Power plant cooling systems

Applied Thermo Fluids-II (Autumn 2015): Module-5 (Power

plant cooling ystems)
Dr. M. Ramgopal, Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur

Introduction
According
to
2nd
law
of
thermodynamics, a continuous
conversion of heat into work is
possible only when some part of
the heat supplied is rejected to
a heat sink
The amount of heat rejected in
power plants can be very large,
e.g. for 1 MW power generated
about 2 MW heat is rejected
Heat rejection in a steam power
plant takes place in the condenser
and through the chimney
Efficiency of condensing type
power plant is higher than the
non-condensing type

 The efficiency of a steam power

plant improves as the pressure
at which heat is rejected in the
condenser decreases

0.46
pb =165 bar, tb = 560o C

0.44

0.42

ht

The rate at which enthalpy

drops with pressure is much
higher
at
low
pressures,
compared to high pressure, i.e,

Hence it is advantageous to
operate the plant at as low a
condensing
temperature
as
possible, subject to the availability
of a suitable heat sink
Economic analysis of a power
plant generally yield an optimum
condensing pressure at which the
overall performance of the power
plant is best

0.4

0.38

0.36
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

pc, bar

0.8

Condenser classification
Depending upon the heat sink, condensers can be
classified into:
1. Water cooled condensers, or
2. Air cooled condensers
. Water cooled condensers can be further
classified into:
1. Direct contact type condensers, and
2. Indirect contact type or surface condensers

Direct contact type spray condensers

From mass and energy balance for
the direct contact spray condenser
it can be shown that:

This implies that the amount of

water to be circulated by the
pump is much higher than the
steam flow rate
The heat transfer rate in the dry
cooling tower is:

Where cw is the specific heat of

the liquid water
Not commonly used in large
power plants as the purity of
coolant water should be very high

Direct contact, barometric type condensers

Indirect contact or surface condensers

These condensers, which are similar to Shell-and-tube type heat

exchangers are most commonly used in power plants
The low pressure steam from the turbine condenses on the shell side, while
the cooling water flows through the tubes
Due to the large size, the surface condensers are made out of strong plates
and is in the form of a box

Indirect contact or surface condensers (contd.)

To minimize the pressure drop on the low pressure condensing steam side,
the tube spacing at the top is more and it gradually reduces towards the
bottom
Due to higher heat transfer, the number of tubes are also more at the top
compared to the bottom Funnel shape arrangement
The required heat transfer area can be as high as 1,00,000 m2 with
thousands of tubes, each of length as high as 30 m!

Nippon power plant

condensers

Inside a power plant

condenser

Indirect contact or surface condensers (contd.)

Surface condensers can be further classified into:

Single pass or multi-pass

Single pass

Two pass

1. For the same cooling water velocity through the tubes, the
required cooling water mass flow rate decreases as the no. of
passes increase
2. However, the exit cooling water temperature, and hence the
condensing temperature increase with no. of passes
3. Thus a multi-pass condenser results in lower water consumption
and pumping power, but higher condensing pressure, and hence
lower thermal efficiency of the plant

Surface condenser calculations

Heat transfer rate in

condenser, Qc:

Where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient and A is the

heat transfer area of the condenser

The cooling water temperature rise across the power plant

condenser is usually in the range of 6 to 14 K
The velocity of cooling water is usually in the range of 1.5 to 2.5
m/s for acceptable levels of water side heat transfer coefficient
and tube erosion

The U-value of condenser depends on the heat transfer

coefficients on the steam and cooling water sides, tube wall
material and thickness etc, i.e,
Considering all the resistances to heat transfer, the overall heat
transfer coefficient is:

Where:
hw and Aw are heat transfer coefficient and area on coolant fluid side,
hs and As are heat transfer coefficient and area on steam side,
Rw is the resistance of the tube wall,
Rf,w and Rf,s are the resistance due to fouling on coolant and steam
sides, respectively

