Impact mechanism of the chip muffler on the cooling performance of super large-scale natural draft wet cooling tower under crosswind

The noise attenuation of cooling towers mainly relies on the chip muffler, of which the layout pattern exerts a non-negligible impact on the cooling effect. This paper analyzes the impact mechanism of the chip muffler's layout pattern on the cooling performance of a super large-scale natural draft wet cooling tower (S-NDWCT) through a three-dimensional numerical study. The layout patterns of chip muffler include three installation angles (theta = 0, 15 and 30), three distances between the muffler and cooling tower (L = 0.0 m, 2.5 m and 5.0 m), and two layout angles of the muffler (alpha = 180 and 360). Results manifest that the chip muffler can enhance the cooling performance of S-NDWCT by improving the airflow uniformity in the tower. The optimal layout pattern is L = 0.0 m, theta = 0 and alpha = 360, under which the increment of circulating water temperature drop reaches a maximum of 1.04 celcius. The ventilation rate increases with the increase of L and the decrease of theta. The Merkel number increases with the decrease of L and theta. The circulating water temperature drop increases with the decrease of theta and shows little regularity with L. This paper can provide the reference for optimizing layout patterns and engineering applications of the chip muffler.