Experimental and Computational study of the most Influential Parameters of a Lab-Scale Forced Draft Cooling Tower by considering different number of Packing Ribs

Abstract

This research work incorporates experimental investigation and simulation to inspect
the impact of influential parameters on the efficiency of a forced draft cooling tower. The
number of packing ribs, the flow rate of water, the flow rate of air, the surface area, and the area of
contact are the parameters investigated in this study. All of these parameters are altered and their effect
on efficiency is explored. Two types of packing with varying rib numbers of packing and areas are
utilized to observe their influence on the efficiency of the cooling tower. Modeling and CFD analysis of
the aforementioned cooling tower is done on SOLIDWORKS and ANSYS Fluent respectively.
Finally, the results from experimental data and CFD analysis are compared to inspect the effectiveness of
the simulation. The results depicted that the efficiency of a forced draft cooling tower varies
directly with the flow rate of air and inversely with the flow rate of water. Moreover, the performance of
the cooling tower has a direct relationship with the area of contact, time of contact between air and
water, and the number of ribs. The results obtained from CFD analysis are compared and validated with
experimental results. Finally, percentage error analysis is also presented between simulation model
efficiency and experimentation efficiency of the benchtop cooling tower and it exhibits good
agreement with the experimental data.