Overall heat transfer coefficient (U-value) in condensers (Heat Exchanger Institute)

C1 =

Constant that depends on tube outer diameter

(2777/2705/2582 for tube ODs of 3/4th, 7/8th and 1

respectively)
C2 =
water

Correction factor for inlet temperature of cooling

(0.57 for 1.7oC and 1.1 for 37.8oC)

C3 =

Correction factor for tube material and thickness

(0.58 for 18 gauge and SS; 0.83 for 18 gauge and Cu-Ni
etc..)
C4 =

Correction factor for tube cleanliness

(0.85 for clean tubes and less for dirty tubes)

Cleaning of condenser tubes is very important as the cooling
water used may contain many impurities and may lead to scale
formation and clogging of the tubes
Continuous purging of the condenser is done using a Steam Jet
Air Ejector in all power plant condensers to remove the air leaking
into the condenser that is under vacuum

Wilsons Plot
This is an experimental technique for
estimating heat transfer coefficients in
situations with complex geometry and/or
complex physics
It is assumed that the heat transfer
coefficient that is being estimated
remains constant when the fluid flow rate
of the fluid on the other side is varied

Best-fit

Experiment
al data
points

When applied to power plant condenser,

the equation for Wilsons plot is:

Thus from the intercept and from known

values of Rw, Rf,a and Rf,s, the value of hc can
be estimated

Fouling and scale formation in power plant

condensers

Fouling in condenser
tubes

Macro fouling in steam

power plant heat
exchanger
Fouling and scaling are serious problems in condensers

Periodic removal of the scale formed is required to ensure high

performance
Chemical as well as mechanical techniques are used to remove the
scale
Scale removal can be done manually or automatically

Fouling and scale formation in power plant

condensers
The resistance offered to heat transfer due to fouling and
scale formation increases with time
Problem of scale formation is more severe on cooling water
side as maintaining its purity is difficult
If descaling is not done, then the capacity and efficiency of
the plant reduce significantly
However, too frequent descaling may affect the economics
due to losses incurred during plant downtime
The resistance due to scale formation can be estimated by
from the knowledge of U-vale of the brand new condenser (Unew),
and U-value after some usage (Uold)

In recent times, several technologies are developed that

either prevent or remove scale formed automatically, without
shut-down

Purging of steam condensers

Due to operation in vacuum, power plant condensers
are
prone to continuous leakage of atmospheric air
Die to the presence of air, the partial pressure of
water decreases leading to poor condensation
Where, pc is the condenser pressure, pw and pa are the
partial pressures of water and air, respectively.
If pw is the partial pressure of water, then steam
condenses at saturation temperature tc, corresponding
to pw
Thus for a given condenser pressure, as the amount
of air inside the condenser increases, then pw and
hence tc decrease, leading to reduced temperature
difference for heat transfer

Purging of air in steam power plant condensers is done using steam

jet air ejectors (SJAE)
To minimize the loss of steam during purging, air+steam mixture
is extracted from the air cooler section, where the partial pressure
of water is minimum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MvHplOIQCI

Problem on power plant condenser

Steam (quality = 0.92) condenses in a shell-and-tube type,

power plant condenser at 40oC and leaves the condenser
as saturated liquid water. The condenser pressure as
indicated by the pressure gage is 0.077 bar (abs.). The
cooling water enters the condenser at 33oC and leaves at
37oC. If the flow rate of steam is 50 kg/s, find

A) Flow rate of cooling water in m3/s, and

B) Rate at which air leaks into the condenser in kg/s

Given at 40oC,

psat = 7.384 kPa, hf = 167.57 and hg = 2574.3 kJ/kg, vf =

0.001008 and

vg = 19.52 m3/kg

Molecular weight of air = 28.97 kg/kmol

Density of water at 35oC = 994 kg/m3

Ans.: A) 6.675 m3/s; B) 3.16 kg/s

Problem on power plant condenser

If the U-value of the condenser based on tube side is 2100

W/m2.K, find: A) the number of tubes required if the tube
ID is 25.4 mm and its length is 12 m. Assume a single pass
condenser.

