Cooling Tower Australia
Australia relies
heavily on fossil fuel and renewable resources such as solar, water, wind and
biomass for power or electricity. This country is the largest exporter of
uranium in the world. Based on a report last December 2011, the country’s share
were about 31 percent or 1,661,000 tonnes. Nuclear power is a product of processed
uranium. Despite the enormous reserve the country has, they never used nuclear
power as a source of energy or electricity. Thus, seeing cooling tower in Australia is nothing new. Thermoelectric power plants usually have one or more
cooling towers as seen on the figure below.
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| Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org |
They
quite resemble small volcanoes spewing something destructive, right? Never fear
because the white gas is only water vapor. What is cooling tower and what role
it plays on power plants? According to Ask.com, “A
cooling tower is a heat exchanger or ejection system inside of which heat is
withdrawn from the water by contact between the water and air and to eliminate
heat from a production or manufacturing process.” The elimination of heat is by
means of evaporation.
Inside
power plants are sophisticated machines that produce electricity and distribute
it to consumers continuously. The common problem a machine encounters due to a non-stop
use is overheating. This will be a major catastrophe if the source of energy is
nuclear power. A presence of a cooling tower in the area lessens this, not completely
though, and one of the preemptive measures is the maintenance of this huge
structure. Conversely, we are aware of the adverse affects of nuclear power
once handled irresponsibly.
Like
other types of heat exchangers, maintenance is the key for a longer life. A
longer shelf life means savings in money, energy and time. Let us use a
refrigerator as a simpler example. Yes, this typical electrical appliance has a
heat exchanger. Similar to a power plant, it can’t be unplugged because frozen
goods are at stake.
Yet,
there are times it must be turned off when under maintenance or cleaning. A
scheduled cleaning is quite important because neglecting such task could affect
its efficiency and the worst case is buying a new one. What more if a cooling
tower maintenance is rarely practiced in a facility as huge as a power plant? Not
just one household but an entire community or a nation will be jeopardized.
For more information about heat exchangers and cooling towers, please visit www.heatexchangers.com.au.
Tag:
Cooling Tower in Australia
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| Photo from Heat Exchangers WA |
Tag:
Cooling Tower in Australia
