CU Science Low Temperature Uses for Waste Heat Discussion

Cooling water from a nearby lake or river is used to remove “leftover heat” from power plant condensers. Every day, millions of Btu’s of heat energy is wasted by “dumping” warm water (80 degrees F is typical) into lakes and rivers. Can you think of some “low-temperature” uses for this waste heat?  

After you answer you need to response to 2 peers post 

Here is the two peer post you must respond too

1) As a large amount of waste-heat is produced, a sufficient amount can be recovered and used for different purposes. One use of waste heat is towards heating and cooling systems. The waste heat can be modified in temperature and other properties, which can then go towards other power mechanisms, such as heating and AC systems. More research should be done to determine how useful the waste heat can be to generate more power, and the effort the process will take. So, we can also say that waste heat should be used for research. Understanding the different properties of waste heat allows to test for various potential uses.

It’s also noted that waste heat can generate steam, which generates many other process. I’m unsure if it is exactly “low-temperature”. Although, many industries can put this to use, and generate different processes particular to that industry. For example, laundromats for steam mechanisms and boilers. Perhaps waste heat can also be used for automobile and/or transportation purposes…

2)Instead of dumping this water back into lakes and rivers, this water can be used for other production or power plants that utilize warm water. An example of this is in the making of concrete they use warm water, so instead of them wasting more energy and resources to generate warm water they can utilize the waste heat.