Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled Condensers
Air-cooled condensers (ACCs) are commonly found in power plants working with concentrated solar power or in steam power plants operated in regions with limited water availability. In ACCs, the flow of air is driven toward the heat exchangers by axial fans that are characterized by large diameters an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Turbomachinery, Propulsion and Power |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-186X/8/1/9 |
| _version_ | 1827749438552014848 |
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| author | Lorenzo Tieghi Giovanni Delibra Johan van der Spuy Alessandro Corsini |
| author_facet | Lorenzo Tieghi Giovanni Delibra Johan van der Spuy Alessandro Corsini |
| author_sort | Lorenzo Tieghi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Air-cooled condensers (ACCs) are commonly found in power plants working with concentrated solar power or in steam power plants operated in regions with limited water availability. In ACCs, the flow of air is driven toward the heat exchangers by axial fans that are characterized by large diameters and operate at very high mass flow rates with a near-zero static pressure rise. Given the overall requirements in steam plants, these fans are subjected to inflow distortions, unstable operations, and are characterized by high noise emissions. Previous studies show that leading edge bumps in the tip region of axial fans can effectively reduce the sound pressure levels without affecting the static efficiency. Nevertheless, the effects of this treatment in terms of flow patterns and heat exchange in the whole ACC system were not investigated. In this work, the effect of leading edge bumps on the flow patterns is analyzed. Two RANS simulations were carried out using OpenFOAM on a simplified model of the air-cooled condenser. The fans are simulated using a frozen rotor approach. Turbulence modeling relies on the RNG k-epsilon model. The fan is characterized by a diameter of 7.3 m and a 333 m<sup>3</sup>/s volumetric flow rate at the design point. The presence of the heat exchanger is modeled using a porous medium. The comparison between the flow fields clearly exerts that the modified blade is responsible for the redistribution of radial velocities in the rotor region. This drastically reduces the losses related to the installation of the fan in a real configuration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:24:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d83afda48d845099b52010466926919 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-186X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:24:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Turbomachinery, Propulsion and Power |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d83afda48d845099b520104669269192023-11-17T11:43:06ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Turbomachinery, Propulsion and Power2504-186X2023-03-0181910.3390/ijtpp8010009Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled CondensersLorenzo Tieghi0Giovanni Delibra1Johan van der Spuy2Alessandro Corsini3Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Industrial and Civil Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Industrial and Civil Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Stellenbosh University, Private Bag X1, Cape Town 7602, South AfricaDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Industrial and Civil Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, ItalyAir-cooled condensers (ACCs) are commonly found in power plants working with concentrated solar power or in steam power plants operated in regions with limited water availability. In ACCs, the flow of air is driven toward the heat exchangers by axial fans that are characterized by large diameters and operate at very high mass flow rates with a near-zero static pressure rise. Given the overall requirements in steam plants, these fans are subjected to inflow distortions, unstable operations, and are characterized by high noise emissions. Previous studies show that leading edge bumps in the tip region of axial fans can effectively reduce the sound pressure levels without affecting the static efficiency. Nevertheless, the effects of this treatment in terms of flow patterns and heat exchange in the whole ACC system were not investigated. In this work, the effect of leading edge bumps on the flow patterns is analyzed. Two RANS simulations were carried out using OpenFOAM on a simplified model of the air-cooled condenser. The fans are simulated using a frozen rotor approach. Turbulence modeling relies on the RNG k-epsilon model. The fan is characterized by a diameter of 7.3 m and a 333 m<sup>3</sup>/s volumetric flow rate at the design point. The presence of the heat exchanger is modeled using a porous medium. The comparison between the flow fields clearly exerts that the modified blade is responsible for the redistribution of radial velocities in the rotor region. This drastically reduces the losses related to the installation of the fan in a real configuration.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-186X/8/1/9air-cooled condensersCFDflow controlinflow distortionleading edge appendages |
| spellingShingle | Lorenzo Tieghi Giovanni Delibra Johan van der Spuy Alessandro Corsini Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled Condensers International Journal of Turbomachinery, Propulsion and Power air-cooled condensers CFD flow control inflow distortion leading edge appendages |
| title | Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled Condensers |
| title_full | Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled Condensers |
| title_fullStr | Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled Condensers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled Condensers |
| title_short | Leading Edge Bumps for Flow Control in Air-Cooled Condensers |
| title_sort | leading edge bumps for flow control in air cooled condensers |
| topic | air-cooled condensers CFD flow control inflow distortion leading edge appendages |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-186X/8/1/9 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lorenzotieghi leadingedgebumpsforflowcontrolinaircooledcondensers AT giovannidelibra leadingedgebumpsforflowcontrolinaircooledcondensers AT johanvanderspuy leadingedgebumpsforflowcontrolinaircooledcondensers AT alessandrocorsini leadingedgebumpsforflowcontrolinaircooledcondensers |