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Development and verification of laboratory model techniques for prediction of near-field behavior of cooling-tower plumes. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5357585
The primary purpose of this study was to validate, by comparing corresponding model and prototype data, small-scale model testing of mechanical draft cooling towers as a reliable means of plume prediction. Tests were also conducted to investigate the effects of plume buoyancy and ambient (wind) velocity, and plant-building location on plume trajectories, tower recirculation, plume downwash, and plume merger. Modeling requirements and limitations are summarized. Small-scale models of two existing plants for which sufficient field data were available to permit meaningful comparison were tested in the Environmental Flow Facility (EFF) of the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research. The EFF is a recirculatig water flume with a working section 19.8-m long, 3-m wide, and 2.3-m deep. Laboratory testing techniques were developed and modified as needed to bring field and laboratory data into conformity. Particular attention was directed to the role of the velocity distribution in the boundary layer of approach flow; vortex generators and floor roughness were installed in the upstream section of the flume to produce a velocity distribution corresponding to the 1/6 power law. The boundaries of prototype visible plumes were delineated from laboratory data on the stack-effluent concentration distributions. The boundaries of the visible plumes obtained from the scale models were in satisfactory agreement with those obtained in the prototype.
Research Organization:
Iowa Inst. of Hydraulic Research, Iowa City (USA)
OSTI ID:
5357585
Report Number(s):
EPRI-CS-1370
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English