Plume-reducing cooling tower

Abstract

The present invention discloses a plume-reducing cooling tower including a housing having a space formed therein, the housing including a lower air inlet formed at a lower portion thereof for allowing external to enter the space thereof and an upper air outlet formed at an upper portion thereof for exhausting exhausted gas; a filler-unit provided at a place above the lower air inlet in the housing for allowing external air to pass therethrough and flow upward; a treated-water spraying unit provided above the filler-unit in the housing for spraying treated-water on the filler-unit; a discharging unit provided above the treated-water spraying unit in the housing for electrifying mist, which is contained in water vapor formed by a contact between treated-water and the external air, through a corona discharge and collecting mist; and an exhausting unit provided at the upper air outlet for exhausting exhausted air passed through the discharging unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A plume-reducing cooling tower comprising:
 a housing having a space formed therein, the housing including a lower air inlet formed at a lower portion thereof for allowing external air to enter the space thereof and an upper air outlet formed at an upper portion thereof for exhausting exhausted gas;   a filler-unit provided at a place above the lower air inlet in the housing for allowing external air to pass therethrough and flow upward;   a treated-water spraying unit provided above the filler-unit in the housing for spraying treated-water on the filler-unit;   a discharging unit provided above the treated-water spraying unit in the housing for electrifying mist, which is contained in water vapor formed by a contact between treated-water and the external air, through a corona discharge and collecting mist; and   an exhausting unit provided at the upper air outlet for exhausting exhausted air passed through the discharging unit.   
     
     
         2 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , wherein the housing further comprises:
 a water-collecting reservoir having a sealed a lower end for collecting treated-water sprayed from the treated-water spraying unit;   a treated-water inlet formed at a lower portion of the housing, the treated-water inlet being formed below a surface of the treated-water collected in the water-collecting reservoir; and   a treated-water pipe connected to the treated-water inlet via one portion thereof and connected to the treated-water spraying unit through the other portion thereof for supplying treated-water.   
     
     
         3 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , further comprising a cooling water spraying unit disposed above the treated-water spraying unit for spraying cooling water having a temperature relatively lower than that of treated-water sprayed from the treated-water spraying unit to an upper end of the treated-water spraying unit. 
     
     
         4 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 3 , wherein the housing further comprises a cooling water pipe inlet provided above the treated-water spraying unit; and the cooling water spraying unit further includes a hollow cooling water spraying pipe placed above the treated-water spraying unit for spraying cooling water through a spraying hole formed on a lower portion thereof and a cooling water pipe extended from an outside of the housing to an inside of the housing through the cooling water pipe inlet and connected to the cooling water spraying pipe for supplying cooling water to the cooling water spraying pipe. 
     
     
         5 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 4 , wherein
 the housing further comprises a treated-water pipe inlet formed on a lower portion thereof; and   the cooling water spraying unit further comprises:
 a treated-water pipe extended from an outside of the housing to an inside of the housing through the treated-water pipe inlet; 
 a circulation pump connected to the treated-water pipe via an inlet thereof and connected to the cooling water pipe via an outlet thereof for receiving treated-water collected in a low portion of the housing through the treated-water pipe and supplying treated-water to the cooling water pipe; and 
 a cooling unit surrounding the treated-water pipe or the cooling water pipe for cooling treated-water through process cooling water supplied from an outside. 
   
     
     
         6 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , further comprising a heat-exchanging unit disposed above the treated-water spraying unit to cool water vapor flowing upward to the treated-water spraying unit. 
     
     
         7 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 6 , wherein the heat-exchanging unit comprises:
 a hollow cooling pipe in which cooling water flows;   a cooling water supplying pipe connected to one side of the cooling pipe for supplying cooling water to the cooling pipe; and   a cooling water exhausting pipe connected to the other side of the cooling pipe for exhausting cooling water flowing from the cooling pipe.   
     
     
         8 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 7 , wherein the cooling pipe comprises a plurality of transverse cooling pipes extended from one side to the other side and spaced from each other and two longitudinal cooling pipes extended in the direction which is perpendicular to the transverse cooling pipes, the longitudinal cooling pipes being connected to both ends of each transverse cooling pipe, respectively, and wherein the cooling water supplying pipe and the cooling water exhausting pipe are connected to the longitudinal cooling pipes cooling pipes, respectively. 
     
     
         9 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 7 , wherein the housing further comprises:
 a cooling water supplying pipe through port through which the cooling water supplying pipe passes; and   a cooling water exhausting pipe through port through which the cooling water exhausting pipe passes.   
     
