The Laboratory, annexed to the university’s Mechanical Turbomachinery Research Centre, was to be extended and modernized within the scope of the “Atene (Advanced Technologies for ENergy Efficiency) Project”: a project cofounded by the Regional Council of Tuscany and developed by the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering of UniPisa. The aim of the project was to stimulate industrial research and technology transfer in Tuscany, involving also small and medium-sized businesses.
The engine test stands in the Laboratory (with a total capacity of approximately 1 MW during operation) had one need in particular, that is, to preserve the quality of the cooling fluid, which was not to come into contact with air.
For this reason, the ideal solution was a closed circuit: under these operating conditions, the fluid remains inside the metal batteries and is cooled by a secondary quantity of colder water. The MCC E3-09 SILENT closed circuit cooling tower, coupled with the engine test stands, implements this technology.
As in other residential settings, the noise generated also had to be limited. For this reason, the “Silent” version of the evaporative cooling tower presents some particular features: electric motors with a low number of revolutions, coupled directly with fans having aerodynamic blades, and a sound-absorbent sheath.
Other advantageous technical specifications for use in the laboratory included:
- Fibreglass and thus uncorrodable structure;
- completely openable walls to allow easy and rapid access to all internal parts;
- side walls and water storage tank of a special colour in accordance with the RAL specification made by the customer.
The MCC tower installed consumes 700 kW of power. The fluid temperature is 50°C at the inlet and 35°C at the outlet, while the installed electric capacity is 3.3 kW for the motors and 1.5 kW for water recirculating pump.