BTW, while wondering about the hyperboloid shape of cooling towers

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(and not running across any strong explanation for why that shape) I happened on the Adziogol lighthouse. "is a graceful vertical lattice hyperboloid structure of steel bars, 70 meters high."



(Now if what you have available is straight steel bar stock, then a ruled surface form must be a great temptation, but surely that's not what motivates nuclear cooling tower builders?)

Comments

Re: hyperboloid cool

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I'm imagining that you want your sprayed water to fall in free air, instead of hitting the side and trickling down (less heat exchange that way). If that's true, a hyperboloid has "dead space" above and below the slanty wings, and a cylinder of "working space" down the middle. And then I'd wonder wouldn't it take less material to build the cylindrical shell, and hold it up with guy wires if those are needed.

I'm sure there's some compelling reason beyond love of conic sections.