A New Method for the Simulation of High Reynolds Number Effects on Cooling Tower Models in Wind Tunnels

Abstract

To protect large cooling towers against strong winds, wind tunnel model tests have traditionally been undertaken. As typical circular cylindrical structures, simulations of high Reynolds number (Re) effects are indispensable on scale models of large cooling towers to validate the truthfulness of test results. However, two issues currently exist that hinder the effectiveness of high Re effects simulation: (1) the mean wind pressure distribution at high Re is usually utilized as the sole simulation target, and the simulation results are not typically checked for other dynamic wind effects that are equally important; and (2) it is not clear whether the wind effects obtained and generalized by other researchers for small-sized cooling towers can be used as simulation targets for large cooling towers. In light of these issues, a new method for the simulation of high Re effects that takes into account real simulated dynamic wind effects is proposed in this study and compared with the traditional simulation method, which only considers the simulation of the mean wind pressure distribution. By comparing the wind effects measured on a 167 m-high large cooling tower with those obtained on small-sized cooling towers, the irrationality of treating the wind effects measured on small-sized cooling towers as high Re effects simulation targets for large cooling towers is demonstrated. With these findings, future model tests are expected to reproduce more realistic wind effects on large cooling towers.