools the air through the vaporization of water. A heat rejection unit removes warm air from the system and cools water that can be recycled into a reservoir. A chamber separation plate can be moved to adjust the capacities of the cooling unit and the heat rejection unit. The flow of water through the system can also be controlled. This allows greater variability of capacity and temperature control.