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
They’re the cooling towers the plant uses for the steam cycle the plant uses to produce power. Most plants have the water in the reactor at a very high pressure to keep it from boiling even heated up to several hundred degrees. That water is used as a heat source to boil a separate mass of water to make steam. The steam spins a turbine (effectively a big mechanical pinwheel) and then gets cooled by a third set of water so the condensed steam can be sent back to become steam again.
That third set of water is what goes to the cooling tower. It sprays out of a huge network of sprinklers and some becomes steam. The shape of the tower acts like a chimney to direct steam and warm air up and drafting new, cooler air in at the bottom to cool off the rest of the water which falls into a pool before being sent back into the plant to condense more turbine steam. The cloud coming out at the top is simply that humid air venting out the top into the cooler outside air.
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