Application of Electrochemical Technology in Circulating Cooling Water Treatment for Thermal Power Plants

Circulating cooling water systems are crucial auxiliary systems in thermal power plants, and their stable operation is essential for ensuring the safe and efficient production of power generating units. Traditional chemical dosing methods, while offering some degree of control over scaling, corrosion, and biofouling, are increasingly limited by their high costs, secondary pollution, and limited effectiveness in removing hardness ions. Electrochemical treatment technology, by creating a highly alkaline environment at the cathode, precipitates hardness ions at the source. Simultaneously, it generates strong oxidizing agents at the anode to kill bacteria and algae. In practice, this technology effectively increases the concentration ratio of circulating cooling water, significantly reduces sewage discharge, and can completely replace chemical agents. It offers significant advantages in water conservation, emission reduction, and green operation. This study focuses on the main principles, key component design, and influencing factors of electrochemical technology. Based on empirical applications in typical thermal power plants, its economic and environmental benefits are analyzed and summarized. The results show that the use of this technology can increase the concentration ratio of circulating cooling water to more than 7 times, save more than 500,000 tons of water annually, and has a short payback period on investment. It has broad application prospects in thermal power generation and other industrial fields.