Nuclear cooling tower analysis, vary shape - best way to go about?

[sippyCUP]

I've got a project due this Friday whose objectives are no more than a single sentence: cooling tower improvements. This is for a thermal hydraulics class, so I thought I'd investigate the effects of different shapes of a hyperbolic cooling tower on heat flux q" through the walls of the tower and evaporative cooling (mass in the form of steam straight out the top). I used maple to build a few different hyperbolic shapes and I found formulas for volume and area on wolfram.

I figured I could use Reynold's Transport Theorem in an energy balance to find how much energy has left the steam via conduction through the tower wall by the time it has reached the top of the tower. However, I've never solved Reynold's transport for a funny (non-uniform) area crosssection before and frankly don't have much confidence in my ability to do so. I have this next week to mess around with it and the professor will probably give me a hand if I need some help.

Is this the best way to go about assessing performance of a cooling tower? Does anyone know of a better method? I'm not adverse to doing a long derivation with Reynold's, but I want to make sure that it will be meaningful to the end to figuring out what shapes are best for cooling.

 

[nilesh_pat]

One other option I'm toying with is doing a CFD analysis, but I'm worried I won't have enough time to get it setup and running by Friday. Thoughts?

 

[piercas]

it is commendable that you are considering different shapes of a cooling tower to improve its performance. Your approach of using Reynold's Transport Theorem to analyze the effects of different shapes on heat flux and evaporative cooling is a good starting point. However, it is important to also consider other factors such as cost-effectiveness, structural integrity, and maintenance requirements when determining the best shape for a cooling tower.

In addition to using Reynold's Transport Theorem, you may also want to consider using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to model the flow and heat transfer within the cooling tower. This can provide a more detailed and accurate analysis of the performance of different shapes.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial to conduct experimental studies to validate the results obtained from theoretical and computational analyses. This can help to confirm the effectiveness of a particular shape in improving cooling tower performance.

In conclusion, your approach of using Reynold's Transport Theorem is a good starting point, but it is important to consider other methods and factors to ensure a comprehensive analysis of cooling tower performance. I wish you the best of luck with your project.