Numerical simulation of counter-flow wet-cooling towers

Cooling towers are used to cool a warm water stream through evaporation of part of the water into an air stream. A cooling tower consists of three zones; namely spray, packing and rain zones. In cooling towers, a significant portion of the total heat rejected may occur in the spray and rain zones. These zones are modeled and solved numerically using a computer code. The developed models of these zones are validated against experimental data. For the case study under consideration, the error in calculation of the tower volume is 1.5% when the spray and rain zones are neglected. This error is reduced to 1.1% and 0.25% as the spray and rain zones are incorporated in the model, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of the Lewis factor on the performance prediction of wet-cooling towers is investigated using Bosnjakovic equation. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.