Modelization of cooling system components

In the site evaluation study for licensing a new nuclear power facility, the criteria involved could be grouped in health and safety, environment, socio-economics, engineering and cost-related. These encompass different aspects such as geology, seismology, cooling system requirements, weather conditions, flooding, population, and so on. The selection of the cooling system is function of different parameters as the gross electrical output, energy consumption, available area for cooling system components, environmental conditions, water consumption, and others. Moreover, in recent years, extreme environmental conditions have been experienced and stringent water availability limits have affected water use permits. Therefore, modifications or alternatives of current cooling system designs and operation are required as well as analyses of the different possibilities of cooling systems to optimize energy production taking into account water consumption among other important variables. There are two basic cooling system configurations: - Once-through or Open-cycle; - Recirculating or Closed-cycle. In a once-through cooling system (or open-cycle), water from an external water sources passes through the steam cycle condenser and is then returned to the source at a higher temperature with some level of contaminants. To minimize the thermal impact to the water source, a cooling tower may be added in a once-through system to allow air cooling of the water (with associated losses on site due to evaporation) prior to returning the water to its source. This system has a high thermal efficiency, and its operating and capital costs are very low. So, from an economical point of view, the open-cycle is preferred to closed-cycle system, especially if there are no water limitations or environmental restrictions. In a recirculating system (or closed-cycle), cooling water exits the condenser, goes through a fixed heat sink, and is then returned to the condenser. This configuration results in relatively low water withdrawal. Typical heat sink options for closed-cycle systems are wet cooling system (mechanical or natural draft cooling towers, and cooling ponds). When water availability is low, a dry cooling system may be utilized. Dry cooling can be either direct or indirect and in each case uses convective heat transfer to provide cooling, eliminating evaporation losses. An innovative indirect dry cooling system is the HellerR System. The HellerR System air moving equipment can be either a natural draft or a mechanical draft. The HellerR System design concepts and equipment provides the maximum possible availability and minimum maintenance. Also, it is totally environmental-friend as saves water equivalent to the consumption of a town of 50,000 inhabitants for each 100 MWe facilitating the licensing of power projects. (authors)