Comprehensive Comparison of Hybrid Cooling of Thermal Power Generation with Airside Serial and Parallel Heat Exchange

Natural draft hybrid cooling (NDHC) for thermal power generating units is proposed to achieve a balance of energy and water consumption for arid areas. This study examines the two main design forms of hybrid cooling with airside in serial and parallel heat exchange based on the same tower shell and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2022-09, Vol.15 (17), p.6478
Main Authors: Huang, Qian, Zhi, Yifan, Zhang, Rongyong, Wei, Huimin, Xu, Lei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air temperature
Aluminum
Ambient temperature
annual performance
Comparative analysis
Cooling
Cooling systems
Design
Efficiency
Electric power production
Experiments
Flow rates
Heat exchangers
Heat transfer
Humidity
Mass flow rate
natural draft hybrid cooling
parallel/serial heat exchange
Power plants
Rain
Thermal power
Thermoelectricity
Water consumption
Water treatment
water/energy nexus
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Summary:Natural draft hybrid cooling (NDHC) for thermal power generating units is proposed to achieve a balance of energy and water consumption for arid areas. This study examines the two main design forms of hybrid cooling with airside in serial and parallel heat exchange based on the same tower shell and heat transfer areas. Taking full consideration of the thermal cycle of the power generating unit, simplified simulation models for different cooling systems are established to show the influences of ambient conditions and marketing factors. Results show that both the hybrid cooling designs have a better cooling efficiency than either dry cooling or wet cooling. Expanded inlet areas of hybrid cooling in the parallel heat exchange design bring high heat transfer performance. As for the serial design, the higher temperature of the air at the outlet of the dry section maintains a larger airside mass flow rate, obtaining a high-efficient cooling system. The hybrid cooling in the serial design type relies more on the heat transfer performance of the wet section and is more sensible to ambient humidity, while the performance of hybrid cooling in the parallel design mainly depends on the dry section and is more easily affected by ambient temperature. Considering the unit cost variations of coal and water treatment, hybrid cooling in the parallel design has a wider range of applications compared with the serial design. With the growth in coal cost, there exist more benefits with the serial design.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en15176478