2006-07-03 22:29:08 · 7 answers · asked by barungharbia 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
The spent steam that comes out at the end of turbine generating system still carries a lot of energy in the form of heat although it is not enough to work the turbines. This steam is passed through a cooling tower which is a large heat exchanger. The heat is removed and used to raise the temperature of the new water being introduced into the boilers thus reducing the energy required to convert it into steam. In this way the fuel consumption of the plant is reduced and money saved.
2006-07-03 22:49:02 · answer #1 · answered by U.K.Export 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A cooling tower is a device that cools water by evaporation. The water is introduced at the top of the tower and falls downward over a structure of "fill" that provide a tortuous path for the water to follow to the collection basin at the bottom.
Fans at the top of the tower draw air up through the falling water. The resulting interaction causes some portion of the water to evaporate thereby cooling the water.
The water in a cooling tower is almost always part of a closed loop cooling water circulation system. Steam is never condensed by putting it directly into the tower. This would lead to contamination of the steam condensate and cause problems with the boiler tubes.
2006-07-04 01:51:51 · answer #2 · answered by oil field trash 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Water is used in power stations to condense the steam driving steam turbines and for a variety of jobs in process industries. This water may be cooled by passing it down through a cooling tower where evaporation against an updraft of air cools the water which can then be recycled.
2006-07-04 00:07:46 · answer #3 · answered by Robert A 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The cooling water used in a power plant must be desalinated and chemically treated to avoid corosion of plant components. Therefore, a cooling tower is used to reject unwanted plant heat to the atmosphere by evaporation of some cooling water, conserve the rest of the treated cooling water (and chemicals) for reuse in the plant, minimize amount of treatment chemicals used, avoid contamination of groundwater and streams (lakes) with chemicals by not dumping cooling water to the environment. A much smaller amount of chemicals is lost to the atmosphere as "drift" during evaporation than if spent cooling water was dumped to a stream.
2006-07-04 03:01:30 · answer #4 · answered by Kes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The cooling tower just lowers the temperature of process water, by means of evaporation. For instance, this process water can be the one used to cool the bearings of machines.
The water must have its temperature lowered because of environment concerns (if the water is discharged in rivers or lakes, their temperature cannot be altered, or the ecosystem can be damaged) and to reuse the same water to exchange heat.
2006-07-04 00:44:02 · answer #5 · answered by lfabiani3 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a cooling tower is a shape used to store refrigerants for distribution via tube to mechanical devices such as cpu's graphic boards or other source of frictionally generated heat
2006-07-04 02:04:35 · answer #6 · answered by Book of Changes 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-07-03 22:32:25 · answer #7 · answered by Wild Mangie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