Study of the comparative costs of five wet/dry cooling tower concepts
The projected cost of five alternative dry/wet power plant heat rejection concepts was studied under conditions imposed by hypothetical use in association with the San Juan Plant Unit 3, a 550-MWe facility currently under construction near the ''Four Corners'' area of New Mexico. The five alternative concepts were: integrated dry/wet tower; separate dry and wet towers; metal fin-tube induced draft tower with deluge water augmentation; plastic heat exchanger tower with deluge water augmentation, and metal fin-tube/deluge augmentation tower with an intermediate ammonia evaporation-condensation condenser and the cooling tower. The integrated dry/wet tower concept, already chosen for service at San Juan Unit 3, was included for reference purposes. All concepts were conceptually designed and estimated using the same bases and employing uniform practices. Each concept was assumed to use all water allocated for consumptive use in Unit 3. The cost estimates obtained showed the following descending order of ''comparable capital cost'': separate dry/wet; metal fin-tube/deluge; integrated dry/wet; plastic tube/deluge; and metal fin-tube/deluge/ammonia. The results indicate that two of the advanced concepts considered, i.e., the plastic tube/deluge concept and the metal fin tube/deluge/ammonia concept, can possibly reduce the overall costs of dry/wet cooling under conditions imposed by the site considered. It was recommended that these two concepts receive additional attention by the ERDA Dry Cooling Tower Program and industry to further quantify their potential benefits and demonstrate their performance and reliability.
- Research Organization:
- Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-06-1830
- OSTI ID:
- 7101320
- Report Number(s):
- BNWL-2122
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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