Everything you ever wanted to know about cooling towers

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cooling Towers

Cooling towers may not win awards for their aesthetics, but they are undeniably iconic structures of 20th-century architecture. These towers stand as reminders of our industrious past and are a common feature in various landscapes.

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Despite their ubiquity, there is still much confusion about what cooling towers actually do. A common misconception is that they release pollution. In reality, they emit water vapor, similar to the steam from a kettle, although nowhere near as hot. This is just one of many facts people often don't know about cooling towers.

What Does a Cooling Tower Do?

As the name implies, the primary role of a cooling tower is to reduce temperature—specifically that of water, or 'cooling water' as termed in plants like Drax.

Power stations require a significant amount of water for electricity generation. At thermal power plants such as Drax, fuel heats demineralized water to create high-pressure steam, which spins turbines to generate electricity. This steam is then cooled by cooling water, which passes through condensers on both sides of the steam turbines before returning to the boiler. Cooling towers play a crucial role in this cycle, enhancing the efficiency of electricity generation at Drax's North Yorkshire site.

To optimize water use, some power stations recycle water. Drax, for instance, features 12 cooling towers that recover and recirculate warmed water. The water, around 40°C, is pumped into the tower and sprayed over a large volume of plastic packing. Air naturally drawn through the tower cools the water, which then falls into the cooling tower pond at the bottom of the structure.

As the water cools, about 2% escapes as water vapor. Commonly mistaken for steam, this water vapor is a by-product of the cooling process but not indicative of pollution.

Most water used by Drax Power Station is returned to the environment, either as vapor or safely discharged back into the River Ouse. Each year, roughly half the water drawn from the river is returned, making the process highly efficient and environmentally friendly.

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How Do You Build a Cooling Tower?

The history of modern cooling towers began in the early 20th century with two Dutch engineers who developed the 'hyperboloid' shape. This design, with a wide base, curved center, and flared top, required fewer materials, was structurally robust, and facilitated air flow. It quickly became the standard design worldwide.

The original Dutch tower was 34 meters tall—a significant achievement at the time. As technology advanced, so did the size of cooling towers. Today, the 12 towers at Drax each stand 115 meters tall, large enough to engulf iconic structures like the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral or the Statue of Liberty.

The Drax towers, however, are overshadowed by the world’s tallest cooling towers at the Kalisindh power plant in Rajasthan, India, which reach an impressive 202 meters, dwarfing even London's Canary Wharf skyscrapers.

The Industrial Icon of the Future

The landscape of energy production is changing, with increased reliance on renewables reducing the prominence of fossil fuels—and consequently, cooling towers. Many of the UK's iconic towers have been demolished alongside the coal plants they served. However, cooling towers aren’t necessarily disappearing.

Facilities like Drax, which have adapted to more sustainable fuel sources like compressed wood pellets, along with some remaining coal and gas plants, still use cooling towers. These structures will continue to be part of our energy infrastructure for now, sharing the stage with biomass domes, offshore wind turbines, and fields of solar panels—icons of today's diverse energy landscape.

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