Thermovision method for diagnostics of local characteristics of natural draft cooling towers

Increased and more rigorous demands for power station operation in order to minimize both the cost of electrical energy production and environment pollution, addressed the necessity for optimisation of all segments of the process. As a consequence, there are certain needs for the introduction of new experimental methods which would ensure effective diagnostics. A newly developed experimental method for thermovisional detection of the temperature field in natural draft cooling towers is presented in this paper. The method is adapted to the real conditions that are present inside cooling towers and enables spatial- and time-dependent detection of local temperatures in the region of drift eliminators of natural draft cooling towers. Combined with the previously developed methods for detection of velocity and temperature fields, the thermovision method enables quick detection of the local efficiency of cooling towers. Results of the method can be used for diagnostics of local and integral characteristics of cooling tower operation. Apart from this, they enable prediction of local corrections in order to increase the cooling tower efficiency.