Crystal Lagoons' sustainable cooling technology, a water cooling system that can disconnect thermoelectric plants from natural water sources, is showing at Power-Gen International 2011 this week in Las Vegas.
The company aims to repurpose its patented artificial lagoon technology, originally developed for real estate projects and recreational purposes, as an eco-friendly substitute for traditional cooling towers at power stations.
The closed circuit cooling system has advantages to traditional cooling, the company said, in that it eliminates disruption to the marine ecosystem when water borrowed from the a natural resource is returned at much higher temperatures. This practice is banned in the U.S., and according to Crystal Lagoon, other countries are following suit.
The company said that the lagoon technology would allow thermoelectric power stations to be located nearer to demand centers, rather than close to large sources of water, which would increase efficiency and lower transmission costs.
Crystal Lagoon said that the 5,500 power stations in North America use 170 billion liters of water a day.
As well, Crystal Lagoon anticipates the use of captured thermal energy from the pool for a number of processes such as heating, residential and industrial hot water, thermal desalination, greenhouse heating, wood drying and recreational facilities.
The company said that the lagoon technology is applicable to cooling challenges present at thermo-solar plants, foundries and data centers, and that it has pipelined 19 projects in countries such as Finland, United States, India, Saudi Arabia and Chile.
