Construction of an evaporative cooling tower, 179 meters high – the tallest among similar structures at Russian NPPs – continues at the site of the third power unit of Leningrad NPP-2. The hyperboloid tower, with a diameter of about 150 meters at the base, narrows to 41 meters at the 89th tier, and then expands to 45–47 meters.
Specialists from the Titan-2 holding have installed 52 out of 100 reinforced concrete columns of the inclined colonnade – the base of the cooling tower. Each column, more than 13 meters long and weighing about 20 tons, is installed using a special jig for precise alignment. Work began in April. First, a pit was dug, then bored piles were driven to a depth of up to 35 meters. The first concreting of the shell is scheduled for August; a team of specialists with experience in building a similar cooling tower at Kursk NPP-2 was brought in for the work.
The higher the cooling tower, the greater the speed of the upward air flow and the more efficient the heat exchange. In hot weather, height is especially important: the 179-meter structure will cool 160 thousand cubic meters of water per hour and ensure stable operation of the unit even during the hottest period. For comparison: the cooling towers of the first unit of Leningrad NPP-2 are 150 meters high, the second – 167 meters. Previously, the tallest in Russia was the cooling tower of unit No. 7 of Novovoronezh NPP – 171 meters. The hyperboloid shape was chosen for a reason – it creates a natural air flow without the use of energy-intensive equipment and allows the wind to smoothly flow around the tower. While previously two cooling towers were built for reliability on the first unit, modern technologies allow for one, more efficient and cost-effective one.
Read more on the topic:
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