3-Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Cooling Water Flow in Steam Condensers

The computational fluid dynamics(CFD) method is being employed,together with a porous medium model,for numerical simulating the cooling water flow in steam condensers.With the help of the 3-dimensional flow field,obtained by calculation,an important factor that affects a condenser's performance can easily be ascertained: The vortices,that exist in the inlet water chamber,causes the flow resistance to get larger and aggravate flow conditions,by making the high velocity flow get concentrated in the chamber's central part,which unfavorably affects the condenser's heat transfer performance.The overall flow resistance obtained agrees quite well with test data,which demonstrates the correctness of the model and the method of calculation.The problem of modeling the condenser's cooling water flow and the number of meshes required for numerical calculation is herewith solved,which may serve as a basis for numerical simulation of a power plant's whole cooling water system.Figs 6 and refs 5.