Evaporative Cooling Applied in Thermal Power Plants:A Review of the State-ofthe-Art and Typical Case Studies

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.

Directional Solidification Assisted by Liquid Metal Cooling

An overview of the development and current status of the directional solidification process assisted by liquid metal cooling （LMC） has been presented in this paper. The driving force of the rapid development of the LMC process has been analyzed by considering the demands of （1） newer technologies that can provide higher thermal gradients for alleviated segregation in advanced alloy systems, and （2） better production yield of the large directionally solidified superalloy components. The brief history of the industrialization of the LMC process has been reviewed, followed by the discussion on the LMC parameters including selection of the cooling media, using of the dynamic baffle, and the influence of withdrawal rates and so on. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the traditional superalloys processed by LMC, as well as the new alloys particularly developed for LMC process were then described. Finally, future aspects concerning the LMC process have been summarized.

Effect of cooling rates on dendrite spacings of directionally solidified DZ125 alloy under high thermal gradient

The dendrite morphologies and spacings of directionally solidified DZ125 superalloy were investigated under high thermal gradient about 500 K/cm. The results reveal that, with increasing cooling rate, both the spacings of primary and secondary dendrite arms decrease, and the dendrite morphologies transit from coarse to superfme dendrite. The secondary dendrite arms trend to be refined and be well developed, and the tertiary dendrite will occur. The predictions of the Kurz/Fisher model and the Hunt/Lu model accord basically with the experimental data for primary dendrite arm spacing. The regression equation of the primary dendrite arm spacings 21 and the cooling rate Vc is λ1 = 0.013 Vc^-0.32. The regression equation of the secondary dendrite arm spacing λ2 and the cooling rate Vc is λ2 = 0.00258 Vc^-0.31, which gives good agreement with the Feurer/Wunderlin model.

Directional solidification casting technology of heavy-duty gas turbine blade with liquid metal cooling(LMC) process

In this work, some important factors such as ceramic shell strength, heat preservation temperature, standing time and withdrawal rate, which influence the formability of directionally solidified large-size blades of heavy-duty gas turbine with the liquid metal cooling(LMC) process, were studied through the method of microstructure analysis combining. The results show that the ceramic shell with medium strength(the high temperature flexural strength is 8 MPa, the flexural strength after thermal shock resistance is 12 MPa and the residual flexural strength is 20 MPa) can prevent the rupture and runout of the blade. The appropriate temperature(1,520 ℃ for upper region and 1,500 ℃ for lower region) of the heating furnace can eliminate the wide-angle grain boundary, the deviation of grain and the run-out caused by the shell crack. The holding time after pouring(3-5 min) can promote the growth of competitive grains and avoid a great deviation of columnar grains along the crystal orientation <001>, resulting in a straight and uniform grain structure. In addition, to avoid the formation of wrinkles and to ensure a smooth blade surface, the withdrawal rate should be no greater than the growth rate of grain. It is also found that the dendritic space of the blade decreases with the rise of solidification rate, and increases with the enlarging distance between the solidification position and the chill plate.

Structures and macrosegregation of a 2024 aluminum alloy fabricated by direct chill casting with double cooling field

Central region coarse grains and centerline segregation are common defects in aluminum ingots fabricated by direct chill(DC)casting.A double cooling field was introduced into the DC casting process to reduce these defects,whereby the external cooling was supplied by the mold and water jets,and intercooling was achieved by inserting a rod of the same alloy into the molten pool along the central axis of the ingot.Rather than forming a good metallurgical interface during solid-liquid compound casting,in the present work,the purpose of inserting the rod is to enforce internal cooling and consequently decrease the sump depth.Moreover,the insertion provides more nucleation sites with the unmoltenα-Al particles.The structure and the macrosegregation of 2024 Al alloy ingots prepared by DC casting with and without the inserts were investigated.Results show that when the inserting position is 50 mm above the upper edge of the graphite ring,significant grain refinement in the central region of the ingot and a reduced centerline segregation are achieved.

