Effect of alternate cooling systems and beneficial use of waste heat on power plant performance
The performance and cost of alternate closed-cycle cooling systems for steam--electric power plants are discussed. Included are cooling ponds, spray canals and mechanical- and natural-draft wet cooling towers. Besides equipment, operational and maintenance costs, loss of generating capacity is determined on a seasonal basis in order to determine life-cycle costs relative to once-through cooling. In addition, two beneficial uses of waste heat are similarly analyzed: once-through discharge of condenser coolant into a municipal water supply and interaction of a conventional cooling system with a wastewater treatment plant. Both typical nuclear- and fossil-fueled power plants are considered throughout. Meteorological and system parameters were taken for the Chicago area as an example. Plant heat rates, availability and unit costs were selected from the literature. A new unified analysis of closed-cycle-cooling system performance is developed in order to facilitate computation of loss of generating capacity. The order of cooling systems in terms of increasing cost is: once-through, pond, natural-draft wet tower, spray canal and mechanical-draft wet tower. Alternatively, once-through discharge into a municipal water supply would save 1 to 2% of power-plant fuel and 14 to 22% of residential water-heater energy. Or, the interactive wastewater plant would save 2 to 15% of treatment costs, favoring larger facilities.
- Research Organization:
- Illinois Inst. of Tech., Chicago (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
- DOE Contract Number:
- EC-77-S-02-4531
- OSTI ID:
- 5905213
- Report Number(s):
- COO-4531-3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
CLOSED-CYCLE COOLING SYSTEMS
LIFE-CYCLE COST
PERFORMANCE
ONCE-THROUGH COOLING SYSTEMS
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
ENERGY CONSERVATION
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
WASTE HEAT
WASTE HEAT UTILIZATION
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
WASTE PROCESSING PLANTS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COOLING TOWERS
ECONOMICS
HEATING
LIQUID WASTES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MUNICIPAL WASTES
NUMERICAL DATA
SPRAY COOLING
TABLES
WATER RESOURCES
COOLING
COOLING SYSTEMS
COST
DATA
DATA FORMS
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
HEAT
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INFORMATION
POWER PLANTS
RESOURCES
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
WASTES
200101* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Cooling & Heat Transfer Equipment & Systems
200105 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Heat Utilization
220200 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Components & Accessories
320604 - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Municipalities & Community Systems- Municipal Waste Management- (1980-)
320304 - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Waste Heat Recovery & Utilization