Large-scale cooling towers as part of an efficient and cleaner energy generating technology

The present paper will outline the main aspects of the design and construction of cooling towers in Germany in the last decade. As part of electricity generating power plants, cooling towers play a significant role for the availability of reliable energy supplies, in a manner compatible with environmental requirements. They definitely belong to the largest and thinnest concrete structures at present. Because of the combined action of wind, thermal and moisture effects, special care has to be taken with regard to fatigue, cracking and corrosion to ensure an adequate level of safety and durability. Such a design strategy has been employed for the world’s tallest cooling tower at the Niederaussem power plant in Germany, with an overall height of 200 m and thickness values of 22–24 cm. Special considerations included the realistic non-axisymmetric distribution of soil characteristics, wind action due to interference effects (as determined by wind-tunnel tests), optimisation of the shell shape to improve structural and dynamic behaviour, injection of the cleaned flue-gas into the cooling tower, and the use of high-performance concrete (85 MPa) to improve shell resistance against acid attack by the cleaned flue-gas. The paper will present some results of an actual research project on this problem, which was conducted at the University of Wuppertal, to explore the use of high-performance concrete on design, stability and durability of cooling tower shells.