Dry cooling tower with water augmentation

Abstract

An air cooling tower system for condensing exhaust steam in power plants, that has water cooling augmentation to maintain the plant cooling capacity during high atmospheric temperature periods. The cooling tower includes a plurality of banks of brazed aluminum plate and fin type heat exchangers arranged in inverted 'V' shaped sets. These heat exchangers cool ammonia used as the cooling fluid in the primary condenser for the power plant turbine exhaust steam. Each of these heat exchangers has a core consisting of a plurality of parallel aluminum plates spaced apart by fin assemblies that define a plurality of fluid passes. Approximately every other one of these passes has closed sides that open at the ends of the core to headers and define ammonia passes. The passes adjacent the ammonia passes are open at the sides and define air passes that permit the free flow of air transversely through the heat exchanger cores. An additional pass is provided adjacent every fourth one of the ammonia passes and these have closed sides and ends and define the passes for the cooling water. The water passes communicate at the bottom of the core with a water inlet manifold and at the top of the core with a water outlet manifold. The cooling tower system is designed so that at 55 degrees Fahrenheit air temperatures or below, the cooling air alone will provide the necessary cooling for the ammonia to satisfy plant requirements. Above 55 degrees Fahrenheit air temperature, cooling water from a separate water tank is pumped through the water passes to provide an additional cooling effect to maintain the design cooling capacity.