CO2 Stripping in Cooling Towers

Definition

The continuous removal of dissolved carbon dioxide from water as it cascades across cooling tower fill, which drives pH upward without any chemical being dosed.

Every pass creates ideal conditions for CO2 removal: warm return water accelerates molecular motion, massive air flow creates a large gas-liquid interface, and enormous surface area breaks water into thin films and droplets. As CO2 escapes, carbonic acid decomposes to replace it, bicarbonate joins with hydrogen to replace the carbonic acid, hydrogen concentration falls, and the system expresses that loss as rising pH. Nothing was dosed and nothing failed chemically, the system simply obeyed equilibrium until carbonate became allowed and scale formed.

Related concepts

Gas Solubility and Temperature · pH (Lever) · Calcium Carbonate Scaling

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Part of The Blueprint of Water · 🛠️ operations