Submerged condenser for steam power plant

Abstract

In a power plant which produces electricity by boiling water with heat generated from a nuclear or fossil fuel source, and uses the steam to drive a generator to produce electricity, the spent steam is condensed in the vacuum produced by a column that is disposed beneath the surface of an adjacent sea or other large body of water. The distilled condensate is pumped back to the boiler providing a closed-loop condensing system. The system improves the Carnot efficiency of the plant by exhausting the steam to a lower pressure than previous condensers which operate at near atmospheric pressure.

1 . A condenser for vapor, comprising: 
 a condenser chamber disposed in a body of water;    a sump disposed below the condenser chamber filled with condensed vapor;    a gas applied to the volume at the top of the sump to pressurize the sump;    a column of condensed vapor of the maximum height that can be supported by the gas pressure extending between the chamber and the sump to produce a near-vacuum pressure in the chamber volume above the column;    a conduit for feeding vapor at a higher temperature than the body of water surrounding the condenser chamber into the near-vacuum-pressure volume; and    a pump for removing condensed vapor from the sump as the vapor condenses and falls on the column.    
   
   
       2 . The condenser of  claim 1  in which the vapor is water vapor.  
   
   
       3 . The condenser of  claim 1  wherein the gas pressure in the sump is provided by a vent connecting the volume above the condensed vapor in the sump to the atmosphere.  
   
   
       4 . The condenser of  claim 2  wherein the water vapor is spent steam from the turbine of a power plant.  
   
   
       5 . The condenser of  claim 2  wherein the pump feeds water from the sump to a boiler which is part of the power plant.  
   
   
       6 . A condenser for condensing vapor into distillate, comprising: 
 a condenser chamber disposed within a body of water;    a conduit for feeding vapor into the condenser chamber;    a column of distillate connected to the chamber to produce a near-vacuum pressure above the column within the chamber; and    a pump operative to remove distillate from the bottom of the column.    
   
   
       7 . The condenser of  claim 6  wherein the vapor is water vapor.  
   
   
       8 . The condenser of  claim 7  wherein the water vapor is spent steam from the turbine of a power plant.  
   
   
       9 . The condenser of  claim 8  wherein the pump feeds water to a boiler which is part of the power plant.  
   
   
       10 . In a power generating plant disposed adjacent to a large body of water, comprising a boiler for water to produce steam, a turbine powered by the steam and an electric generator for converting the turbine power into electricity, a condenser for the spent vapor from the turbine comprising: 
 a condenser chamber disposed within the body of water;    a sump disposed below the condenser chamber filled with condensed vapor;    a gas applied to the top of the sump to pressurize the sump;    a column of condensed vapor of the maximum height that can be supported by the gas pressure extending between the chamber and the sump to produce a near-vacuum pressure in the chamber volume above the column;    a conduit for carrying vapor from the turbine exhaust into the near-vacuum volume; and    a pump for feeding water from the sump to the boiler.    
   
   
       11 . The plant of  claim 10  comprising a plurality of N boilers, powering N turbines respectively, each turbine powering one of N electric generators, and a plurality of condensers operate to receive spent vapor from at least certain of the turbines.  
   
   
       12 . The plant of  claim 11  including apparatus interconnecting various of the boilers with various of the turbines, and various of the turbines with various of the generators, to provide redundancy for fail-safe operation.  
   
   
       13 . The plant of  claim 12 , including a cooling tower operative to condense the spent vapor from any one of the turbines.