Case Study: Plant Branch (2000)

The largest mechanical draft cooling tower built by GEA, this 32-cell tower with a water flow rate of 400,000 gpm was installed along the banks of Georgia's Lake Lanier. Designed for once through cooling of unfiltered river water, the tower utilizes GEA's NF-20 modular splash fill. This tower was constructed to reduce the discharge water temperature from an existing 1,500 MW coal fired power plant.

During the spring, the suspended solids in the river water can exceed 300 ppm, which can lead to fouling or plugging of film fills. GEA's NF-20 modular splash fill, which can easily handle up to 500 ppm of suspended solids, was chosen for this application.

Due to a tight project schedule, the non-traditional bent line construction method was utilized. This allowed GEA to complete construction is only 12 weeks.

This 32-cell Cooling Tower meets or exceeds the following requirements:

Design Duty:
- 400,000 gpm
- 110.0ºF hot water
- 86.0ºF cold water
- 80.0ºF inlet wet bulb
Met the customer's expectations for thermal performance.
Utilizes NF-20 modular splash fill to prevent fouling from the unfiltered river water.
Met the customer's rigorous delivery and construction schedule.

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