Rejection of Waste Heat From Power Plants Through Phased-Cooling

Abstract

Because of the disadvantages associated with present power plant cooling systems, a new concept in waste heat dissipation, called “phased-cooling”, is introduced. Heated condenser cooling water is held in a storage pond during certain hours of the day, to be cooled at a later time by traveling across a cooling surface. A thermodynamic analysis of the system is performed, and the equations of heat transfer from a water surface are presented. The developed model is then used for prediction of system performance. The optimum number of storage hours is shown to be dependent upon the size of the system, the season, and meteorological conditions. Phased-cooling evaporation losses are approximately 40 percent less than those of cooling towers and cooling ponds. Condenser inlet temperatures are significantly lower than those of cooling ponds of similar size.