Numerical and Experimental Investigation into the Accuracy of the Fan Scaling Laws Applied to Large Diameter Axial Flow Fans

B2 - Theoretical & Numerical Methods for Axial Fans

The cooling effectiveness of air-cooled steam condenser (ACSC) units is impacted by the performance of the large diameter axial flow cooling fans, which ultimately affects the overall efficiency of the power plant. Due to the large diameters of these fans, tests are carried out at test facilities with smaller, standardized diameters and measuring equipment. The performance of the large scale fans can be predicted based on the small scale test results using the similarity laws and scale-up formulae. This paper details the results of small scale experimental tests and numerical simulations that were performed on a pair of 1.25 m diameter axial flow fans. Full scale, 10.360 m, diameter simulations of the same axial flow fans were subsequently performed and compared to the experimental results that were scaled up using the fan scaling laws. The results show that the scaled fan results are within 5% of the experimental results.