China: New ventless cooling technology developed for power plants

China says the world's "first" power plant equipped with a "direct natural cooling" (NDC) system is now connected to the grid in Shaanxi province. According to an article published on Friday by the state-run China Global Television Network (CGTN), this marks a "breakthrough" in power plant cooling technology in China.

The technology, described as "a revolution in industrial air cooling" by local newspaper Shaanxi Daily, uses the plant's natural airflow to guide heat to the air condenser.

According to an explanation released by Powerchina Northwest Engineering Corporation Ltd., the developer of the technology, the NDC system does not need fans to create the airflow, saving electricity and reducing noise compared to conventional air cooling methods. Unlike indirect cooling systems, the NDC system doesn't even need water pumps, the company claims.

The importance of cooling systems for both nuclear and thermal power plants is enormous. Just last summer, in the midst of the heat wave, we risked shutting down several power plants in France due to overheating of water in rivers, which was very scarce at the time. Identifying a system that naturally cools the steam used to drive power plant turbines is therefore a very important discovery for energy production.

Powerchina Northwest specializes in infrastructure construction. The company is engaged in highway and bridge construction and other related services. It is also active in clean energy development, water ecological environment management, etc. “The NDC system combines the advantages of air and indirect cooling systems,” said the Shaanxi-based company. However, the details of the functioning of the system are kept confidential and not yet made available to the public.

The technology system will enable the Yanghuopan Power Plant in Shaanxi's Yulin City to save 24,500 tons of coal and reduce 54,100 tons of carbon emissions annually, according to a report by the China Media Group (CMG), managed by the State.

The CMG report claims that the plant emits almost no soot, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. With a capacity of 660 gigawatt hours per year, the plant will help solve central China's electricity crisis.

As reported by the Shaanxi Daily, NDC technology has been recognized as an important technological apparatus nationwide. China has ramped up coal mining and construction of coal-fired power plants at a faster pace than the rest of the world, which has caused the country's energy-related greenhouse gas emissions to rise by nearly 6% l last year, the fastest rate in a decade.

The article China: New ventless cooling technology developed for power plants comes from Economic Scenarios .

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/cina-sviluppata-nuova-tecnologia-di-raffreddamento-senza-ventilazione-per-le-centrali-elettriche/ on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 10:13:05 +0000.