| Cooling system upgrade
Figures 2 and 3. Wind screen installation at Coryton power station. 26 new screens were designed, consisting of 50% solid high-level perimeter screens, installed over three weeks. Source: Galebreaker
The original wind protection screens at Coryton, installed by Galebreaker, had been in place for almost 20 years, but had reached the end of their useful life. The goal was to replace these with a more efficient design that would maintain the ACC system’s performance.
Origins of issues and design parameters
ACCs in the UK are designed to meet their thermal performance requirements up to a design wind speed, traditionally 3 m/s, as this was the value typically referenced in the VGB-R-131 test codes.*
However, according to Gary, this figure is often revised by the specifying party, recognising that this wind speed is too low in reality: “In the UK, wind speeds above 3 m/s occur for about 75% of the year, meaning most ACCs are regularly experiencing performance losses.” Because of this, he says, some plant designers now request that ACCs are designed to handle higher wind speeds, prompting OEMs to oversize equipment.
“While this may help meet higher specification parameters, it doesn’t address the issue of wind shear and recirculation caused when equipment is in place, which is when we start to see performance drop off.
“Everything is subject to wind – you can’t get away from it, but protection screens don’t come
as standard. By installing them, you can recover some of that lost performance,” adds Gary.
Project approach: CFD modelling and customised wind protection Galebreaker’s approach to the Coryton project was rooted in CFD modelling, a
technique that enabled the team to simulate wind behaviour around the ACC and identify the optimal design for wind protection. Gary explains the process: “When we’re called in to address wind-related issues, we’ve got to understand and analyse wind patterns around the plant.
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