Energies, Vol. 12, Pages 4560: Numerical Investigation on the Influence of Mechanical Draft Wet-Cooling Towers on the Cooling Performance of Air-Cooled Condenser with Complex Building Environment (Energies)

In air-cooled power units, an air-cooled condenser (ACC) is usually accompanied by mechanical draft wet-cooling towers (MCTs) so as to meet the severe cooling requirements of air-cooling auxiliary apparatuses, such as water ring vacuum pumps. When running, both the ACC and MCTs affected each other through their aerodynamic fields. To make the effect of MCTs on the cooling performance of the ACC more prominent, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical model was established for one 2 × 660 MW air-cooling power plant, with full consideration the ACC, MCTs and adjacent main workshops, which was validated by design data and published test results. By numerical simulation, we obtained the effect of hot air recirculation (HAR) on the cooling performance of the ACC under different working conditions and the effect of MCTs on the cooling performance of the ACC. The results showed that as the ambient wind speed increases, the hot recirculation rate (HRR) of the ACC increased and changed significantly with the change of wind directions. An increase in ambient temperature can cause a significant rise in back pressure of the ACC. The exhaust of the MCTs partially entered the ACC under the influence of ambient wind, and the HRR in the affected cooling units was higher than that of the nearby unaffected cooling units. When the MCTs were turned off, the overall HRR of the ACC decreased. The presence of MCTs had a local influence on the cooling performance of only two cooling units, and then slightly impacted the overall cooling performance of the ACC, which provides a good insight into the arrangement optimization of the ACC and the MCTs.