Cooling Towers LLC inspects and repairs cooling towers with failing and degrading structural components.
Most facilities have cooling towers in service that were installed over 30 years ago. The expected service life of pressure-treated lumber in a cooling tower environment is approximately 25 to 30 years. Considering a cooling tower is an essential component in any facility’s processing system, the failure of one or multiple cooling towers would create a serious interruption in the facility’s ability to remain on line. If your facility relies on cooling towers that are over 20 to 25 years old, Cooling Towers recommends a thorough inspection of your cooling towers’ structural components. Cooling Towers’ trained inspectors can identify pressure-treated lumber that is rotted, damaged, failing, acid-washed or compromised in any way that would diminish the existing components’ structural integrity. If the structure in a cooling tower is failing, Cooling Towers can replace the compromised component with new fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) structural shapes. FRP structural shapes are superior to pressure-treated lumber in a variety of ways, as they are impervious to rot, unaffected by moisture, stronger than lumber and 1.5 times as rigid, they are inert and do not release toxic chemicals, and they generally have an overall lower cost of maintenance and a longer service life. Upgrading the structural components to FRP structural shapes resets the service life of a cooling tower’s structure and ensures the structural integrity of the tower for years.
Performing an FRP conversion to a facility’s cooling towers can have several lasting advantages that will benefit a facility for decades. The environment inside a cooling tower is extreme, especially in the plenum area of the tower, which experiences cycles of exposure to both wet and dry environments. This varying environment poses many challenges for lumber-based structural components because lumber has a permeable surface that absorbs moisture. The bacteria-laden moisture degrades the lumber from the inside out, causing the lumber to slowly degrade without any apparent signs of rot from the exterior observation. FRP structural shapes are not susceptible to such forms and degradation and therefore provide a lower cost of maintenance throughout their longer service life. There are many other ways in which FRP structural shapes are superior to pressure-treated lumber:
- Superior resistance to a broad range of chemicals.
- Unaffected by moisture or immersion in water.
- Surfacing veil and UV additives create excellent weatherability.
- FRP is stronger and has higher flexural strength than pressure treated lumber.
- FRP is approximately 1-1.5 times as rigid as pressure treated lumber.
- Low conductivity properties means high dielectric capability.
- FRP has a significantly higher strength-to-weight ratio.
- FRP shapes and plates are inert and do not release toxic chemicals, making them easily disposable in landfills.
- Lower maintenance required and longer product life often equals lower overall cost
Cooling Towers’ structural calculations, designs and connection details for all standard cooling tower designs have been performed, verified, stamped and signed by a professional structural engineer. Cooling Towers can employ these design concepts to any cooling tower design to ensure the new FRP structure is designed properly.
Cooling Towers has performed dozens of complete and partial FRP conversions on every standard cooling tower design. Cooling Towers can upgrade the fill media and drift eliminators to increase the thermal capacity of most cooling towers, as well as provide a thermal analysis of the cooling tower and offer options to upgrade the thermal performance of the tower. Performing both the FRP conversion and the fill and drift eliminator upgrade resets the service life of the cooling tower. This process is essentially the same as purchasing a brand new cooling tower with- out all of the other costs associated with new towers such as piping, electrical, instrumentation and concrete.
For more information, visit www.coolingtowersllc.com or (281) 484-2665.
