Experimental investigation of filled bed effect on the thermal performance of a wet cooling tower by using ZnO/water nanofluid

Highlights: • Effect of filled bed on performance of cooling tower with ZnO nanofluid evaluated. • Applying metal reticular bed is the best choice when ZnO/water nanofluid is used. • Metal reticular bed showed lowest fouling and agglomeration of nanoparticles. • Nanofluid improved cooling range, characteristic & effectiveness of cooling tower. - Abstract: This study deals with an experimental investigation on the effect of different types of filled beds on the thermal performance of a wet cooling tower by using zinc oxide (ZnO)/water nanofluid. Different concentrations of ZnO/water nanofluid were prepared through two-step procedure by using pure water with electrical conductivity of 2 μS/cm. First, by using ZnO/water nanofluid (0.08 wt%), effect of six different filled beds were investigated on the thermal performance of the cooling tower. Moreover, after each experiment the applied filled bed was reviewed in order to observe any aggregation or settlement of nanoparticles on the surfaces of the bed. It was found that applying metal reticular bed (Bed 1) is the best choice when ZnO/water nanofluid is used. In the other word Bed 1 results better thermal characteristics for cooling tower and less settlement of nanofluids. Then different concentrations of ZnO/water nanofluid in the range of 0.02–0.1 wt% is employed in the cooling tower by utilizing Bed 1. The results showed that by using nanofluids, cooling range, tower characteristic (TC) and effectiveness of cooling tower are enriched compared to water. For example, TC enhanced by 21.5% and 22.5% for ZnO/water nanofluid with concentration of 0.02 wt% and 0.05 wt%, respectively.