Supplemental pumps Pay Off During low River Conditions

摘要

Low river levels are causing reliability problems with once-through circulating water pump systems at several coal-fired power generating plants sited along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. River bottom degradation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers river management practices make low river levels a likely ongoing problem, especially during drought years in the Midwest. This article outlines circulating water pumping problems that have occurred at the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities' (KCKBPU) Quindaro Power Station due to historic low water levels in the Missouri River as well as the steps taken to resolve these problems. Remedial design solutions that were either considered or implemented included installing supplemental pumps, vacuum lift systems, suction scoops, a new river water intake and converting to a closed-loop cooling tower system. This article includes a discussion of the supplemental pump system placed into service in the fall of 2006 and currently in operation on the Quindaro river intake.