Students of the Faculty of Engineering Science of the University of Ghana, Legon, have turned their newly-gained skills and knowledge to some issues and problems affecting the Ghanaian food industry.

They have invented a compact cooling tower purposely designed for cooling equipment and products without wasting water.

Most factories rely on expensive imported equipment and technology for the purpose.

Cooling Tower is an equipment that promotes the evaporation of some of the bulk of the water, thereby cooling the remaining water.

A key characteristic of this cooling tower, known as Cross-Flow Mechanical Draught Cooling Tower, is that water flows through the tower under the force of gravity and as the water falls downwards through the tower, air is sucked across the tower to promote the evaporation of air.

"In practice therefore, cooling towers mean that process plants use less water than they would otherwise have used," Dr Nii Darko K. Asante, co-ordinator of the Food Process Engineering Department told The Spectator in an interview at the University of Ghana when contacted.

Cooling Towers play an important role in most plants, as they ensure that water used for cooling equipment and products can be cooled down to allow it to be re-used for cooling. In practice it means that process plants use less water than they would otherwise have used and in these days of water shortage this makes them extremely important.

According to him many food producers barely have enough space for their production floor and cannot spare the space required for conventional cooling towers much more afford the cost of the system.

Explaining the principle under which the cooling towers operate he said they are essentially very simple pieces of equipment that promote the evaporation of some of the hot water, thereby cooling the bulk of the water.

This project, Dr Asante said, was the brainchild of GIoria Anto-Boateng, one of the department's final year students.


Source: The Spectator