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Background: Cooling towers (CTs) are crucial to myriad industrial processes, supporting thermal exchange between fluids in heat exchangers using water from lakes and rivers as coolant. However, CT water can sometimes introduce microbial contaminants that adhere to and colonize various surfaces within the CT system. These microorganisms can form biofilms, significantly hindering the system's thermal exchange efficiency. Current treatment strategies employ oxidizing biocides to prevent microbial growth. However, despite their affordability, they do not eliminate biofilms effectively and can lead to corrosive damage within the system. Herein, we aim to devise an anti-biofilm strategy utilizing hydrolytic enzymes (such as α-amylase, glucoamylase, pectin-lyase, cellulase, protease, and DNase) alongside antibiotics (including meropenem, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, and ceftriaxone) to combat microbial growth and biofilm formation in cooling systems. Results: All enzymes reduced the development of the biofilms significantly compared to controls (p < 0.05). The polysaccharidases exhibited biomass reduction of 90%, except for pectin-lyase (80%), followed by DNAse and protease at 43% and 49%, respectively. The antibiotics reduced the biofilms of 70% of isolates in concentration of > 2 mg/mL. The minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) lower than 1 mg/mL was detected for some 7-day-old sessile isolates. The enzymes and antibiotics were also used in combination against biofilms using the modified Chequerboard method. We found six synergistic combinations, with Fractional inhibitory concentrations (FIC) < 0.5, out of the ten tested. In the presence of the enzymatic mixture, MBECs presented a significant decrease (p < 0.05), at least 4-fold for antibiotics and 32-fold for enzymes. Moreover, we characterized high molecular weight (> 12 kDa) exopolysaccharides (EPS) from biofilms of ten isolates, and glycosyl composition analysis indicated a high frequency of glucose, mannose, erythrose, arabinose, and idose across isolates EPS contrasting with rhamnose, allose, and those carbohydrates, which were detected in only one isolate. Conclusion: The synergistic approach of combining enzymes with antibiotics emerges as a highly effective and innovative strategy for anti-biofilm intervention, highlighting its potential to enhance biofilm management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In industrial processes involving both heat and mass transfer, the enthalpy or total energy difference, not the temperature difference, is a more comprehensive driving-force potential for the design of heat exchanger systems, such as cooling towers. However, current enthalpy methods based on the Merkel integral require numerical integration with implied linear distributions of water temperature. If the cooling range of the cooling tower is relatively small, the outcome of the integration may carry little error. However, for a large cooling range and a substantially increased temperature, the error involved may be significant. Like log-mean temperature difference, a log-mean enthalpy difference method may require only the inlet and outlet conditions without prior knowledge of the enthalpy distributions of the fluids within the heat exchanger. The known Berman's enthalpy difference method requires correction factors and was derived based on the linearization of the interfacial enthalpy and the enthalpy difference between the interfacial moist air and the bulk moist air without underlying interpretation to demonstrate that the method could be broadly used. In this paper, an equivalent enthalpy model is proposed, and the log-mean enthalpy difference is derived without retaining model assumptions. The derived method is compared with some results of Merkel's method from literature with excellent agreement. Thus, the work in this paper would open up the possibility for broad uses of the log-mean enthalpy difference method for many industrial processes involving both heat and mass transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Cooling towers (CTs) are crucial to myriad industrial processes, supporting thermal exchange between fluids in heat exchangers using water from lakes and rivers as coolant. However, CT water can sometimes introduce microbial contaminants that adhere to and colonize various surfaces within the CT system. These microorganisms can form biofilms, significantly hindering the system’s thermal exchange efficiency. Current treatment strategies employ oxidizing biocides to prevent microbial growth. However, despite their affordability, they do not eliminate biofilms effectively and can lead to corrosive damage within the system. Herein, we aim to devise an anti-biofilm strategy utilizing hydrolytic enzymes (such as α-amylase, glucoamylase, pectin-lyase, cellulase, protease, and DNase) alongside antibiotics (including meropenem, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, and ceftriaxone) to combat microbial growth and biofilm formation in cooling systems. Results All enzymes reduced the development of the biofilms significantly compared to controls (p 2 mg/mL. The minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) lower than 1 mg/mL was detected for some 7-day-old sessile isolates. The enzymes and antibiotics were also used in combination against biofilms using the modified Chequerboard method. We found six synergistic combinations, with Fractional inhibitory concentrations (FIC) 12 kDa) exopolysaccharides (EPS) from biofilms of ten isolates, and glycosyl composition analysis indicated a high frequency of glucose, mannose, erythrose, arabinose, and idose across isolates EPS contrasting with rhamnose, allose, and those carbohydrates, which were detected in only one isolate. Conclusion The synergistic approach of combining enzymes with antibiotics emerges as a highly effective and innovative strategy for anti-biofilm intervention, highlighting its potential to enhance biofilm management practices.

Abstract In this paper, a neuro-adaptive PI control strategy for a water-cooled centrifugal chiller system is developed, and its control performance is examined. The system model consists of a flooded evaporator, a flooded condenser, a centrifugal compressor, and an electronic expansion valve. The overall system consists of three control loops: a compressor speed control loop, an inlet guide vane (IGV) control loop, and a condenser liquid level control loop. A neuro-adaptive control strategy for compressor speed control was designed. The control performance of the chiller was tested by carrying out simulation runs using an integrated building and HVAC (IB-HVAC) system model. The major details of the IB-HVAC model are described in this paper. Results show that the neuro-adaptive controller can adapt to new system dynamics of the IB-HVAC system and give good setpoint tracking responses under a wide range of operating conditions. The results show that the neuro-adaptive controller performs better than the constant gain PI controller in terms of speed of response and setpoint tracking properties.

