Numerical analysis from the rotational speed regulation within the fan array on the performance of an air-cooled steam condenser

Abstract

As the driven devices, forced draught fans are always applied to extract the ambient air for cooling the turbine exhaust steam in an air-cooled steam condenser (ACSC). Accordingly, the influences from the fan array (FA) on the performance of the ACSC is significant for the corresponding design and optimization. In this paper, a numerical model for a large scale power plant, with a designed output power of 2 × 600 MW, is built to study the relations between the rotational speed distribution within the FA and the power plant performance at the local prevailing wind angle. The simulation results indicate that after the rotational speed increase for the fans, the improvement of the power plant performance will be obtained. In comparison with the original design situation, it is acquired that the peak elevation amplitude of final net power approaches 41.33 MW, when the wind speed arrives at 10 ms−1 for the FA case. Accordingly, based on the aforementioned comparisons, it can be summarized that a maximum benefit of the net power will be found at all the designated wind speeds, when the rotational speed for the entire FA is regulated.