INCREASING THE ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY OF THE COOLING SYSTEMS FOR SHIP POWER PLANTS DUE TO HEAT RECOVERY

Abstract

The cooling system is the most important element of the power plant. Most of these systems in use today consume seawater, often in large quantities. Plankton, eggs and fry contained in seawater enter the cooling system and die. This leads to the destruction of fish resources of the seas and continental reservoirs. In order to improve the environmental safety of cooling systems, it is proposed to utilize the heat removed by the system to the maximum extent. This reduces the required amount of consumed seawater. The various options for heat utilization are analyzed. The temperature levels of the cooling system water and possible heat consumers are taken into account. The results of research on seawater heating in the cooling system are presented. The issue of using water desalination plant is considered in detail. It is taken into account that such an installation itself leads to additional consumption of seawater. An analytical description of thermal processes has been completed. The relation between the ratio of water consumption reduction by the cooling system and additional water consumption by the desalination plant has been obtained. The influence of the blowdown coefficient of the desalination plant has been determined. It has been found that the cooling system reduces consumption by 16-33 times in comparison with the desalination plant. A wider heat recovery is hindered by the relatively low temperature level of the water at the output of the cooling system. It is shown that there are opportunities for greater utilization of heat removed by the cooling system. This is due to the use of heat pumps, which can raise temperatures up to 130 °C and higher. As a result, there is a possibility of transition to deep heat recovery systems. The widespread introduction of heat recovery ensures not only energy efficiency, but also the environmental safety of the cooling systems.