Methodology for evaluation of cooling tower performance – Part 2: Application of the methodology and computational aspects of Poppe equations

A methodology for evaluation of natural draft cooling tower (CT) performance and its application is presented. The study establishes the connection between CT performance and power output. It can estimate a change in a CT’s efficiency as well as an increase in power output as a function of cooling water temperature and load to the plant. The methodology consists of three subparts, i.e. Cooling Tower Profiler (CTP) method, CT model and a model of the power plant that are described in the first part of the paper. The second part focuses on application of the methodology in a way that minimizes error of the CT model. One week of data from the power plant were acquired for the analysis. In the CT a small area with irregularities was examined, and increased efficiency and power output are estimated by the methodology. Furthermore, another aspect of solving Poppe equations is examined resulting in reduced computational effort by approximately a half without losing any computational accuracy.

► Application of the methodology for evaluation of CT performance is presented. ► Proposed is calculation procedure that minimizes systematic error of applied models. ► Faster numerical integration of Poppe equations is presented. ► Study is based on measured data from a plant and natural draft CT. ► Significance of efficient CT operation and its impact on power output are depicted.