Integrated analysis of cooling water systems: Modeling and experimental validation


Autoria(s): CORTINOVIS, Giorgia F.; RIBEIRO, Marcelo T.; PAIVA, Jose L.; SONG, Tah W.; PINTO, Jose M.
Contribuinte(s)

UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO

Data(s)

18/10/2012

18/10/2012

2009

Resumo

Cooling towers are widely used in many industrial and utility plants as a cooling medium, whose thermal performance is of vital importance. Despite the wide interest in cooling tower design, rating and its importance in energy conservation, there are few investigations concerning the integrated analysis of cooling systems. This work presents an approach for the systemic performance analysis of a cooling water system. The approach combines experimental design with mathematical modeling. An experimental investigation was carried out to characterize the mass transfer in the packing of the cooling tower as a function of the liquid and gas flow rates, whose results were within the range of the measurement accuracy. Then, an integrated model was developed that relies on the mass and heat transfer of the cooling tower, as well as on the hydraulic and thermal interactions with a heat exchanger network. The integrated model for the cooling water system was simulated and the temperature results agree with the experimental data of the real operation of the pilot plant. A case study illustrates the interaction in the system and the need for a systemic analysis of cooling water system. The proposed mathematical and experimental analysis should be useful for performance analysis of real-world cooling water systems. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FAPESP[00/15097-0]

Identificador

APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING, v.29, n.14-15, p.3124-3131, 2009

1359-4311

http://producao.usp.br/handle/BDPI/18548

10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2009.04.008

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2009.04.008

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Relação

Applied Thermal Engineering

Direitos

restrictedAccess

Copyright PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Palavras-Chave #Cooling water system #Cooling tower #Process analysis #Mathematical modeling #Heat and mass transfer #MASS-TRANSFER #TOWER #HEAT #DESIGN #Thermodynamics #Energy & Fuels #Engineering, Mechanical #Mechanics
Tipo

article

original article

publishedVersion