Justifying plans to improve performance of an existing cooling system
- Stone & Webster Engineering Corp., Boston, MA (United States)
- Niagara-Mohawk Power Company, Syracuse, NY (United States)
- Cooper & Associates, P.A., Tampa, FL (United States)
This paper discusses the kinds of quantitative justification needed to convince today`s cost-conscious, informed utility management that proposed improvements to the cooling system are feasible and will be of strong economic benefit to the station. It summarizes the evaluations developed during the review of circulating water system improvement candidates that accompanied the recent 4.5% power uprate of an existing large station with a closed cycle cooling system which utilizes a natural draft cooling tower. Presented in the paper are the capital costs and turbine performance improvements related to: air blanketing reduction by baffle plate additions to the condenser air coolers; minimizing costs of waterbox/bundle cleaning programs; cooling system performance monitoring enhancements; the prudency of tube staking after uprate; the benefits of a circulating water flow increase; better cooling tower hot water distribution; adding a layer of fill to the cooling tower; and finally the value of a helper tower. Considered too in this paper are the performance test surveys of both the condenser and cooling tower that identified the cause and/or performance deficiencies. The general principles to be discussed will be applicable to all sizes and types of power plant cooling systems. The paper however, will focus on the 1994-1995 case study of a 675,000 GPM closed cooling system with a 537 ft. counterflow natural draft cooling tower and a 670,000 sq. ft. six bundle single pass condenser which serves the six flow low pressure (LP) turbine of an 1100 MW nuclear plant. One example of the outcome of the program was an approximate 20% increase in condenser cleanliness from 55% to 75%. 9 refs., 7 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Palo Alto, CA (United States); Stone and Webster Engineering Corp., Boston, MA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 414816
- Report Number(s):
- EPRI-TR-106781; CONF-960857-; TRN: 96:006225-0005
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Condenser technology seminar and conference, Boston, MA (United States), 26-30 Aug 1996; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings: Condenser technology conference; Tsou, J.L.; Mussalli, Y.G. [eds.]; PB: 463 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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