     
         10 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , wherein the discharging unit further comprises:
 a plurality of discharge electrodes extended in the vertical direction and spaced from each other in the horizontal direction between the water-collecting plates; and   a plurality of discharge electrodes extended in the horizontal direction between the discharge electrodes and spaced from each other in the vertical direction, each discharge electrode comprising a supporting rod extended in the horizontal direction and a discharge plate having a coupling hole formed at a central portion thereof and a protrusion formed on an outer surface thereof to allow the discharge plate to be coupled to the supporting rod through the coupling hole,   wherein a corona discharge is performed between the discharge plate of the discharge electrode and the water-collecting plate.   
     
     
         11 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , wherein the discharging unit further comprises:
 a plurality of water-collecting plates formed such a plurality of water-collecting passages are arranged in a plane; and   a discharge electrode inserted in the water-collecting passage for allowing a corona discharge to be caused between the discharge electrode and the water-collecting plate.   
     
     
         12 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 11 ,
 wherein the plurality of water-collecting plates are formed in the shape of a plate, placed in the housing in the vertical direction and spaced from each other in the horizontal direction,   wherein the plurality of discharge electrodes are extended in the vertical direction and spaced from each other in the horizontal direction between the water-collecting plates,   wherein each of the discharge electrode comprises a supporting rod extended in the vertical direction and a discharge plate having a coupling hole formed at a central portion thereof and a protrusion formed on an outer surface thereof to allow the discharge plate to be coupled to the supporting rod through the coupling hole, and   wherein a corona discharge is performed between the discharge plate of the discharge electrode and the water-collecting plate.   
     
     
         13 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 11 , wherein the water-collecting plates are disposed such that hollow water collecting passages having opened upper and lower ends are arranged in the lattices, wherein each of the discharge electrode comprises a supporting rod extended in the vertical direction and placed in the water-collecting passage of the water-collecting plate and a discharge plate having a coupling hole formed at a central portion thereof and a protrusion formed on an outer surface thereof to allow the discharge plate to be coupled to the supporting rod through the coupling hole, and wherein a corona discharge is performed between the discharge plate of the discharge electrode and the water-collecting plate. 
     
     
         14 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 11 , wherein each water-collecting passage has opened upper and lower ends and has a hollow triangular column shape, a hollow rectangular column shape, hollow a cylinder shape or a hollow hexagonal column, and the water-collecting passages are arranged in the lattices. 
     
     
         15 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 12 , wherein the discharging unit further comprises:
 a supporting frame placed above the water-collecting plate and supporting the discharge electrode to allow the discharge electrode to be spaced from the water-collecting plate; and   an insulator module supporting the supporting frame at an inside of the water-collecting plate for electrically isolating the water-collecting plate from the discharge electrode.   
     
     
         16 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 15 , wherein the supporting frame is equipped with a plurality of transverse frames coupled to an upper end of the supporting rod and a longitudinal frame coupled to both sides of the transverse frame, and wherein the insulator module comprises a securing rod coupled to the transverse frame, an insulator coupled to the securing rod and a securing plate coupled to a lower portion of the insulator and secured to an inner surface of the water-collecting passage of the water-collecting plate at certain height. 
     
     
         17 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 15 , wherein the supporting frame is equipped with a plurality of transverse frames coupled to an upper end of the supporting rod and a longitudinal frame coupled to both sides of the transverse frame, and wherein the insulator module comprises a securing rod coupled to the transverse frame, an insulator coupled to the securing rod and a securing plate coupled to a lower portion of the insulator and placed on an upper surface of the water-collecting passage of the water-collecting plate. 
     
     
         18 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 16 , wherein the insulator module further comprises an upper block coupled to a lower portion of the fixing rod and to an upper portion of the insulator and a lower block coupled to a lower portion of the insulator and to an upper portion of the fixing plate. 
     
     
         19 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , wherein the housing further comprises an upper air inlet formed between the treated-water spraying unit and the discharging unit to allow external air to be introduced. 
     
     
         20 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , wherein the housing further comprises a third air inlet formed between the discharging unit and the exhausting unit to allow external air to be introduced. 
     
     
         21 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 10 , wherein the water-collecting plate has a vertical height of 200 to 1,000 mm, the discharge plates are spaced from each other at a vertical distance of 5 to 100 mm in the vertical direction, and the water-collecting plate and the protrusion of the discharge plate are spaced from each other at a horizontal distance of 50 to 200 mm in the horizontal direction. 
     
     
         22 . The plume-reducing cooling tower of  claim 1 , wherein the discharging unit further comprises:
 a plurality of water-collecting plates formed in the shape of a plate, placed in the housing in the vertical direction and spaced from each other in the horizontal direction; and   a plurality of discharge electrodes formed in the shape of a plate corresponding to the water-collecting plate and placed between the water-collecting plates in the vertical direction,   wherein a corona discharge is performed between the discharge electrode and the water-collecting plate.