Numerical Simulation of Spray Cooling Pond Performance

Abstract

A mathematical model for predictions of the performance of spray cooling ponds is presented. In contrast to previous methods, the present model requires neither empirical information from field measurements nor an adaptation of model constants. The airflow is described by partial differential equations for the vorticity and the stream function. Turbulence is taken into account by a modified version of the k-ε model. Temperature and humidity of air are obtained by solving appropriate transport differential equations. The equation system is solved by means of a finite difference method. The utilized numerical algorithm has been proved to be reasonably accurate. Predicted distributions for the dependent variables are presented for a circular spray cooling pond and the case of zero wind velocity. Results for the thermal performance of this pond are in good agreement with observations.