Wet cooling towers (WCT) are widely used to reject the unutilized heat in coal thermal power plants (TPPs). But this comes at the cost of excessive water consumption. Adoption of air-cooled condensers (ACC), also known as dry cooling systems, in all proposed Indian TPPs would reduce their water consumption by 26% in 2030. However, power producers are reluctant to install ACC due to technical and economic disadvantages such as high capital investment and land footprint. This study evaluates the major challenges in implementing ACC by quantifying them in terms of cost of electricity generation. Critical parameters of WCT and ACC, such as water and auxiliary consumption, are also estimated at varying ambient air conditions. The study shows that cost of electricity generation in TPPs with ACC would increase by 0.26–0.30 INR/kWh (0.37–0.42 US cents/kWh) compared to those TPPs with WCT. Despite this, installation of ACC would still be economically viable for those TPPs that are susceptible to at least 1 month of shutdown annually due to water shortages. On an average, Indian plants that are located at high water-stressed regions operate 1.5 months lesser than those at low and medium water-stressed regions. Such TPPs would see an increase in cost of electricity generation by 0.17 INR/kWh (0.24 US cents/kWh) compared to TPPs with ACC.

中文翻译：

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印度燃煤电厂中风冷式冷凝器的节水潜力和预期的权衡

湿式冷却塔（WCT）被广泛用于拒绝燃煤热电厂（TPP）中的未利用热量。但这是以过度消耗水为代价的。在所有拟议的印度TPP中，采用风冷冷凝器（ACC）（也称为干式冷却系统）将在2030年将其耗水量减少26％。但是，由于技术和经济方面的不利因素，电力生产商不愿安装ACC高资本投资和土地足迹。这项研究通过量化发电成本来评估实施ACC的主要挑战。WCT和ACC的关键参数，例如水和辅助消耗，也在变化的环境空气条件下估算。研究表明，带有ACC的TPPs的发电成本将增加0.26-0.30 INR / kWh（0.37-0。42美分/千瓦时），而那些带有WCT的TPP 尽管如此，对于那些由于缺水而每年至少要停工1个月的TPP，安装ACC在经济上仍然可行。平均而言，位于高缺水地区的印度工厂的运行时间比中低缺水地区的工厂短1.5个月。与配备ACC的TPP相比，此类TPP的发电成本将增加0.17 INR / kWh（0.24美分/ kWh）。比中低水压力地区少5个月。与配备ACC的TPP相比，此类TPP的发电成本将增加0.17 INR / kWh（0.24美分/ kWh）。比中低水压力地区少5个月。与配备ACC的TPP相比，此类TPP的发电成本将增加0.17 INR / kWh（0.24美分/ kWh）。