ObjectivesThe natural draft cooling towers with flue gas injection (NDCT-FGI) is a crucial retrofitting technique for enhancing the efficiency of thermal power plants. However, its operational impacts on existing systems are significant and cannot be overlooked. Therefore, the current status of NDCT-FGI technology and its problems in operation were analyzed, and the countermeasures were put forward.MethodsThrough comprehensive analysis of the existing research, the causes and formation mechanism of environmental impact, cooling tower corrosion, and deterioration of circulating cooling water quality caused by the technical transformation of NDCT-FGI were discussed.ResultsThe protective distance can be reasonably set by the simulation results of flue gas emission trajectory and pollutant landing concentration by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Installation of baffles at the tower top can prevent flue gas washdown during the extreme weather conditions. Different anticorrosive coatings are recommended for various parts of the cooling tower to extend its service life. To control and optimize cooling water quality, the advanced water treatment techniques are necessary for optimizing chemical dosing, and the management of effluent and makeup water must be carefully controlled to ensure operational sustainability.ConclusionsBy implementing appropriate and effective countermeasures, the negative impacts of NDCT-FGI retrofitting can be mitigated, thereby enhancing both the environmental and economic benefits for thermal power plants.

Cooling tower is one of the most widely used cooling systems in the industrial world. A cooling tower is a series of heat exchange devices that use working fluids, such as water and air, to act as a cooling medium by coming into direct contact with the air, causing a small portion of the water to evaporate and reducing the temperature of the liquid. To enhance the performance of cooling towers, many researchers have conducted studies on this matter, but there is still room for improvement to achieve more optimal results. The objective of this research is to obtain an optimal cooling tower system by determining the convective heat transfer coefficient. With this phenomenon, the research investigates the heat transfer process that occurs on perforated plates in a flat plate-type cooling tower with an overall tower height of approximately 2.4 meters and around 5 levels of fluid distribution media. The length of each plate is 0.7 meters with a width of 0.5 meters. Variations are also made in the multi-level cooling tower design, specifically in the shape of the perforations used, including circular, triangular, and square perforation shapes, using a zig-zag outlet hole model. The perforated plate area is 0.0157 square meters for each plate, with a 15° inclination angle for each plate arrangement. The research results indicate that the highest heat transfer coefficient values occur in the multi-level cooling tower when using square-shaped plates, followed by triangular-shaped plates, while circular-shaped plates have the lowest heat transfer coefficient values. Therefore, variations in the shape of the perforations on the flat plates affect the change in temperature reduction and the heat transfer coefficient values in the performance of the multi-level cooling tower.

During the normal operation of cooling towers in nuclear power plants, water vapor with a certain temperature is discharged through the outlet of the cooling tower, which mixes with the surrounding air. A portion of this vapor condenses and forms visible plumes. This paper uses Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulation software to simulate six nuclear power units and their supporting cooling towers at a nuclear power plant site, and studies the impact of plumes emitted from the six cooling towers under different wind directions on the radioactive diffusion of the nuclear power plant discharge. The research results indicate that when the arrangement direction of the cooling towers is consistent with the wind direction，the influence of the cooling towers on the environmental flow field extends to a distance of approximately 1 500 m in the downwind direction. When the cooling towers are located in the downwind direction of the reactor unit, the emission from the cooling towers increases the pollution diffusion factor within a 1 000 m range of the chimney. As the environmental wind speed increases, the impact of the cooling tower emissions on the diffusion of pollutants from the chimney decreases.

