Air2Air® Validation Cell in Operation Next to Wet Only Cooling Cells

Air2Air® condensing technology for wet cooling tower applications was previously investigated by SPX Cooling Technologies under U.S. Department of Energy Grant No. DE-FC26-06NT42725 (Air2Air® Technology to Recover Fresh-Water from the Normal Evaporative Cooling Loss at Coal-Based Thermoelectric Power Plants).  The Air2Air® technology involves contacting warm, wet air from the cooling tower with relatively drier and cooler ambient air.  This is done in an air-to-air heat exchanger made up of plastic sheets with two discreet air pathways.  As the warm, moist air from the tower is cooled, water condenses out and is collected.  This high quality water can be used either as an offset to cooling water or in another application where high quality water is needed, thus offsetting water treatment costs.  The Air2Air® also acts as plume abatement for the cooling tower.

For this project, SPX Cooling Technologies will further enable Air2Air® to become a commercially viable water saving technology by addressing cost issues as they relate to cooling tower superstructure volume, packing design, ducting details, heat transfer efficiency, and watertight wet path seals.

SPX Cooling Technologies will research, design, and develop a more efficient heat transfer pack; watertight wet path seals to enable Air2Air® orientation other than vertical, structure height reduction without compromising performance; and simplify ducting details to reduce construction costs.