Cooling tower systems are designed for one purpose — to remove waste and transfer it into the atmosphere safely. Since there are a few ways to accomplish this task, several different cooling tower types have been developed over the years, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. To help you differentiate between cooling tower systems and find theone that’d work best for your purposes, here are a few of the most common types of cooling towers, and how they work.

Crossflow Cooling Tower Systems.

Crossflow cooling tower systems use a sort of splash fill media, which incoming air flows through, going across the hot water that’s coming from the distribution basins and cooling it as it comes down. These cooling towers are usually more cost-effective, having lower initial and long-term costs, and they’re low-maintenance. The only trouble is that they are more prone to freezing than other types of cooling towers are.

Counterflow Cooling Tower Systems.

Just as the air flows across the water in cross flow cooling tower systems, the air moves vertically up and flows against the distribution system’s water in counterflow cooling towers. Instead of moving across, it moves against it. Counterflow cooling tower systems are usually smaller — more compact — but they are more expensive. They cost more to purchase, and more to operate because they require additional power.

Hyperbolic Cooling Tower Systems.

In hyperbolic cooling tower systems, the air outside the towers is cooler than the air inside, thusly forcing the hotter, moist inside air to travel upwards. Water is sprayed over the fill placed around the lower portion of the tower, and is cooled as the by the natural draft that’s created. These types of cooling towers use a minimum of materials while handling massive projects — like nuclear power plants — but are still structurally strong.

If you have any questions about the different types of cooling towers, feel free to share in the comments.