This study deals with an experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a prototype mechanical wet cooling tower with a counter flow arrangement. Different volume concentrations ranging from 0.18 to 0.50 vol.% of stable Al oxide (Al2O3), Zn oxide (ZnO), and Ti oxide (Ti2O3) nanoparticles of 80, 35, and 70 nm diameter were considered. Water was taken as a base fluid, and the experiment was carried out at 60, 70, and 80 ℃, respectively, in laboratory conditions. The study revealed that an increase in the volume concentration of the nanofluids increased the cooling range, cooling efficiency, convective heat transfer coefficient, tower characteristic called number of transfer unit (NTU), and effectiveness of the cooling tower compared with water at the same mass flow rate and inlet temperature. However, increasing the volume concentration increased the viscosity of the nanofluids, leading to an increase in friction factor. For instance, for 0.18% volume concentration of ZnO, at an inlet water temperature of 66.4 ℃ and water/air (L/G) flow ratio of 1.93, the cooling range increased by 3.62%, cooling efficiency increased by 33.3%, and NTU increased by 50.5% compared with fresh water (FW). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a neuro-adaptive PI control strategy for a water-cooled centrifugal chiller system is developed, and its control performance is examined. The system model consists of a flooded evaporator, a flooded condenser, a centrifugal compressor, and an electronic expansion valve. The overall system consists of three control loops: a compressor speed control loop, an inlet guide vane (IGV) control loop, and a condenser liquid level control loop. A neuro-adaptive control strategy for compressor speed control was designed. The control performance of the chiller was tested by carrying out simulation runs using an integrated building and HVAC (IB-HVAC) system model. The major details of the IB-HVAC model are described in this paper. Results show that the neuro-adaptive controller can adapt to new system dynamics of the IB-HVAC system and give good setpoint tracking responses under a wide range of operating conditions. The results show that the neuro-adaptive controller performs better than the constant gain PI controller in terms of speed of response and setpoint tracking properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the application potential of the dew-point cooling tower (DPCT) in selected energy-intensive applications in temperate climates was analyzed and discussed. The applications selected for analysis are power generation with natural gas turbines and chilled water air conditioning systems. The study is based on a mathematical model derived from a modified ε-NTU model. The model was validated against experimental results and showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. DPCT was compared with a typical cooling tower limited by the wet-bulb temperature (wet-bulb cooling tower, WBCT). The simulation results showed that DPCT is able to provide significant energy savings in energy-intensive applications; therefore, its application potential in temperate climates can be considered justified. In the case of gas turbines, DPCT was able to generate 2 to 10 percentage points more capacity than operating on outdoor air and 1.8 to 5 percentage points more than operating with WBCT. In the case of air conditioning systems, the system equipped with DPCT achieved EERs (energy efficiency ratios) higher by 1 to 7.2 compared to dry cooling and by 0.3 to 5.1 compared to systems equipped with WBCT. The annual energy savings obtained by the system with DPCT were 14.7 MWh compared to WBCT and 30 MWh compared to dry cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Behavior of Cement Portland Cooling Tower was evaluated numerically and experimentally. The three-dimensional simultaneous governing equations of the fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer were discretized and solved numerically, and the result of simulation were compared with measured data from the cement factory and with the available published result on the internet. Solid software was used as numerical software tool to predict the performance characteristics of cooling tower in Portland cement factory such as the velocity, temperature, stress and strain were simulated and compared with compute experiment. Experimentally the temperature, and pressure of gaseous and its emission across the cooling tower in White Portland cement factory were measured. The agreement seems acceptable between the numerical and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Power Generation Technology is the property of Power Generation Technology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although environmental groups have declaimed the application of greywater to alleviate water consumption, the progress of condensed water implementation for high-rise buildings was still sluggish. As greywater demands wastewater treatment before any application, the novelty of this study was to demonstrate the direct use of condensed water in an existing cooling water system without wastewater treatment. Considering there is barely any practical case study research to unveil the water-energy nexus in reclaiming condensed water for evaporative cooling tower systems, this research has signified that condensed water is a simple and low-budget application for water conservation and energy saving. Given that the condensed water possesses an intrinsic impurity-free property, the water-saving potentials have been amplified to the most tolerable total dissolved solids (TDS) of system water. Furthermore, it is beneficial that water quality control ameliorated the operating working conditions, the system performances were improved, and then less power was consumed. By getting rid of the wastewater treatment, consolidating the feasibility of practical direct-use application, and its sustainability for water and energy saving, this research may revive the attention of green building claimers to expedite its implementation and tie in the green building design. The condensed water derived from the electric ventilation system was reclaimed as an alternative water source for cooling without extra power consumption, which was ideal for concentration dilution and beneficial to descaling. An evaporative cooling system consumes tons of water, and the water losses are necessarily compensated by fresh water; this process occurs gradually over time and progressively escalates the TDS with time, which evocates water scale formations. Although the bleed-off (BO) that discharges the impurity-laden system water effectively lowers the TDS, it is not a water conservation measure, and the chemical effluent poses environmental hazards. The higher cycles of concentration (CoC) reduce the frequency of BO and sustain the full efficacy of antiscaling chemicals. Whenever water scales appear as a resistance of heat transfer deposit on the heat exchangers, the heat management capability is diminished and energy efficiency drops. The water and energy saving enhancement method was accomplished by reclaiming the condensed water and setting higher CoC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid cooling tower, which is a promising type of coolers, can be used successfully to cool the circulating water of industrial enterprises taking into account the modern requirements for energy efficiency, resource saving, and environmental friendliness. A hybrid cooling tower design has been developed including a sprinkler made of inclined corrugated contact elements and an internal finned tubular radiator. The purpose of the work is to experimentally determine the volumetric coefficients of heat and mass emission in the developed hybrid cooling tower for cooling circulating water. A diagram of an experimental installation of a cooling tower with hybrid cooling system is presented and described. Graphic dependences were constructed for the volumetric coefficients of mass emission and heat emission on the average flow