5. Conclusion

5.1 Performance and optimization

The last century saw the greatest development of atmospheric refrigerants. Over the last 50 years, this technology has evolved from cooling tanks to towers with natural draft and then induced mechanical draft. Priority was given to increasing the exchange surface area, and then to the combined use of sensible and latent heat exchange by water evaporation, in order to be able to evacuate ever greater quantities of heat.

Among the most recent applications for high-power atmospheric coolants are the cooling towers used to cool nuclear power plant reactors. These structures, characterized by their hyperboloid concrete chimney over 160 m high, are capable of evacuating thermal power of up to 2,600 MW.

For...