Abstract: Thermal power plays a decisive role in energy supply in China and much attention needs to be paid to the energy saving design of thermal power plants. The thermal power installed capacity accounts for over 70% of the total installed power generation capacity in China. Following the requirement of “building efficient coal-fired power plants with energy saving, environmental protection and water saving” proposed in the“National Energy Technology Twelfth Five-Year Plan”, and taking the 1000-MW grade thermal power unit for example, schemes with different circulating pump configuration are compared and the influence factors of circulating water pump head are analyzed. Analysis on energy saving is also taken for the optimized water cooling power plant with once-through system and recirculating system and the ideas on and schemes of energy saving in the circulating water system of thermal power plants are proposed for reference for professionals.

Key words: thermal power plant, water cooling, circulating water system, energy saving