rate of cooling air at various wetting mass densities. A dimensionless equation has been obtained for determining the volumetric coefficients of mass emission in a hybrid cooling tower with transverse finning of radiator pipes. A comparison of volumetric coefficients of mass emission for the developed cooling tower with other water-cooling devices showed the potential of its usage for cooling circulating water, especially at high ratios of gas and liquid phase loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Refrigeration is the property of Journal of Refrigeration Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Electric Power is the property of Electric Power Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The number of XLPE cables being used near or beyond their design life is increasing. The importance of timely cable replacement is necessary. Therefore, research is actively being conducted using VLF Tan δ diagnostic technology to assess the insulation condition of cables. Present studies lack in measuring and analyzing the VLF Tan δ of service-aged XLPE cables. Additionally, there is a research gap considering the operating environment. Therefore, it is needed to diagnose and analyze the insulation condition of the same service-aged cable when it is operated in a different environment. This paper assesses and analyzes the insulation condition of cables installed in the BFP, cooling tower, and deaerator booster pump of a combined heat and power plant. Each cable was evaluated by measuring the VLF Tan δ, the dielectric breakdown test of the cable, and the tensile strength, elongation at break, crystallinity, and dielectric strength of the XLPE specimens. Additionally, the correlation between the VLF Tan δ and other characteristics was also analyzed. It was found that degradation progressed in the order of the BFP, the cooling tower, and the deaerator booster pump. Therefore, it was confirmed that even for the same cable, deterioration varies depending on the installation location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 17 Legionnaires' disease cases were identified in an outbreak in a western town in New York. The cases had symptom onset dates ranging from August 1, 2019, to July 1, 2021. Staff from the New York State Department of Health and Chemung County Health Department employed numerous environmental investigation techniques. Environmental health program staff collected 74 environmental samples, including samples from cooling towers, residences, and a wastewater treatment plant. Wind direction was analyzed to determine the potential for the dispersion of aerosolized Legionella. In total, five cases were found to be genetically related by whole genome sequencing. Further testing revealed that isolates recovered from a cooling tower at an industrial facility were genetically related to four of the 2019 cases. Excessive iron was found in the tower and might have suppressed the oxidizing biocide residual and interfered with the evaluation of routine culture and other testing methods. In 2021, clinical and environmental samples from a private hot tub were found to be genetically related to the four matching cases and cooling tower samples recovered in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a novel sustainable approach to producing desalinated water (W des), green hydrogen (G H 2 ) and electrical energy (E elc) using Hybrid Solar Chimney Power Plant (HSCPP) coupled with a water-splitting (Wat Sp) process. The HSCPP consists of a collector, absorber, chimney, bidirectional turbine outfitted with a seawater pool, and water electrolysis (Wat elc) cell. The HSCPP harnesses solar energy to heat the air under the collector creating air movement within the structure, passing the bidirectional turbine, and producing E elc. Sprinklers were fitted within the structure to operate the HSCPP as a cooling tower (CT) in the absence of solar radiation (Sol irr). The Wat elc cell directly uses the produced E elc for the production of Hydrogen (P H 2 ) and oxygen (P O 2 ), while the condensed water at the chimney's inner walls was also collected as W des. Results revealed that the continuous operation of the HSCPP has an average annual E elc of 633 ± 10 MWh that could be efficiently used to generate 21,653 kg of G R H 2 , 173,244 kg of O 2 as well as 190,863 tons of W des. The overall efficiency of the HSCPP for the P H 2 was found to be 18.5 % , which is higher than Solar PV (max∼ 6%) and geothermal Rankine (max∼ 15%). These high efficiencies rank this technology as competitive with other renewable hydrogen production technologies. In conclusion, HSCPP has a promising future as a novel and sustainable solar tower technology to produce hydrogen. [Display omitted] • A novel solar-driven system for the production of green Hydrogen is proposed. • The proposed system generates hydrogen, electricity and desalinated water. • The integrated system achieved a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 18.5%. • The HSCPP produced of 633 MWh, 21,653 k g H 2 , 173,244 k g O 2 and 190,863 tons H 2 O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring the structural integrity of cooling towers is paramount for safety and efficient operation. This paper presents a novel approach for detecting damage on cooling tower shells, utilising textures derived from laser scanning and close-range photogrammetry. The proposed method delves beyond the limitations of solely relying on colour information by harnessing the rich details embedded in various textures, including diffuse, normal, displacement, and occlusion. The study demonstrates the efficacy of this approach for identifying significant concrete damage. A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) trained on diffuse textures successfully detects high damage instances with minimal misdetection. However, accurately pinpointing low damage, often manifesting as subtle cracks, and mimicking other patterns like air pores, ribbing, and colour variations, presents a formidable challenge. To tackle this challenge, the authors introduce a novel "composed raster layer" that merges information from multiple textures. This pre-processed layer amplifies the visual cues associated with low damage, facilitating its differentiation from similar patterns. While the current implementation employing multi-resolution segmentation and rule-based classification exhibits promising results, further optimization is acknowledged to refine the accuracy of low damage detection. The successful application of textures commonly used in rendering techniques underscores their remarkable potential for enhancing damage detection in civil engineering applications. While acknowledging limitations such as the analysis of a single cooling tower and the reliance on specific software for damage detection, the study proposes future research directions. This research holds significant implications for the field of civil engineering by offering a promising approach for automated and efficient damage detection on cooling tower shells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology based on the ISO-50001 standard to assess the energy impact of replacing standard efficiency motors with high-efficiency motors driven by variable speed drives in an industrial pumping system. The methodology includes the inspection and installation of the new technology, measurements, and data processing, as well as the analysis of the results. In addition, an energy efficiency indicator, an energy baseline, and a Pareto diagram are used, while the harmonics generated by new technologies are evaluated. The contribution of the methodology is that it allows for a comprehensive energy diagnosis using easily measurable data like electricity consumption and water flow, replacing the measurement of the motor's mechanical power in industrial conditions, which is a current challenge. The methodology applied in the case study showed that the technological changes made saved 36% of energy, and that the variable speed drives increased current harmonics by 10%.

