CIRCULATING WATER PUMP MODIFICATIONS PERFORMED IN CONJUNCTION WITH COOLING TOWER REPLACEMENT DURING A 35-DAY OUTAGE

摘要

Westar Lawrence Energy Center Unit 5 in Lawrence, Kansas is a 375 mW unit that utilized a closed loop circulating water system with a wooden cooling tower and three horizontal circulating water pumps to provide cooling water to the condenser. The wooden cooling tower experienced rapid degradation over the past five years of operation. Chlorine was added to the water chemistry to reduce attack of the wooden components, but the chlorine levels in the water caused accelerated corrosion of the pump components and base plates. Circulating water system capacity was reduced due to worn pump components and excessive clearances. Unit load was limited by the lack of adequate circulating water capacity. This paper discusses the pump and motor repairs, design changes performed in parallel with demolition of the wooden cooling tower, and replacement with a new fiberglass tower designed to utilize the existing concrete basin. All of the changes were implemented during an outage in April-May 2009.