Cooling water flow influence on power plant unit performance for various condenser configurations setup

This paper presents the influence of cooling water regulation on power plant net efficiency. It was examined whether, for the non-nominal low-pressure turbine load, it is justified to reduce the cooling water pump load, and how it would affect the unit net efficiency. Calculations for two types of power units were carried out: with condensing and extraction-condensing turbine. The tested condensing power plant consists of three surface condensers. The calculation included four condensers’ connections set up on the cooling water side to check how the cooling water system pressure drop affects the net unit performance. The result has confirmed that implementing serial connection decreases net efficiency when cooling water flow regulation is used, but the mixed connection should be applied when pump load is not controlled. It was proved that the cooling water flow control gives a profit for both units. Net efficiency for combined heat and power plant can be improved by 0.1–0.5 pp, the gain is remarkable below 60% of the low-pressure turbine part load. Flow control implementation in the unit with condensing turbine water control gives a similar profit just below 80% of the turbine load. Next, an influence of the additional limitations of a cooling water system (minimal total pump head, cooling tower) affecting the feasibility of implementing the water control has been considered. Applying a multi-cell forced draft cooling tower does not have a significant impact on results, but when a natural draft cooling tower is used, the flow control range is strongly reduced.