Numerical study of the fouling effect on wet cooling towers designed to CSP plants

Zaza, Afaf; Laadel, Nour Eddine; Bennouna, El Ghali; Hammami, Youness El; Janan, Mourad Taha

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2018.11.289

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Recently, most researchers used the Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD to solve the heat exchangers equations (LMTD, NTU.) because it is considered as a powerful micro process and a timesaving method especially during design phase have developed a CFD simulation, with the use of the Fluent software [20][21][22][23][24][25]. The results were applied for the design and commissioning of the HEP.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Numerical Simulation Under Milk Fouling in A Plate Heat Exchanger in The Presence of a Porous Medium

Sannad

Zaza

Hammami

et al. 2022

ARFMTS

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Fouling is a known dairy industry issue during thermal treatments using a plate heat exchanger (PHE) it directly affects not only energy costs and maintenance but also production, energy and water losses during cleaning operations. Therefore, a considerable attention has been paid to the modelling of the fouling phenomena in order to improve the PHE performances. In this paper, a mathematical model describing the steady state was established for the flow at the macroscopic scale; the model account for constant and turbulent flows between two flat parallel plates at imposed temperature in the presence of a porous medium. The closure k-ε model has been chosen and the conservation of equations has been developed. The numerical procedure adopted was based on the finite volume method on the Fluent CFD software. The accuracy of the Fluent software was validated by comparing our results with those previously published in the literature. The numerical results showed a good reliability of the developed code for both laminar and turbulent regimes of the studied phenomenon. It was able to capture the dynamic and the thermal aspects of the process. The maximum velocity at the output of the channel increased when the thickness of the porous medium was increased. An increase of the average temperature over the whole length of the channel was observed; while a decrease of the average temperature at the outlet of the channel was noticed. The deposit fouling caused additional thermal resistance. Finally, a decrease of the temperature gradient and Nusselt number in the medium of the channel was observed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Numerical Simulation Under Milk Fouling in A Plate Heat Exchanger in The Presence of a Porous Medium

Sannad

Zaza

Hammami

et al. 2022

ARFMTS

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“…At 1 mm scaling thickness, the literature reports performance reductions in the range of 20% to 35% (Hartvig does not specify results for this thickness) [8,9,11]. Zaza et al model the scaling process on different types of cooling tower tubes in good agreement with their experiments on laboratory scale [12]. They determine performance decreases in the range of 3% to 4% during their tests but provide no information on the layer thickness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model-Based Evaluation of Air-Side Fouling in Closed-Circuit Cooling Towers

et al. 2021

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Fouling is a permanent problem in process technology and is estimated to cost 0.25% of the gross national product. Evaporative cooling systems are especially susceptible to air-side fouling: as they work with untreated outside air, they are exposed to both natural (e.g., pollen) and human-made (e.g., industrial dust) contaminants. In addition, suspended solid particles and dissolved salts in the spray water are an issue. In this study we analyzed an approach for fouling detection based on a semi-physical (grey-box) cooling tower model which we calibrated with measurement data. A test series with reliable laboratory data indicates good applicability of the model. In three datasets, the performance decreases due to fouling (scaling, which was provoked intentionally) in the range of 5–11% were clearly detected. When applied to measurement data of two cooling towers in real applications, the model also proved to be well calibratable with relatively little data (two to four operating days). For two data sets, the model yielded reasonable results when applied to long term data: a cooling tower cleaning could be retraced and nominal operation was verified during the remaining time. During the analysis of a third data set a temporary performance deviation was found, which could not be explained with the recorded data. Thus, the approach turned out to be generally applicable but requires further verification and refinement in order to increase the robustness. If successful, it can be transferred to a commercial product for need-oriented maintenance in order to reduce cooling tower operating costs and environmental impact.

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“…These organisms lead to the biofouling of the checker filling elements, thereby disrupting the structure of water and air flows, as well as they reduce the throughput capability, resulting in a decrease in the heat exchange, and, in some cases, cause the metal corrosion with its further destruction. The microorganisms enter the recycling water supply system with the atmospheric air, settle in the elements of checker filling and develop as a consequence of favorable conditions, such as: temperature increase, availability of dissolved oxygen, as well as other nutrients [4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The study of gas-liquid flow dynamics in the inclined-corrugated elements of cooling tower filler unit

2019

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This paper deals with the studies of cooling tower, operated with the contactless evaporative cooling technology. The authors developed the cooling tower with a three-flow liquid cooling system. The authors conducted the numerical studies of gas-liquid flow dynamics in the inclined-corrugated elements of checker filling unit that allows to give us an idea of two-phase flow structure, its movement throughout the checker filling, as well as to assess the influence of mode parameters on the efficiency of collecting the liquid drops and the range of stable operation of device. The most effective operation of this device is at the pressure drop of 100 Pa, while developing the average air flow rate in the element up to 3.2 m/s.

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Numerical study of the fouling effect on wet cooling towers designed to CSP plants

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

A Numerical Simulation Under Milk Fouling in A Plate Heat Exchanger in The Presence of a Porous Medium

A Numerical Simulation Under Milk Fouling in A Plate Heat Exchanger in The Presence of a Porous Medium

Model-Based Evaluation of Air-Side Fouling in Closed-Circuit Cooling Towers

The study of gas-liquid flow dynamics in the inclined-corrugated elements of cooling tower filler unit

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