Video narration
How does a cooling tower cool water without refrigerating it? Think of a car radiator: air removes heat from hot water. A tower does something extra-it also lets a small amount of water evaporate. Hot process water enters near the top. A distribution system spreads it over the fill, while air moves through, naturally or with fan assistance. The main parts are the inlet, distribution system, fill, air path, basin, and outlet. The fill is not a cooling machine. It breaks water into thin films or droplets, creating more contact with moving air. The tower is not mainly making water cold; evaporation and moving air remove heat. Moving air carries heat away, and a small fraction of water evaporates. The remaining water collects in the basin, cooler, and returns to the system. So, how does it cool? By rejecting heat to the atmosphere-not by refrigeration.