Dry Cooling Technologies
Dry cooling technology, both air-cooled condensers (ACC) and air fin coolers (AFC), represent an increasingly substantial portion of B&W SPIG’s global technology applications, as water preservation is becoming a priority for plant owners and operators. This environmentally sound technology features no hot water discharge and requires little maintenance.
Download our Air Cooled Condenser brochure (PDF)
Download our Air Fin Cooler brochure (PDF)
Download our Wet and Dry Cooling System Services brochure (PDF)
Environmental Benefits
Dry cooling technology provides many environmental benefits. SPIG dry cooling systems are well suited for use in several important applications such as waste-to-energy, biomass and solar power plants. We are committed to the preservation of our environment and promote the use of this high-efficiency technology in a growing variety of applications.
Maintenance of dry cooling equipment is highly economical. Because there are few moving parts, probabilities of failure are much lower. Dry cooling can perform in almost any climate condition, from hot and humid to extreme cold environments, with diversified configurations that may be easily adapted to specific needs.
The absence of water loss and the limited fouling and fluid contamination within the equipment make SPIG dry cooling systems a sound choice for an environmentally friendly approach to cooling in plants all over the world.
B&W SPIG Air-cooled Condenser (ACC)
Air-Cooled Condensers
Air-cooled condenser (ACC) systems are an effective dry cooling technology installed in power plants to condensate the turbine exhaust steam. The system provides cooling using only the ambient air without any need for water. In this system, exhaust steam from the turbine flows counter-currently through the tube bundles of an ACC and is condensed in parallel flow tube bundles using air flow induced by axial fans.
B&W SPIG offers design, engineering, manufacture and installation of ACC systems suitable for renewable (waste-to-energy, biomass, solar, etc.) and thermal power plants.
Advantages of single-row aluminum fin tube bundles include:
- Lower pressure drop (steam-side and air-side)
- Higher thermal efficiency
- No dead zones
- Lower fan power consumption
- Low-noise solution
- Lower weight per surface area
- Higher corrosion resistance
- Wide range of regulation suitable for steam export and district heating plant
- Option for wind mitigation
- Option for multi-row tube bundles or single-row aluminum fin tube bundle
Air fin coolers (AFC)
Air Fin Coolers
Air-cooled heat exchangers, also known as air fin coolers, are a cost-effective dry cooling system solution using air to cool process fluids. Air fin coolers are typically used in process industries such as oil and gas, steel plants, petrochemical, refineries, power plants, waste-to-energy plants, and chemical processing.
B&W SPIG provides cost-effective designs to meet the required thermal performances and to ensure the best efficiency in thermal and mechanical pressure part designs, steel structure and noise management.
We can provide the following types of finned tubes:
- G-Fin (embedded): this high efficiency finned tube is designed for high thermal or mechanical stress, with an upper temperature limit of about 400C.
- L-Fin (wrapped): this finned tube is designed for low temperature applications where tube corrosion protection is required. The upper temperature limit is about 130C.
- Other finned tube types such as galvanized fin tubes and extruded fin tubes, are also available.
Hybrid Cooling Systems
B&W SPIG also provides solutions for environmentally friendly wet/dry (hybrid) cooling towers. Hybrid Cooling Systems are the optimal solution for plume abatement and water saving.