Premium
Mandate a M an to F ish?: Technological advance in cooling systems at U . S . thermal electric plants
Author(s) -
PeredoAlvarez Victor M.,
Bellas Allen S.,
TrainorGuitton Whitney J.,
Lange Ian
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1002/2015wr017676
Subject(s) - water cooling , environmental science , thermal , environmental engineering , engineering , meteorology , physics , mechanical engineering
Steam‐based electrical generating plants use large quantities of water for cooling. The potential environmental impacts of water cooling systems have resulted in their inclusion in the Clean Water Act's (CWA) Sections 316(a), related to thermal discharges and 316(b), related to cooling water intake. The CWA mandates a technological standard for water cooling systems. This analysis examines how the performance‐adjusted rates of thermal emissions and water withdrawals for cooling units have changed over their vintage and how these rates of change were impacted by imposition of the CWA. Results show that the rate of progress increased for cooling systems installed after the CWA whilethere was no progress previous to it.