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Originally Posted by John D  Would be interested to know where there are 'hydrogen cooled' generators in coal fired stations.( by the way it is the TURBINES that requires cooling for optimum operation not the generators/alternators) From my experience in 40 years in the supply industry water was used as the cooling medium. That is why some stations are built on the coast where sea water is abundant or where cooling towers are necessary in power stations built inland, such as in Yorkshire etc)
Sorry for going on a bit but felt some points needed clarification!
John D |
Dead easy this one. Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. The turbines are cooled by hydrogen gas. Hydrogen has the highest latent heat capacity of any of the gases. Before working on the turbines, the hydrogen is purged by carbon dioxide. It is interesting to see the pipes freezing up as the carbon dioxide travels through them. The CO2 is then purged with air to make it safe for the APOs and engineers to work on them.
What I think you are talking about is the cooling of the water before being returned to the river from whence it came. Water is used to cool this as it passes through the cooling towers. This is a completely different part of the system and water has absolutely nothing to do with the cooling of the generators, if my memory serves me correctly. It is a long time since I was there.
I believe that Germany has superheated boilers. We do not.