Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar System
A cooling tower is an important guarantee for the proper operation of a solar system. To ensure proper operation of the system and to maintain high-efficiency points, the cooling tower must operate year-round. However, freezing is a common problem that degrades the performance of cooling towers in w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9640 |
| _version_ | 1797459423699927040 |
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| author | Jingnan Liu Lixin Zhang Yongbao Chen Zheng Yin Yan Shen Yuedong Sun |
| author_facet | Jingnan Liu Lixin Zhang Yongbao Chen Zheng Yin Yan Shen Yuedong Sun |
| author_sort | Jingnan Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A cooling tower is an important guarantee for the proper operation of a solar system. To ensure proper operation of the system and to maintain high-efficiency points, the cooling tower must operate year-round. However, freezing is a common problem that degrades the performance of cooling towers in winter. For example, the air inlet forms hanging ice, which clogs the air path, and the coil in closed cooling towers freezes and cracks, leading to water leakage in the internal circulation. This has become an intractable problem that affects the safety and performance of cooling systems in winter. To address this problem, three methods of freeze protection for cooling towers are studied: (a) the dry and wet mixing operation method—the method of selecting heat exchangers under dry operation at different environments and inlet water temperatures is presented. The numerical experiment shows that the dry and wet mixing operation method can effectively avoid ice hanging on the air inlet. (b) The engineering plastic capillary mats method—its freeze protection characteristics, thermal performance, and economics are studied, and the experiment result is that polyethylene (PE) can meet the demands of freeze protection. (c) The antifreeze fluid method—the cooling capacity of the closed cooling towers with different concentrations of glycol antifreeze fluid is numerically studied by analyzing the heat transfer coefficient ratio, the air volume ratio, the heat dissipation ratio, and the flow rate ratio. The addition of glycol will reduce the cooling capacity of the closed cooling tower. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:52:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b35e0994ede543429a229d1309a0751d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:52:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-b35e0994ede543429a229d1309a0751d2023-11-24T14:40:40ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-12-011524964010.3390/en15249640Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar SystemJingnan Liu0Lixin Zhang1Yongbao Chen2Zheng Yin3Yan Shen4Yuedong Sun5School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, ChinaSchool of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, ChinaSchool of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, ChinaCooling Equipment Branch of China General Machinery Industry Association, Beijing 100097, ChinaShanghai Tongchi Heat Exchanger Sci-Tech Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200433, ChinaSchool of Mechanical, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, ChinaA cooling tower is an important guarantee for the proper operation of a solar system. To ensure proper operation of the system and to maintain high-efficiency points, the cooling tower must operate year-round. However, freezing is a common problem that degrades the performance of cooling towers in winter. For example, the air inlet forms hanging ice, which clogs the air path, and the coil in closed cooling towers freezes and cracks, leading to water leakage in the internal circulation. This has become an intractable problem that affects the safety and performance of cooling systems in winter. To address this problem, three methods of freeze protection for cooling towers are studied: (a) the dry and wet mixing operation method—the method of selecting heat exchangers under dry operation at different environments and inlet water temperatures is presented. The numerical experiment shows that the dry and wet mixing operation method can effectively avoid ice hanging on the air inlet. (b) The engineering plastic capillary mats method—its freeze protection characteristics, thermal performance, and economics are studied, and the experiment result is that polyethylene (PE) can meet the demands of freeze protection. (c) The antifreeze fluid method—the cooling capacity of the closed cooling towers with different concentrations of glycol antifreeze fluid is numerically studied by analyzing the heat transfer coefficient ratio, the air volume ratio, the heat dissipation ratio, and the flow rate ratio. The addition of glycol will reduce the cooling capacity of the closed cooling tower.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9640solar systemcooling towerdry and wet mixing operationengineering plasticfreeze protection |
| spellingShingle | Jingnan Liu Lixin Zhang Yongbao Chen Zheng Yin Yan Shen Yuedong Sun Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar System Energies solar system cooling tower dry and wet mixing operation engineering plastic freeze protection |
| title | Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar System |
| title_full | Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar System |
| title_fullStr | Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar System |
| title_short | Study of the Technologies for Freeze Protection of Cooling Towers in the Solar System |
| title_sort | study of the technologies for freeze protection of cooling towers in the solar system |
| topic | solar system cooling tower dry and wet mixing operation engineering plastic freeze protection |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9640 |
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