Air-Cooled Condensers

The Central Power Plant has installed air-cooled condensers to enhance the production of electrical power. Since the CPP's primary purpose is to generate steam, its electrical producing capability (maximum capacity of 48.5 MW) is limited to the steam load. In other words, for the CPP to generate 48.5 MW of electrical power, it must generate a proportional amount of steam. Since the university campus does not require this amount of steam, the CPP is not able to generate this much electricity. Electric generation from the steam turbines is entirely dependent on the amount of steam required on a daily basis.

The air-cooled condensers have been installed to remove some of this dependence. If the central power plant does not have the steam load to generate the amount of electrical energy necessary, it utilizes the condensers to release the steam energy to the atmosphere. The condensers simply force ambient air to flow across a series of tubes containing steam, which condenses the steam. The condensers allow an additional 5 MW of electrical power to be generated. Since the heat energy from the condensers is lost to the atmosphere, this process is used only under special circumstances.

Content modified: February, 2001