Optimization of Water Consumption to meet New MoEFCC guidelines for Thermal Power Plants

The recent notification issued by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, on 8th December 2015, with reference of S.O.3305 (E), Section 6 & 25 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, specified the new limits on maximum water intake consumption & achieving zero wastewater discharge for existing as well as newly installed Thermal Power Plants (TPP) in India. Additionally the notification has also specified SO2 emission limit from stack for both existing and newly installed TPP’s, which mandates the additional technology such as flue gas desulphurization (FGD) to meet this requirement, which requires additional make up water. The maximum new water consumption limit is set at 2.5 m3/ MWh for newly installed Thermal power plant. Presently coal based TPP’s, typically consumes water in the range of 3.0to4.0 m3/MWh without considering FGD. This paper discusses the various possible optimization ways to meet this new water consumption limit, including additional water requirement for SO2 reduction and to ensure zero wastewater discharge from plant.