SPIG - Hybrid Cooling Towers
SPIG hybrid cooling towers offer an environmentally friendly solution for plume abatement and water conservation. Specifically designed to eliminate visible plumes in cold, humid conditions and meet local regulatory requirements, such as at airports or residential areas, these towers excel in cost-effectiveness and performance. By integrating wet cooling tower technology with dry heat exchangers, SPIG’s hybrids effectively minimize environmental impact. The dry sections, featuring conventional air-cooled heat exchangers positioned above drift eliminators, use triangular pitch tube bundle designs with fins for optimal efficiency.
This hybrid design combines dry and wet cooling within a single structure. Hot water flows through the system sequentially, starting hot in the external dry section above the drift eliminators, then pre-cooled before distribution onto the wet section’s fill media. A skid vacuum system ensures the siphon effect in the tube bundles (dry section), reducing the workload on circulating water pumps.
Hybrid cooling towers are particularly advantageous where water usage must be minimized and visible plumes avoided, which can be disruptive in sensitive environments like air traffic or residential areas. While wet cooling towers may offer initial cost savings, hybrids provide long-term environmental benefits by reducing water consumption and plume emissions. In many cases, the water savings achieved with hybrid technology outweighs the initial construction costs.