An exploratory research on performance improvement of super-large natural draft wet cooling tower based on the reconstructed dry-wet hybrid rain zone, part 2: Crosswind effects

Abstract

To enhance the performance of the super-large natural draft wet cooling towers (S-NDWCTs), and finally to achieve the goal of energy-saving in thermal systems, the dry-wet hybrid rain zone was proposed in our previous paper. However, the previous work failed to discuss the effects of crosswind which are extremely significant for the research for S-NDWCTs. Therefore, the thermal and aerodynamic performances of the cooling tower are investigated for variation crosswind speeds (0 m/s ~ 16 m/s) and crosswind angles (0° ~ 45°) by numerical method. The results show that the airflow and circulating water temperature distributions in the dry-wet tower are more uniform than those in the usual tower within the range of studied crosswind velocities; The water temperature drop raises by about 0.40°C on average within the studied crosswind speed range; For the dry-wet rain zone tower, while the environment wind speed raises from 2 to 4 m/s, the water temperature drop decreases by 0.63°C, the ventilation rate decreases by 9.5%, the Merkel number decreases by 0.17; The influences of changing crosswind angle on the performance of wet cooling tower are not obvious.