Equipment Type: Open Cooling Tower

Heat Exchange Medium: Hydrogen, Circulating Water (H₂, Water)

Quantity: 5 Units

Project Description

This project is a supporting project for a chemical production plant in a South Asian country. Five open cooling towers were put into operation on-site, primarily responsible for the circulating water cooling of the entire process equipment for specialty chemical production, hydrogen preparation, and transportation. 

The project was deeply adapted to the typical environmental characteristics of a South Asian country, including year-round high temperatures and humidity, high humidity during the rainy season, strong winds and sandstorms, and high water hardness. The design, manufacturing, and acceptance strictly adhered to the South Asian country's BIS industrial standards, PESO explosion-proof safety specifications, and the Ministry of Environment's regulations on cooling water conservation and wastewater discharge. The equipment, relying on a high-efficiency evaporative heat exchange structure, explosion-proof safety features, a full-process water quality control system, and long-lasting anti-corrosion technology, effectively solves industry pain points such as scaling, microbial growth, and high water loss in open cooling towers. 

It ensures the safe, environmentally friendly, continuous, and economical operation of the entire specialty chemical and hydrogen production system, helping customers achieve their business goals of stable production capacity and reduced energy consumption and maintenance costs.

Safe & Water-saving Operation: Open Cooling Tower for Specialty Chemicals Unit in India

Situation

A South Asian country is vigorously promoting its national green hydrogen energy plan and upgrading its fine chemical industry. Specialty chemicals and high-purity hydrogen production are expanding as core pillar industries, leading to a strong demand for industrial cooling equipment from newly built and upgraded production lines. Hydrogen (H₂) is a flammable and explosive medium, widely used in various specialty chemical synthesis and purification processes in a South Asian country. The local Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), BIS national standards, and the Cylinder Regulations have established mandatory and stringent access requirements for the explosion-proof rating, sealing, electrical safety, and pressure-bearing structure of industrial equipment used in hydrogen-related operations. All hydrogen-related ventilation and cooling equipment must pass authoritative testing and certification before being put into operation.

The partner in this project is a well-known local specialty chemical company in the South Asian country. This upgrade and renovation of the production facility, including the addition of a hydrogen production line, places extremely high demands on the overall performance of the cooling system. From a natural environmental perspective, most areas of the South Asian country experience extreme summer temperatures of 47°C to 48°C, with consistently high temperatures throughout the year. High humidity during the rainy season significantly reduces the evaporative heat exchange efficiency of open cooling towers. Simultaneously, the local surface water and groundwater have high hardness, and the water in open cooling towers is in direct contact with the air, making it highly susceptible to scale buildup, algae growth, and microbial proliferation. This not only reduces heat exchange capacity but also increases the risk of pipe blockage and equipment corrosion. Furthermore, the environmental department of a South Asian country has issued clear regulations for cooling water control, requiring newly built industrial cooling towers to strictly control water consumption, wind loss rate, and wastewater discharge. Traditional open-type cooling towers generally suffer from high evaporation losses and frequent maintenance, making it difficult to simultaneously meet multiple requirements such as high temperature and high efficiency, water conservation and scale prevention, explosion-proof safety, and environmental compliance. This has become a core background challenge for project implementation.

Task

This project adopts a parallel operation mode of 5 identical open-type cooling towers to serve the entire special chemical and hydrogen production unit. The equipment must be adapted to the site conditions of the South Asian country, characterized by high temperature and humidity, hard water, and frequent sandstorms, and must meet hydrogen-related safety and environmental regulations. The core challenges are divided into five major categories:

• Explosion-proof and overall safety in hydrogen-related operations: Due to the flammable and explosive nature of hydrogen, the cooling tower fans, motors, and electrical control components must comply with the PESO explosion-proof standard of the South Asian country. The air and water circuits must have a robust sealing structure to prevent hydrogen intrusion and media leakage risks. All equipment must pass local safety access certification.

• Stable Heat Exchange in Extreme High Temperature and Humidity: Ensuring minimal decrease in evaporative heat exchange efficiency even in extreme high temperature and humidity environments (48℃) during summer, precisely controlling the process circulating water temperature to prevent shutdowns or reduced production capacity in chemical equipment and hydrogen generator units due to insufficient heat dissipation.

