"Fish Chopper" Animation Shows the Gruesome, Deadly Side of Power Plant Cooling Towers (Video)

[n2doc]

by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 06. 1.11
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY




The Sierra Club is pointing attention to the once-through cooling systems used by many power plants. Power plants suck up over 200 billion gallons of water a day, and with that water comes millions of fish that don't exactly make it out alive. The conservation group has put together an animation showing how the systems work, and why they need to be upgraded.

As the Sierra Club points out, there are already closed-cycle cooling systems that can replace the once-through systems and not only conserve a huge amount of water, but also save countless fish and other aquatic species, not to mention the animals that depend on the fish as a food source.

The Sierra Club notes, "The EPA recently proposed long-overdue guidelines for cooling water use at power plants. Under intense pressure from powerful industry interests, the EPA opted not to require meaningful technology requirements that would protect ecosystems. Instead, the EPA's proposal offers little-to-no improvement in the technologies required to protect fish and wildlife leaving decisions to already overburdened state agencies."

But if you want to put some pressure on politicians, the group has a letter you can add your name tovideo at linkl

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/06/fish-chopper-animation-shows-the-gruesome-deadly-side-of-power-plant-cooling-towers.php

[Throckmorton]

1. I thought cooling tower were the solution to once through cooling.

I suspect the title of the article may be in error.

[madokie]

2. I think you are correct TM

maybe the OP will correct that misconception.

[kristopher]

3. Once through and closed loop both use cooling towers.

Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature. Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries, chemical plants, power stations and building cooling. The towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures (as in Image 1) that can be up to 200 metres tall and 100 metres in diameter, or rectangular structures (as in Image 2) that can be over 40 metres tall and 80 metres long. Smaller towers are normally factory-built, while larger ones are constructed on site. They are often associated with nuclear power plants in popular culture, although cooling towers are constructed on many types of buildings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower

[Throckmorton]

4. Maybe,

But many once through plants do not use cooling towers.