The goal of any cooling tower is to cool water quickly and efficiently. Therefore the water needs to flow over as much surface area as possible to accomplish this desired outcome. Cooling tower fill is a medium that’s used to increase the surface area available for the water.
Below is a breakdown of the most common fill types used in cooling towers today.
Splash Fill
This cooling tower fill type will cause the water to cascade through a large series of parallel bars. The water will then redistribute at each bar level. This differs very much from film fill. Offering minimal resistance to horizontal airflow, splash fill is commonly used in crossflow cooling towers.
One of the advantages of splash fill is that it is initially forgiving of insufficient water distribution. Another plus is that maintenance is generally easy with splash fill. This fill is wide open, making a visual inspection relatively simple. Water flow pattern can also be identified quickly by the professionals.
Splash Fill Advantages And Disadvantages
Advantages:
- Ease of maintenance.
- Water distribution at every level.
Disadvantages:
- Less popular than film fill.
- Flow pattern of water can be interrupted.
Film Fill
Coming with sheets of material that are shaped into a corrugated pattern, film fill allows water to travel across the surface area smoothly. This fill has the ability to be stacked, which can create various heights and thickness.
This is, by far, the most popular type of fill used in cooling tower models. Nearly half of all modern cooling towers use film fill. The only downside with film is its tendency to clog at times. Narrow passages at the top of the fill often won’t allow water to redistribute itself, which causes backups.
Film Fill Advantages And Disadvantages
Advantages:
- It is customizable.
- More water surface exposed.
Disadvantages:
- Narrow passageways.
- No water redistribution.
How Does Cooling Tower Fill Work?
Watch our video below, featuring cooling tower fill:
Universal Tower Parts In Phoenix, AZ
Universal Tower Parts provides stainless steel and galvanized options, welded and gasketed, direct, gear reducer and belt drive units, with efficient Jedair fans, and Jedair low noise fans. Strainers, fan guards and louvers are well constructed, and designed to operate efficiently as they perform their function. Cool Core drift eliminators and fill are made by Universal Tower Parts expressly for our towers.
