Please share your thoughts on water kinetic energy recovery technology
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Please discuss water kinetic energy recovery technology. Some of the cooling towers used for circulating cooling water employ this technology, namely water kinetic energy cooling towers. The principle behind such towers is to use the kinetic energy of the cooling water itself to drive a turbine, which in turn drives a exhaust fan to cool the air. Their obvious advantage is energy savings; however, it’s not clear what their cooling efficiency is like. It is said that they can only reduce the water temperature by 10 degrees, whereas ordinary cooling towers equipped with motor-driven axial flow fans can lower water with an inlet temperature of 45 degrees to 32 degrees (as stated in the design specifications). So, in terms of cooling efficiency, can a water kinetic energy cooling tower achieve the designed performance?
The fan no longer needs to be driven by a motor, which means the water pump required for the turbine has to achieve a higher head pressure; as for whether this saves energy or not, that’s still up for discussion