In the article, the application potential of the dew-point cooling tower (DPCT) in selected energy-intensive applications in temperate climates was analyzed and discussed. The applications selected for analysis are power generation with natural gas turbines and chilled water air conditioning systems. The study is based on a mathematical model derived from a modified ε-NTU model. The model was validated against experimental results and showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. DPCT was compared with a typical cooling tower limited by the wet-bulb temperature (wet-bulb cooling tower, WBCT). The simulation results showed that DPCT is able to provide significant energy savings in energy-intensive applications; therefore, its application potential in temperate climates can be considered justified. In the case of gas turbines, DPCT was able to generate 2 to 10 percentage points more capacity than operating on outdoor air and 1.8 to 5 percentage points more than operating with WBCT. In the case of air conditioning systems, the system equipped with DPCT achieved EERs (energy efficiency ratios) higher by 1 to 7.2 compared to dry cooling and by 0.3 to 5.1 compared to systems equipped with WBCT. The annual energy savings obtained by the system with DPCT were 14.7 MWh compared to WBCT and 30 MWh compared to dry cooling.

Abstract The filler is the core component of the cooling tower, filler performance refers to both its thermal and flow resistance characteristics, which use empirical formulas of tower characteristic N, volumetric mass transfer coefficient βxv, and pressure drop ΔP obtained through experimentation under specific conditions. However, the performance equations for identical countercurrent fillers can vary at different heights or seawater concentrations. Linear interpolation is the conventional method for obtaining the filler performance under different conditions, but its uncertainty limits the application. This paper explores the use of the radial basis function artificial neural network (RBF ANN) to analyze filler performance based on existing performance equations. The data set is generated by the filler performance equations. The results demonstrate that RBF ANN has a preferable prediction effect with high correlation (the determination coefficient R2 > 0.99) and prediction accuracy (the proportion of relative error within 10% N10 > 90%). Furthermore, the predicted results are consistent with the experimental results of the filler performance. Therefore, RBF ANN can accurately predict filler performance at varying heights and seawater concentrations, making it universal and providing a basis for cooling tower design.

The water storage and distribution terminal in a city on the East coast of Saudi Arabia receives very hot potable water from thermal desalination process. The flowrate of water is 800–900 t/h during all seasons with the temperature of water ranging between 44°C–46°C. To lower the temperature of the hot water, cooling towers were installed to cool the water to 38°C and make it suitable for domestic consumption without affecting the water quality. The summer ambient temperatures can reach 47°C during the day with relative humidity up to 45%, while the night time ambient temperatures can exceed 30°C with relative humidity reaching as high as 70%–80%. The cooling towers sometimes fail to achieve the targeted temperature of 38°C during the summer months. This study and evaluation present the findings from one such time period which lasted for several days, when the water could only be cooled to temperatures ranging between 38°C and 40°C. Furthermore, it was found that higher relative humidity results in lower efficiency of the cooling towers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy consumption of data centers (DCs) is rising year by year, and cooling station accounts for more than 40% of the total DCs' energy consumption, which has a huge energy-saving potential. Building models for whole DCs' cooling station can help predict total power to improve the energy efficiency of the system, before this, establishing a single model for each component is a basic work. This paper mainly studies the chiller and cooling tower models and compares the predictive performance of the empirical model, hybrid model, and neural network model of chillers and cooling towers. Giving the model selection scheme of the chiller and cooling tower for the establishment of the whole system of the refrigeration station. For the chiller model, the Yoshida function model in empirical models has the highest accuracy with a mean square error of 0.0592, followed by the neural network model with a mean square error of 0.2, and the hybrid model has a lower accuracy than the former two models. For the cooling tower model, the empirical models and the neural network model have similar accuracy, and both are higher than the hybrid model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology based on the ISO-50001 standard to assess the energy impact of replacing standard-efficiency motors with high-efficiency motors driven by variable speed drives in an industrial pumping system. The methodology includes the inspection and installation of the new technology, measurements, data processing, and analysis of the results. In addition, an energy efficiency indicator, an energy baseline, and a Pareto diagram are used, while the harmonics generated by new technologies are evaluated. The contribution of the methodology is that it allows for a comprehensive energy diagnosis using easily measurable data like electricity consumption and water flow, replacing the measurement of the motor's mechanical power in industrial conditions, which is a current challenge. The methodology applied in the case study showed that the technological changes saved 36% of energy and that the variable speed drives increased current harmonics by 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimization plays an important role in scientific and engineering research. This paper presents the effects of using the catenoidal shape to design the structure of a chimney cooling tower. The paper compares some geometrical variations of the catenoid with the reference existing hyperboloidal structure. It also compares internal forces, deformation and stability of the catenoidal structure. The comparison shows some predominance of the catenoid over the popular hyperboloid structure of the shell. The paper attempts to find an optimal shape of the cooling tower in order to reduce the amount of material and labor. The paper utilizes engineering tools and the designing process for chimney cooling towers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research describes a hybrid solar desalination system that includes a humidification-dehumidification unit as well as a solar still unit. The current system is being studied numerically. A one-dimensional model of the important heat and mass exchanges, as well as the flow field, was built using the finite difference method. Freshwater productivity is calculated under various operating and weather conditions. The model has