Every time I see those towers (in a movie, draw or picture) I instantly recognize it as a nuclear power station. But I’ve never asked why…
Why such a big and specific shaped tower? Is it something exclusive for nuclear power? Do all nuclear stations need those towers, or is it optional? Why that shape? What’s inside?
In: Engineering
A nuclear plant, like coal and gas, uses steam to run a turbine+generator and generate power.
This steam is created by heating water using the fuel, and after being used in the turbine it is returned to a main condenser to be reused. This main condenser is also under a heavy vacuum (imagine how in movies when a spaceship or something has a hole and things get sucked out quickly) in order to allow for efficient exhaust and condensing of the steam.
These two things are vital to the turbine, as it allows increased efficiency by reusing the steam as it condenses, and to protect the turbine (low vacuum/higher back pressure can cause higher temperatures and vibration issues before protective devices trip your turbine).
In order to actually function, the condenser needs a lot of cooling water (A gas plant can use 100000 gallons per minute per turbine as an example). This water can be provided by a lot of sources. Cooling towers like you describe are one of these things. Other sources can be water from rivers and oceans which just are returned to the source after use, or even air cooling via large fans.
Latest Answers