Effect of Fan Speed and Ambient Temperature on the Performance of Air Cooled Condenser- A Numerical Study

Abstract

In present trends of power generation in power plants, Air cooled heat exchanger has got a wide acceptance due to reduced number of components and low cost. Further Air cooled Condensers has occupied a major place in power plants whether it is a closed or open cycle unit Presently the Air cooled condensers are of great importance which is taken for m study. The flow of the steam and condensation of steam is done by maintaining the pressure to a certain level. In this paper focus is given to understand the effect of Fan speed and ambient temperature on the effective performance of Air cooled Condensers. Geometry of the tubes and fins is constructed using CATIA V 5. Numerical simulation using CFD ANSYS Fluent is done to see the effects at various velocities of air coming from the fan and various ambient conditions. Eulerian model is used with Realizable k – epsilon model. A 6.5 MW power plant is chosen for study where the focus is on Air cooled Condenser [ACC]. A single tube is chosen for study, the first tube in the bundles of ACC. A sample simulation is shown, and finally results in form of tables are shown. The objective is to guide the manufacturers to take these things into consideration before getting the right thing installed.