Design of coolers for use in an existing cooling water network

CATEGORY: COOLING NETWORKS
Applied Thermal Engineering, Volume 43, October 2012, Pages 51–59
Optimisation of Cogeneration and Energy Intensive Processes, Heat Transfer Enhancement, Industrial Applications – PRES 11
Design of coolers for use in an existing cooling water network
Martín Picón-Núñez
Graham Thomas Polley
Lázaro Canizalez-Dávalos
Elvis Koku Tamakloe
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Guanajuato, Noria Alta s/n, Guanajuato, Gto., C.P. 36050, Mexico
Abstract
Presents a procedure for the specification of design conditions for the incorporation of new coolers into existing cooling water networks. In practical terms, the location for the placing of a new cooler into an existing network will depend on the plant layout.  Once this has been determined, there are various ways in which the new unit can be incorporated.  They are: (a) in a totally new parallel branch; (b) in series with other units in an existing branch and, (c) in parallel with an existing exchanger.
Authors look at the thermo–hydraulic effects that result when each of these options is considered. On the one hand, it is shown that the placing of a new unit in series with existing branches leads to reduced thermo–hydraulic disturbances upon the other units.  On the other hand, the installation of new exchangers in new branches results in increased disturbances which may prove less economical. The procedure involves the thermo-hydraulic simulation of the cooling water network which includes consideration of pump performance and cooling tower performance. An approximate sizing approach for new coolers based on the flow resistance factor (K) is introduced and incorporated into the analysis.
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