If the heat transfer coefficient on water side follows the

equation:

B) Find the condensing side heat transfer coefficient

neglecting the wall thickness and scale formation.

Given: = 994 kg/m3, k = 0.6106 W/m.K, = 0.0007196

kg/m.s, Pr = 4.93

Ans.: A) 11689, B) 4982 W/m2 K

Air cooled condensers

In recent years there is a growing interest in air cooled condensers

due to the problems associated with water cooled condensers:

1. Increasing water scarcity and levels of water pollution

2. Site restrictions imposed by water cooled condensers
3. Cooling tower freeze-up and problem of tower vapour plume
4. Problems related to bio-fouling, scaling etc.
.

However, even though air cooled condensers offer solutions to the

above problems, the plants that use air cooled condensers suffer
as :

1. Air is bad conductor of heat, hence, lower U-value and larger

surface area is required
2. Water is near wet bulb temperature, whereas air is at dry bulb
temperature
3. Air cooled condensers consume large fan power and also their
initial cost is high (about 1.5 to 2.5 times)
4. Higher noise levels and larger land requirements

is the overall efficiency of the finned

surface

Worked out example: Air cooled condenser

An air cooled condenser is used in a power plant condenser that
produces 10 MW power with an overall efficiency of 36 %. The
condenser used is a fin-and-tube type. The following is the data:
Tube inner diameter: 25 mm
Length of each tube: 30 m
Face velocity of air: 3 m/s
Ratio of external-to-internal heat transfer area: 20:1
Fin efficiency: 90 %
Condensation heat transfer coefficient: 4000 W/m2.K
Air side heat transfer coefficient: 52 W/m2.K
Air side pressure drop: 25 Pa
Air density: 1.2 kg/m3
Cp value of air: 1005 J/kg.K

Condensing temperature: 45oC

Air inlet temperature: 38oC
Minimum T for heat transfer: 3 K
Efficiency of fan: 85 %

Worked out example: Air cooled condenser

From the given data, find:
1. Total Number of tubes required
2. Height of the condenser
3. No. of rows required
4. Fan power consumption
Ans.: 1) 2105
2) 40.95 m
3) 5
4) 108.4 kW

Circulating water systems

The circulating water system supplies the
necessary cooling water to the water cooled
condenser of the thermal power plant
It also supplies cooling water for:
1. turbine cooling,
2. water for fire fighting, and
3. cooling of steam generator building, and
4. Reactor building cooling and emergency core cooling
in nuclear power plants
. However, most of the cooling water (about 95 %)
is required for condenser heat extraction
. The cooling water after extracting heat from the
power plant condenser has to discharge the same to
the environment

Circulating water systems

(contd.)

The circulating water system can be classified

as:
1. Once through system
2. Closed loop system, and
3. Combination of once through and closed loop
systems

Once through system

Water is taken from a
large water body such
as an ocean, river or
lake,
Pumped to the power
plant condenser, and
The return water is
discharged back into
the water reservoir
in

an

manner

appropriate

Once through system

(contd.)

The return water is discharge can be:

1. Surface discharge
2. Submerged discharge, or
3. Diffuse discharge
. Though

water

required

for

once

through systems is very large, almost

all of it is returned to the water
source
. Also, the power plant efficiency can
be

high

as

the

cooling

water

temperature is lowest
. However

due

regulations

to

and

environmental
site

restrictions

these systems are being replaced with

closed loop systems

Closed loop system

In this system the cooling water from the power plant condenser
is cooled in a cooling system and the cooled water is recirculated
The cooling system used for cooling the return water can be:
1. A cooling tower
2. A cooling pond
3. A spray pond, or
4. A spray canal
.

