Performance prediction of seawater shower cooling towers

The salt content in seawater results in many considerable engineering problems, including salt deposition, corrosion, and fill blockage. Seawater cooling towers are a promising potential remedy, but the lack of progress in cooling tower design technology calls for a more systematic investigation into this topic. In this study, a shower cooling tower without packing was used in seawater circulating cooling system, and a complete mathematical model of the shower cooling tower's performance was developed. The model describes the experimental data with an accuracy of about 5%. This study also conducted a comparative prediction of the outlet water temperature between freshwater and seawater in a shower cooling tower; results showed that cooling performance decreases as inlet water temperature increases. The results also show that cooling performance degrades as droplet diameter and salt concentration increase. When the air-to-water ratio increases, cooling efficiency improves, and when seawater concentration is reduced, air moisture increases at a higher rate. These results altogether provide a valuable theoretical basis for improving seawater cycling and cooling technologies in the future.