Numerical study and performance evaluation of the Maisotsenko cycle cooling tower

Following paper presents detail investigation of the Maisotsenko cycle (M-Cycle) cooling tower through numerical modeling. For the purpose of this study, epsilon-NTU model of the M-Cycle cooling tower (MCT) was developed and validated against experimental data. The results of the simulation allowed to analyze the heat and mass transfer process occurring inside the M-Cycle cooling tower and observe its most characteristic and important features. It was confirmed that MCT is able to cool the water below the wet-bulb temperature (which is not achievable by conventional cooling towers), even in very hot and humid conditions (outdoor air temperature of 40 degrees C and humidity ratio of. 20 g.kg(-1)). They also allowed to study the influence of the selected parameters (including inlet air temperature and humidity, inlet water temperature, NTU and heat capacity ratio between water and air) on the cooling tower performance. Critical factors which have highest impact on its effectiveness were established and discussed. The study confirmed high practical potential of using M-Cycle in water cooling applications.