The direct contact jet condenser, when applied as part of a Heller air cooling system, provides a number of benefits. How does it work and what are the advantages? As with any power plant air cooling concept, the Heller indirect dry cooling system uses ambient air as the ultimate heat sink. This feature determines the characteristics of the system: since the driving force for heat transfer at the cold end of the power cycle is the temperature difference between the condensing steam and the ambient air, the condenser temperature achievable with the Heller dry cooling system is a straight line function of the ambient air temperature over most of its operating range.The condenser pressure achievable by a cooling system at a given ambient air temperature is very dependentonthephysical constraints associated with that system as well as on the design of its individual components. The main factors contributing to the increasing interest in the Heller indirect dry cooling system (see also MPS, July 2006) are the following: 1) it does not impose its own limit on the achievable condenser temperature (ie it does not "choke" earlier than the turbine does, as mainstream dry cooling systems do); 2) the high efficiency of the water-to-air heat exchangers; 3) the large volume (several thousand cubic metres) one-time circulating water fill of condensate quality; 4) use of a circulating system machine group with pressure head recovery features; and, 5) the condenser design, the main subject of this article.
展开▼
