Chiller plant?

Question

we have a chiller plant that was made in 1986. We already know the chillers have copper in them but we were wondering if the cooling towers did as well. They are 150 tons.

Answer 1

Copper is certainly a common use for the condensing of the water, but aluminum may also be used.

It is hard to tell, you would need to contact the manufacturer.

Answer 2

It's very unlikely that there is significant copper in your cooling tower.  Typical materials are galvanized steel, carbon steel coated with polymer anti-corrosion films of various compositions, fiberglass, or stainless depending on the application.  Since the heat transfer occurs due to evaporation, there is no incentive to use a highly thermally conductive material like copper. There is no heat exchange surface in a cooling tower, since there is only one fluid (water).  Your chiller on the other hand has two different fluids: a heat transfer fluid (like water or glycol that circulate thru your facility) and a refrigerant (like R-134a or Freon that stays in the machine).  These two fluids are physically seperated and exchange heat via a (you guessed it) heat exchanger. Actually there's 2 heat exchangers: an evaporator and a condenser, but hey this isn't a thesis on refigeration cycles...! Good luck.

Answer 3

If you know the name of the manufacturer of the cooling tower you can contact them with either the serial number or model number and they can tell you about the materials of construction... can probably also send you drawings if you need/want them.

There should be a nameplate somewhere on the cooling tower