Effect of cooling rate on MC carbide in directionally solidified nickel-based superalloy under high thermal gradient

A series of directional solidification experiments have been performed to study the effect of cooling rate on the precipitation behavior of MC carbide in nickel-based superalloy under the temperature gradient of 500 K-s^-1. Results reveal that the morphology of MC carbide changes from coarse block to fine strip, then to Chinese-script, and their sizes reduce gradually with the increasing of cooling rate from 2.53 K.s^-1 to 36.4 K.s^-1. At low cooling rates, most of these carbides are found to be located at the grain boundary and interdendritic regions, while the coupled growth of some carbides and 7 matrix in the center of 7 grains is occurred at high cooling rate. The main elements forming MC carbide are Ta, W, and Hf.

Transient Heat Transfer Study of Direct Contact Condensation of Steam in Spray Cooling Water

We conducted a transient experimental investigation of steam–water direct contact condensation in the absence of noncondensible gas in a laboratory-scale column with the inner diameter of 325 mm and the height of 1045 mm. We applied a new analysis method for the steam state equation to analyze the molar quantity change in steam over the course of the experiment and determined the transient steam variation. We also investigated the influence of flow rates and temperatures ofcooling water on the efficiency ofsteam condensation. Our experimental results show that appropriate increasing of the cooling water flow rate can significantly accelerate the steam condensation. We achieved a rapid increase in the total volumetric heat transfer coefficient by increasing the flow rate of cooling water, which indicated a higher thermal convection between the steam and the cooling water with higher flow rates. We found that the temperature ofcooling water did not play an important role on steam condensation. This method was confirmed to be effective for rapid recovering ofsteam.

Direct Laser Cooling Al^＋ Ion Optical Clocks

The Al^＋ ion optical clock is a very promising optical frequency standard candidate due to its extremely small black-body radiation shift. It has been successfully demonstrated with the indirect cooled, quantum-logic-based spectroscopy technique. Its accuracy is limited by second-order Doppler shift, and its stability is limited by the number of ions that can be probed in quantum logic processing. We propose a direct laser cooling scheme of AI＋ ion optical clocks where both the stability and accuracy of the clocks are greatly improved. In the proposed scheme, two Al^＋ traps are utilized. The first trap is used to trap a large number of Al^＋ ions to improve the stability of the clock laser, while the second trap is used to trap a single Al^＋ ion to provide the ultimate accuracy. Both traps are cooled with a continuous wave 167nm laser. The expected clock laser stability can reach 9.0 × 10^-17/√τ. For the second trap, in addition to 167nm laser Doppler cooling, a second stage pulsed 234nm two-photon cooling laser is utilized to further improve the accuracy of the clock laser. The total systematic uncertainty can be reduced to about 1 × 10^-18. The proposed Al^＋ ion optical clock has the potential to become the most accurate and stable optical clock.

Waste heat water pumping model with direct contact cooling

The performance of a patented water pumping model with steam-air power was presented, which operates automatically by direct contact cooling method. The main objective was to study feasibility of a pumping model for underground water. In this model, a heater installed within the heat tank represented sources of waste heat as energy input for finding appropriate conditions of the 10 L pump model. The system operation had five stages： heating, pumping, vapor flow, cooling, and water suction. The overall water heads of 3, 4.5, 6 and 7.5 m were tested. At the same time, it was found that the pump with 50% air volume is sufficient for pumping water to a desired level. In the experiment, the temperatures in the heating and pumping stages were 100-103 ℃and 80-90 ℃, respectively. The pressure in the pumping stage was 12-18 kPa, and the pressure in the suction stage was about-80 kPa, sufficient for the best performance. It could pump 170 L of water at a 2 m suction head, 120 L at a 3.5 m suction head, 100 L at a 5 m suction head, and 65 L at a 6.5 m suction head in 2 h. A mathematical model for larger pumps was also presented, which operates nearly the same as the present system. Economic analysis of the 10 L pump was also included.

