| Enormous quantities of thermal effluent are discharged annually throughout the world, primarily at electricity generating stations. This waste warm water represents a vast, untapped thermal resource.; There have been many suggestions for the use of this warm water. The growth of fish and biomass crops may be accelerated by raising them at optimum temperatures. Greenhouses and livestock shelters can be heated. Wastewater treatment can be improved. Soil warming, frost protection, and district heating are possibilities.; Some of these applications have been commercially successful, while others remain on the drawing board. In spite of the flurry of research activity in this area, few studies have considered the crucial question of choosing which technologies are suited for a particular power plant.; This dissertation presents a procedure for finding the optimal mix of waste heat technologies given information on the volume and temperature of the waste heat discharges, the topography of the site, climate characteristics, and cost data. Carefully selected trial configurations are simulated to obtain their Net Present Values. A response surface is then fitted to these points by regression. The optimal mix of technologies for that site is found using standard mathematical programming techniques. Detailed cost tables and process models are included in the text.; Numerous sensitivity analyses were conducted. The results indicate that the waste heat source should be at least 75% reliable, and the effluent temperature should be 38(DEGREES)C (100(DEGREES)F) or higher. A 100 MW generating station is large enough to take advantage of economies of scale. Providing waste treatment for at least five hundred persons brings in additional revenue and supplies nutrients for biomass production.; The procedure described in this dissertation will enable investigators to make more thorough waste heat utilization assessments, in a relatively short period of time, at a moderate cost. |
