Numerical modeling and analysis of smoke injection into the Heller cooling tower and its effect on the performance of Shahid Rajaei power plant with thermal and combined cycle in wind conditions

The performance of a Heller tower depends on known parameters and environmental conditions such as temperature, relative humidity, wind, etc., so that in addition to temperature and density, the flow rate of air sucked into the tower will affect its efficiency. In windy conditions, due to the disruption of the symmetry of the pressure distribution around the tower and also the creation of a capping phenomenon at the top of the tower, the inlet flow rate and the efficiency of the cooling tower are reduced, which leads to a decrease in the overall performance of the power plant. One of the methods that has been proposed to improve tower efficiency is to inject exhaust smoke from a boiler or smoke generator into the cooling tower. In the present study, the results of the numerical analysis, in the states without smoke injection and with smoke injection under the design conditions of the tower and wind, have been used for the thermodynamic, energy and exergy analysis of different power plant components. The results of the numerical simulation show an increase in the thermal power of the cooling tower by 16.7 MW, the efficiencies of the first and second laws of the power plant by 92% and 86% in the condition of wind blowing at a speed of 20 m/s under the influence of smoke injection, compared to the condition without smoke injection