There are different types of cooling tower construction. During the design phase, the choice is made according to the application for which the cooling equipment is intended or the system size.
The most frequent variables that can guide the selection are in general as follows:
- thermal power to be dissipated
- nature of the water to be cooled
- processing type
- context in which the installation takes place (civil or industrial)
- special plant requirements, e.g. new plant or replacement of a cooling tower.
Factory-assembled and field erected cooling towers
The size of the system, in terms of thermal output to be dissipated, orients the choice of cooling equipment towards either factory pre-assembled, modular-type evaporative cooling towers, or towards field erected cooling towers, erected directly on site.
Modular cooling towers can be made of metal as well as other anti-corrosion materials such as fiberglass. Field erected cooling towers are generally made of a metal structure or pultruded fiberglass profiles and also in concrete.