Implications of climate change on the heat budget of lentic systems used for power station cooling: Case study Clinton Lake, Illinois
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Abstract
We use a numerical model to analyze the impact of climate change--in particular higher air temperatures--on a nuclear power station that recirculates the water from a reservoir for cooling. The model solves the hydrodynamics, the transfer of heat in the reservoir, and the energy balance at the surface. We use the numerical model to (i) quantify the heat budget in the reservoir and determine how this budget is affected by the combined effect of the power station and climate change and (ii) quantify the impact of climate change on both the downstream thermal pollution and the power station capacity. We consider four different scenarios of climate change. Results of simulations show that climate change will reduce the ability to dissipate heat to the atmosphere and therefore the cooling capacity of the reservoir. We observed an increase of 25% in the thermal load downstream of the reservoir, and a reduction in the capacity of the power station of 18% during the summer months for the worst-case climate change scenario tested. These results suggest that climate change is an important threat for both the downstream thermal pollution and the generation of electricity by power stations that use lentic systems for cooling.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Implications of climate change on the heat budget of lentic systems used for power station cooling: Case study Clinton Lake, Illinois |
| Series title | Environmental Science & Technology |
| DOI | 10.1021/acs.est.5b04094 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Chemical Society |
| Publisher location | Easton, PA |
| Contributing office(s) | Illinois Water Science Center |
| Description | 11 p. |
| First page | 478 |
| Last page | 488 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| Other Geospatial | Clinton Lake |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |