Optimization of guide vane positions in bended inflow of mechanical draft wet-cooling tower

Optimization of vane positions in a mechanical draft wet-cooling tower is presented in this paper. The originally installed, equally spaced, vanes produced non-uniform air velocity distribution reducing the performance of the fill of the cooling tower. A 2D CFD model of the tower has been created. The model has then been used to determine the objective function in the optimization procedure. The selected objective function was the standard deviation of the velocity of air entering the fill. The Goal Driven Optimization tools of the ANSYS Workbench 2.0 have been used for the optimization and the ANSYS Fluent 13.0 as a flow solver. The optimization allowed reduction of the objective function and producing a more uniform air flow.