DESIGN AND ENGINEERING OF THE WORLD’S TALLEST NATURAL DRAUGHT COOLING TOWERS AT 2 X 600 MW KALISINDH THERMAL POWER PROJECT

Patni P. S, Asrondkar J. D

Abstract: In the time span of 27 months two natural draught cooling towers (NDCTs) have been built for 2 x 600 MW Kalisindh Thermal Power Station at Jhalawar, India with height of 202 m above the finished ground level (FGL) and 212 m from founding level. These NDCTs are the tallest cooling towers world-wide. For many reasons, such structures can not be designed merely as enlargement of smaller sizes but they require careful review of the past practices to make sure that the extrapolation of the currently established methods are valid for the increased size. It needs innovative design approach. The paper starts with explanation of functional requirements and description of the tower geometry, followed by elucidation of the structural modeling and special distribution of wind load, both the Codal and the experimental wind load from the wind tunnel tests made on structural model of the towers. Further the structural analysis and design aspects of the towers are described with respect to Indian as well as British codified safety concepts for this structure. Finally, the necessity to improve the durability and measures taken to achieve the same are described.

Keywords: NDCT Shell, Wind Load on NDCT, Wind tunnel test

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0532015