Equipment: Cooling Tower

Medium: H₂, Water

Quantity: 4 Units

Project Description

Four sets of  cooling towers were put into operation for the new hydrogen production plant of . in North America. The equipment is mainly used for circulating water cooling and heat dissipation of process units and hydrogen delivery pipelines throughout the hydrogen production process. Tailored to North America’s typical climate features including extreme cold in winter, hot and humid summers and large annual temperature differences, the equipment is designed, manufactured and inspected in strict accordance with CSA B51 pressure vessel standards, CRN special equipment registration regulations and local industrial environmental protection rules. With reliable low-temperature operation capability, precise temperature control, explosion-proof safety design and long-term anti-corrosion performance, the cooling towers ensure the safe, efficient and low-carbon continuous operation of the entire hydrogen production system, helping the client achieve the goals of green hydrogen production, stable mass production and cost reduction.

Situation

North America is one of the world’s top ten hydrogen producers. Leveraging abundant clean energy such as wind and hydropower as well as mature carbon capture technology, North America is vigorously developing green hydrogen and blue hydrogen industries and building large-scale hydrogen production bases across the country to advance the 2050 net-zero emission target. Hydrogen has become a core industry for national energy transformation and export trade. A large amount of waste heat is generated during the whole process of water electrolysis for hydrogen production, hydrogen purification and transportation. As the core heat dissipation equipment, industrial cooling towers are essential to ensure the full-load operation of hydrogen production lines.

The client of this project, is a local high-tech enterprise focusing on clean energy in North America. Its newly built large-scale hydrogen production plant has put forward high requirements for the cooling system. Since hydrogen is a flammable and explosive dangerous gas, North America enforces CSA B51 pressure vessel standards and mandatory CRN registration for special equipment applied in hydrogen-related scenarios. Strict requirements are imposed on explosion-proof grade, sealing performance, structural strength, welding technology and vibration resistance. All pressure-bearing and ventilation equipment must pass the inspection and certification of local authoritative institutions before operation.

North America features diverse regional climates and extreme seasonal working conditions. The inland prairie provinces experience extremely cold winters with temperatures dropping to -25℃ ~ -30℃, which may cause freezing and cracking of cooling water pipelines, valves and fans. Southern regions such as Ontario and Quebec suffer from hot and humid summers with ambient temperature exceeding 38℃, easily leading to reduced cooling efficiency and increased equipment energy consumption. In addition, frequent snowstorms and strong convective weather in some areas set higher standards for wind resistance, snow load resistance and structural stability of equipment. Traditional cooling towers cannot meet the multiple requirements of extreme cold resistance, high temperature efficiency, explosion-proof safety and year-round stable operation, which are the major difficulties of this project.

Task

The project required an integrated cooling system with four parallel cooling towers to adapt to North America’s extreme climate and hydrogen-related safety specifications. The core challenges are as follows:

• Explosion-proof and safety sealing for hydrogen scenarios: All fans, motors and electrical control systems must meet high explosion-proof standards. The sealing structure of water and air pipelines shall eliminate leakage risks and comply with Canadian CSA and CRN safety regulations.

• All-weather anti-freeze operation in extreme cold: In winter at -30℃, water pipelines, water collection tanks, valves and pipes shall not freeze and damage during equipment shutdown and low-load operation, ensuring startup at any time under low temperature conditions.

• High-efficiency heat dissipation in hot summer: Maintain stable cooling capacity under hot and humid environment above 38℃, accurately control the water temperature of hydrogen production process, and avoid reduced electrolysis efficiency and equipment overheating caused by insufficient heat dissipation.

• Weather resistance, anti-corrosion and snow/wind resistance: Resist wind and snow impact and corrosion caused by alternating dry and wet conditions all year round. The equipment frame, fillers and fan structure shall have high mechanical strength and rust resistance for outdoor all-weather operation.

• Stable coordination of multiple parallel units: Four cooling towers operate in parallel to serve the entire hydrogen production line. It is required to realize balanced air volume, water pressure and water temperature as well as dynamic load distribution, so as to prevent the failure of a single unit from affecting the continuous production of the whole plant.

Standardized Action

The cronx heat transfer expert team conducted in-depth research on Canadian special equipment regulations, hydrogen industry safety codes and differentiated climate characteristics of different regions. Combined with the cooling parameters of hydrogen production process, we customized a complete solution of cooling towers to solve all difficulties:

• Hydrogen-dedicated explosion-proof structure compliant with Canadian standards All electrical components of the equipment adopt IP55 high-protection explosion-proof motors and explosion-proof electric control boxes to fully meet the safety requirements of hydrogen scenarios. The water pipeline adopts thickened seamless pipes, and key welds are manufactured with high-standard welding technology. All pressure-bearing components have passed pressure resistance and tightness tests. All drawings, nameplates and test documents are compiled in accordance with CSA B51 and CRN specifications, and successfully passed the review of Canadian local special equipment certification authorities.

• Combined anti-freeze design for the whole system in extreme cold Drawing on mature anti-freeze technology for cold regions, electric heating heaters are built into water collection tanks, automatic drain valves are installed at the lowest points of pipelines, and the tower body and external pipelines are covered with thick insulation layers. The equipment is equipped with a dual wet-dry operation mode. The spray system can be shut down in winter to switch to pure air cooling mode, completely eliminating the hidden danger of pipeline freezing and supporting standby and operation at -30℃ low temperature.

