Rise and Condensation of Large Cooling Tower Plumes

Abstract

Formulas for the variation with height of the buoyancy, volume, and water vapor fluxes from large wet cooling towers are derived. The simple formulas developed by Briggs are suggested for estimating plume rise, if the possibility of the release of latent heat is accounted for in the definition of the initial buoyancy flux. The probability of whether condensation will occur is sensitive to small variations in moisture content and temperature of the environment. Verification of the theory is hampered by the scarcity of adequate measurements of cooling tower plumes.