Air Inlet Cooling

For some processes, inlet air is too hot and dry for the applications. This heat may come from the equipment, the process itself, or the environment. Spray nozzles for air inlet cooling applications can lower the temperatures to the appropriate levels when operating in low humidity and hot temperatures. Here at Lechler, we offer turnkey and customized nozzle solutions for a wide variety of industries that require inlet cooling solutions such as oil and gas companies as well as food processors. Let us help you find affordable and efficient spray nozzle systems to boost productivity.

Common Applications for Air Inlet Cooling Nozzles

Air inlet cooling is desired for many industrial, food, oil/gas, chemical, and other industries when there are hot and dry areas. Increasing the moisture in the air can significantly lower temperatures and help cool off the application or equipment. Other times, the air inlet cooling allows equipment to run more efficiently without the excessive wearing of components, minimizing potential damage.

Another benefit of air inlet cooling is to cool off products that have become heated during certain processes. The product may have to be at a certain temperature before it goes through further processing. Keeping it too hot and/or dry can cause damage to the product.

Some of the most common applications for air inlet cooling nozzles are for cooling gas turbines, cooling server rooms, and cooling animal enclosures or housings. These nozzles are also found in air cooling condensers as well as industries such as water/wastewater treatment and the energy industry.

Direct VS Indirect Cooling for Nozzles

Direct cooling involves applying the water directly to the product. This process is often done for metal processing industries, where a component is made from molten metal in a mold as it needs to be quenched before the part goes through other machining processes. For spray nozzles, the nozzle needs to apply the water at high volumes while reaching every surface of the part.

Indirect cooling is often desired for areas that have sensitive equipment or products that can become damaged from direct water contact. In this application, misters and air atomizing nozzles can create fine mist that enters the air stream. The water evaporates while pulling the heat from the air. Servers in data centers and livestock housing areas benefit from these nozzles.

Cooling Liquids vs Cooling Gasses

The variety of spray nozzles available can be used for both cooling liquids and cooling gasses. For cooling liquids, pooled water is only cooled along the surface that is in indirect contact with the air above it. Air atomizing nozzles can be used to provide greater cooling levels by pulling the pooled water and spraying it as a fine mist.

When cooling gasses, evaporative cooling is desired by atomizing the water from spray nozzles. With the water in finer droplets, it provides more surface contact with the gasses. The water evaporates and cools the gas at a more rapid pace to reach the desired temperature level.

Benefits of Cooling Spray Nozzles