Cooling towers have been installed on different roof levels due to a variety of reasons such as space limitations, leasing rights, and architectural features. For an open system, this is a height difference is inherently troublesome and engineers have used a variety of methods to address the potential issues. This issue is especially prevalent in Hong Kong where buildings tend to be needle high rises with limited real estate on the roof that is often shared between multiple tenants and where space is allocated on a first come first lease basis and thus uncoordinated cross over the placement of plant equipment is common. The failure of many such installations has resulted in the loss of condensing water as the lower cooling towers flood while the upper cooling tower dries up. In more extreme cases, air enters the system and airlocks the pumps causing a complete cooling system failure. While this is not a case study, the author has come across many such installations and has been commissioned to re-engineer the system to fix many of the issues in its operation. This paper will explore the common ways of installing and operating cooling towers at different height levels, the limitations, risks, and strengths of each approach.
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