Study on the influence of building aerodynamic shadows on the heat transfer performance of natural draft dry cooling towers

Previous studies have shown that the heat transfer of air cooling towers is mainly affected by crosswind. To improve the cooling performance of air-cooled towers under crosswind and the efficiency of power plants, this paper studies the influence mechanism of buildings on the heat dissipation performance of natural draft dry cooling towers (NDDCTs). The numerical simulation of a 2 × 1000 MW NDDCT is carried out to analyze the distribution of the aerodynamic shadow area and its influence on the heat transfer performance of the NDDCT. The study found that at a wind speed of 12 m/s, the heat dissipation efficiency of the NDDCT under the influence of the original building decreased by 4.74%, and the total ventilation volume decreased by 2595.76 kg/s. When the NDDCT was located in the aerodynamic shadow wake area of the building, the heat dissipation efficiency increased by 8.36%. This shows that the aerodynamic shadow area of the building will lead to deflection deceleration and a steady flow effect of the flow field near the tower base, which has a double-sided effect on the heat transfer of the NDDCT. By adjusting the interference of the aerodynamic shadow wake area of the building on the NDDCT, the high wind speed sensitivity and the heat dissipation deviation of the two towers can be reduced.