Experimental and Numerical Study of Closed Circuit Wet Cooling Tower and Heat Transfer Coefficients Calculation on the Outer Surface of Hot Water Tubes

The closed-circuit cooling tower is described as the combination of both wet and dry cooling towers that hot water passes through the bundle of tubes as in the dry cooling towers and surrounding air passes around them in a forced or natural regimes. Thus, secondary water circulates as an open cycle and is sprayed on the bundle of tubes to preserve the tower cooling process. In the present research, the operation of a model of the closed-circuit wet cooling tower has been investigated numerically and experimentally. The effects of environmental condition on process water temperature, sprayed water temperature and air temperature have been evaluated, and the mass and heat transfer coefficients on the surface of hot water tubes have been calculated. According to these results, surrounding air temperature and humidity increasing decreases the tube outer surface mass and heat transfer coefficients. The mass and heat transfer coefficients rates are decreased by about 3% and 4% between the 278 and 288 K and are 6% and 7% between the 288 and 298 K inlet air temperature, respectively. The mass and heat transfer coefficients are both 18% for air inlet temperature between the 298 and 308 K. After 308 K these values are 4%. The decreasing rate of heat and mass transfer coefficient with increasing relative humidity from 10% to 20% is very low and from 20% to 40% is almost constant, and from 40% to 50% a 16% decrease in heat and mass transfer coefficients is observed.