Three-dimensional numerical analysis of wet cooling tower

A mathematical model for water evaporation and water droplet movement is established to describe the air-water interaction in natural draft wet cooling tower (NDWCT). The standard k − model is used to close the Reynolds average Navier-Stokes equations. The three-dimensional heat and mass transfer process in NDWCT is simulated to analyze the crosswind effect on wet cooling tower performance. It is found that the heat and mass transfer in fill zone is seriously affected by crosswind, while the wet cooling tower performance is improved when crosswind velocity is higher than 5 m⋅s -1 . Conditions and locations for good cooling performance are pointed out.