Drift (or windage) is the term for water droplets of the process flow allowed to escape in the cooling tower discharge. In every cooling tower there is a loss of water to the environment due to the evaporative cooling process. This evaporation is usually in the form of pure water vapor and presents no harm to the environment.
Drift, however, is the undesirable loss of liquid water to the environment via small droplets that become entrained in the leaving air stream. These water droplets carry the same concentration of chemicals and mineral impurities as are typically found in cooling towers
Drift eliminators are designed to capture large water droplets caught in the cooling tower air stream. The eliminators prevent the water droplets and mist from escaping the cooling tower. Eliminators do this by causing the droplets to change direction and lose velocity at impact on the blade walls and fall back into the tower.
There are three main types of Drift Eliminator used in a Cooling Tower, these all having the same design purpose as described above, these being:
These drift configurations may be made from: Polypropylene (PP) or Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) & Galvanised / Stainless Steel.
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Refrigeration & process