Environmental assessment of Chalk Point cooling tower drift and vapor emissions
An assessment is provided of selected environmental effects of operating the cooling towers and stacks of Units No. 3 and No. 4 of the Potomac Electric Power Company's generating station at Chalk Point, Maryland. The emphasis is on the magnitude of salt deposition to the area surrounding the cooling tower due to saline water drift. A secondary but important consideration is the magnitude of salt loading due to saline drift from the stack which uses saline river water in scrubbing flue gases. This salt loading together with that of the ambient salt background is assessed for its effects on soils, crops, native vegetation and man-made structures. Other atmospheric effects examined are: enhancement of ground level fogging and icing, enhancement of precipitation, and the flight hazards to aircraft. A numerical model of drift deposition has been developed and validated against the data collected in the Dyed Drift Experiment at Chalk Point. Use of the available data model predictions indicate that with fulltime, full load operation of both 600 MW(e) units significant levels of salt deposition occur only on the plant site within 0.4 km of the source. The predicted maximum salt deposition rates are given. The effects on soils, crops and native vegetation are predicted to be negligible at off-site locations. Significant effects to foliage of dogwood is predicted to occur at the most impacted on-site locations. Corrosion of structures at these locations could be enhanced under conditions of heavy plant operation. Enhancement of ground-level fogging, icing, and precipitation is expected to be negligible for all conditions of plant use. Hazards to aircraft because of restricted visibility, turbulence, and icing of structures and engines are estimated to be very slight and of no consequence.
- Research Organization:
- Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (USA). Applied Physics Lab.
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-02-2381
- OSTI ID:
- 5556603
- Report Number(s):
- COO-2381-2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
COOLING TOWERS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
PLUMES
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
SALTS
DEPOSITION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GRAPHS
HUMIDITY
MARYLAND
SALINITY
TABLES
THEORETICAL DATA
WATER
CENTRAL REGION
DATA
DATA FORMS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POWER PLANTS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
USA
200200* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management
200101 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Cooling & Heat Transfer Equipment & Systems