Modeling a Large Air-Cooled Condenser

Abstract

This study reports on a modeling strategy for large Air-Cooled Condensers (ACCs). A large 64-fan ACC was modeled under various crosswind conditions that investigated the ACC’s specific axial flow fan configuration. The ACC model was developed in two parts, an axial flow fan model and a heat exchanger model. The axial flow fans were modeled using an Actuator Disk Model (ADM). The heat exchangers’ pressure drop was modeled using the Darcy-Forchheimer porosity model, and the Effectiveness Number of Transfer Units (ε-NTU) method was used to determine the air heat transfer rate. The ACC was configured using two different axial flow fans, identified in this study as the L-fan and the N-fan. Comparatively the L-fan has a steeper fan static pressure characteristic curve than that of the N-fan, at the cost of a greater shaft power consumption. Under normal operating conditions the average heat-to-power ratios were calculated at 89.91 W/W for the L-fan and 102.48 W/W for the N-fan. Under crosswind conditions of 9 m/s the heat-to-power ratios of the leading edge fan-units decreased by 80.6% and 87.0% for the L-fan and N-fan respectively. However, at the fan-units immediately downstream of the leading edge the heat-to-power ratios only decreased by 34.1% for the L-fan and 64.2% for the N-fan.