• Scale Prevention, Bacterial Control, and Water Quality Management: Addressing the local high-hardness water quality and the susceptibility to fouling in open-type cooling towers, inhibiting scale buildup and microbial growth in packing materials and pipes, reducing pipe blockages and equipment corrosion, and lowering the frequency of routine maintenance.

• Water Conservation, Energy Saving, and Environmental Compliance: Adhering to the cooling water standards of a South Asian country, strictly controlling evaporation and windage losses, optimizing the water circulation system, reducing makeup water and wastewater discharge, and meeting local wastewater discharge and water conservation requirements.

• Parallel and Coordinated Operation of Multiple Units: Five open-type cooling towers are centrally located, requiring uniform distribution of airflow, water pressure, and water flow, dynamic load balance, and ensuring that a single unit failure does not affect the overall system operation, guaranteeing continuous 24-hour production of the chemical plant.

Standardization Action

Shandong Cronx's heat transfer solutions expert team conducted a comprehensive survey of a South Asian country's BIS standards, PESO hydrogen safety regulations, environmental protection and water conservation regulations, and local climate and water quality characteristics. Combining this with the process parameters of special chemicals + hydrogen production, they tailored an integrated solution for 5 open cooling towers for the client, overcoming various challenges one by one:

• Dedicated explosion-proof design for hydrogen-related applications, complying with local safety regulations. All electrical components use IP55 high-protection explosion-proof motors and explosion-proof electrical control boxes certified by the South Asian market. The fan structure is treated with anti-static measures to avoid the risk of hydrogen combustion and explosion. The water system uses thickened seamless pipes, and key welds employ precision welding technology. The entire system undergoes water pressure and sealing tests. Equipment drawings, nameplates, and test reports are strictly prepared in accordance with relevant BIS and PESO regulations, successfully passing the local special equipment and hydrogen safety acceptance in the South Asian country.

• High-Temperature and High-Humidity Enhanced Heat Exchange Optimization: Upgraded high-flow-rate water distribution system and wide-angle spray nozzles, optimized internal air duct structure of the tower, and increased gas-liquid contact area compensate for insufficient evaporation efficiency in high-humidity environments. The fan is equipped with a variable frequency control module, which automatically adjusts the speed according to ambient temperature and process return water temperature, maintaining stable temperature reduction under extreme high-temperature conditions and ensuring constant temperature operation of chemical and hydrogen production equipment.

• Integrated Scale Prevention and Bacteriostatic Water Treatment Solution: For the local high-hardness water quality, a fully automatic dosing device and a high-precision pre-filter are added to the water circulation system to continuously release scale inhibitors and bacteriostatic agents, inhibiting the growth of scale, algae, and microorganisms at the source. The tower's water collection tank adopts a sloping structure, equipped with an automatic drain valve to periodically discharge concentrated impurities and prevent pollutant deposition; the packing material is made of corrosion-resistant and scale-resistant modified material, suitable for the complex water quality conditions of open towers.

• Water-saving structural modifications to meet environmental protection requirements: A high-efficiency water collector is installed at the top of the tower, strictly controlling wind loss to within 0.05%, significantly reducing water mist entrainment losses. The circulating water loop is optimized to improve water recycling efficiency. Scientific sewage discharge frequency is set in accordance with the environmental requirements of a South Asian country, minimizing makeup water volume while meeting discharge standards, thus adapting to local water resource management policies. The main frame and metal components of the equipment adopt an overall hot-dip galvanizing anti-corrosion process, with a zinc layer thickness exceeding local industry standards, resisting corrosion from outdoor wind, sand, and alternating wet and dry conditions.

• Five-unit intelligent parallel control system: The five cooling towers adopt a centralized pipeline layout, with a balancing pipe added to the common manifold to ensure balanced water pressure and flow in each tower. An integrated intelligent control system enables synchronous start-up and shutdown of multiple units, automatic load distribution, real-time monitoring of operating parameters, and remote fault alarms. Maintenance personnel can centrally manage the entire equipment, reducing manual maintenance workload and ensuring uninterrupted production line operation.

