Steam Plants--- What is their function?

[SpurHunter]

1)Beside producing steam, (I assume) what are these plants used for? </p>

2)Do they dump alot of warm water in the river? </p>

3)Is the fishing good around them? </p>

<font size="2">a)</font> All the time, </p>

<font size="2">b)</font> Only when producing steam?</p>

 

[Guest]

Spur the steam plant on the Coosa (Plant Hammond) that Cathooker and I fish at is like a mini nuke plant. It releases warm water in fairly large amounts around the clock. Baitfish congregate and the predators come too. I assume it is like that most everywhere.

 

[Guest]

The steam plants burn coal and make steam which is run thru the turbines to make electricity. The spent steam turns into hot water and is discharged back into the river.

 

[BigFishGuide]

Spur,

I work at Alstom Power. We can keep this simple or we can get into lots of details. A Steam plants main function is to produce electricity via means of burning coal or natural gas or some other type of fuel which could be also wood chips or mulch or some type of compost (I would say most around here are fossil powered). Water is used as a circulation media through the unit and is pumped under very high pressure through the water walls, primary heaters, Super heaters and enconimizer (miles and miles pipe). The water and steam are exposed to as much of the heat source as posssible to extract every bit of energy that it can get. The steam that is circulated through the unit and can reach some very high pressures for example 1500 to 3,000 psi and some very high heat temps. but after the water is converted to a dry steam it is sent to a Steam Turbine where the steam releases its energy turning the turbine creating electricity. The steam after it has been used is sent back through the unit through a re-heat process and is sent through a secondary steam turbine to create more electricity. Once this has happend the water is cooled before the steam plant can send the water back into the river. Water Temps at Widows Creek can range from 61 to 71 deg. F.

Fishing can be good around them in the Winter when the water temps fall into the 40's. Unless your like Eric M and fishing is just good anywhere he fishes. ( He could pull a fish from a floating bath-tub).

Depending on the size of the units they can dump alot of warmer water into the lake depending on the size of the units and how many are generating power.

Steam plants do not generate power all the time. Most places have more than 1 unit most have 3 or 4 and Widows Creek has 8 I belive. They try to schedule shut-downs during the Spring and Fall when the peak energy demand is at it's lowest. And shut downs can happend at any time due to a rupture in a wall or tube or some other unforseen malfunction.

Hope this helps

 

[Guest]

SpurHunter - 2/5/2008 9:59 AM



1)Beside producing steam, (I assume) what are these plants used for? </p>

Electricity, usually from coal but also from natural gas

2)Do they dump alot of warm water in the river? </p>

Depends on there permits, older permits usually can dump warmer water, newer ones usually cool the water some before dumping

3)Is the fishing good around them? </p>

<font size="2">a)</font> All the time, </p>

<font size="2">b)</font> Only when producing steam?</p>

They can be worth fishing when reservoir water temps are low. However some release warm water that is low in oxygen, so sometimes it is better to fish downstream some so that the water had a chance to regain some oxygen (ie not directly in the outflow). Although fish concentrate there in the winter, in the long run they are harmful to the overall well being of the system. For that reason, they are permited and generally newer permited steam plants have less temperature influence (good for the environment, bad for concentrating fish for winter fishing).

 

[fish4thepeck]

Me and ole catch 1 are unit operators at Widows Creek. We have 8 units. Two 500 mw watt units and six smaller units that are 125 mw's. We have limits on how much we can heat the River... This is strictly inforced especially in summer time.

 

[MadBomber]

Everyone is pretty much right about the operation of Steam plants except that the steam generated for the turbines is condensed back to liquid by heat exchangers.  The water used to turn the turbines needs to be pure so deposits don't build up in the boiler tubes.  it's the Condenser water that must be cooled and returned back to the river.</p>

The nuclear plants work the same way.  The cooling towers are cooling the condenser water.  The turbine steam is a closed system.</p>

 

[SNUFFY]

You hit the nail on the head MB....I have helped install a couple of new systems at Kingston Fossil over the last decade just for the water quality and treatment. When it first went online a few years ago it was supposed to cost about $6 a gallon and I`m sure it`s gone up since then. Management tends to get excited when they see it going down a floor drain when something Blows !!!!