Indian cooling tower industry foresees bright future

Incepted in 1990, National Cooling Towers, an ISO 9001:2015 and CE certified company, has become one of the renowned Indian players engaged in designing, manufacturing and erection of an exclusive range of reliable, tailor-made water cooling towers, air blast coolers and air and water chilling plants. In an interview with EPR, the company’s Director Preyesh Chandrashekar gives an overview of the cooling tower industry in India.

How do you gauge the cooling tower industry in India?
The global cooling tower market is set to reach $2 billion by 2020 and the competition has heated up with the presence of low – cost Asian manufacturers like India and China.

Cooling towers became popular during the beginning of the industrial revolution. Huge industries required a method to remove the heat successfully from the cooling process, leading to the invention of cooling towers. In the modern world, they find applications in industries like power plants, petro chemicals, semi-conductor plants, HVAC, pharmaceuticals, plastic industries and so on. Industrial cooling towers are considered crucial for industries where cooling is an important part of the industrial process. In some cases, cooling may be a part of the product manufactured process or to maintain ambient temperature. A cooling tower dissipates heat into the atmosphere, which is spread over a large area. So, adequate care must be taken while designing one to prevent any ecological or environmental damage.

We at National Cooling Towers provide perfection in cooling tower performance by selecting cooling tower capacity and design with the help of MRL software approved by Cooling Technology Institute – Texas, USA and latest CAD design facilities and with our in-house team of experts having a experience in cooling tower industry since last 30 years.

The market will tend to veer towards repairs and innovations, based on various environmental regulations imposed by governments across the world. This is a highly technology sensitive market and newer technology can tilt the balance in favour of growth in the market.

Initially cooling towers were manufactured from wood but due to global warming and other environmental issues we have now evolved into more durable materials like FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) and RCC (roller compacted concrete).

Today the most favoured cooling tower by each and every client in the market is square shaped induced Draft Counter Flow FRP Cooling Tower. As it offers superior structural strength and resistance to ambient wind loadings, light in weight, easy for commissioning, corrosion resistant, weather-proof construction ensures long lasting life, low power consuming, maintenance free for long period.

What are the major growth drivers for cooling towers business in India?
Growth in the Indian market is driven by factors like the increasing need for tightening legislation, energy efficiency, replacement demand, rising Greenfield projects and capacity expansion. Replacement of old cooling towers and innovation in new product designs with value-added functional features and benefits will propel the market forward.

With energy being a scarce resource, there is a tendency towards energy savings and this will drive the cooling tower industry strongly.

Could you discuss the challenges?
The major challenge that companies need to overcome is the necessity for water, a scarce resource in India. Thermal power plants for instance consume large quantities of water for cooling and there needs to be a constant source.

A majority of industries use ‘once – through cooling system’, which means water once used for cooling is discharged. R&D at National Cooling Towers is an endless process of improvement. Everyday we push the boundaries of engineering and manufacturing technology and applying it to our wide range of products.

What will be your key target to achieve in cooling tower business?
Our mission is to provide the highest quality product possible through our highly skilled and dedicated employees and state-of-the-art and patented products and manufacturing process.

We would continue to pursue an aggressive, outgoing R&D program thus insuring its future as a leader in various cooling towers, chilling plants.

We are also committed to provide the highest standards of service available through our highly trained, domestic and international field representatives and customer service personnel.

Our mission is to build on our history of product excellence and technology innovation to provide the highest quality and most reliable products and services to our world–wide customers in process industry.

We would like to become the benchmark manufacturing company for the process industries in India and overseas providing world–class cooling towers and industrial chillers to satisfied customers through continuous improvement driven by the integrity, teamwork and creativity of our National Cooling Towers family.

The future for certified cooling tower manufacturers in India is quite bright with the growth in industries and infrastructure. 

Preyesh Chandrashekar, Director,  National Cooling Towers