Numerical and experimental study of an induced draft cooling tower: Effects of single and double air inlets on cooling performance and water consumption

3D numerical models have been developed for a single inlet (SIDCT) and a double inlet induced draft cooling tower (DIDCT) to evaluate the effect of air inlet configuration on the thermal performance and water consumption. The numerical method has been validated using field measurement data, the simulations have been conducted under various environmental wind speeds and directions. For the SIDCT, the outlet water temperature decreases with increasing crosswind velocity at wind angles of 0◦ and 45°, whereas a reverse trend is observed at 90◦. The results further indicate that adopting double air inlets significantly enhances that the thermal performance and ventilation rate of cooling towers, owing to improved flow rate and air flow uniformity inside the tower. Specifically, when switching from SIDCT to DIDCT, the water temperature drops increases from 8.86 to 9 °C at α=0°, from 7.4 to 7.9 °C at α=45° and from 7.23 to 7.9°C at α=90°. Moreover, the ventilation rate is improved by 7.6%, 17.4 % and 13.7 % at crosswind angles of α=0°, 45° and 90°, respectively. In addition, double inlet design reduces makeup water demand under identical operating conditions.