Modification of a Typical Water Treatment Installation of a Thermal Power Plant

• Published in: Power technology and engineering Vol. 55; no. 1; pp. 86 - 91
• Main Authors: Larin, B. M., Bushuev, E. N., Eremina, N. A., Kolodyazhnaya, M. É.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-05-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Chemical reduction; Demineralizing; Design modifications; Effluents; Electrical Machines and Networks; Energy; Energy Systems; Foundations; Geoengineering; Hydraulics; Ion exchange; Ion exchangers; Membranes; Osmosis; Power Electronics; Power Plants; Reagents; Regeneration; Renewable and Green Energy; Thermal power plants; Thermoelectricity; Water treatment; ion exchange technology; typical water treatment installation; reduction of reagent consumption and effluents; thermal power plant (TPP); membrane technology; modification; resource saving
• ISSN: 1570-145X; 1570-1468
• DOI: 10.1007/s10749-021-01324-0

Water treatment installations (WTI) of thermal power plants (TPP) are modified due to the physical wear of conventional ion-exchange installations. For this purpose, membrane technologies are usually used under toughened requirements for the use of reagents and discharge of power plant effluents, most of which are effluents from the chemical shops of TPPs. When influent water is natural low-mineralized, which represents most of water sources in Russia, the use of reverse-osmosis units (ROU) significantly increases the cost of demineralized water without reducing the effluent volume. Under these conditions, it is necessary to thoroughly analyze the state of the installed equipment, to assess the effectiveness of membrane technologies, and to develop rational process flows that ensure the modification of WTI. A typical WTI of the Kostroma Thermal Power Plant (KGRES) was used as an example to examine the operational characteristics of the installed equipment, which has been operating for about forty years, to design a process flow based on membrane units of 60 m
3
/h capacity, and to propose a combined unit of 110 – 120 m
3
/h capacity that halves the consumption of reagents and substantially reduces the salt content of effluents compared with the operating WTI. Technological modes were analyzed comparing the results of operation of the KGRES WTI in 2013 – 2014 and in 2019 – 2020, which revealed the need to modify the installation. The design of process flows based on a reverse- osmosis unit and a combined unit has revealed an advantage of the latter when maximum use is made of the capabilities of the membrane and ion-exchange technologies. The study of the regeneration of ion exchangers shows the possibility of deep utilization of effluents of the WTI.