ABSTRACT
HVAC cooling tower control falls into four areas: start-up control, capacity or condenser water temperature control, makeup water control, and operating safety control.
Obviously, the Œrst step in controlling the operation of a cooling tower is to simply turn it on and off when needed. For a “dedicated” tower, starting and stopping are controlled by an electrical “interlock” with the chiller so that the tower is allowed to operate anytime the chiller is in operation. This interlock Œrst starts the condenser water pump(s) to establish ›ow and, then, the actual tower operation is controlled by the capacity control scheme applied (see the section “Capacity Control”). In a multitower or multicell common condenser water system, the tower start/stop control is an integral part of the capacity control scheme for the system.
