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<br />001121 <br /> <br />Draft - 9/81 <br /> <br />Appendix V <br /> <br />Details of Water Consumption <br />by Steam-Electric Power Generation <br /> <br />Four processes which are -necessary for the production of <br /> <br />steam-electric power consume water. <br /> <br />The se are: <br /> <br />(1) steam pro- <br /> <br />duction, (2) coolIng, (3) ash transport, and (4) air pollution <br /> <br />control. <br /> <br />The water consumption characteristics of each are <br /> <br />discussed below. <br /> <br />Steam Production <br /> <br />A steam-electric power plant uses high-pressure steam in a <br /> <br />clos.ed system to propel its generators. A plant loses a small <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />amount of its water at steam leakage points such as the gener- <br /> <br />ator-turbine shaft seal. Additional amounts are lost during <br /> <br />blowdown, which is the replacement of boiler fluid to prevent the <br /> <br />buildup of dissolved minerals. While literature estimates of the <br /> <br />amount of these losses range as hIgh as 6,000 acre-feet per year <br /> <br />in a 1,000 megawatt (MW) plant (Old West Regional Commission, <br /> <br /> <br />1974, p. 56), Colorado ut iitties have unIformly observed that. the <br /> <br />loss of such signifIcant amounts of water Is unlIkely, as any <br /> <br />leak is subject to tmmed iate maintenance. <br /> <br />Cooling <br /> <br />The cooling process is the major consumer of water in steam- <br /> <br />electric power generation. GeneratIng turbines must be cooled at <br />