Of the above, the cooling tower is most commonly used in large,

modern power plants

A cooling tower can be a wet cooling tower, a dry cooling tower or a

combination cooling tower

Cooling Pond
Spray Pond

Cooling Towers

Spray Canal

Wet cooling towers Most commonly used in

power plants

Wet cooling towers rely on evaporation of water for cooling the

warm return water from the condenser
Hence there is a continuous loss of water due to evaporation
In addition, some amount of water is also lost due to drift and bleed-off
(or blow down)
Hence make-up water has to be added continuously to account for the

Cooling towers can be:

1.
2.
3.
.
1.
2.
.
.
1.
2.
3.

Natural draft cooling towers

Mechanical draft cooling towers
Hybrid cooling towers
Mechanical draft cooling towers
can be:
Forced draft type, or
Induced draft type
Depending upon flow direction.
Cooling towers can be:
Parallel flow
Counter flow, or
Cross flow

Natural draft, hyperbolic

tower

Mechanical, induced draft

tower

Hyperbolic Cooling tower installed in Westfalen power plant

Multi-cell, induced draft cooling tower

Cross flow cooling tower

(mechanical)

Theory of wet cooling tower

In a wet cooling tower, there is an exchange of sensible and latent

heat between warm water and air with which it comes in contact
inside the tower
Sensible heat transfer takes place due to temperature difference
between water and air
Latent heat transfer takes place due to vapour pressure difference
between saturated air film in contact with water and the
unsaturated surrounding air

The net heat transfer, Qnet is:

Air (ta,
wa)

Qlaten

Qnet = Qlatent Qsensible = mwcw(tw,i tw,o)

Qsensibl
e

Water
(tw)

For a cooling tower, the net heat transfer, Qnet

Qnet = Qlatent Qsensible = mwcpw(tw,i tw,o) should be +ve
Qsensible = hcA(tw ta) can be +ve or ve

Where:
hc is the convective heat transfer coefficient between water and air,
A is the interfacial area
tw and ta are the water and air temperatures
Qlatent = hmA(pvs pva)hfg has to be +ve in a cooling tower
Where:
hm is the convective mass transfer coefficient between water and air,
pvs and pva are the saturated vapour pressure at water temperature and
water vapour pressure in air
hfg is the latent heat of vapourization of water

Using heat and mass transfer analogy, it

can be shown that the net elemental heat
transfer rate at any section of the cooling
tower is given by:

Where
hs,w is the enthalpy of saturated air at water temperature tw (kJ/kga)
ha is the enthalpy of surrounding, unsaturated moist air (kJ/kga), and
cpm is the specific heat of moist air (kJ/kga.K), and
dA is the elemental interfacial area

The total net heat transfer, Qnet is

given by:

Where A is the total interfacial area between water and air that is required
to obtain the heat transfer rate

Parallel
Flow
Saturated air
at tw

in

out

air

Counterfl
ow

in

Saturated air
at tw
air

out

High interfacial area is obtained through use of fills or sprays

Cooling tower Spray Components

Typical technical characteristics of a commercial cooling

tower

Performance of a cooling tower depends upon the local

weather and operating conditions

Air and water path in a counterflow cooling tower

 Assuming
is given by:ideal gas behavior, the enthalpy of moist air h

(kJ/kga)

Where

Wa is the humidity ratio of moist air (kgw/kga)

ta is the dry bulb temperature of moist air (oC), and

cpa is the specific heat of dry air (kJ/kga.K)

cpv is the specific heat of water vapour (kJ/kgw.K)

hfg,o is the latent heat of vapourization of water at 0oC (kJ/kgw)

Substituting the average specific heat values and latent heat of

water,

 From

overall

energy

balance

considering make-up water:

Where is the mass flow rate of dry air,

ha,i and ha,o are the enthalpies of moist
air at the inlet and outlet of the cooling
tower (in kJ/kgda)

are the mass flow rate and specific heat

of the cooling water, respectively

are the flow rate of make-up water and

its enthalpy
From mass balance of water across the
cooling tower, the evaporation rate of
water is given by:

