The purpose of this work is to determine whether the turbulent bed contactor (TBC), a relatively new and efficient device commonly used for gas scrubbing, can be proven as a competitive cooling system in electric power generation. The turbulent bed employs light, hollow plastic spheres as a packing which fluidize as air flows upward through the bed, while water is sprayed downward over the bed. It was desired to demonstrate the feasibility, collect sufficient data to permit scaleup design, and estimate the investment and costs involved. Pressure drop and cooling performance of the bed were measured for the air-water system in a vertical column, 0.29 m I.D. and 2.44 m high, under conditions typical of industrial cooling tower applications. It was found that the TBC performed marginally as compared with conventional mechanical draft cooling towers, requiring as much as twice the auxiliary power per unit cooling load while the capital investment is likely to be less due to the smaller height of the TBC.

"June 1975." "EPA/660-2-75-027." Report prepared by School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. Includes bibliographical references (pages 23-25).