been modified to investigate the steady-state behavior of the system components. Four major parameters that have a significant impact on system water production are investigated: the feed flow rate of cooling water through the dehumidifier unit, the airflow rate, and the number and height of packing columns. According to the results, the proposed hybrid desalination system provides appropriate operational compatibility between HDH technology and solar energy. The system can provide a daily production of up to 35 liters per day. Increasing the number of packing columns results in a higher increase in fresh water productivity than increasing the height of the packing columns. The optimal air flow rate at a constant saline-water flow rate is obtained. For high airflow rates, the packing column height doesn't significantly affect the daily water production. System performance is investigated by four main parameters: gained output ratio (GOR), humidifier efficiency, exergy efficiency, and system efficiency. The system efficiency reached about 65% and the GOR reached 3.1. The humidifier's efficiency varied between 50% and 75%. The maximum exergy efficiency reached about 5.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooling Tower or cooling tower is a tool used to cool the temperature of the water flow, which becomes hot because it is used as a cooling medium for a machine. The effectiveness of cooling in a cooling tower is influenced by the Range and Approach values, where the Range value explains the difference in water temperature entering and leaving the cooling tower, while the Approach explains the difference in water temperature leaving the cooling tower and the ambient wet-bulb temperature. In one Rubber Compound Factory, there is a Cooling Tower which is used to cool the warm water that comes out of the condenser on the machines in the factory. This research aims to assess the effectiveness of cooling tower cooling. The analytical method is used by taking daily monitoring data on the cooling tower. In this research, the average effectiveness value of the cooling tower was 72.10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, people have been facing different unpleasant phenomena like global warming, water shortage and thermal pollution. Power plants for electricity generation are one of the main sources of greenhouse gases and thermal pollution in aquatic ecosystem. On the other hand, these power plants consume high amount of freshwater for cooling purposes. Water scarcity is a detrimental crisis that the whole world is struggling with it. To combat the thermal pollution, various wet cooling and dry cooling technologies have been introduced and reviewed till today. While wet cooling systems use lots of water, dry cooling ones are not suitable options in warm weather and climates. Here, the need for an alternative element is felt more than ever. So far, water and air have been the main coolants in power generation units. According to specific heat capacities in different substances, hydrogen, by far has the highest amount. So, a novel heat exchanger containing hydrogen and water could be a promising solution for the mentioned issues. This paper focuses on advantages of this heat exchanger from different points of view, however, some assumptions, considerations and calculations should be carried out to have the best performance for this idea. Temperature control is such an important process that should be done in heat exchangers. Hence, a review on a control method has been carried out in this paper. The simulation results have been taken by MATLAB/SIMULINK software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When examining the history of wind engineering, it is evident that many full-scale/model test comparisons have found noticeable differences between the results. Although understanding the causes of these differences is important for practical purposes, limited numerical and experimental conditions have often resulted in subjective explanations for full-scale/model test comparisons without scientific validation. To address this issue, this article suggests the use of the computational fluid dynamics technique or the multiple-fan actively controlled wind tunnel technique to quantitatively reveal the adverse effects that impact the reliability of the traditional atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel tests for a large cooling tower, including not only the widely acknowledged influences (Reynolds number effects and turbulent flow characteristics effects) but also the non-stationarity effects that have potential influences. Established on the novel proposition, a new research scheme for future full-scale/model test wind effects comparisons for large cooling towers has been formulated based on the numerical or physical simulations of the sinusoidal flow fields. Using the Pengcheng cooling tower as a case study, the research recognized the very significant impact of Reynolds number effects, the non-stationarity effects that cannot be ignored, and the negligible effects of turbulent flow characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a novel approach to increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) panels by integrating them with a cooling tower (CT). An infusion of water cools the hot, dry ambient air at the top of the CT. Due to gravity, the cooled air drops toward the base of the CT, where it interacts with a turbine placed at the bottom of the CT to produce electricity. The air then exits the CT base, creating a cooled air jet stream. The PV panels were placed at the base of the CT, right at the stream's exit. As the cooled air passes underneath the PV panels, it exchanges energy with the PV, reducing the panels' temperature. The results showed that the maximum annual efficiency improvement (6.831%) was observed using two rows of PV panels. The efficiency declined incrementally from 6.831% to 4.652% when the number of rows of PV panels was increased from two to twelve. The results also showed a significant improvement in the temperature of the PV panels. The best results were obtained at noon (maximum ambient temperature), where the solar panel temperature was lowered to 25 °C from 55 °C. Furthermore, the annual electrical energy generated with two rows of panels was 39,207.4 kWh without the CT, compared to 41,768.2 kWh with the CT. In addition, the results showed that with a 10 m diameter and 200 m height CT, the maximum number of PV rows that can be effectively cooled is 24. Future work will investigate integrating additional techniques to improve the system's efficiency further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The appearance and development of new construction materials, technology and accurate geodetic instruments have led to the necessity of their inevitable use in the health monitoring, maintenance, and restoration of civil structures and special structures such as high-rise cooling towers. This paper presents an accurate practical and analytical method for determining the structural deformation and axis inclination of high rise cooling towers using terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) observations through the projection of tower surface points coordinates on a vertical plane. Four cooling towers in El-Mahla El-Kubra city, Egypt are observed and studied. Two of them with height 56 m, and the others were 36 m height. The studied four towers have different cross-section diameters along the tower height. Each tower has a cone shape with a curved wall. The equation of the tower wall is determined using TLS observations and least squares adjustment techniques. The equations of cone projection with a curved wall are derived and presented in this paper. From TLS observations, the radii and accuracy of each 2 m tower height are determined with center coordinates, and then the inclination of the tower axis is calculated and drawn. From the results of TLS observations, data processing, and analysis using the suggested techniques, it is deduced that there is a deformation in tower walls with small values. The specified technique for observations collection and TLS data analysis through projection on a vertical plane is significant and valuable for determining the structural deformation of circular high rise buildings and towers. From the results, there are obvious deformation values in some cooling towers, so maintenance work must be included. The towers also must be checked and monitored several times at brief intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turbine generator (TG) buildings in thermal power plants require chilled water air conditioning systems (CWAS) to control the temperature and humidity of heat dissipated rooms, which are energy-intensive and non-eco-friendly. As an alternative, a novel refrigerant-free 100% fresh air (FA)-based hybrid liquid desiccant air conditioning system (HLDAS) is proposed and presented the methodology to design it for a case study of TG building of 2X660 MW power plant in the most humid climate. The cooling and heating requirements for HLDAS are met with a cooling tower and potential waste heat from the plant. To assess the saving potential of the proposed system, annual energy consumption for the HLDAS, 10% FA-based CWAS (CWAS-1) and 100% FA-based CWAS (CWAS-2) are quantified and compared. The results revealed that HLDAS consume 55% and 31% of CWAS-1 and CWAS-2 power consumption, respectively. Low-grade potential waste heat from the plant is estimated and found to be sufficient for solution regeneration. The proposed system is extremely energy efficient for 100% FA applications where low-grade waste heat is available. In addition to this, since there are no ODP gases associated with the proposed system, the proposed HLDAS is recommendable in view of environmentally friendly technology and indoor air quality (since it is a 100% FA-based system). This work will support HVAC engineers and researchers in designing the LDAS for a given air conditioning application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A novel treatment method, consisting of pea-gravel with a marine coating supplemented with alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride (ADBAC or benzalkonium chloride), has been examined for its antimicrobial performance and coating stability in aqueous environments. Initial column studies examining the porous media's ability to reduce bacterial loads in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) water found average reductions of 94% from pre-flush levels (106 colony forming unit (CFU)/mL) when assessed with R2A spread plates and 83% reductions with SimPlates. There was no observed statistical difference between the average of pre- and post-flush waters from four tests of the media without ADBAC. Taxonomic identification, by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, of colonies drawn from pre- and post-ABDAC R2A plates showed similarities with taxa observed in high frequency from prior cultivation-independent surveys of other cooling tower systems. With this proof of concept, two versions of the media were evaluated for potential coating components released during aqueous exposure. Neither released measurable volatile organic compounds (VOC) components, but one did release bisphenol A and ABDAC compounds. Subsequent column tests of the more durable coating were conducted using cultures of interest in industrial water and demonstrated significant reductions in neutralized post-column Enterococcus faecalis samples and near complete loss of Legionella pneumophila in non-neutralized fluids, but lower reductions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. HIGHLIGHTS Development of antimicrobial treatment based on benzalkonium chloride-amended marine-coated porous media.; Minimal release of ABDAC and coating chemical components from media.; Demonstrated performance in broad reduction bacterial levels in HVAC waters.; Significant reductions in targeted bacteria including Legionella pneumophila.; Greater reduction in bacteria non-neutralized solutions.;

The number of XLPE cables being used near or beyond their design life is increasing. The importance of timely cable replacement is necessary. Therefore, research is actively being conducted using VLF Tan δ diagnostic technology to assess the insulation condition of cables. Present studies lack in measuring and analyzing the VLF Tan δ of service-aged XLPE cables. Additionally, there is a research gap considering the operating environment. Therefore, it is needed to diagnose and analyze the insulation condition of the same service-aged cable when it is operated in a different environment. This paper assesses and analyzes the insulation condition of cables installed in the BFP, cooling tower, and deaerator booster pump of a combined heat and power plant. Each cable was evaluated by measuring the VLF Tan δ, the dielectric breakdown test of the cable, and the tensile strength, elongation at break, crystallinity, and dielectric strength of the XLPE specimens. Additionally, the correlation between the VLF Tan δ and other characteristics was also analyzed. It was found that degradation progressed in the order of the BFP, the cooling tower, and the deaerator booster pump. Therefore, it was confirmed that even for the same cable, deterioration varies depending on the installation location.

Air conditioning and cooling are essential to ensure the reliable operation of data centers. Several studies have been conducted regarding the use of free cooling for energy-efficient cooling. However, free cooling faces challenges when used in hot and humid environments, which can lead to a decline in cooling tower performance. To address this issue, we propose a cooling system that utilizes a liquid desiccant to lower the humidity and improve the performance of the cooling tower, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the refrigeration system. Simulations were conducted in areas where the data centers were located, considering hot and humid climates. According to the simulation results, it was possible to achieve an average reduction of 35.12 % in cooling energy consumption by improving the performance of the cooling tower.