Optimisation of Direct Expansion (DX) Cooling Coils Aiming to Building Energy Efficiency

Efficient Air Conditioning (A/C) system is the key to reducing energy consumption in building operation. In order to decrease the energy consumption in an A/C system, a method to calculate the optimal tube row number of a direct expansion (DX) cooling coil for minimizing the entropy generation in the DX cooling which functioned as evaporator in the A/C system was developed. The optimal tube row numbers were determined based on the entropy generation minimization (EGM) approach. Parametric studies were conducted to demonstrate the application of the analytical calculation method. Optimal tube row number for different air mass flow rates, inlet air temperatures and sensible cooling loads were investigated. It was found that the optimal tube row number of a DX cooling coil was in the range of 5 - 9 under normal operating conditions. The optimal tube row number was less when the mass flow rate and inlet air temperature were increased. The tube row number increased when the sensible cooling load was increased. The exergy loss when using a non-optimal and optimal tube row numbers was compared to show the advantage of using the optimal tube row number. The decrease of exery loss ranged from around 24% to 70%. Therefore the new analytical method developed in this paper offers a good practice guide for the design of DX cooling coils for energy conservation.

Research and Demonstration of Direct Air-Cooling System for 600-MW Fossil-Fired Power Plants

Given the distribution feature of resources such as coal and water, the requirements for the development of Chinese power industry, and the fact of monopoly by foreign companies, it is very necessary and significant to independently research and develop air-cooling technologies. Through experimental research, simulative calculation, process and equipment development, field tests and a demonstration project, the design and operation technologies for air-cooling system are grasped and relevant key equipment is developed. The results of the demonstration project show that the technical indicators for the air-cooling system have met or exceeded the design requirements. Part of the research results have been incorporated into the relevant national design standards. The technologies developed have been applied to more than 23 sets of thermal power units of or above 600 MW in China.

Effects of Chemical Composition and Cooling Process on Structures and Properties of Direct-Quenched Steels

The microstructures and mechanical properties of a series of direct-quenched steels containing,in weight percent,from 0.05 to 0.20 carbon,0.20 to 0.40 silicon,1.10 to 1.70 manganese and at least one microalloying element of vanadium,niobium,titanium and boron have been investigated.After controlled rolling,these steels were cooled in spray water to 400,300 and 200℃,respectively and then cooled in still air.Comparison of the Charpy V-notch impact toughness of direct-quenched steels without subsequent tempering was made with that of direct-quenched steels tempered at 600℃.It is found that an attractive combination of strength and toughness is achived by means of direct-quenching.There exists two types of microstructures in accordance with carbon equivalent.Lath martensitic microstructure is obtained for C>0.4%,granular bainitic microstructures for C.< 0.35%and mixtures of martensite and bainite for C,.in the range of 0.35— 0.40%.The effect of interrupted quenching temperature on microstructure is not significant for low C.steel,but interrupted quenching temperature has a strong effect on microstructure for high C,.steel.

Influence of Different Vortex Generators on Heat Transfer in Direct Air-Cooled Condensers

通过数值模拟研究了矩形小翼、三角小翼、梯形小翼、柱面梯形翼、柱面三角翼和柱面矩形翼等6种涡流发生器分别安装于直接空冷凝汽器单排蛇形翅片扁管中的压降和换热性能。Re数在600~1800范围内,涡流发生器采用相同高宽比、尾高、攻角以及安装位置。结果表明：矩形小翼的换热及压降增大最多,Re=1729时,相比平直翅片分别增加了14.27%和18.32%。Re=1 729时,柱面梯形翼的压力损失比矩形小翼少4.7%,换热低1.5%。当以（j/j0）/（f/f0）1/3作为综合换热性能评价标准时,柱面梯形翼的综合换热性能最好。另外,考察了柱面梯形翼倾角的影响（0°、6°、12°、20°、24°和26°）,相同工况下,倾角为12°的柱面梯形翼换热最好（较平直翅片增强4.29%~14.1%）、压降最小（增大7.5%~12.8%）且综合换热性能最好。柱面梯形翼因其迎流面积与斜边长度的匹配以及流线型柱面,具有良好的强化传热效果以及较小的压降。

Demolition technique of high thin-wall hyperbolic reinforced concrete cool tower by directional controlled blasting

Based on blasting demolition of high thin-wall hyperbolic reinforced concrete cool tower, by virtue of engineering practice of blasting the tube concrete structures, the analysis and research were made on the mechanism of cool tower collapse through selecting blasting parameters and selecting gap form, gap size and gap angle. The cool tower was twisted, collapsed directionally and broken well according to the design requirements. The expected results and purposes of blasting were obtained with no back blow, total blasted pile approximates to 4 - 5 m, no occurrence of flying stones and no damage to fixed buildings and equipment, the large-sized hyperbolic thin-wall reinforced concrete cool towers are twisted during blasting and it collapses well with good breaking. The test and measurement of blasting vibrating velocity was carried out during blasting and the measuring results are much less than critical values specified by Safety Regulations for Blasting. The study shows that gap form, gap size and gap angle are the key factors to cool tower collapse and will give beneficial references to related theoretical study and field application.

