Abstract
This study focuses on the effects of boundary conditions on effectiveness of an air-cooled condenser (ACC). Heat duty of ACC is very often calculated for ideal uniform velocity field which does not correspond to reality. Therefore, this study studies the effect of wind and different landscapes on air flow through ACC. For this study software OpenFOAM was used and the flow was simulated with the use of RANS equations. For verification of numerical setup a model of one ACC cell with dimensions of platform 1.5×1.5 [m] was used. In this experiment static pressures behind fan and air flows through a model of surface of condenser for different rpm of fan were measured. In OpenFOAM software a virtual clone of this experiment was built and different meshes, turbulent models and numerical schemes were tested. After tuning up numerical setup virtual model of real ACC system was built. Influence of wind, landscape and height of ACC on air flow through ACC has been investigated.
Highlights
In standard design of air-cooled condenser (ACC) the influence of wind is not considered, as well as the surrounding terrain or other aspects that certainly affects the effectiveness of ACC [1]
This paper presents results based on CFD model of real smaller 2 cells of ACC
The study was provided with the software OpenFOAM and CFD model was validated on a smaller model of one cell ACC [2,3]
Summary
In standard design of air-cooled condenser (ACC) the influence of wind is not considered, as well as the surrounding terrain or other aspects that certainly affects the effectiveness of ACC [1]. This paper presents results based on CFD model of real smaller 2 cells of ACC. In CFD model the influence of wind and surrounding buildings is considered. The change of flow rate with the change of boundary conditions is evaluated as well as the influence of uniformity of velocity field on condenser on the effectiveness of ACC. The study was provided with the software OpenFOAM and CFD model was validated on a smaller model of one cell ACC [2,3]. This study shows that the change of air volume flow with the change of boundary conditions can be very significant. The change of air volume flow through condenser can reach 25 [%] with the change of wind velocity. The influence of surrounding building can change the volume flow by about 10 [%]
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