Cooling tower intake & basin levels

The hyperbolic cooling tower releasing clouds of water vapor is the iconic image of nuclear power. Warm water from the condenser is pumped to the natural draft cooling tower, distributed to remove waste heat to the ambient atmosphere through evaporation, and collected in a basin prior to being recycled back to the condenser.

Challenge

The cooling tower’s intake structure, typically a vertical wet pit, requires level sensing and pump control. Water basin level controls maintain level through the addition of make-up water and are frequently configured with high and low level alarms.