4936882 Fluid dynamic cooling tower

Electro-fluid-dynamic cooling devices (EFAs) are being recognized due to their enormous advantages for their application in several industrial sectors, their performance benefits from generated ionic winds and their singular features, which make them competitive with conventional fans and heatsinks. Due to the problems in the electronics industry, where traditional refrigeration systems are not effective due to their dimensions, this study analyzes an innovative arrangement based on wire-to-plane fins by direct current (DC) positive corona discharge in atmospheric air for applications. The paper focuses on optimizing the multicriteria geometry of the electrodes. Several parameters are analyzed such as the gap between emitter and ground electrodes, the electrode materials and geometry, the diameter of the high-voltage electrode and the influence of the dielectric barriers located near the corona electrode to improve heat exchange. Experimental validation shows the potential of this arrangement related to weight, volume, non-mobile parts and silence.

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Simulation of indoor comfort level in a building cooled by a cooling tower–concrete core cooling system under hot–semiarid climatic conditions

Indoor and Built Environment ◽

10.1177/1420326x16635260 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (5) ◽

pp. 680-693 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

D. G. Leo Samuel ◽

S. M. Shiva Nagendra ◽

M. P. Maiya

Keyword(s):

Indoor Air ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Cooling System ◽

Fluid Dynamic ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Comfort Level ◽

Passive Cooling ◽

Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis ◽

Concrete Core ◽

Core Cooling

Concrete core cooling system is an energy efficient alternative to the conventional mechanical cooling system. It provides better comfort due to direct absorption of radiation load, low indoor air velocity, apt vertical temperature gradient and absence of noise. It can be operated at relatively higher water temperature, which facilitates the use of passive cooling strategies. In this study, a cooling tower, which is an ‘evaporative cooling system’, is preferred over other passive cooling options due to its better cooling performance in dry regions and its ability to operate all through the day. This paper presents the results of computational fluid dynamic analysis of a room cooled by concrete core cooling system supported by a cooling tower. The study reveals that for a typical hot–semiarid summer climatic condition in India, the system reduces the average indoor air temperature to a comfortable range of 23.5 to 28℃ from an uncomfortable range of 35.3 to 41℃ in a building without cooling. The average predicted percentage of dissatisfied falls from 99.7% in a building without cooling, to 37.3% if roof and floor of a building are cooled with concrete core cooling system and further to 6.3% if all surfaces are cooled with concrete core cooling system.

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Fog harvesting from cooling towers using metal mesh: Effects of aerodynamic, deposition, and drainage efficiencies

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part A Journal of Power and Energy ◽

10.1177/0957650919890711 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 234 (7) ◽

pp. 994-1014 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ritwick Ghosh ◽

Ranjan Ganguly

Keyword(s):

Fresh Water ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Collection Efficiency ◽

Fluid Dynamic ◽

Tangential Velocity ◽

Cooling Towers ◽

Metal Mesh ◽

Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis ◽

Fog Collection ◽

Energy Penalty

Fog harvesting is recognized as an important alternate source of fresh water. Industrial fog can supplement water for industrial requirement. Collection of fog (drift droplets) from cooling tower plumes is a viable mode of industrial fog harvesting. The present study delves deeper into the findings of our earlier pilot investigation, on cooling tower fog harvesting and unravels how the collection efficiency depends on interaction of the mesh with the oncoming flow and the deposited fog droplets. Herein, we quantify the fog collection and explain the rationale of the individual contributions of aerodynamic, deposition, and drainage efficiencies on the overall collection efficiency. The effect of the mesh orientations and the tangential velocity component of the cooling tower plume (arising out of the cooling tower-fan rotation) are considered. Aerodynamic efficiency of the mesh and pressure drop across is estimated through computational fluid dynamic analysis. Also, an analysis of the force interaction between the mesh wires, deposited droplet, and the fog stream is carried out to identify the salient deterring factors like re-entrainment, clogging, and premature dripping of collected water droplets, based on which the regime of collection is mapped. The best collection configuration is found at an inclination of 15° with the vertical, with an overall collection efficiency of about 16%. The best configuration would allow recovery of re-usable fresh water at a nominal energy penalty of ∼3.9 kWh/m3. Our results offer the design bases for developing full-scale fog harvesting setups for industrial cooling towers.

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