The present paper determined the water recovery potential of a scaled crossflow cooling tower, where finned thermosyphons were used to drive heat from the hot, moist air flowing through the cooling tower toward the ambient. This process, which uses the tower’s outer environment as a heat sink, partially condenses the water vapor present in the flowing air, creating an entirely passive water recovery system, hence reducing the water expenditure, a known problem in cooling towers. To mimic real operational conditions as closely as possible, the tests were carried out outdoors with the thermosyphon-assisted cooling tower subjected to real atmospheric conditions. In addition to the tests, an analytical model, which was based on the tower’s operational and atmospheric conditions, was also implemented, with the objective of estimating the water recovery potential of the thermosyphon-assisted cooling tower. The theoretical model suggests a water recovery rate potential above 50%, whereas the nonoptimized setup had recovered, on average, 4% of the water vapor present in the moist air flowing through the tower.
Cooling Towers Assisted by Two-Phase Thermosyphons: An Experimental Evaluation of Water Recovery
Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer ; 35 , 4 ; 751-760
2021-04-22
10 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Experimental Investigation of Two-Phase Thermosyphons
AIAA | 1982
|Modeling of High Temperature Thermosyphons
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006
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