Izvorni znanstveni članak

https://doi.org/10.13044/j.sdewes.d11.0457

Grey Water Footprint of Thermal Power Plants in Ecuador

Santiago Vaca-Jiménez orcid.org/0000-0003-0973-4652 ; Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador
Gabriel Vásquez ; Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador
José Luis Palacios-Encalada ; Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador

Sažetak

Thermal power plants require water for their cooling system. Water availability is a limiting factor for electricity generation. The water footprint is a tool used to quantify water appropriation. Its blue component quantifies the volumetric water consumption by the cooling system, while the grey component can quantify the effect of the cooling water discharge in the water body. Several authors have estimated the blue water footprint of the cooling system, but only a few have assessed how the discharged water may affect the water body's temperature. This paper assessed the thermal pollution produced by three Ecuadorian thermal power plants by estimating their grey water footprint. Results show that the grey water footprint can be up to three orders of magnitude larger than the blue water footprint of the plants, implying that the water bodies must have at least that volume of water to buffer the possible thermal pollution.

Ključne riječi

thermal power plants; grey water footprint; Ecuador; electricity; thermal pollution

Hrčak ID:

304714

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/304714

Datum izdavanja:

30.6.2023.

Posjeta: 178 *