Realistic ambient air

temperature specification
for ACC’s

Johannes Pretorius

ACC user’s group meeting 2012

Gillette, Wyoming, USA
Overview

• Typical ACC temperature specification

• Trends from Matimba power station

• Measurements at Kendal power station

• Conclusion

• Acknowledgements

• References

2
Typical ACC temperature specification

• Typical South African weather stations

• Dry bulb ambient air temperature @ 1.2-1.5m AGL

• Wind speed & direction @ 9-10m AGL

• Green fields / absence of dedicated weather masts in

area, info from weather bureau used for site weather
specification

• Cooling systems (wet or dry) specification thus based on

air temperature near ground level

3
 Matimba power station

• Temperature measurements taken at ACC inlet

• Temperature measurements on 60m high weather mast,
located 500m away from ACC

4
 Trends from Matimba

• Interesting trends from Matimba power station

• Weather mast & ACC air inlet temperatures indicate significant discrepancies
• Up to 10 °C difference between ground level and inlet temperature possible
45

40

35

30
Temperature, C

25

20

15
ACC inlet temperature
Weather mast temperature, 1.2 m AGL September 2005
10
Weather mast temperature, 40 m AGL
Weathermast located 500 m
from ACC
5

0
07 5
08 5
09 5
10 5
10 5
11 5
12 5
13 5
14 5
15 5
15 5
16 5
17 5
18 5
19 5
20 5
20 5
21 5
22 5
23 5
00 5
01 5
01 5
02 5
03 5
04 5
05 5
5
:4
:3
:2
:1
:0
:5
:4
:3
:2
:1
:0
:5
:4
:3
:2
:1
:0
:5
:4
:3
:2
:1
:0
:5
:4
:3
:2
:1
06

5
Time
Investigation

• Investigate whether similar trends are experienced on

other sites

• Measurements at Eskom’s Kendal power station

• Indirect dry cooling system, however from literature similar

principle should apply

• Air drawn into cooling system from higher heights than ground
level

6
 Kendal power station

• 6 x 686 MW coal-fired
• Last Unit commissioned 1988
• Indirect dry cooling system

7
Measurements at Kendal

K2 monitoring station: Cooling towers:

• Located 2km SSE of Kendal PS • Ambient temperature
measured at approx. 25m AGL
• Ambient temperature measured
at 1.2m AGL

Evaporation ponds

2012/11/06 8
Measurements at Kendal

• Measurements from cooling tower 1

• Measurements from cooling tower 2 for comparison (adjacent)
• Relatively good data available for 2005-2006

Evaporation ponds

2012/11/06 9
Measurements at Kendal

Average daily ambient temperatures:

Measured values at Kendal cooling towers vs. K2 weather station
Feb, Apr, Jun 2005
35
Cooling tower (Feb)
Cooling tower (Apr)
Cooling tower (Jun)
30
K2 station (Feb)
K2 station (Apr)
K2 station (Jun)
Ambient air temperature [°C]

25

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20
Time of day [hours]

2012/11/06 10
 Measurements at Kendal

Average daily ambient temperatures:

Measured values at Kendal cooling towers vs. K2 weather station
Feb, Apr, Jun 2006
35
Cooling tower (Feb)
Cooling tower (Apr)
Cooling tower (Jun)
30
K2 station (Feb)
K2 station (Apr)
K2 station (Jun)
Ambient air temperature [°C]

25

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20
Time of day [hours]

2012/11/06 11
Measurements at Kendal

Average annual ambient air temperatures:

Measure values at Kendal cooling towers vs. K2 weather station
2005-2006
23

21
Ambient air temperature [°C]

19

17

15

13

Cooling towers (2005)

Cooling towers (2006)
11
K2 station (2005)
K2 station (2006)
9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month

2012/11/06 12
 Measurements at Kendal

• Auxiliary cooling cells between turbine house and CT 2 & 5

• Nighttime winds from E, SE
• Potential effect on CT 1 & 2 measurements
• Evaluate measurements from CT 4 & 5

Evaporation ponds

2012/11/06 13
 Measurements at Kendal

Average daily ambient temperatures:

Measured values at Kendal cooling towers - Unit 1&2 vs 4&5
Feb, Apr, Jun 2005
35
CT 1&2 (Feb)
CT 1&2 (Apr)
CT 1&2 (Jun)
30 CT 4&5 (Feb)
CT 4&5 (Apr)
CT 4&5 (Jun)
Ambient air temperature [°C]

25

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20
Time of day [hours]

2012/11/06 14
Measurements at Kendal

Average daily ambient temperatures:

Measured values at Kendal cooling towers - Unit 1&2 vs 4&5
Feb, Apr, Jun 2006

35
CT 1&2 (Feb)
CT 1&2 (Apr)
CT 1&2 (Jun)
30
CT 4&5 (Feb)
CT 4&5 (Apr)
CT 4&5 (Jun)
Ambient air temperature [°C]

25

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20
Time of day [hours]

