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 | Postgraduate Projects Available |  |
| PhD | Design and optimization of scaled natural draft cooling towers for geothermal and solar power plants |
| | Due to their relatively low efficiencies, a geothermal or medium-concentration solar thermal power plant generates almost twice as much waste heat per MW generated electricity compared to coal-fired power plants operating at higher temperatures. Based on a cycle efficiency of 15%, a 50-MWe power plant needs to have a 283-MWe heat sink. To dispose of this heat using a wet cooling tower consumes water at about a rate of 100 kg/s or 3.2 million tonnes per year. This brings about natural draft cooling towers, air-cooled heat exchangers with little or no parasitic losses compared to fan-cooled systems, to be the only available option for geothermal and solar power plants where the condensing fluid in most medium-temperature binary power plants is not steam but a hydrocarbon or a refrigerant.
The principal objective of the proposed project is to carry out the enabling research towards a detailed proposal for design, construction and testing of a natural draft dry cooling tower optimally designed for geothermal and solar thermal power plants. It is proposed to undertake this study through construction of a scaled experimental rig and theoretical and experimental investigation of the effect of wind and terrain features, other cooing tower parameters, and novel heat exchanger alternatives.
The student will be part of an international team working alongside experienced researchers on interesting questions of science which are of immediate industrial importance. Close collaboration with industrial partners is another benefit to the student. For more details contact the advisory team, either me (k.hooman@uq.edu.au) or Prof. Gurgenci (h.gurgenci@uq.edu.au).
The project is funded by Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence.
| | | QGECE | | Links: | web page |
| Keywords: | energy, heat transfer, geothermal |
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