Indeed, this issue is what has led to the water shortage in Atlanta. Water extracted from the Chattahoochee River must be returned with no more than a 3 degree temperature rise. Those power plants which were designed with no cooling towers rely upon the water volume to maintain a constant power output while still meeting the delta temp requirement.
It is a shame that such plants were allowed to be constructed such that they substituted a capital investment at the expense of the quality of life upstream. Terry On Dec 12, 2007 6:37 PM, Jeff Fink <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Horace Heffner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 12:03 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Vo]:Mostly Wasted > > > On Dec 11, 2007, at 1:17 PM, Jeff Fink wrote: > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Horace Heffner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 4:34 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [Vo]:Mostly Wasted > > > > > Do you know what temperature is available post turbine, prior to > cooling? That means prior to the condenser, which is part of the > cooling process, true? > > The steam exits the low pressure turbines directly above the condenser tubes > thru a rather large opening which is intentionally large to keep the > velocity of the exhaust low enough to prevent impingement erosion of the > tubes from condensed droplets, and vortex shedding oscillations of the tubes > which would cause fatigue failures. Therefore, in the entire condenser you > have a very windy supersaturated steam/ water mixture with only trace > amounts of entrained air. Temperature right at the exhaust may be as low as > 130 F. > > Steam power plants lose very little water from the cycle. The water is > maintained in a highly purified and chemically controlled state, and is too > valuable to lose. Flash evaporators integral to the cycle are commonly used > for fairly modest makeup that is required. > > Jeff > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.1/1181 - Release Date: 12/11/2007 > 5:05 PM > > >