Optimization plays an important role in scientific and engineering research. This paper presents the effects of using the catenoidal shape to design the structure of a chimney cooling tower. The paper compares some geometrical variations of the catenoid with the reference existing hyperboloidal structure. It also compares internal forces, deformation and stability of the catenoidal structure. The comparison shows some predominance of the catenoid over the popular hyperboloid structure of the shell. The paper attempts to find an optimal shape of the cooling tower in order to reduce the amount of material and labor. The paper utilizes engineering tools and the designing process for chimney cooling towers.

This work presents a novel triple-renewable energy system (TRES) that is based on integrating the photovoltaic panels (PVPs), conventional solar chimney (CSC), and cooling tower (CT) in one structure. The ultimate objective of the proposed TRES system is to produce electrical power (Pelc), desalinated water (Dw), and if required cooling utilities. The components of the system include a chimney tower, collector, base, PVPs, water pool, bi-directional turbine, and water sprinklers. The TRES system can be operated as CSC during the daytime and CT at night providing 24-h operation. The PVPs were integrated within the structure to increase the Pelc production and enhance the process performance by heating the air inside the system. The TRES structure increased the efficiency to 0.860% in comparison with the CSC (0.313%). The annual Pelc production from the TRES system was found to be 792 MWh compared with only 380 MWh generated by the CSC achieving 2.1 folds overall improvement. The CSC-PV and CT contributed to 47% (494 MWh) and 24% (253 MWh) of the Pelc production, respectively. The annual Dw production was found to be 1.2-fold higher (163,142 tons) higher than the CSC (139,443 tons). The newly developed TRES system offers a great potential to produce Pelc and Dw and save fossil fuel consumption while reducing the emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) to the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a height drop in the rain area of the circulating cooling water in mechanical ventilation circulating cooling towers, resulting in the ineffective use of gravitational potential energy. High-level water collection is an effective way to reduce the energy consumption of the cooling tower. Based on this, aiming to solve the gravity energy waste problem of circulating water in the cooling tower of a steel plant, this paper innovatively puts forward the high-level water tank to utilize the energy-saving transformation technology of turbine power generation and pump power saving. Additionally, this paper explores the energy-saving effects of the two methods under different height drops. The results show that the maximum utilizable rain area height of the cooling tower is 5 m, while the annual electric energy output of turbine technology can reach 4.704 million kW·h. The high water collection technology can reduce pump power consumption and save up to 7.35 million kW·h per year of electric energy, maintaining a more significant energy-saving ability compared with the turbine power generation technology. In terms of performance, the design of a high-level water tank is to help eliminate rain areas and improve the heat exchange efficiency of water and gas, so that the water temperature of the outgoing tower is 0.13 °C lower than that of the conventional cooling tower. Meanwhile, the ventilation resistance in the rain area is weakened, the resistance coefficient can be reduced by about 40–50%, and the noise can be reduced by about 10 dB (A) under the action of the water collection device. According to the economic evaluation, the total cost of turbine power generation technology is 0.563 million dollars and the total cost of high-level water collection technology is 0.446 million dollars. The cost can be realized within two years, but the high-level water collection technology avoids additional pump maintenance costs and has better economy. This study provides a theoretical basis for the transformation and optimization design of mechanical ventilation cooling towers, and has important reference value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hydrodynamics in cooling tower packing has been numerically simulated. • Main local and system scale hydrodynamic parameters have been obtained. • Packing wetting rate and film thickness increase with water flow inlet increase. • A correlation has been proposed for interfacial area to evaluate transfer phenomena. Wet cooling towers are used in many industrial processes but hydrodynamic behaviour of air-water counter flows in towers packing remains unknown. Hydrodynamics is directly linked with main operating issues (e.g. packing fouling reducing cooling efficiency). The objective of this work is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to characterize local hydrodynamic parameters such as water film thickness, velocity or wall shear stress and system scale parameters such as wetting rate or interfacial area. After a theoretical study of fluid mechanics, Volume of Fluid (VOF) simulations, with dedicated models for air/water interface capture and solid/liquid contact angle, successfully reproduced water falling films on packing surface. Simulations allowed the calculation of main water flow local and system parameters. The results have pointed out trends of increasing liquid film thicknesses and wetting rates with increasing water flowrate in agreement with experimental observations. A correlation of the interfacial area has been proposed as a function of the hydrodynamic adimensional numbers to characterize transfer phenomena in the considered packing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review is conducted about the application of the evaporative cooling technology in thermal power plants. Different case studies are considered, namely, evaporative air conditioners, evaporative cooling in direct air-cooled systems, gas turbine inlet cooling, wet cooling towers, and hybrid cooling towers with a crosswind effect. Some effort is provided to describe the advantages related to direct evaporative cooling when it is applied in thermal power plants and illustrate the research gaps, which have not been filled yet. In particular, typical case studies are intentionally used to compare the cooling performances when direct evaporative cooling is implemented in different types of cooling towers, including the natural draft wet cooling tower (NDWCT) and the pre-cooled natural draft dry cooling tower (NDDCT). It is shown that the NDWCT provides the best cooling performance in terms of power station cooling, followed by the pre-cooled NDDCT, and the NDDCT; moreover, the evaporative pre-cooling is able to enhance the cooling performance of NDDCT. Besides, on a yearly basis, better NDDCT cooling performances can be obtained by means of a spray-based pre-cooling approach with respect to wet media pre-cooling. Therefore, the use of nozzle spray is suggested for improvement in the performance of indirect/direct air-cooling systems with controlled water consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]