1. Creation Cooling Towers
Manufacturer & Exporters of “Creation” brand:
- FRP / Wooden / RCC construction Cooling Towers, supply
of spares & servicing of Cooling Towers of any make;
- Available wind driven energy saver ‘Air Ventilator’.
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Office: Above A Patel & Co., Nr. Mehta Pole, Bank of Baroda Road, Mandvi,
VADODARA- 390 006, Gujarat state, India. Phone: 91-265-2517259;
T/F: 2486530 (Outgoing); Email: sales@creationhvac.com / creationhvac@yahoo.com
URL: www.creationhvac.com
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Correspondence address
Factory: 232, GIDC Industrial Estate, Waghodia - 391 760, Dist.: Vadodara
Phone: (02668) 262354; Fax: (02668) 262190; Mobile: 9879063534
ABSTRACT ON
“PREMATURE FAILURE OF TIMBER IN COOLING TOWERS;
CAUSES, CHALLENGES AND FUTURE STRATEGIES”
By
Rajesh Shah, Creation Cooling Towers, 232, G.I.D.C. Industrial Estate, Waghodia – 391 760. URL:
http://www.creationhvac.com E-mails: sales@creationhvac.com, creationhvac@yahoo.com as on 25.10.2008
There are two main categories of Wooden Material:
01. Hard Wood
02. Soft Wood
In India, hard wood is not available like Redwood of U.S.A. quality and hence, since long soft
wood quality is used in Cooling tower considering the easy availability, dimensional stability,
costing and after certain treatment structural stability point of view, mainly.
Indian wooden materials like (mentioning the local Trade Names) Chir (Pine), Fir, Deodar are
mainly utilised for manufacturing the new cooling towers, repairing & renovation of old cooling
towers.
However from published article till date, for water quality having oxidising acids like Nitric Acid
circulating thro’ Wooden construction Cooling Towers at PH around 2 to 3.5. The wooden
material recommended from Evergreen tree with fruit in the form of cone (Indian conifers) like
Chir are most suitable and Chemical treatment recommended for Preservative used and
retentions maintained Creosote (Fuel oil 50:50 160 to 192 Kgs./Sq. Cms.) but not
recommended for Chemical Treatment of ASCU (CCA). It has to be noted that all the
mentioned Indian Wooden material i.e. Chir, Fir and Deodar etc. grades recommended generally
between 2 PH and 9.5 PH. Study shows that ASCU chemical treatment recommended for PH
between 6 and 9.5 than Creosote and recommended Creosote chemical treatment for PH
between 2 PH and 6 PH than CCA. Generally Indian conifers are more resistant to acids than
hardwood.

2. CAUSES:
Following are the main causes identified for the premature failure of wooden material in cooling
tower:
01. Brown Rot.
02. White Rot.
03. Soft Rot.
04. Wooden Chemical Treatment quality & its process for ASCU and Double Diffusion in situ
practices at regular intervals.
05. Water treatment chemical dosing during the operation of cooling tower.
06. Negligence of Preventive maintenance as cooling tower mainly considered by users as
neglected equipment.
07. Commercial competition among the cooling tower players at the cost of quality of
manufacturing standard practices and taking advantage of user unknowingness for
quality parameters.
08. Less numbers of testing laboratories and Wooden Chemical Treatment facilities across
the India.
09. Government policies & strategies to minimise the use of indigenously available wooden
material as maximum as possible.
10. Usage of alternative material of construction to manufacture the cooling tower and
cooling tower components, now a days, cause less demand of wooden cooling tower
resulting decrease in skilled manpower and engineering skills availability, costly wooden
treatment for less quantity of wooden material etc.
11. 30% to 40% of wet condition of wooden material instead of either fully wet or fully dry
condition during the manufacturing & operational period.
CHALLENGES:
01. To maintain Engineering skills to manufacture & repair the wooden cooling tower.
02. To sustain the Skilled Labour during this down trend of demand in wooden construction
Cooling tower.
03. Awareness for Preventive Maintenance among the Users & Ordering Practices for
Techno – Commercial aspects to procure new or repair existing cooling towers.
04. Easy availability of indigenous wooden material.
05. Facilities for right process of Chemical Treatment Process for lower quantity of wooden
material along with its cost parameters.
06. Facility of local Testing Laboratory facilities.
07. Government Policies and Strategies to grow new plantation against imported material.
FUTURE STRATEGIES:
01. To organise Seminars on Wooden Cooling Towers & its services.
02. Formation of Institutes at national level & its branches across India like Cooling Tower
Institute, U.S.A.
03. To publish statistical data of usage of wooden material in cooling tower at regular
intervals.
04. Growing new plantation along with seeds by motivating Government, Semi-Government
and Private sectors suitable for Cooling Tower Wooden quality material requirements.
05. Required updating of Indian Standard Publications.
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