The paper contains a review of the major design differences between closed-circuit cooling towers in which the air and water streams flow essentially parallel and other more conventional field erected cooling products used for steam condensing, water cooling and other heat rejection applications. Guidelines for the selection of composite and non-composite materials of construction are presented. The structural design considerations for dead, wind and vibrational loads and those required for field erection are offered based on the experience obtained by constructing what is believed to be the world’s first fiberglass, field built, closed-circuit cooling tower. The technical review of the various design considerations is supplemented by the author’s practical experience with installations constructed of pultruded fiberglass composites, steel and concrete which provides a unique practical perspective to this paper.
Keywords: closed-circuit cooling tower, fiberglass, composite materials, parallel flow, countefflow, pultrusion, structural design, vibration, surface veil, polyester, vinylester