17-29: Cooling Tower Plume

The paper describes the behavior of supersaturated moist air in the space above the cooling tower where the formation of the, so-called, visible steam plume occurs. In order to correctly determine the possibility of eliminating plume, it is necessary to understand the basic principles for formation of the plume, and the main factors impacting such formation. For this purpose, a simple mathematical model of the problem was prepared based on the use of analytical and empirical relationships that form the basis for derivation of the basic dependence of the plume diameter on the crucial physical parameters.