A 1000 ton rental cooling tower rejects about twelve million BTU an hour, which at the usual design means roughly 3,000 gallons a minute crossing it at a ten degree range. Hire is quoted by the month rather than the day, and the tower is often the smallest line on the quote once pumps, hose, power and rigging are added.
What a ton of cooling is, in numbers you can check
One ton of refrigeration is 12,000 BTU an hour, so a thousand tons is twelve million. Water carries that away at about 3 gallons a minute per ton across a ten degree range, which is where the 3,000 gpm figure comes from. If your process runs a wider range the same tower serves more tons on less flow.
One tower or several
Rental fleets carry modular units, often 250 to 500 tons each on a trailer or a skid, so a thousand tons usually arrives as two to four towers piped together rather than as one machine. That helps access and gives redundancy, and it means the header, the valves and the balancing are part of what you are hiring.
Power, water and the things that stall a hookup
Fan motors and pumps at this scale want a three phase feed, commonly 480 volts, properly sized and protected, which is why a rental generator often ships alongside. Then makeup water, a drain for blowdown, treatment for the loop, and a level pad that carries a full tower. Settle the electrical connection before anything is loaded.
What the quote actually contains
The tower rate, the pumps, hose or hard pipe by the foot, fittings, the generator or distribution panel, delivery on a lowboy, rigging at both ends, commissioning, water treatment and the demobilisation. Ask for it itemised. A turnkey number that hides rigging is the one that grows on the day the crane cannot reach.
Questions people ask about 1000 ton cooling tower
How long does a rental cooling tower take to get running?
The tower can be on site within days; the connection sets the date. Where power, piping and pad are ready, a modular set is commissioned a day or two after delivery. Where they are not, that work is the schedule and the tower simply waits on it.
Can I hire one for a two week outage?
Yes, and short duration outage work is much of what these fleets do. Expect a minimum period, usually a month, with the rate quoted monthly even when the machine sits on site for a fortnight. Mobilisation and demobilisation are charged whatever the duration turns out to be.
Do I need a chiller as well?
A tower rejects heat to the air by evaporation and can only approach the wet bulb temperature, so it serves condenser water and process loops. If you need chilled water in the forties for air handling, you need a rental chiller and the tower then serves the chiller.