2012/11/06 15
Measurements at Kendal

Average annual ambient air temperatures:

Measure values at Kendal cooling towers - Unit 1&2 vs 4&5
2005-2006
23

Anomaly for 2005 due to

21 large amount of data
corrupt on unit 4
Ambient air temperature [°C]

19

17

15

13

CT 1&2 (2005)
11 CT 1&2 (2006)
CT 4&5 (2005)
CT 4&5 (2006)
9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month

2012/11/06 16
Measurements at Kendal – annual average

• Daytime = 06:00 – 21:00

Avg. annual Avg. annual

temperature [°C] daytime
temperature [°C]
K2 16.7 19.2
Cooling towers 17.2 18.1

• Does not seem like major difference

• However, dependent on specific site & plant operating hours
• For Matimba on average, temperature at 1.2m AGL is 4°C too low
compared to what ACC actually experiences
• Also, e.g. peaking plant running in morning & evening – expected
annual plant performance will differ significantly from actual
performance
17
 Measurements at Kendal – annual distribution

Kendal 2005-2006 data, Ambient air temperature distribution comparison

Based on average temperatures measured at Kendal Cooling towers and K2 weather station,
Normalized for 1 year
1200
Cooling tower data
K2 data
1000

800
Hours per annum

600

400

200

Evaporation ponds
0
(-1)-0
0-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
11-12
12-13
13-14
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18
18-19
19-20
20-21
21-22
22-23
23-24
24-25
25-26
26-27
27-28
28-29
29-30
30-31
31-32
32-33
33-34
34-35
35-36
36-37
37-38
38-39
39-40
40-41
41-42
42-43
(-3)-(-2)
(-2)-(-1)

Ambient air temperature [°C]

2012/11/06 18
Measurements at Kendal – implications

• Assume ACC designed according to Kendal K2

temperature distribution
• ACC will experience temperatures of air at higher levels, similar to
those experienced at Kendal cooling towers

• ACC will in actual fact never see freezing conditions

• ACC design could have done without anti-freezing features
• More expensive

• ACC will in actual fact see max. ambient temperature

10°C lower than design
• Potentially oversized ACC design (depending on specification)
• More expensive

19
 Conclusion

• From Matimba & Kendal measurements, dry cooling systems experience

air inlet temperatures similar to air at higher level instead of near ground
level
• Important for ACC Purchaser to consider
• ACC may experience different conditions to those specified in design
specifications
• Overall plant performance potentially affected
• ACC may be more expensive than necessary & include unnecessary
features
• Purchaser responsible to specify correct ACC design air inlet
temperature
• Purchaser to develop knowledge
• Sourcing appropriate data or installing weather mast at intended site
• Weather mast at site & trending
20
 Acknowledgement

The contribution of the following people towards the knowledge of ACC

operation & design within Eskom is acknowledged

Prof DG Kröger

Francois du Preez

Markus Jonker (Majuba)

Hein Goldschagg (Matimba)

Eskom Management for sponsoring the trip and permission to present the
paper

21
 References

• Du Preez, A. F., 1992, “The influence of cross-winds on the performance of dry-cooling towers,” PhD thesis, University of Stellenbosch,
Stellenbosch, South Africa.

• Du Preez, A.F., 2008, “Operational Characteristics of Existing Dry Cooling Systems in Eskom,” EPRI workshop on Advanced Cooling
Technologies, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

• Du Preez, A. F., 2008, “New coal units and suggestions for further improvement, EPRI Workshop on Advanced Cooling Technologies,”
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

• Du Preez, A. F., and Pretorius, J. P., 2009, “Specifications for large Air-cooled Condensers – Eskom perspective,” 14th IAHR Cooling tower
and Air-cooled heat exchanger conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

• Ham, A. J., and West, L. A., 1988, “Eskom’s advance into Dry Cooling,” VGB Kraftwerkstechnik, 68(9), pp. 808-812.

• Kröger, D. G., 2004, Air-cooled heat exchangers and cooling towers, Pennwell Corp., Tulsa, Oklahoma.

• Pretorius, J. P., and Du Preez, A. F., 2009, “Eskom cooling technologies,” 14th IAHR Cooling tower and Air-cooled heat exchanger
conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

• Trage, B., and Hintzen, F. J., 1989, “Design and construction of plants with Indirect Dry Cooling systems,” VGB Kraftwerkstechnik, 69(2), pp.
164-170.

• Van der Walt, N. T., West, L. A., Sheet, T. J., Kuball, D., 1976, “The design and operation of a dry cooling system for a 200 MW turbo-
generator at Grootvlei Power Station, South Africa,” The South African Mechanical Engineer, 26, pp. 498-510.

• Von Cleve, H. -H., 1984, “The Air-cooled condensing system for the 4000 MW Escom-Matimba Power Station/South Africa,” VGB
Kraftwerkstechnik, 64(4), pp. 287-291.

• Goldschagg, H., Maintenance of Air cooled condensers, 14th IAHR conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2009.

22
Thank you