Zero discharge firmly entrenched as a powerplant design strategy
This article describes how, drawing on a variety of options, this environmentally friendly practice has become a fact of life for new powerplant projects. Driven by regulatory restrictions and penalties for withdrawals from the nation's watercourses, powerplant designers have focused strongly on recycling water to minimize flows both into and outside plant boundaries. Quality of, and proximity to, water sources are a major environmental factor in the siting stage and process design. Thereafter, wastewater discharge draws primary emphasis. Cooling-tower blowdown and other waste streams are now processed to recycle water while converting remaining dissolved solids (TDS) to a disposable cake. The available techniques involve mechanical evaporation, side-stream softening, crystallization or spray drying, membrane treatment, and staged cooling. Space limitations, water quality, and other variables determine the best choice for any plant. While each offers certain advantages, none provides a panacea without attendant challenges, ranging from capital cost to pretreatment requirements to equipment operating difficulties.
- OSTI ID:
- 7047488
- Journal Information:
- Power; (United States), Vol. 138:10; ISSN 0032-5929
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
WATER TREATMENT
WASTE WATER
RECYCLING
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
DEMINERALIZATION
DEMINERALIZERS
EVAPORATION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POWER PLANTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
WASTES
WATER
200200* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management