Numerical study on the cooling performance of dry cooling tower with vertical two-pass column radiators under crosswind

To study the cooling performance of a natural draft dry cooling tower with vertical two-pass column radiators (NDDCTV) under crosswind, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical model was established for NDDCTV and validated by some published results. By the numerical model, the aerodynamic field around cooling columns was computed and analyzed at 4 m/s crosswind. It was found that the large inflow air deviation angle at delta entry induced large eddy near column theta(-1). With the air static pressure contours, the air mass flow rates through each column, delta and sector were analyzed and calculated. Based on the water temperature distribution at column exits, the exit water temperatures of each column, delta and sector were presented and analyzed. So the crosswind impact mechanism on each sector and the tower was clarified. With the increasing crosswind velocity, the cooling performance of tower deteriorates rapidly. But at high velocity crosswind, the tower performance varies gently. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.