• Enhanced heat exchange and intelligent temperature control for high temperature The structure of cooling tower fillers and ventilation flow channels are optimized to expand the heat exchange area and improve heat dissipation efficiency in hot and humid environment. Equipped with a variable frequency air volume regulation system, the fan speed can be automatically adjusted according to the water temperature of hydrogen production workshop and ambient temperature. It stabilizes the outlet water temperature during hot summer, ensures the constant temperature operation of core equipment such as electrolyzers, and realizes on-demand energy saving.

• Integrated anti-corrosion and reinforced structure for wind and snow resistance The main frame, supporting components and internal metal parts of the equipment adopt the overall hot-dip galvanizing anti-corrosion process with zinc layer thickness exceeding North American industry standards, which effectively resists corrosion caused by wind, snow and humid air. The tower body adopts a reinforced steel structure design, and the fans are equipped with anti-snow shields. The structural strength has passed the static test of 1.5 times the maximum load, enabling the equipment to withstand strong wind and snow impact and adapt to harsh outdoor working conditions.

• Intelligent joint control system for four parallel units An integrated intelligent linkage control system is configured for four parallel cooling towers to realize synchronous startup and shutdown, automatic balanced load distribution, real-time fault alarm and remote monitoring. The system continuously collects data such as water temperature, water pressure and motor operating status, and gives an early warning once abnormalities occur, reducing the pressure of manual operation and maintenance and ensuring 24-hour continuous operation of the hydrogen production plant.

Key Achievements

Cooling towers have been installed, commissioned and officially put into operation at the hydrogen production plant of . in North America. The operation performance under all working conditions meets the design expectations, and the project has achieved many key results:

• Full compliance with zero safety faults: The complete equipment has passed CSA, CRN special equipment acceptance and hydrogen-related explosion-proof tests in North America. Since commissioning, there has been zero medium leakage and zero safety alarm of electrical systems, fully complying with the safety operation standards of local hydrogen plants.

• Qualified performance under both extreme cold and high temperature: The equipment operates stably through extreme cold weather of -30℃ without freezing blockage or pipeline cracking. The cooling performance remains stable under hot and humid environment above 38℃ in summer, and the water temperature of hydrogen production process is accurately controlled.

• Remarkable energy-saving effect: Compared with traditional cooling equipment surveyed by the client, the overall energy consumption of the system is reduced by more than 14%. The variable frequency intelligent regulation further cuts the power cost of the plant.

• Durable with low operation and maintenance cost: The equipment features excellent wind-snow resistance and anti-corrosion performance. No structural rust or filler damage has occurred during long-term outdoor operation. The overall service life is increased by 48% compared with ordinary cooling towers, greatly reducing the frequency of shutdown and maintenance.

• Stable operation of multiple parallel units: The load of four units is evenly distributed, and the intelligent joint control system responds sensitively. The whole system operates steadily, strongly supporting the large-scale and uninterrupted mass production of the hydrogen production plant.

SMART Metrics

• Delivery: 4 sets of cooling towers fully installed, commissioned and put into operation;

• Medium leakage rate: 0% (passed CSA B51, CRN tightness and pressure resistance acceptance in North America);

• Comprehensive energy saving rate: The energy consumption of the cooling system is reduced by more than 14%;

• Minimum operating temperature: Stable operation at -30℃ without freezing faults;

• Maximum operating temperature: No attenuation of cooling efficiency under 38℃ hot and humid environment;

• Service life improvement: The full-life anti-corrosion and anti-aging life is increased by 48%;

• Compliance certification: Passed Canadian CRN special equipment registration, CSA safety inspection and hydrogen-related explosion-proof special acceptance.

Reusability Takeaways

• Compliance solution for hydrogen projects in North America: The whole-process system including design, testing and documents formulated for Canadian CSA, CRN and other special equipment regulations can be directly applied to green hydrogen and blue hydrogen production projects in North America such as the United States and North America, helping clients quickly solve the problem of overseas equipment access.

• Anti-freeze technology for cooling towers in high-latitude extreme cold regions: The combined anti-freeze scheme of electric heating, automatic drainage, thermal insulation layer and wet-dry switching is suitable for industrial cooling projects in high-latitude cold regions such as North America and Northern Europe, with high standardization and strong implementability.

• Integrated technology of explosion-proof cooling system for hydrogen scenarios: The complete solution of explosion-proof electrical appliances, sealing structure and safety testing under hydrogen working conditions can be promoted to hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and hydrogen refueling station projects around the world.

• Intelligent joint control technology for multiple parallel units: The load distribution, remote monitoring and fault early warning system for four or more large parallel cooling towers is applicable to centralized cooling scenarios such as large chemical plants, energy bases and industrial parks.

• All-weather climate-resistant design solution: The all-round structure and anti-corrosion technology adapting to extreme cold, high temperature, wind and snow corrosion are suitable for complex climates in North America and can be widely used in outdoor industrial cooling equipment projects.