Cooling tower with UV treatment of drift
AssigneeSPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.
InventorsKenneth P. Mortensen, Joseph Evans
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a cooling tower having a fill media, water distribution system, plenum, and an ultraviolet (UV) light emitter. The water distribution system distributes water to the fill media. A flow of air passes through the fill media and past a flow of the water and out of the cooling tower via an outlet. The plenum is defined by a volume between the fill media and the outlet. The UV light emitter is disposed in the plenum and configured to inactivate or kill organisms in a drift.
Claims14
A cooling tower, comprising:
- a fill media;
- a water distribution system to distribute water to the fill media, wherein a flow of air passes through the fill media and past a flow of the water;
- a plenum defined by a volume between the fill media and an outlet;
- an ultraviolet (UV) light emitter disposed perpendicularly to the flow of air in the plenum and configured to inactivate organisms in a drift;
- and
- a shield disposed between the UV light emitter and the fill media and configured to reduce UV irradiation of the fill media and to reflect UV light.
A method of treating a drift from a cooling tower, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a fill media;
- providing a water distribution system;
- generating a flow of water through the fill media with the water distribution system;
- generating a flow of air through the fill media and out of the cooling tower through an outlet;
- disposing an ultraviolet (UV) light emitter perpendicularly to the flow of air in a plenum of the cooling tower and configuring the UV light emitter to expose the drift in the plenum to a sufficient luminous flux of UV light to inactivate organisms in the drift, wherein the plenum is defined by a volume between the fill media and the outlet;
- and
- shielding the fill media from UV light exposure with a shield that reflects UV light disposed between the fill media and the UV light emitter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.