Numerical Investigation of an Induced Draft Air-Cooled Condenser Under Crosswind Conditions

Abstract

Abstract This study numerically investigated the performance of a 64-fan induced draft Air-Cooled Condenser (ACC) subjected to crosswind conditions. An Actuator Disk Model (ADM) was used to model the axial flow fans and a combination of the Darcy-Forchheimer porosity model and the Effectiveness Number of Transfer Units (ε-NTU) heat transfer model were used to model the heat exchangers. Crosswind conditions were applied to the ACC model in multiple directions and multiple reference velocities, with the results compared to a reference case where no wind was present. The induced draft ACC attained a mean fan volumetric effectiveness of 1.065, a mean heat transfer effectiveness of 1.039 and a mean heat-to-power ratio of 120.6 when no crosswinds were present. At relatively high crosswind velocities of 9 m/s the mean volumetric effectiveness decreased by 10.1% from wind coming from the primary direction, and by 10.3% from wind coming from the secondary direction. Similarly, the mean heat transfer effectiveness decreased by 21.7% under primary cross-winds, and by 31.3% under secondary crosswinds. Finally, the heat-to-power ratio of the ACC decreased to 92.5 under primary crosswinds, and by 77.6 under secondary crosswinds.