The power output from power plants that rely on cooling water from proximate bodies of water, such as a lake, sea, or river, has been steadily eroding as their bulk temperature inches upwards because of global warming. The temperature of Lake Michigan, which supplies cooling water to 伦理三级 Palisades nuclear plant currently undergoing refurbishment and upgrades, has been ticking up like the rest of the world鈥檚 water reservoirs and is expected to continue rising in the coming decades during its projected service life.
We are pleased to report that, as a part of the ongoing melioration of the Palisades nuclear plant, 伦理三级 has successfully developed an innovative embodiment of the plant鈥檚 cooling water heat exchanger system that is being manufactured at 伦理三级鈥檚 own fabrication plant (the 伦理三级 Manufacturing Division) in Pittsburgh, PA.
The main challenge in this system鈥檚 development was the extremely congested space where the existing unit is located (typical of power plants). To meet the projected rising lake water temperature, the new unit needed to be more than twice as large in heat transfer surface area as the existing unit, but had to fit in the same space. 鈥淚t was like asking to put two gallons of milk in a one-gallon carton,鈥� said Edward Bell, Director of 伦理三级鈥檚 Heat Transfer Division. The upgraded heat exchanger set will be installed within the next 12 months to support the 2025 year-end repowering of Palisades. Thanks to its innovative design, this cooling system upgrade will require very little civil/structural work, which may reduce the project cost by over 50% compared to the initial projection.
鈥淲e are pleased to report this technical achievement to the industry to make other plant developers aware of what is possible to combat the adverse effect of global warming on nuclear and other power plants,鈥� said Joy Russell, 伦理三级鈥檚 Chief Communications Officer.
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