Resolving the Energy–Water Nexus in Large Thermoelectric Power Plants: A Case for Application of Enhanced Heat Transfer and High-Performance Thermal Energy Storage
- Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (United States)
The acute energy and water consumption stress on global economies warrants a reexamination of the energy–water nexus and urgent innovative engineering solutions. To address the attendant challenges in large-scale thermoelectric power plants, especially where evaporative cooling towers are used that consume more than 73% of their annual cooling water withdrawals, a transformative dry-cooling (or air-cooling) system is proposed in this paper, which consists of a novel daytime peak-load shifting system that pre-cools the daytime peak-temperature air in order to mitigate concomitant second-law limitation for air cooling. The highly compact and enhanced air pre-cooler transfers the daytime heat load to a unique thermal energy storage (TES) system. The TES operates over a range of temperatures and is recharged by an asynchronous nighttime air-cooled exchanger. Moreover, the air-cooled condenser (ACC) is designed with an enhanced surface core, with substantially higher heat transfer coefficients, such that it operates with a smaller inlet temperature difference. This allows the ACC to sustain lower condensing pressures. Thus, the system not only makes dry air cooling (zero net water dissipation for cooling) viable but also significantly increases the power plant output.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AR0000577
- OSTI ID:
- 1797984
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Enhanced Heat Transfer, Vol. 23, Issue 4; ISSN 1065-5131
- Publisher:
- Begell HouseCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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