Experimental research on circumferential inflow air and vortex distribution for wet cooling tower under crosswind conditions

Based on similarity theory, this research conducts a thermal-state model experiment, studying the change of circumferential inflow air on the bottom of wet cooling tower and the distribution of vortex inside tower under environmental crosswind conditions. The study on the circumferential inflow air reveals that the axisymmetric distribution of circumferential inflow air is affected by crosswind, and this phenomenon is very obvious when crosswind velocity is more than 0.2 m/s. At the velocity of 0.4 m/s, the circumferential inflow air velocity in windward side is about 1.875 times that of windless conditions, but the circumferential inflow air velocity in leeward side is about 0.3 times that of windless conditions. Visualization research of vortex distribution reveals that as the crosswind velocity increases, the vortex in windward side enlarges and the vortex in leeward side becomes larger at the beginning, but then gradually disappears; the vortex in leeward side reaches maximum when crosswind velocity is 0.4 m/s. The unsymmetrical circumferential inflow air and vortex under crosswind conditions seriously affect the whole airflowrate of wet cooling tower, and deteriorate the heat and mass transfer performance. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.