Advanced Tower Nozzle Design Eliminates Clogging

Anyone who has operated cooling towers for any significant amount of time knows that a common maintenance point is clearing clogged water distribution nozzles. This is especially a problem for gravity-fed cross-flow towers, where there is very little pressure to force debris through the nozzle orifice, and debris such as leaves, paper and ferrous 'throw' from the pipes can clog the nozzle. This reduces the effectiveness of the water distribution, and in turn the efficiency of the cooling tower.

Typical cross-flow tower gravity distribution pan

Pressurized distribution systems, as are found on Evapco counter-flow towers, eliminate a lot of clogging problems by utilizing pressurized large-orifice nozzles which use the force of the water pressure to keep the nozzles clear. But even these types of systems can clog periodically.

So that is why Evapco developed the Evapjet nozzle.



That's a nozzle?

Yes, it is, but probably the best way to appreciate it is by watching the video of it in action: Evapjet Video (may require Microsoft Internet Explorer to view).

(Pretty cool, huh?)

Importantly, this nozzle can pass a 1" ball, and reduces the total number of nozzles required for a tower by 66%! So you have a much reduced chance of clogging, and many fewer nozzles to maintain.

This nozzle is provided on new Evapco cooling towers, and is available for retrofit on many existing towers of most major manufacturers. If you are interested in retrofit, call Fluid-Tek for a quote!

UPDATE: 9/23/07

Don't be discouraged if you have a fluid cooler and not a cooling tower. Evapco offers their unique ZM (Zero Maintenance) nozzles (pdf) with similar anti-clogging properties as the Evapjet--they just don't make for as cool a video!

Read more about spray header and nozzle replacements here.