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Plasma Discharge in Water
ADVANCES IN HEAT TRANSFER VOL. 42
Plasma Discharge in Water
YONG YANG, ALEXANDER FRIDMAN, and YOUNG I. CHO* Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
I. Introduction A. NEEDS
FOR
PLASMA WATER TREATMENT
1. Cooling Water Management Water is used as a cooling medium in large centralized air-conditioning systems as well as in thermoelectric power plants. In both cases, the cooling water plays an essential role in removing heat from condensers. Since the evaporation of pure water is the basic means to remove heat from the condensers, the concentration of mineral ions in circulating cooling water increases with time, resulting in hard water within a week even if soft water is used as makeup water. Hence, a part of the circulating water is periodically or continuously discharged in order to maintain the proper concentration of the mineral ions in circulating cooling water in the form of blowdown. Thermoelectric power plants produce about half of the nation’s electricity. According to the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) water use survey data [1], thermoelectric generation accounted for 39% (136 billion gallons per day [BGD]) of all freshwater withdrawals in the nation in 2000, second only to irrigation (see Fig. 1) [1]. Furthermore, the average daily national freshwater consumption for thermoelectric power generation is predicted to increase from the current 4 BGD for the production of approximately 720 GW elec tricity to 8 BGD for 840 GW in 2030 (see Fig. 2) [2]. In the cooling water management, it is important to distinguish between water withdrawal and water consumption. Water withdrawal represents the total water taken from a source, while water consumption represents the amount of water withdrawal that is not returned to the source. Freshwater consumption for the year 1995 (the most recent year for which these data are available) is presented in Fig. 3. Freshwater consumption for thermoelectric * Current address: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Advances in Heat Transfer Volume 42 ISSN 0065-2717 DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2717(10)42003-1
179
Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Plasma Discharge in Water
YONG YANG, ALEXANDER FRIDMAN, and YOUNG I. CHO* Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
I. Introduction A. NEEDS
FOR
PLASMA WATER TREATMENT
1. Cooling Water Management Water is used as a cooling medium in large centralized air-conditioning systems as well as in thermoelectric power plants. In both cases, the cooling water plays an essential role in removing heat from condensers. Since the evaporation of pure water is the basic means to remove heat from the condensers, the concentration of mineral ions in circulating cooling water increases with time, resulting in hard water within a week even if soft water is used as makeup water. Hence, a part of the circulating water is periodically or continuously discharged in order to maintain the proper concentration of the mineral ions in circulating cooling water in the form of blowdown. Thermoelectric power plants produce about half of the nation’s electricity. According to the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) water use survey data [1], thermoelectric generation accounted for 39% (136 billion gallons per day [BGD]) of all freshwater withdrawals in the nation in 2000, second only to irrigation (see Fig. 1) [1]. Furthermore, the average daily national freshwater consumption for thermoelectric power generation is predicted to increase from the current 4 BGD for the production of approximately 720 GW elec tricity to 8 BGD for 840 GW in 2030 (see Fig. 2) [2]. In the cooling water management, it is important to distinguish between water withdrawal and water consumption. Water withdrawal represents the total water taken from a source, while water consumption represents the amount of water withdrawal that is not returned to the source. Freshwater consumption for the year 1995 (the most recent year for which these data are available) is presented in Fig. 3. Freshwater consumption for thermoelectric * Current address: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Advances in Heat Transfer Volume 42 ISSN 0065-2717 DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2717(10)42003-1
179
Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved