A Comprehensive Approach to an Optimum Design and Simulation Model of a Mechanical Draft Wet Cooling Tower

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155-4563 Tehran, I.R. IRAN

2 Department of Energy Engineering, Science & Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, P.O. Box 14515-775 Tehran, I.R. IRAN

3 Faculty of Energy Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 1999-143344 Tehran, I.R. IRAN

Abstract

The present paper describes the designing of a thermally and economically optimum mechanical draft counter-flow wet cooling tower. The design model allows the use of a variety of packing materials in the cooling tower toward optimizing heat transfer. Once the optimum packing type is chosen, a compact cooling tower with low fan power consumption is modelled within the known design variables. Moreover, a simulation model of the cooling tower is developed for studying the tower’s performance as the main component of a water cooling system. The model also allows the influence of the environmental conditions on the thermal efficiency of the cooling tower to be considered. The thermal performance of the cooling tower is simulated in terms of varying air and water temperatures, and of the ambient conditions. The model is tested against experimental data. The suggested design and simulation algorithms of cooling tower are computed using Visual Studio.Net 2003 (C++).

Keywords

Main Subjects


[1] Panjeshahi M. H., Ataei A., Application of an Environmentally Optimum Cooling Water System Design to Water and Energy Conservation, Int. J. Environ. Sci. Tech., 5 (2), p. 251 (2008).
[2] Berman L. D., “Evaporative cooling of circulating water”. Pergamon, (1961).
[3] Smith R., “Chemical Process Design and Integration”, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, (2005).
[4] Mann J. G., Liu Y. A., Industrial Water Rreuse and Waste Water Minimization”, McGraw Hill Inc, (1999).
[5] Walker W. H., Lewis W. K., McAdams W. H., Gilliland E. R., “Principles of Chemical Engineering”, 3rd ed., Mac Graw-Hill Inc, (1923).
[6] Merkel F., Verdunstungshuhlung, Zeitschrift des Vereines Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI). 70, p. 123 (1925).
[7] Mohiuddin A.K.M., Kant K., Knowledge Base for the Systematic Design of Wet Cooling Towers Part I: Selection and Tower Characteristics, Int.J. Refrig., 19 (1), p. 43 (1996).
[8] Mohiuddin A.K.M., Kant K.,  Knowledge  Base  for the Systematic Design of Wet Cooling Towers Part II: Fill and Other Design Parameters, Int. J. Refrig., 19 (1), p. 52 (1996).
[9] Braun J. E., Klein S.A., Mitchell J.W., Effectiveness Models for Cooling Towers and Cooling coils, ASHRAE Trans., 95 (2), p. 74 (1989).
[10] Khan J.R., Yaqub M., Zubair S.M., Performance Characteristics of Counter Flow Wet Cooling towers, Energ. Convers. Manage., 44 (13), p. 2073 (2003).
[11] Milosavljevic  N.A.,  Heikkila  P.,  Comprehensive Approach to Cooling Tower Design, Appl. Therm. Eng., 21 (9), p. 899 (2001).
[12] Söylemez M. S., On the Optimum Sizing of Cooling towers, Energ. Convers. Manage., 42 (7), p. 783 (2001).
[13] Kröger  D.G.,  “Air-Cooled  Heat  Exchangers  and Cooling towers”, PennWell Corporation, (2004).
[14] Fisenko S.P., Brin A.A. and Petruchik, A.I., Evaporative Cooling of Water in a Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower, Int. J. Heat Mass Tran., 42 (1), p. 165 (2004).
[15] Visual Studio.Net 2003.
[16] Qureshi  B.A.,  Zubair  S.M.,  A  Complete  Model for Wet Cooling Towers with Fouling in Fills, Appl. Therm. Eng., 26 (16), p. 1982 (2006).
[17] Ataei A., Panjeshahi M. H.,  Gharaie M.,  A New Algorithm for Optimum Design of Mechanical Draft Wet Cooling Towers, J. Applied. Sci., 9 (3), p. 561 (2009).
[18] Ataei  A.,  Combined  Water  and  Thermal  Pinch Analysis in Process Industries. Ph.D. thesis, Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University,Tehran,Iran, (2008).
[19] Deng S., Tan K., A Numerical Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer Inside a Reversibly Used Water Cooling Tower, Build. Environ, 38 (1), p. 91 (2003).
[20] Khan J.R., Zubair S.M., An Improved Design and Rating Analysis of Counter Flow Wet Cooling Towers, J. Heat Trans., 123 (1), p. 770 (2001).
[21] Kloppers J.C., Kröger D.G., The Lewis Factor and Its Influence on the Performance Prediction of Wet-Cooling Towers, Int. J. Therm. Sci., 44 (9), p. 879 (2005).
[22] Muangnoi T, Asvapoositkul W., Wongwises S., An Exergy Analysis on the Performance of a Counter Flow Wet Cooling Tower, Appl. Therm. Eng., 27 (5), p. 910 (2007).
[23] Khan J.R., Qureshi, B.A., Zubair S.M., A Comprehensive Design and Performance Evaluation Study of Counter Flow Wet Cooling Towers, Int. J. Refrig., 27 (8), p. 914 (2004).
[24] Simpson W.M., Sherwood T.K., Performance of Small Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers, Ref. Eng., 52 (1), p. 525 (1946).
[25] Kim, J. K., Savulescu, L., Smith, R., Design of Cooling Systems for Effluent Temperature Reduction, Chem. Eng. Sci., 56 (5), p. 1811 (2001).
[26] Bedekar S.V., Nithiarasu P., Seetharamu K.N., Experimental Investigation of the Performance of a Counter-Flow Packed-Bed Mechanical Cooling Tower, Energy, 23 (11), p. 943 (1998).