Application Potential of a Dew-Point Cooling Tower in Selected Energy Intensive Applications in Temperate Climate

Demis Pandelidis; Mikołaj Matuszczak; Paweł Krowicki; Bartosz Poskart; Grzegorz Iskierka; William Worek; Sabri Cetin

doi:10.3390/app14177605

Applied Sciences (Aug 2024)

Application Potential of a Dew-Point Cooling Tower in Selected Energy Intensive Applications in Temperate Climate

Demis Pandelidis,
Mikołaj Matuszczak,
Paweł Krowicki,
Bartosz Poskart,
Grzegorz Iskierka,
William Worek,
Sabri Cetin

Affiliations

Demis Pandelidis: Department of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 27 Wyspiański Str., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Mikołaj Matuszczak: Department of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 27 Wyspiański Str., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Paweł Krowicki: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 27 Wyspiański Str., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Bartosz Poskart: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 27 Wyspiański Str., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Grzegorz Iskierka: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 27 Wyspiański Str., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
William Worek: Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
Sabri Cetin: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/app14177605
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 17
p. 7605

Abstract

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In the article, the application potential of the dew-point cooling tower (DPCT) in selected energy-intensive applications in temperate climates was analyzed and discussed. The applications selected for analysis are power generation with natural gas turbines and chilled water air conditioning systems. The study is based on a mathematical model derived from a modified ε-NTU model. The model was validated against experimental results and showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. DPCT was compared with a typical cooling tower limited by the wet-bulb temperature (wet-bulb cooling tower, WBCT). The simulation results showed that DPCT is able to provide significant energy savings in energy-intensive applications; therefore, its application potential in temperate climates can be considered justified. In the case of gas turbines, DPCT was able to generate 2 to 10 percentage points more capacity than operating on outdoor air and 1.8 to 5 percentage points more than operating with WBCT. In the case of air conditioning systems, the system equipped with DPCT achieved EERs (energy efficiency ratios) higher by 1 to 7.2 compared to dry cooling and by 0.3 to 5.1 compared to systems equipped with WBCT. The annual energy savings obtained by the system with DPCT were 14.7 MWh compared to WBCT and 30 MWh compared to dry cooling.

Published in Applied Sciences

ISSN: 2076-3417 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); Science: Biology (General); Science: Physics; Science: Chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci

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