Hybrid wet/dry cooling tower and improved fill material for cooling tower

Abstract

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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cooling tower comprising,
 a support frame structure defining a first interior volume and a second interior volume;   a fluid distribution system configured to distribute fluid within the first and second interior volumes defined by the support frame;   a wet cooling section associated with the first interior volume, the wet cooling section comprising,
 heat transfer material disposed within the first interior volume defined by the support frame for receiving fluid from the fluid distribution system, and 
 first air moving equipment for causing air to move around the heat transfer material; and 
   a dry cooling section associated with the second interior volume and disposed laterally adjacent the wet cooling section, the dry cooling section comprising coils for receiving fluid from the fluid distribution system.   
     
     
         2 . The cooling tower in accordance with  claim 1  wherein the first coils comprise:
 a first coil section disposed laterally adjacent a first side of the wet cooling section; and 
 a second coil section disposed laterally adjacent a second side of the wet cooling section. 
 
     
     
         3 . The cooling tower in accordance with  claim 1  further comprising:
 second air moving equipment for causing air to move around the coils within the second interior volume. 
 
     
     
         4 . A cooling tower comprising,
 a support frame structure defining a first interior volume and a second interior volume;   a fluid distribution system to distribute fluid within the first and second interior volumes defined by the support frame;   a wet cooling section associated with the first interior volume, the wet cooling section comprising,
 heat transfer material within the first interior volume defined by the support frame for receiving fluid from the fluid distribution system; 
   a dry cooling section associated with the second interior volume and disposed laterally adjacent the wet cooling section, the dry cooling section comprising,
 a first set of coils disposed laterally adjacent a first side of the wet cooling section and for receiving fluid from the fluid distribution system, and 
 a second set of coils disposed laterally adjacent a second side of the wet cooling section and for receiving fluid from the fluid distribution system; and 
   air moving equipment for causing air to move around at least a one of the heat transfer material, the first set of coils and the second set of coils.   
     
     
         5 . The cooling tower in accordance with  claim 4  wherein the air moving equipment comprises a least one damper for controlling air flow. 
     
     
         6 . The cooling tower in accordance with  claim 4  wherein the air moving equipment comprises:
 a first fan disposed above the wet cooling section and the dry cooling section; 
 second air moving equipment disposed above at least one of the first or second sets of coils and below the first fan. 
 
     
     
         7 . The cooling tower in accordance with  claim 6  wherein the second air moving equipment comprises:
 a second fan disposed above the first set of coils and below the first fan; and 
 a third fan disposed above the second set of coils and below the first fan. 
 
     
     
         8 . A splash bar for use in a cooling tower, the splash bar comprising:
 a rectangular splash bar body in a form of a lattice structure having a plurality of openings formed therethrough, the splash bar body defining a hollow passageway extending therethrough in a lengthwise direction, the splash bar body further comprising,
 a top portion having a mesh structure with a first grid pattern, 
 a bottom portion having a mesh structure with a second grid pattern and disposed generally opposite the top portion, 
 a pair of opposing side portions interconnecting respective ones of the bottom and top portions, 
 wherein the top mesh surface structure of the top portion is generally concave and arcuate-shaped, and 
 wherein the first grid pattern of the top portion is offset from second grid pattern of the bottom portion.