Evaluation and quantification of the impact of cooling tower emissions on indoor air quality

Assessment of the potential impact of outdoor pollutant sources on indoor air quality through the reentrainment of pollutants vis-a-vis air-handling units, doorways, and windows has mainly focused on the evaluation of fume hood, boiler, diesel generator, and vehicular pollutant emissions. In recent years, however, gaseous and waterborne pollutants emitted from cooling towers have become an increasing source of concern. Chemicals such as biocides and corrosion and scale inhibitors are used to reduce and/or eliminate algae blooms, decrease bacterial and fungal growth, and reduce the corrosion of equipment. When added to the water used in cooling towers, these chemicals are emitted in both the gaseous phase and as pollutants dissolved in or suspended in water droplets. A qualitative evaluation of exhaust dispersion and droplet deposition rates associated with cooling towers is necessary when conducting an overall review of the environmental impact on indoor air quality. This paper identifies source emission rates to be used in assessing emissions of chemical additives in cooling towers, presents provisional design criteria for evaluating the impact of the chemical additives, and evaluates alternative methodologies for quantifying impact concentrations. These alternative assessment methodologies include numerical models, physical wind tunnel simulations, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Parameters more » used in comparing the methodologies include relative accuracy (order of magnitude) and modeling and simulation limitations. « less