Condensers
in
Power
Plants
The
generation
of
electrical
energy
in
steam
power
plants
is
relatively
in
efficient
process.
In
modern
fossil
fuel
plant,
approximately
1200
kcal
are
rejected
to
the
circulating
water
for
each
kw-hr
of
energy
produced.
With
the
nuclear
power
plant,
it
is
50%
greater
than
that
for
a
fossil
fueled
plant.
This
means
that
more
than
10%
of
heat
from
the
fuel
burned
in
modern
fossil
fueled
plant
and
that
about
2/3rd
of
the
heat
generated
in
nuclear
plant
is
rejected
to
the
cooling
water
system.
Therefore,
the
quantity
of
water
required
for
a
thermal
power
plant
of
400
MW
O:1pacity
requires
nearly
50
to
100
thousand
tons
of
water
per
hour.
This
thirst
for
cooling
water
makes
water
availability
a
paramount
factor
in
choosing
the
plant
site.
Therefore
the
plant
must
be
sited
near
the
sources
for
large
quantities
of
water
like
ocean,
bays,
rivers
and
lakes.
The
planner
would
have
much
more
flexibility
in
power
plant
siting
if
the
availability
of
cooling
water
were
not
a
major
consideration
The
use
of
Condensers in
the
power
plant
improves
the
efficiency
of
the
power
plant
by
decreasing
the
exhaust
pressure
of
the
steam
below
atmosphere.
Another
advantage
of
the
condenser
is
that
the
steam
condensed
may
be
recovered
to
provide
a
source
of
good
pure
feed
water
to
the
boiler
and
reduces
the
water
softening
plant
capacity
to
a
considerable
extent
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