Key Achievements

Open-type cooling towers were installed, commissioned, and put into operation at a specialty chemical production facility in a South Asian country. The towers performed adhering to all operating conditions, achieving several significant results:

• Full Compliance, Zero Accidents: The entire system successfully passed the BIS industrial standards, PESO hydrogen explosion-proof testing, and environmental water-saving acceptance tests of the South Asian country. Since commissioning, there have been zero media leaks and zero electrical system safety alarms, demonstrating safe and reliable operation under hydrogen-related conditions.

• Excellent Performance in Extreme High-Temperature Conditions: Under extreme high-temperature and high-humidity conditions (48℃ in summer), the equipment maintained stable heat exchange efficiency, with process water temperatures controlled within the design range. The specialty chemical and hydrogen production lines operated continuously at full load without any abnormal shutdowns.

• Outstanding Water-Saving and Scale-Prevention Effects: Compared to the customer's existing traditional open-type cooling towers, the overall water replenishment of the system was reduced by 46%, and the wind loss rate was far below local standards. No serious scaling or algae growth problems have been observed since the equipment began operation, and pipe and packing blockages have been significantly reduced.

• Significant Energy Saving and Cost Reduction: Utilizing variable frequency fans and optimized air duct design, the overall energy consumption of the cooling system is reduced by more than 13%. Combined with low maintenance frequency, this effectively reduces the factory's long-term operating costs.

• Stable and Reliable Operation of Multiple Units: The five parallel cooling towers have even load distribution, the intelligent control system responds promptly, and long-term operation is stable, fully meeting the stringent requirements of continuous production in the specialty chemical industry.

SMART Metrics

• Deliverables: All Open-type cooling towers have been installed, commissioned, and connected to the grid.

• Media Leakage Rate: 0% (Passed BIS and PESO hydrogen-related sealing and explosion-proof acceptance tests in a South Asian country).

• Overall Energy Saving Rate: Energy consumption of the entire cooling system reduced by >13%.

• Extreme Operating Temperature: Stable long-term operation in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment of 48℃, with no significant decrease in heat exchange efficiency.

• Water Resource Saving Rate: Equipment water replenishment reduced by 46%, wind loss rate ≤0.05%.

• Scale Prevention and Antibacterial Effect: No large-area scaling or microbial growth failures throughout the year, maintenance frequency reduced by 55%.

• Compliance Certifications: All passed the BIS industrial standard, PESO hydrogen-related explosion-proof, and environmental protection and water-saving special acceptance tests in a South Asian country.

Reusability Takeaways

• Compliance System for Hydrogen-Related Chemical Equipment in a South Asian Country: A comprehensive solution for equipment design, testing, and documentation tailored to the BIS standards, PESO explosion-proof specifications, and gas cylinder safety regulations of a South Asian country. This solution can be directly replicated and applied to hydrogen-related industrial projects in South Asia, including specialty chemicals, green hydrogen production, and fine chemicals, quickly resolving overseas equipment access issues.

• Integrated Solution for Open Cooling Towers in High-Temperature and High-Humidity Areas: An integrated design combining enhanced heat exchange, water conservation and collection, scale prevention and antibacterial properties, and weather resistance and corrosion resistance. Suitable for South Asia, Southeast Asia, and other regions with consistently high temperatures, high humidity, and hard water. Widely applicable to open cooling projects in the chemical, energy, and manufacturing industries.

• Parallel Control Technology for Multiple Open Cooling Tower Units: A centralized pipeline optimization, pressure balancing, and intelligent load distribution system for 5 or more open cooling towers. Suitable for large chemical industrial parks, combined production units, and other multi-tower parallel scenarios, offering strong versatility.

• South Asian Industrial Water Conservation and Environmental Protection Implementation Experience: The water circulation and water conservation solution designed based on the local cooling water use and sewage discharge regulations of a South Asian country is in line with the increasingly stringent environmental protection and water resource management requirements of South Asian countries and has extremely high regional promotion value.