^Ah, thanks. Why don't all of the power plants have cooling towers? Is it because of money?
Maybe they should be required to have them.
Best Source of Energy
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EquALLity
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Re: Best Source of Energy
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Best Source of Energy
Read the article, it's a really good breakdown of the pros and cons of each system, including costs.EquALLity wrote:^Ah, thanks. Why don't all of the power plants have cooling towers? Is it because of money?
Maybe they should be required to have them.
Cooling towers use evaporative cooling, so they "use up" water (putting it into the air).
Cooling ponds may be a better option (less evaporation), but they use a lot of land area.
When there's a very large body of water available, using direct cooling can be harmless (since the overall temperature of the water isn't raised significantly). The problem is when the water gets so hot that oxygen can not stay dissolved in it, and it suffocates marine life.
Air cooling may be an even better option, but it takes a lot of power to run the fans. That's OK if it's nuclear power, of course. Still, it's a cost consideration.