Water-reduction potential of air-cooled condensers in coal power plants in India and anticipated trade-offs

Abstract

Wet cooling towers (WCT) are widely used to reject the unutilized heat in coal thermal power plants (TPPs). But this comes at the cost of excessive water consumption. Adoption of air-cooled condensers (ACC), also known as dry cooling systems, in all proposed Indian TPPs would reduce their water consumption by 26% in 2030. However, power producers are reluctant to install ACC due to technical and economic disadvantages such as high capital investment and land footprint. This study evaluates the major challenges in implementing ACC by quantifying them in terms of cost of electricity generation. Critical parameters of WCT and ACC, such as water and auxiliary consumption, are also estimated at varying ambient air conditions. The study shows that cost of electricity generation in TPPs with ACC would increase by 0.26-0.30 INR/kWh (0.37-0.42 US cents/kWh) compared to those TPPs with WCT. Despite this, installation of ACC would still be economically viable for those TPPs that are susceptible to at least 1 month of shutdown annually due to water shortages. On an average, Indian plants that are located at high water-stressed regions operate 1.5 months lesser than those at low and medium water-stressed regions. Such TPPs would see an increase in cost of electricity generation by 0.17 INR/kWh (0.24 US cents/kWh) compared to TPPs with ACC. KeywordsCoal thermal power plant • Water consumption • Air-cooled condenser • Wet cooling systems • Cost of electricity generation • Water consumption norms for coal thermal power plant in India Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

An original assessment of the influence of soft dimensions on implementation of sustainability practices: implications for the thermal energy sector in fast growing economies

“…In terms of specific water consumption, Indian thermal power plants (TPPs) demonstrate poor performance. Indian TPPs consume 5 to 7 m 3 /MWh, whereas the global average is between 1.3 to 2.5 m3/MWh (Nazar 2020). India registers a 14 TWh (Terawatt hours) loss in thermal, electrical power generation, equivalent to a revenue loss of INR 56 billion.…”

“…India registers a 14 TWh (Terawatt hours) loss in thermal, electrical power generation, equivalent to a revenue loss of INR 56 billion. This is due to water scarcity, as 36% of TPPs are located in water-stressed regions (Nazar 2020). Indian TPPs burn locally available coal, which has higher ash content (35-50%), higher moisture content (4-20%) and lower calorific value in comparison to coal available in Australia or Indonesia (Barrows et al 2019).…”

Investigation of air-cooled condenser’s operating parameters in modern thermal power plant

“…But, on the other hand, they also have a significant disadvantage since, regardless of the construction, they require the existence of sufficient amount of water on-site, whether it is a river, lake, or possibly the sea. Another lack of water-cooled condensing systems refers to their negative impact to the environment especially when it comes to large plants, which was investigated by various authors, [1][2][3][4].…”