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A novel passive strategy to reduce water consumption in cooling towers using earth-to-water or earth-to-air heat exchanger: water and electricity consumption analysis.

Author(s) : REIHANI A., HAGHIGHI POSHTIRI A.

Type of article: IJR article

Summary

In this study, using earth-to-water heat exchanger (EWHE) and earth-to-air heat exchanger (EAHE) as a coupled system with a cross-flow shower cooling tower, along with non-uniform droplet size distribution at the nozzles, was investigated. In the EWHE and EAHE, the outlet water temperature from the power plant equipment and ambient air temperature decrease by passing through the underground channel and then entering the cooling tower. Water consumption in the combined systems was computed and compared with each other and that in the single cooling tower to select the best configuration. For this purpose, a thermodynamic model of the cooling tower was presented, and cooling tower performance under non-uniform droplet size distribution was compared with conventional cases featuring constant droplet size distribution. The k-ε turbulence model was employed in the ANSYS Fluent 2020 software to model the underground channels. The results showed that EAHE coupled with the cooling tower was the best choice. However, due to the slight temperature difference between the air and the soil around the pipe caused by the increase in soil temperature, a single-mode cooling tower is recommended during the early and late hours of day and night from July to September. By using the proposed coupled system with non-uniform droplet size distribution, water consumption in the cooling tower was reduced by up to 19.70% (on 15 June), 20.42% (on 15 July), 15.86% (on 15 August), and 16.82% (on 15 September) in Tehran at 12:00. In addition, the average reduction in water consumption over these months was 13.96%. The amount of water saved in June was equivalent to the average water consumption of 3433.40 households, while the total power consumption of the fans of EAHE was equivalent to the electricity consumption of 198.08 households.

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Details

  • Original title: A novel passive strategy to reduce water consumption in cooling towers using earth-to-water or earth-to-air heat exchanger: water and electricity consumption analysis.
  • Record ID : 30035261
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Technology
  • Source: International Journal of Refrigeration - Revue Internationale du Froid - vol. 189
  • Publication date: 2026/09
  • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2026.106994

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