Analysis of effect cooling tower geometric porforation design on the distribution of sound pressure level and temperature

Abstract

Abstract Noise in a cooling tower system is caused by the cooling system engineering units, namely the tightly closed water circulation pump, fans for air flow needed for heat transfer, and vibrations in the cooling tower structure. Noise in cooling towers can be reduced by paying attention to the mechanical structure of the cooling tower such as stiffness, density and porosity of the cooling tower material. This mechanical control is still not optimal for reducing or controlling noise at low frequencies, depending on the physical properties of the materials used. The objective of the study is to analyze the noise distribution in the cooling tower geometric design and the temperature distribution in the cooling tower geometric design. This research focuses on the geometric design of the cooling tower and selecting the most optimal design to reduce noise and analyze the temperature distribution in the cooling tower. In this paper, simulations were carried out using the Ansys Harmonic Acoustics program and carried out at low frequencies, namely frequencies of 100 - 500 Hz. The simulation is carried out by placing the noise source in a chamber surrounded by a barrier or enclosure. The results of the simulation include the distribution of Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and air temperature distribution in the form of a countour plot which displays color gradations in the geometry which indicate differences in sound intensity values and air temperature values in the cooling tower geometry. After obtaining the simulation results, the most optimal design can be identified to reduce noise in the cooling tower.