Sensitivity and Optimization Analysis of Design Wind Angle for Air-Cooled Power Plant

Abstract

The layout of an air-cooled steam condenser (ACSC) has a great impact on a power plant’s operation. This is owed to the fact that the performance of the condenser and subsequently of the whole power plant is strongly affected by meteorological conditions. Hence, it is of great significance to determine the optimal design of wind angle that gives a higher performance for an air-cooled power plant. This study applies an existing numerical model in order to investigate the wind angle’s impact on the performance of an air-cooled steam condenser, as well as on the whole power plant. Moreover, the optimal design of wind angle is obtained based on the corresponding sensitivity analysis. Finally, the benefit to the power plant’s performance at the optimal-design wind angle is calculated through the comparison with the actual design values at a wind angle of β=22.5°. The obtained results show that the net power and thermal efficiency can be improved by amplitudes of 1.2 and 0.37%, respectively, at the wind angle of β=90°, which should be proposed as the design wind angle for air-cooled power plants.