Cooling tower simulation with coal gasification wastewater. Final report
This study was an investigation into the feasibility of utilizing a coal gasification wastewater as makeup to an evaporative cooling tower. A bench scale cooling tower and heat exchanger were constructed and four experimental test runs were performed. Two of the test runs were made with wastewater as the makeup source. The makeup water for the first cooling tower run utilizing wastewater was a combination of tap water and coal gasification wastewater which had been processed through solvent extraction and ammonia stripping treatment units. Significant reductions (on the order of 30%) in the heat transfer capability of the heat exchanger were observed during a 28 day test. The fouling of the heat exchanger appeared to be the result of organic deposition. The efficiency of the cooling tower was also adversely affected when compared with cooling tower efficiencies obtained with clean water. The makeup water in the second cooling tower run which utilized wastewater was a combination of tap water and coal gasification wastewater which had been processed through solvent extraction, ammonia stripping and biological oxidation treatment units. The heat transfer capability of the heat exchanger was reduced to approximately half of the original value over the 26 days of the test. Biological fouling was identified as one cause of the reduction in the overall heat transfer coefficient. No deleterious effects on the performance of the cooling tower were noted. It was concluded that further pretreatment and/or chemical treatment of the recirculating water will be necessary before wastewater of this type can be viewed as an acceptable source of makeup water for a recirculating cooling system. 34 refs., 10 figs., 59 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Carnegie-Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (USA). Dept. of Civil Engineering
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC18-82FC10525
- OSTI ID:
- 5361817
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/FC/10525-1919; ON: DE85018309
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
010404 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
010800* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Waste Management
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BIOLOGICAL FOULING
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COAL GASIFICATION PLANTS
COOLING TOWERS
DATA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FOULING
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INFORMATION
LIQUID WASTES
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
RECYCLING
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
TIME DEPENDENCE
TOWERS
USES
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER QUALITY
WATER REQUIREMENTS
WATER SUPPLY
WATER TREATMENT