Abstract: In this paper, the near flow field of cooling tower in a power plant in Shandong Province and the impact of fog plume lifting, drift droplets and salt deposits on local environment were simulated by applying CFD technology and SACTI model. The simulation results were consistent with the field experiment results. The SACTI model predicted that the maximum distance with drift droplets and salt deposits would occur in the range of 200 m near the cooling tower, whereas the CFD technology simulated that the maximum distance would occur around 500 m in the downwind direction. The maximum ground deposition of drift droplets and salt predicted by the SACTI model is about 3 times as much as by the CFD technology simulation, mainly because that the local circulation of cooling tower and the influence of surrounding buildings to drift deposition have been taken into account in the CFD simulation process.

Key words: cooling tower, Lagrangian two-phase flow, fog plume lifting, drift droplets and salt deposition