The Design of a Once-Through Cooling System to Meet the Challenge of Strict Thermal Criteria
Matthew C. Cordaro
Donald L. Matchett
DOI: 10.2190/LXX9-LMY3-V2W9-NED9
Abstract
The site of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station is a 450 acre tract owned by the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO), situated on the north shore of Long Island in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, N. Y. After preliminary investigation of ecological data collected at the site, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation classified the area as "coastal waters." This meant that the thermal effluent discharged from the Shoreham Station could not raise the surface water temperature at the site more than 4°F over the monthly means of maximum daily temperature from October through June nor more than 1.5°F from July through September except within a radius of 300 ft or equivalent area from the point of discharge. In order to meet these strict criteria, a mathematical model for a submerged multiport diffuser was developed by Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation, Engineer-Constructor for the plant. The model synthesizes the near field dilution of the diffuser and the far field return of heat with changing tides. To obtain the information required by the mathematical model, hydraulic model studies were carried out at the Hydrodynamics Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in addition to dye dispersion studies at the site itself. In conjunction with the latter, extensive measurements of currents and tides were also made. Based on the data generated during the above studies, a proposed diffuser design system was developed which will release station effluent from a number of submerged outlets discharging in alternating east and west directions along a 3,800 ft line beginning 1,600 ft off shore and extending northward from the site.
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