Study of wind speed influence on non-uniformity of air flow distribution in tower cooling towers

The shortage of sources of low-mineralized water in the areas of construction and operation of powerful power units of thermal power plants and nuclear power plants necessitates to increase the efficiency of circulating cooling systems. Under these conditions, water recycling systems with cooling towers play a key role, increasing efficiency of which by modeling and optimizing heat and mass transfer processes becomes an urgent task. Modeling of the movement of air flows in a cooling tower is carried out using a package in ANSYS Fluent. The water-cooling process, considering the found distribution of air velocities across the cross section of the cooling tower, is calculated within the framework of the matrix modeling methodology of multi-flow heat and mass transfer installations. As a result of the study, the air velocity field and the distribution of air flows across the cross section of the cooling tower at different wind speeds have been found. The influence of uneven air flows across the cross section on the efficiency of water cooling has been assessed. The ways and methods for leveling these unevennesses under different weather conditions have been proposed. The developed combined model of the heat and mass transfer process in a cooling tower makes it possible to effectively solve the problem of choosing the optimal design and operating parameters of cooling system equipment under various weather conditions, as well as to diagnose the state of the recirculation cooling system.