Abstract
Water and energy are sources to fulfill the essential needs of human life for their livelihood. Currently, steam-based power plants utilize water sources such as rivers and lakes. In India, the consumption of water by industries is about 9% of the total, of which power generation sector utilizes 88% of the share. This study examines the quantitative and qualitative analysis of water consumption in power plants to determine the energy losses and water conservation opportunities to reduce, reuse, and recycle water. A typical water audit case study was carried out at specific coal-based Super Thermal Power Station (STPS) in India. The STPS chosen for the study has a commissioned capacity of 3000 MW having three stages of 1 GW each with a total of 6 units having 500 MW each. The present study includes the analysis of overall specific consumption of the plant, ash–water ratio, and cycles of concentration along with the blowdown water quantity along with other water losses. Also, exergy analysis of main water pumps is included, which is ranging from 46 to 67% for Stage-I. Based on the flow and power measurements and overall review of water consumption in the plant water and energy conservation opportunities are suggested which can yield savings up to INR 725.43 lakhs per annum INR (Indian Rupees) with an investment of INR 457 lakhs per annum expecting the payback period to be within a year.
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Notes
The Falkenmark indicator is developed by Malin Falkenmark and is one of the most widely used indicators for assessing the stress on water. It relates the total freshwater resources with the total population in a country and indicates the pressure the population puts on water resources, including the needs for natural ecosystems (Lallana et al. 2004).
Abbreviations
- IFPRI:
-
International Food Policy Research Institute
- GoI:
-
Government of India
- ICAR:
-
Indian Council for Agricultural Research
- TERI:
-
The Energy and Resources Institute
- WRI:
-
World Resources Institute
- CEA:
-
Central Electricity Authority
- RES:
-
Renewable Energy Sources
- MoEF&CC:
-
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- IEA:
-
International Energy Agency
- US:
-
United States
- CPCB:
-
Central Pollution Control Board
- CEA:
-
Central Electricity Authority
- CW:
-
Condenser water or cooling water
- COC:
-
Cycles of concentration
- RO:
-
Reverse osmosis
- PLF:
-
Plant load factor
- VFD:
-
Variable frequency drive
- CEP:
-
Condensate Extraction Pump
- BFP:
-
Boiler Feed Pump
- LT:
-
Low tension
- HT:
-
High tension
- NABL:
-
National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories
- STPS:
-
Super Thermal Power Station
- UP:
-
Uttar Pradesh
- J&K:
-
Jammu & Kashmir
- HP:
-
Himachal Pradesh
- ACW:
-
Auxiliary cooling water
- DM:
-
Demineralization
- RW:
-
Raw water
- AWRS:
-
Ash Water Recycling System
- CHP:
-
Coal handling plant
- ADPH:
-
Ash water pump house
- SWC:
-
Specific water consumption
- Aux.:
-
Auxiliary water requirement
- CT:
-
Cooling tower
- APH:
-
Air pre-heater
- LWTP:
-
Liquid waste treatment plant
- DOE:
-
Design of experiment statistics
- m3 :
-
Cubic meter
- m3/capita/year:
-
Cubic meter per person per year
- GW:
-
Gigawatt
- m3/day:
-
Cubic meter per day
- m3/MWh:
-
Cubic meter per megawatt-hour
- TWh:
-
Terawatt hour
- BCM:
-
Billion cubic meter
- MLD:
-
Million liters per day
- m3/h:
-
Cubic meter per hour
- m3/sec:
-
Cubic meter per second
- m3/day:
-
Cubic meter per day
- INR:
-
Indian Rupees
- kW:
-
Kilowatt
- kg/m3 :
-
Kilogram per cubic meter
- M:
-
Meter
- m/sec2 :
-
Meter per square second
- MPa:
-
Mega pascal
- kPa:
-
Kilo pascal
- K:
-
Kelvin
- ℃:
-
Degree centigrade
- kJ/kg:
-
Kilo joule per kilogram
- NTU:
-
Nephelometric turbidity unit
- mg/l:
-
Milligram per litre
- mho/cm:
-
Mho per centimeter
- BDL:
-
Below detection limit
- HP:
-
Horsepower
- V:
-
Volts
- A:
-
Amperes
- kWh:
-
Kilowatt-hour
- I:
-
Current in ampere
- R:
-
Resistance in ohm
- ZLD:
-
Zero liquid discharge
- TDS:
-
Total dissolved solids
- RO:
-
Reverse osmosis
- CMB:
-
Central monitoring basin
- BAHP:
-
Bottom ash high pressure
- BALP:
-
Bottom ash low pressure
- TPP:
-
Thermal power plants
- WHO:
-
World Health Organization
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Nandini, M., Raja Sekhar, Y. & Subramanyam, G. Energy analysis and water conservation measures by water audit at thermal power stations. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 7, 3 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-020-00487-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-020-00487-4