Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering

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Browsing Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering by Author "Anderson, Neil Raymond"

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    Evaluation of the performance characteristics of a hybrid (dry/wet) induced draft dephlegmator
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Anderson, Neil Raymond; Reuter, Hanno Carl Rudolf; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A novel induced draft hybrid (dry/wet) dephlegmator (HDWD) is introduced which can enhance the performance of dry air-cooled condenser systems and a model is developed to simulate its performance. The HDWD consists of two stages of cooling with the steam flow in series and the air flow in parallel through both stages. The first stage consists of downwardly inclined finned tube bundles, similar to conventional air-cooled condenser bundles, and the second stage comprises horizontal bare tube bundles of which the outer surface can selectively be operated dry or wet by spraying it with deluge water. A comparison of the HDWD with other existing and new concepts reveals the significant advantages that this technology has over other technologies. This thesis is a continuation of the work done by Heyns (2008), who introduced a forced draft HDWD and investigated its performance, and Owen (2013), who conducted a parametric investigation on the induced draft HDWD to improve the basic design proposed by Heyns (2008). In his thermo-flow model, Heyns (2008) conducted a thermal analysis assuming equal air flow through both stages and a constant vapor temperature inside the bundles, while Owen (2013) solved the thermal, steam-side pressure drop and draft equations. Both their models make use of empirical correlations by Gaddis & Gnielinski (1985), Zukauskas (1987), Mizushina et al. (1967) and Niitsu et al. (1967) for the performance characteristics. The current model solves the thermal, steam-side pressure drop and draft equations of the HDWD with better accuracy in the steam-side pressure drop calculation. The airside heat and mass transfer and loss coefficient correlations found in literature were found to deviate significantly from each other resulting in uncertainty regarding their suitability. Based on the recommendations by Owen (2013), a bare tube test bundle with 19 mm outer diameter tubes arranged with a triangular pitch of 38 mm is therefore designed, manufactured and tested to investigate the performance characteristics of the bundle experimentally under dry and wet operating conditions to evaluate the correlations from literature. The experimental data confirmed the applicability of the correlations of Gaddis & Gnielinski (1985) and Zukauskas (1987) to predict the dry HDWD performance, since they deviated by 7% and 5% respectively from the experimental data in die applicable range. The heat transfer during wet operation is slightly over estimated within 5% with the correlations of Mizushina et al. (1967) in the range of application. The air-side pressure drop during wet operation is underestimated by 29 to 39% by Niitsu et al. (1967) and the correlation obtained from the experimental results is therefore used in the current model. Using the current HDWD model indicates significant performance enhancement using tubes with a smaller diameter in the delugeable bundle compared to the larger tubes of Heyns (2008) and agrees very well with the model of Owen (2013).