Three-Dimensional Regularities of Distribution of Air-Inlet Characteristic Velocity in Natural-Draft wet Cooling Tower

Based on the heat and mass transfer theory and characteristics of the FLUENT software, a three-dimensional numerical simulation platform composed by user defined functions had been developed to simulate the thermal performance in a natural draft wet cooling tower. This platform was used to study a typical hyperbolic natural draft wet cooling tower with different fill types. The variations of the flow and temperature field in the cooling tower caused by the two different methods of fill were investigated. It is found that the outlet water temperature will decrease due to the non-uniform fill depth. The non-uniform fill depth is beneficial to increasing the efficiency of the cooling tower.

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Three-Dimensional Numerical Study on Thermal Performance in a Natural Draft Wet Cooling Tower

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.614-615.169 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 614-615 ◽

pp. 169-173

Author(s):

Shui Hua Zheng ◽

Tai Jin ◽

Jian Ren Fan

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

Mass Transfer ◽

Thermal Performance ◽

Water Distribution ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Numerical Study ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Cooling Efficiency ◽

Natural Draft ◽

Mass Transfer Theory

Based on the heat and mass transfer theory and characteristics of the CFD software, a three-dimensional numerical simulation platform had been developed to study the thermal performance in a natural draft wet cooling tower. This platform was validated using the measured results of a running cooling tower. The flow and temperature field in the cooling tower were investigated. It is found that the water temperature and flow field can be correctly calculated using this platform. The cooling efficiency could be improved due to non-uniform fill and water distribution methods.

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Numerical Study of Natural Draft Wet Cooling Tower

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.403-408.3191 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 403-408 ◽

pp. 3191-3194

Author(s):

Shui Hua Zheng ◽

Tai Jin ◽

Jian Ren Fan

Keyword(s):

Numerical Simulation ◽

Thermal Performance ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Numerical Study ◽

Thermal Power ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Design Calculation ◽

Simulation Platform ◽

Computational Accuracy ◽

Natural Draft

Natural draft wet cooling tower is one of key equipments in thermal power stations, and its thermal performance influences the efficiency of total thermal system. Based on the heat and mass transfer theory and characteristics of the FLUENT software, a three-dimensional numerical simulation platform had been developed to simulate the thermal performance in a natural draft wet cooling tower. This platform was used to study the heat exchange and flow situation of a typical hyperbolic natural draft wet cooling tower. Comparing and analyzing the results of simulation and design calculation, it indicate that there is good computational accuracy of the three-dimensional numerical simulation platform, and the platform can provide a good support for the design and research of natural draft wet cooling tower.

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Three-dimensional numerical study on thermal performance of a super large natural draft cooling tower of 220m height

Journal of Thermal Science ◽

10.1007/s11630-013-0618-x ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 234-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Tai Jin ◽

Li Zhang ◽

Kun Luo ◽

Jianren Fan

Keyword(s):

Thermal Performance ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Numerical Study ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Natural Draft

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Comparative Study on the Cooling Characteristics of Different Fill Layout Patterns on a Single Air Inlet Induced Draft Cooling Tower

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14196303 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (19) ◽

pp. 6303

Author(s):

Weipeng Deng ◽

Fengzhong Sun

Keyword(s):

Numerical Model ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Field Measurement ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Measurement Data ◽

Cooling Capacity ◽

Ventilation Rate ◽

Air Inlet ◽

The Mean

To enhance the cooling capacity of a single air inlet induced draft cooling tower (SIDCT), the stepped fill layout pattern is proposed in this paper. A three-dimensional numerical model is established and validated by field measurement data. The cooling capacity of towers equipped with uniform fill and stepped fill is compared under various crosswind velocities (0 m/s–12 m/s) and crosswind angles (0°–180°). The results showed that the ventilation rate of the total tower with stepped fill is increased. Under the studied crosswind velocity and angle, the cooling capacity of the stepped fill tower is superior to the uniform fill tower. After using stepped fill, the mean drop of outlet water temperature rises by 0.29 °C, 0.27 °C, 0.17 °C, 0.10 °C, and 0.19 °C, corresponding to crosswind angles from 0° to 180°. The increment of cooling capacity is the maximum under the crosswind angles of 0° and 45° and is the minimum under the crosswind angles of 90° and 135°. The maximum increased value of N is 0.65 under the crosswind velocity of 4 m/s, 0.85 under 8 m/s, and 0.95 under 12 m/s.

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The Importance of Inlet Height to the Performance of a Natural Draft Wet Cooling Tower

Proceeding of the 6th International Symposium on Radiative Transfer ◽

10.1615/ichmt.2005.austheatmasstransfconf.390 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

N. Williamson ◽

Steven Armfield ◽

Masud Behnia

Keyword(s):

Cooling Tower ◽

Natural Draft

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Numerical investigation of swirl effects on a short natural draft dry cooling tower under windless and crosswind conditions

Applied Thermal Engineering ◽

10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.116628 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 188 ◽

pp. 116628 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yuchen Dai ◽

Yuanshen Lu ◽

Alexander Y. Klimenko ◽

Ying Wang ◽

Kamel Hooman

Keyword(s):

Numerical Investigation ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Natural Draft ◽

Dry Cooling Tower ◽

Dry Cooling

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Improving Natural Draft Cooling Tower Performance With Heat Injection

2002 International Joint Power Generation Conference ◽

10.1115/ijpgc2002-26028 ◽

2002 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Eugene Grindle ◽

John Cooper ◽

Roger Lawson

Keyword(s):

Water Temperature ◽

Computer Model ◽

Cooling Tower ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Combined Cycle ◽

Steam Boiler ◽

Natural Draft ◽

Circulating Water ◽

Vapor Stream ◽

Heat Injection

This paper presents an assessment of heat injection as a means of improving natural draft cooling tower performance. The concept involves injecting heat into the cooling tower exit air/vapor stream immediately above the drift eliminators in order to increase the difference between the density of the exit air/vapor stream and the ambient air. The density difference between the air/vapor in the cooling tower stack and the ambient air is the engine that drives airflow through the cooling tower. The enhancement of the airflow through the cooling tower (the natural draft) results in more evaporation and thus lowers the circulating water temperature. Because the heat is injected above the drift eliminators, it does not heat the circulating water. To evaluate the cooling tower performance improvement as a function of heat injection rate, a thermal/aerodynamic computer model of Entergy’s White Bluff 1 & 2 and Independence 1 & 2 (approximately 840 MW each) natural draft cooling towers was developed. The computer model demonstrated that very substantial reductions in cold water temperature (up to 7°F) are obtainable by the injection of heat. This paper also discusses a number of possible heat sources. Sources of heat covered include extraction steam, auxiliary steam, boiler blow-down, and waste heat from a combustion turbine. The latter source of heat would create a combined cycle unit with the combination taking place in the condensing part of the cycle (bottom of the cycle) instead of the steam portion of the cycle (top of the cycle).

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