Trapezoidal array of air-cooled condensers to restrain the adverse impacts of ambient winds in a power plant

Abstract

Ambient winds may deteriorate the thermo-flow performances of air-cooled condensers, so it is of use to take measures against the adverse impacts of winds upon the air-cooled condensers in a power plant. On the basis of a 2×600MW direct dry cooling power plant, a new trapezoidal array of air-cooled condensers is proposed. The computational models of the air-side fluid and heat flows of the air-cooled condensers in a trapezoidal array at various wind speeds and in various wind directions are developed, and the velocity and temperature fields are presented by using CFD simulations. The volumetric flow rate, inlet air temperature and heat rejection for different condenser cells are obtained and compared with those of the current air-cooled condensers in the rectangular array. The results show that the reversed flows arose in the upwind condenser cells at high wind speeds disappear due to the trapezoidal array of air-cooled condensers, resulting in a lowered inlet air temperature and an increased heat rejection of the upwind condenser cells. The hot plume recirculation in the wind direction of 0° becomes very weak and only appears at one side near the main buildings. The thermo-flow performances are improved to a certain extent thanks to the trapezoidal array of air-cooled condensers. It is recommended that air-cooled condensers in a power plant take the form of trapezoidal array to restrain the adverse impacts of ambient winds.