AC-18 Air-cooler Header Pressure Drop and Flow Maldistribution

M. Rezasoltani

2016

In 2014 HTRI contracted with the Institute of Process and Environmental Engineering (IPEE) at Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic, to complete CFD simulations on six configurations of a two-pass horizontal air cooler, differing only in the number and type of inlet and outlet nozzles. Results showed the impact of nozzle configurations on header flow maldistribution and pressure drop. This report summarizes the IPEE study and discusses correlations available in open literature. It also identifies the most effective methods for potential implementation in Xace, which does not currently account for the pressure loss in the distribution or collection header or for the impact of maldistribution on performance.