Ten KBL concrete volute pumpsets help to circulate 10.5 million litres of water every minute at the 4000 MW (800 MW x 5 units) UMPP, which is owned by Tata Power subsidiary Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL).
“The world’s largest circulating water pumping system is a salute to Indian engineering. The Mundra UMPP is India’s first and most energy efficient coal-based thermal power plant using supercritical technology to create lower greenhouse gas emissions and its main power generation equipment is sourced from Japan and Korea. And here comes Indian technology to create a circulating water pumping system that rubs shoulders with the world leaders,” said Ravindra Ulangwar, associate vice president and Power Sector head at KBL.
In order to ensure the smooth operation of the pumps, KBL conducted a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis, followed by a physical model study for the fore-bay and sump at the Hydraulic Research Centre in Kirloskarvadi. A prototype physical model was built to 1:12 scale ratio. KBL also conducted a pump model study to establish the hydraulic performance of the concrete volute pumps.
The Mundra UMPP will meet 2% of India’s power needs and serve 16 million domestic, industrial and agricultural consumers in Gujarat. Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab will also benefit from this project.
