Recovering Water From Cooling Tower Plumes With Plume Abatement
1 min read
Summary
The water vapour emitted from cooling towers can be reduced by using plume abatement, French nuclear firm EDF has recently undertaken a trial of one such technique using electrostatic droplet capture.
US firm Infinite Cooling claims the technology can be retrofitted to existing plant and reduces water use, as well as minimising the visible plume emitted from the cooling towers.
Traditional plume abatement techniques include the use of parallel air streams and counterflow condensing modules in an air-to-air heat exchanger, while other firms offer low-profile, forced-draft cooling towers.
However, electrostatic droplet capture is a relatively new method of reducing water vapour emissions and could provide a cost-effective way of significantly lowering cooling water needs.
