Evaluation of Cost, Performance and Water Conserving Capability of Hybrid Cooling

Illustrating the potential benefits of hybrid cooling in California utility power plants.

Maulbetsch Consulting

Recipient

Menlo Park, CA

Recipient Location

13th

Senate District

24th

Assembly District

beenhere

$545,174

Amount Spent

closed

Completed

Project Status

Project Result

The final report was submitted in December of 2017 and published in July 2018 at [a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/2018publications/CEC-500-2018-015/CEC-500-201…]. Results included: [br /]
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1. Validating the tool output against existing cooling systems. The estimates generated by the tool were comparable to the design and performance of existing systems at full-scale power plants. [br/][br/]2. Comparing costs, performance, and water consumption in differing meteorological conditions as illuminated in the case studies. The team concluded that while the installed cost and the turbine output reduction vary significantly with cooling system choice, the annualized costs do not. [br/][br/]3. Projecting effects of using hybrid cooling at California power plants in the future.

The Issue

The need for increasing amounts of electric power and clean water have sometimes come into conflict in California. Hybrid, wet/dry cooling systems enable significant water savings in comparison to wet cooling and improve plant efficiency and output in comparison to all-dry systems. To expedite the introduction of hybrid systems, a methodology and computational tool to provide regulators, planners and potential users with reliable, validated comparative performance and water use cost comparisons with optimized wet and dry cooling systems is needed.

Project Innovation

This project analyzed the design, performance, and cost of optimized hybrid cooling systems at utility power plant scale to illustrate the potential benefits of hybrid cooling in California. This project uses an existing Excel spreadsheet-based computational tool with the capability of specifying, at an "engineering-level", design parameters for optimized closed-cycle wet, direct dry, and parallel wet/dry hybrid cooling systems. The tool's output is checked against information from participating plants equipped with wet, dry, and hybrid cooling systems. The capability to make rigorous, reliable evaluations of hybrid cooling systems and the trade-offs between economic power production and water resource conservation enables the selection of preferred cooling systems for the economic and environmental benefit of California.

Project Benefits

Hybrid cooling can save substantial amounts of water compared to the traditional wet cooling systems, although there are increased system costs and potentially reduced hot day generating capacity and annual energy production. The results of this study provide information validated by a computer methodology to determine quantitative estimates of the trade-offs among cooling system cost, annual energy production, and water consumption. State regulatory agencies, power system developers and owners, and community groups can use this information to make informed decisions about the most suitable cooling equipment to use at future steam power generating facilities in California. This will help ensure the appropriate balance among the supply of electrical generation, the cost of electricity, and conserving water resources.

Environmental & Public Health

Environmental Sustainability

The project is expected to reduce the water required to keep plants operating in comparison to traditional wet cooling. Estimations for annual water use (in kgal/yr) for three hybrid systems show that water consumption decreases

Key Project Members

Project Member

John Maulbetsch

Owner

Subrecipients

Rocket

DiFilippo Consulting

Rocket

Contact the Team

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