Dry, Closed-Cycle Cooling for Thermoelectric Power Plants Employing Low Temperature Organic Rankine Cycle Waste Heat Recovery and Cool Thermal Energy Storage

A patent pending concept is presented for a dry, closed-cycle power plant cooling system employing low temperature organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery (ORC-WHR) in combination with cool thermal energy storage (TES). It offers a compelling way for power plants to operate like conventional once-through cooling (OTC) — i.e., without an efficiency penalty due to heat rate increase experienced by state-of-the-art dry, wet, and hybrid cooling systems — while eliminating water consumption and attached negative environmental impact. Further, cool TES provides power plants the desirable capability and benefits associated with grid-scale energy storage. Key components of the concept are comprised of developed technology and field-proven equipment. Performance estimates to convert from OTC for the Diablo Canyon nuclear-powered steam electric generating facility located in central California are presented to illustrate the real benefits gained verses closed-cycle wet cooling.