ZL-50T 50 Ton Industrial FRP Counter Flow Cooling Tower - Agriculture Food Processing
The ZL-50T FRP counter flow cooling tower delivers 175.81 kW heat rejection at 50 refrigeration tons with 39.2 m3/h water flow rate. The following sections detail engineering specifications, operational considerations, and application-specific integration guidance for the ZL-50T.
High-Temperature Short-Time (HTST) pasteurization at 72 deg C for 15 seconds is the standard milk pasteurization process. After the holding tube, the milk must be cooled before packaging. The ZL-50T cooling tower supports the pre-cooling stage of this HTST line. A plate heat exchanger (PHE) uses ZL-50T leaving water at 32 deg C as the cooling medium on the cold side, dropping the milk from 72 deg C to approximately 32 deg C. Flow ratio: ZL-50T delivers 39.2 m3/h of 32 deg C water, suitable for HTST lines processing up to 3724 L/h of milk in the pre-cooling stage.
The final cooling stage of HTST pasteurization takes milk from 32 deg C down to 4 deg C for refrigerated storage. This step requires chilled water at 1 to 4 deg C, which a cooling tower cannot produce directly because ZL-50T leaving water is 32 deg C at design wet-bulb 27 deg C. The standard configuration uses ZL-50T as the condenser cooling tower for a chiller: ZL-50T supplies 32 deg C condenser water to the chiller, the chiller uses this to remove heat from the refrigerant, and the chiller outputs 4 deg C chilled water to the plate heat exchanger for the final cooling stage.
The ZL-50T cooling tower serves as the central cooling water source for large dairy processing plants, providing 32 deg C leaving water for multiple process applications: HTST pre-cooling, condenser water for refrigeration chillers, and CIP cycle return water cooling. The 39.2 m3/h flow rate supports a complete large dairy processing operation with 30,000-50,000 L/day milk throughput. SS316L stainless steel upgrade is required for all milk-contact surfaces.
Brewery wort cooling is a critical process step that rapidly cools boiled wort from 100 deg C to fermentation temperature. The ZL-50T cooling tower supports brewery cooling through a two-stage process: Stage 1 (Pre-cooling) uses ZL-50T leaving water at 32 deg C as the primary coolant in a plate heat exchanger to drop wort temperature from 100 deg C to approximately 32 deg C. Stage 2 (Final cooling) uses a chiller with ZL-50T providing condenser water. The ZL-50T's 39.2 m3/h flow rate supports large brewery operations with 50,000-100,000 L/batch wort cooling capacity.
The ZL-50T cooling tower's SS316L stainless steel upgrade option complies with FDA 21 CFR regulations for food contact surfaces. SS316L composition provides corrosion resistance and minimizes metal leaching into food products. The electropolished surface finish prevents bacterial adhesion and facilitates CIP cycle effectiveness. FDA 21 CFR compliance documentation includes material certificates, surface finish certificates, extractables and leachables testing reports.
The ZL-50T cooling tower with SS316L upgrade supports Clean-In-Place (CIP) sanitization cycles with 80 deg C hot water for 30 minutes. CIP cycle sequence: pre-rinse with cold water; caustic wash at 75 deg C with 1-2 percent NaOH for 20 minutes; intermediate rinse; acid wash at 60 deg C with 1 percent HNO3 for 15 minutes; final rinse; sanitization with 80 deg C hot water for 30 minutes. The ZL-50T's SS316L construction withstands repeated thermal cycling.
The ZL-50T cooling tower provides condenser cooling water for ammonia or HFC refrigeration systems serving breweries, cold storage warehouses, and food processing facilities. The 39.2 m3/h flow rate supports refrigeration capacity of approximately 70 kW when paired with evaporative condensers. For ammonia refrigeration systems (preferred for large industrial food facilities), the ZL-50T's stable condenser water temperature at 32 deg C enables efficient ammonia condensing at 25-28 deg C.