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Utilization of municipal wastewater for cooling in thermoelectric power plants

Journal Article · · Fuel
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [1]
  1. Illinois Inst. of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States)
  2. Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
  4. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Morgantown, WV (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
A process simulation model has been developed using Aspen Plus® with the OLI (OLI System, Inc.) water chemistry model to predict water quality in the recirculating cooling loop utilizing secondary- and tertiary-treated municipal wastewater as the source of makeup water. Simulation results were compared with pilot-scale experimental data on makeup water alkalinity, loop pH, and ammonia evaporation. The effects of various parameters including makeup water quality, salt formation, NH3 and CO2 evaporation mass transfer coefficients, heat load, and operating temperatures were investigated. The results indicate that, although the simulation model can capture the general trends in the loop pH, experimental data on the rates of salt precipitation in the system are needed for more accurate prediction of the loop pH. It was also found that stripping of ammonia and carbon dioxide in the cooling tower can influence the cooling loop pH significantly. The effects of the NH3 mass transfer coefficient on cooling loop pH appear to be more significant at lower values (e.g., kNH3 < 4×10-3 m/s) when the makeup water alkalinity is low (e.g., <90 mg/L as CaCO3). The effect of the CO2 mass transfer coefficient was found to be significant only at lower alkalinity values (e.g., kCO2<4×10-6 m/s).
Research Organization:
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV (United States). In-house Research
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
DOE Contract Number:
FE0004000
OSTI ID:
1129488
Report Number(s):
A-UNIV-PUB--026
Journal Information:
Fuel, Journal Name: Fuel Journal Issue: C Vol. 111; ISSN 0016-2361
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
Cooling system
Modeling and Simulation
Cooling Tower
Municipal wastewater
Thermoelectric power plant
Water Chemistry and Quality