An improved three-dimensional numerical model of a v-bar splash fill in a wet cooling tower

Abstract

Splash fills are preferred in mechanical draft wet cooling towers commonly used in power plants, as these are much less susceptible to clogging and fouling due to debris, algae, and salts as compared to film fill. However, most of the studies reported in literature have been focussed on film fills which are porous in one direction only considering them as porous media. When applying CFD to model splash fills that have anisotropic resistance, 3-D models are required to determine the fill performance. A three-dimensional numerical model has been developed in the present study, using CFD code to replicate the flow configuration and performance prediction of the splash fills. In the current numerical model, the continuous air phase has been solved using the Eulerian approach, while the stochastic gravity-driven droplet trajectory for the water phase has been predicted using the Lagrangian approach. The numerical model has been validated against available experimental data. The computational cost and time associated with the complex splash fill geometry have been drastically reduced by geometry simplifications and efficient meshing strategies. A parametric study has also been carried out to evaluate the impact of operating and design conditions on the hydraulic and thermal performance of the fill.