Cooling of double crystal monochromator with sagittal focus at SSRF

In SSRF, the design of 1st crystal cooling geometry of double crystal monochromator with sagittal focus is mainly reported by China. Our simulation indicates that the broadening of the full width at half maximum of the rocking curve of the double crystal monochromator induced by the heat load is about 3.7 μrad, and is in agreement with the experimental value of 5 μrad. Our scheme showed that the photon flux is reliably linear with electron current of the storage ring, which is extracted from the monochromator.

New Measurement Method for Direct Cooled Power Electronic with Transmission Fluids

Power Electronic (PE) will play an essential role in future drive concepts. Nowadays, mainly water/glycol-based cooling media are used to cool PE. Due to their high electrical conductivity (EC), water/glycol-based coolants cannot be used for direct cooling of the electrical components. Direct cooling concepts with dedicated transmission fluids show potential usage of fluid in direct contact with electrified parts. This results in special requirements for the fluids and materials. The aimed action as a coolant requires a defined measurement and characterization of fluid properties and heat transfer in order to assess the cooling ability of a fluid. The purpose of the work was to develop a new measurement setup based on the thermal transient method with which the thermal requirements of cooling fluids for a direct cooling concept can be assessed. With this method, relevant transmission fluids have been tested and the thermal performance compared to indirect cooling effect of water/glycol is discussed. The result of the work is that the measurement method is very well suited for the application-related evaluation of the fluids. Direct oil cooling with transmission fluids could increase heat transfer coefficient by a factor of 3 to 8, compared to the indirect cooing with water/glycol as cooling media.

Phase Morphology Evolution in AISI301 Austenite Stainless Steel under Different Cooling Rates

Quenching experiments were performed at different cooling rates under non-directional solidification by differential thermal analysis, and the morphologic variation of primary phase, phase transition temperature and hardness change at the same quenching temperature were investigated. The experimental results show that, with the gradual decrease of the cooling rate from 25 K/min, the morphology of ferrite starts to transform experiencing the dendrite, radial pattern, Widmanstatten-like and wire-net. Sample starts to present the Widmanstatten-like microstructure at 10 K/min which does not exist at higher or lower cooling rates, and this microstructure is detrimental to the mechanical property. Except 10 K/min, the hardness decreases with decreasing cooling rate.

电动汽车电池组冷媒直冷系统工作特性的试验

针对一种利用电动汽车空调制冷剂直接冷却电池组的锂离子电池热管理系统,设计了基于口琴管式冷板的电池模组.进行了直冷和液冷的比较,研究了环境温度、压缩机转速、阀门开度及放电倍率对制冷剂流量和蒸发温度的影响,以及对电池组散热特性的影响.结果表明:采用直冷方式在控制电池组平均温度上比液冷具有更好的冷却效果;压缩机转速增加对电池组有明显的控温效果,在3500 r/min的转速下即使是2.0 C的高倍率放电也能控制温度在40.00℃以下;阀门开度增大有利于电池组平均温度的下降,但不利于电池组温差的降低;在电池组温差较大的情况下,单体电池温差能占到电池组温差的88%.

动车检查库不同通风系统降温效果对比研究

基于实测数据开展了不同通风系统对夏热冬冷地区动车检查库降温效果的对比研究。结果表明:屋顶机械排风系统设计换气次数宜为2~4 h^(-1);直接蒸发冷却送风系统换气次数宜为3~4 h^(-1);诱导通风系统推荐采用中部送风、两侧排风的系统形式,机械送排风换气次数宜为2 h^(-1);各通风方案在推荐设计值下都能满足湿球黑球温度限值30℃的舒适性要求;综合对比各方案,机械排风系统造价最低,诱导通风系统效果最好,蒸发冷却送风系统适合于改善局部热环境。