Experimental Study on the Thermal Performance of a Counterflow Wet Cooling Tower with Bamboo Woven Packing

Abstract

Bamboo packing has been found to be a superior alternative to plastic packing for cooling towers, but traditional bamboo grid packing comprises numerous components, resulting in high production costs and low production efficiency. Therefore, a novel structured bamboo woven packing was designed in this study. The bamboo woven packing consisted solely of bamboo strips, which simplified the production process. The thermal performance of bamboo packing was systematically investigated. The results indicated that increasing the inlet air velocity and gas-liquid ratio enhanced the cooling water range and cooling efficiency, whereas a higher water drenching density had the opposite effect. The pressure drop increased upon increasing the inlet air velocity and water drenching density, while the influence of the gas-liquid ratio on pressure drop did not exhibit a discernible trend. A comparative analysis of the thermal performance of cooling towers utilizing bamboo woven packing and bamboo grid packing was also conducted under identical experimental conditions. The results showed that the cooling tower with bamboo woven packing exhibited a higher air velocity, a lower outlet water temperature, and superior cooling efficiency. Consequently, the newly designed bamboo woven packing outperformed traditional bamboo grid packing in terms of structural design, manufacturing process, and thermal performance.