Make-up water requirement

Make-up water is required to take care of:

1. Evaporation
2. Blowdown, and
3. Drift losses

The performance of a cooling tower

is indicated in terms of:

1. Range: Range is the difference between

the cooling water temperature at the
inlet
and
the
outlet,
i.e.,
the
temperature drop undergone by the
cooling water as it flows through the
cooling tower
Range = (tcw,i tcw,o)
2. Approach: Approach is the difference in
between the cooling water outlet
temperature and incoming air wet bulb
temperature twbt,i, i.e.,
Approach = (tcw,o twbt,i)

Usually the cooling towers are designed

for a range of 6 to 10 K and an
approach of 6 to 8 K

As approach decreases cooling tower

size

increases,

temperature

decreases

condensing
and

plant

efficiency increases

As range increases, the cooling water

flow rate decreases, but the condensing
temperature increases

Problem on wet cooling tower

3 kg/s of water from condenser enters a cooling
tower at 65oC and leaves at 30oC. The make-up water
enters the cooling tower at 28oC. Atmospheric air at
40oC and 40 % relative humidity enters the cooling
tower and exits as saturated air at 35oC. The air
pressure drops by 300 Pa as it flows through the
cooling tower. Cp of water = 4.2 kg/kJ.K
Assuming ideal gas behaviour for atmospheric air find:
a) Heat transfer capacity of the cooling tower
b) Make-up water requirement per day
c) Fan power requirement assuming a fan efficiency of
80 %
Ans.: a) 441 kW, b) 17539.2 kg/day, c) 3.885 kW

Problem on wet cooling tower

Water from condenser enters a cooling tower at 42oC
and leaves at 36oC. Atmospheric air at 40oC and 30 %
relative humidity enters the cooling tower and exits as
saturated air at 35oC. The convective heat transfer
coefficient between water and air is 300 W/m 2.K
Find the interfacial area required for heat and mass
transfer for a) Parallel flow, and b) Counterflow.
The heat transfer capacity of the cooling tower is 200
MW.
Assume ideal gas behaviour for atmospheric air and
use logarithmic enthalpy difference in cooling tower
equation.
Ans.: a) 18628 m2, b) 11860 m2

Dry cooling towers

In dry cooling tower the return water from the condenser is
cooled sensibly using atmospheric air
A dry cooling tower can be;
1. Natural draft type, or
2. Mechanical draft type, or
3. Hybrid

Mechanical type,
dry cooling tower
Natural draft
type, dry cooling
tower

Hybrid Cooling Tower

Dry cooling towers

In dry cooling tower the return water
from the condenser is cooled
sensibly using atmospheric air
A dry cooling tower can be;
1. Natural draft type, or
2. Mechanical draft type, or
3. Hybrid
. Dry cooling towers are:
1. Less expensive compared to wet
cooling towers
2. Easier to maintain
3. Do
not
depend
requirements

on

site

. However, they are less efficient

compared to wet cooling towers

Natural draft type,

dry cooling tower

Hybrid cooling tower

In a hybrid cooling tower,

depending upon season, the
condenser cooling water is
cooled:

1. Only by sensible cooling in

dry cooling tower mode,
2. Both by sensible and heat
transfer modes in wet cooling
tower mode
. The dry mode is used when
the ambient temperature is
normal or less than normal
. The wet mode is used when
the ambient temperature is
high

Hybrid cooling tower

Hybrid cooling tower

The hybrid cooling tower offers the
following advantages:
1. The cooling tower plume
formation can be minimized as
air leaving the wet tower portion is
heated in the dry portion
2. Evaporation losses are reduced
3. In cold weather, the tower can be
operated only in dry mode

Hybrid cooling tower

Waterproofing inside a large cooling tower

Greenpeace protests against cooling tower!

End of Module 5