27 May 2020
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Wind protection screens for air cooled condensers
Gary Dicker, Director at DHD Cooling, looks at the benefits of fabric solutions for industrial cooling applications.
All systems are usually made up of many different parts, made out of a variety of materials, selected to meet the challenges of the application, process, environment, durability, availability and cost, amongst other things.
When it comes to industrial fabrics, there are a lot more applications where these lightweight, durable, corrosion resistant, low cost materials are the ideal choice, some of these applications can even protect or improve the performance of cooling systems, increasing productivity.
Wind protection screens are an alternative to cladding
External casings and wind walls
As an alternative to cladding systems, external coverings on large open structures offer protection from strong winds, allow light to enter the structure and require little or no substructure for support unlike cladding solutions.
Performance enhancement of ACC’s through wind reduction
Through detailed investigation of power station operating data it is clear that when the wind blows, performance of air cooled condensers (ACC) can be negatively affected. Winds can also affect the reliability of ACC’s leading to mechanical failures. CFD (Computerised Fluid Dynamics) modelling can help to determine the right position, and porosity of fabric protection screens, and provide accurate predictions for expected improvement.
Freezing issues in cooling towers
Freezing weather protection
Cold weather protection screens for wet and dry cooling applications can prevent the build-up of ice on wet cooling towers. These include solutions for large natural draft cooling towers which prevent the potentially damaging build-up of ice in and around the cooling towers that can cause disruption to a plant’s operation and extensive damage to the cooling fill and support structure. In addition to automated rolling screens to protect fin-coolers, in the event of low load conditions during freezing events.
Cooling tower inlet filters
Air inlet filtration
Air inlet filtration provides benefits to both wet and dry cooling systems, either protecting fin coils from becoming blocked due to airborne contamination, or reducing the amount of contamination that can be drawn into operating cooling towers, which is a valuable source of nutrients for harmful bacteria, reducing downtime and increasing cleaning intervals.
Fabrics are flexible, strong, light weight and capable of operating in extreme conditions, making them ideal solutions to these and many more applications around the globe.
DHD Cooling, in partnership with Galebreaker, offers a variety of both standard and bespoke fabric solutions to many different industries .
