Purification of condenser water in thermal power station by superconducting magnetic separation

► Magnetic separation using cryo-cooled Nb–Ti superconducting magnet was applied for the purification of condenser water. ► Iron oxides in condenser water were effectively removed by superconducting magnetic separation. ► The effect of magnetic field strength and filter size was determined. Thermal power station is made up of a steam turbine and a steam condenser which need a lot of water. The water of steam condenser should be replaced, since scales consisting of iron oxide mainly are accumulated on the surface of condenser pipes as it goes. Superconducting high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) system has merits to remove paramagnetic substance like iron oxides because it can generate higher magnetic field strength than electromagnet or permanent magnet. In this paper, cryo-cooled Nb–Ti superconducting magnet that can generate up to 6T was used for HGMS systems. Magnetic filters were designed by the analysis of magnetic field distribution at superconducting magnets. The result of X-ray analysis showed contaminants were mostly α-Fe2O3 (hematite) and γ-Fe2O3 (maghemite). The higher magnetic field was applied up to 6T, the more iron oxides were removed. As the wire diameter of magnetic filter decreased, the turbidity removal of the sample was enhanced.