Axial flow fan performance in a forced draught air-cooled heat exchanger for a sCO2 Brayton cycle

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Boshoff, Francois D., van der Spuy, Sybrand J., Pretorius, Johannes P.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Boshoff, Francois D.
van der Spuy, Sybrand J.
Pretorius, Johannes P.
author_facet Boshoff, Francois D.
van der Spuy, Sybrand J.
Pretorius, Johannes P.
contents An axial flow cooling fan has been designed for use in a concentrated solar power plant. The plant is based on a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) Brayton cycle, and uses a forced draft air-cooled heat exchanger (ACHE) for cooling. The fan performance has been investigated using both computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and scaled fan tests. This paper presents a CFD model that integrates the fan with the heat exchanger. The objective is to establish a foundation for similar models and to contribute to the development of efficient ACHE units designed for sCO2 power cycles. The finned-tube bundle is simplified, with a Porous Media Model representing the pressure drop through the bundle. Pressure inlet and -outlet boundary conditions are used, meaning the air flow rate is solved based on the fan and tube bundle interaction. The flow rate predicted by the CFD model is 0.5% higher than the analytical prediction, and 3.6% lower than the design value, demonstrating that the assumptions used in the design procedure are reasonable. The plenum height is also found to affect the flow rate, with shorter plenums resulting in higher flow rates and fan efficiencies, and longer plenums resulting in more uniform cooling air flow.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_02779
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Axial flow fan performance in a forced draught air-cooled heat exchanger for a sCO2 Brayton cycle
Boshoff, Francois D.
van der Spuy, Sybrand J.
Pretorius, Johannes P.
Fluid Dynamics
An axial flow cooling fan has been designed for use in a concentrated solar power plant. The plant is based on a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) Brayton cycle, and uses a forced draft air-cooled heat exchanger (ACHE) for cooling. The fan performance has been investigated using both computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and scaled fan tests. This paper presents a CFD model that integrates the fan with the heat exchanger. The objective is to establish a foundation for similar models and to contribute to the development of efficient ACHE units designed for sCO2 power cycles. The finned-tube bundle is simplified, with a Porous Media Model representing the pressure drop through the bundle. Pressure inlet and -outlet boundary conditions are used, meaning the air flow rate is solved based on the fan and tube bundle interaction. The flow rate predicted by the CFD model is 0.5% higher than the analytical prediction, and 3.6% lower than the design value, demonstrating that the assumptions used in the design procedure are reasonable. The plenum height is also found to affect the flow rate, with shorter plenums resulting in higher flow rates and fan efficiencies, and longer plenums resulting in more uniform cooling air flow.
title Axial flow fan performance in a forced draught air-cooled heat exchanger for a sCO2 Brayton cycle
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02779