Abstract
While the visible plume from a cooling tower is not a pollutant, it can affect the surrounding environment. Moreover, the accompanied evaporation loss has a great potential for wastewater recovery. In the present study, a novel coupling technology for water conservation and plume abatement was proposed, and its feasibility was verified by using thermodynamic analysis. A surface-type heat exchanger was designed and a thermodynamic calculation model was established. Next, based on the principle of “no plume,” the effect of the number of heat exchanger units (N) and the circulating water volume (G) on the water conservation and plume abatement was evaluated under design condition. Results showed that the optimized parameters for the operation of the cooling towers were N = 8 and G < 3000 m3/h, which have a good effect on water conservation and plume abatement. Furthermore, as per the condensation calculation model, the average water conservation amount was 1.105 kg/s and the annual water conservation amount reached 2.8641 × 107 kg.
Highlights
The cooling tower is a key component of a water-cooled air conditioning plant, which removes heat from the warm water in the condenser [1]
Xu et al [8] evaluated the plume potential and abatement of evaporative cooling towers in a subtropical region; the results showed that the control strategies had a significant effect on the plume potential and further impacted the system design and sizing of the plume abatement system
The present study proposed a novel coupling technology for water conservation and plume abatement
Summary
The cooling tower is a key component of a water-cooled air conditioning plant, which removes heat from the warm water in the condenser [1]. Evaporation loss in the cooling tower is high and difficult to recover. When hot moist air emitted from the cooling tower is mixed with the ambient air, a visible plume is generated. The plume is not considered as a pollutant; it can influence the visibility of the surrounding residential areas and road traffic. It makes the pavement around the cooling tower wet and slippery, which affects the maintenance work. The effect of visible plumes from cooling towers has always been neglected
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