Water Resource Alternatives for Power Generation in Arizona
Affiliation
Nuclear Engineering, University of Arizona, TucsonWater Resources Research Center, University of Arizona, Tucson
Issue Date
1974-04-20Keywords
Hydrology -- Arizona.Water resources development -- Arizona.
Hydrology -- Southwestern states.
Water resources development -- Southwestern states.
Water reuse
Water conservation
Electric power production
Nuclear powerplants
Cooling water
Water sources
Arizona
Water resources
Water management (applied)
Water supply
Water utilization
Water requirements
Hydroelectric power
Electric power
Efficiencies
Electric power demand
Industrial water
Potential water supply
Metadata
Show full item recordRights
Copyright ©, where appropriate, is held by the author.Collection Information
This article is part of the Hydrology and Water Resources in Arizona and the Southwest collections. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science and the University of Arizona Libraries. For more information about items in this collection, contact anashydrology@gmail.com.Publisher
Arizona-Nevada Academy of ScienceAbstract
An examination of potential water sources for power plant cooling in Arizona is presented along with information pertinent to Arizona's future water needs relative to electrical usage growth. It has been projected that Arizona's peak electrical power demands in 1980 and 1990 will exceed that of 1970 by some 5000 megawatts and 16000 megawatts of electricity respectively. At present, the bulk of the electrical energy generated in the western states originates at hydroelectric installations. Utilization of nuclear reactors for power generation requires a larger amount of cooling water than is required for a comparable fossil-fueled plant. It is suggested that the utilization of reclaimed wastewater for cooling purposes is a viable and attractive alternative to groundwater pumpage from both economic and ecological standpoints. Savings arise from conservation of fuel normally required for well pumps, costs of well construction are not required, quantities of fresh water should be released for consumption by alternate users, and a previously unused resource would be effectively recycled.ISSN
0272-6106Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF WATER FOR COMPUTER SIMULATION OF POWER PLANTS.(The University of Arizona., 1982)Steam property evaluations may represent a significant portion of the computing time necessary for power system simulations. The iterative nature of the solutions for heat transfer and kinetic equations often requires thousands of steam property evaluations during the execution of a single program. Considerable savings may be realized by simplification of property evaluations. Empirical equations have been obtained for the thermodynamic properties of water in the region of interest. To maintain thermodynamic consistency, the compressibility factor Z, in terms of pressure and temperature, was obtained by curve fitting, and the enthalpy, entropy, and internal energy were derived by standard relationships. Formulations for heat capacity, saturation temperature as a function of saturation pressure, the specific volume of saturated water as a function of saturation pressure, and specific volume of saturated water as a function of the saturation temperature were determined by curve fitting of independent equations. Derivatives were obtained by differentiation of the appropriate formulations. Evaporator and superheater components of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor power plant simulator were chosen as test cases for the empirical representations. Results obtained using the empirical equations were comparable to those obtained using tabular values, but significant savings in computational costs were realized. Execution time for the evaporator program with the empirical forms was approximately 27 percent less than for the program with tables. Execution time for the super-heater program was approximately 23 percent less.
-
CONTINUOUS-TIME OPTIMAL CONTROL OF A SIMULATED BOILING WATER NUCLEAR (BWR) POWER PLANT.(The University of Arizona., 1985)A suboptimal controller has been developed for a Boiling Water Reactor Nuclear Power Plant, using the DARE P Continuous Simulation Language, which was developed in the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Arizona. A set of 48 nonlinear first-order differential equations and a large number of algebraic equations has been linearized about the equilibrium state. Using partitioning, the linearized equations were transformed into a block triangular form. The concept of optimal control and a square performance index reflecting the desired plant behavior have been applied on the slow subsystem to develop a suboptimal controller. The obtained feedback law is shown by simulation to be able to compensate for a variety of plant disturbances. A large variety of responses can be obtained by changing the weighting matrices. The control is basically a regulator approach to speed up response during load demand changes. Several simulations are included to demonstrate the control performance. The variables to be controlled have mainly been the average neutron density and the average coolant temperature. Simplifications have been suggested, thus obtaining considerable savings in the computations and ease in design.
-
The Gold King Mine Spill: Can it Impact Water Users below the Lake Power Reservoir and Yuma Farmers?(College of Agriculture, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 2016-04)On Wednesday August 5, 2015, during an EPA mine site investigation of the Gold King Mine near Silverton, CO, heavy equipment caused an unexpected release of acid mine drainage trapped inside a mine tunnel. A sample of the water was analyzed and found to contain several heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium. This publication describes the event and evaluates the potential impact to water users below the Lake Powell Reservois and Arizona Farmers.
