Magazine

Last edition
June 2025

Home › Renewable energy ›Kirloskar Brothers churns 10.5 million litres per minute from the Arabian Sea for TATA Power

Kirloskar Brothers churns 10.5 million litres per minute from the Arabian Sea for TATA Power

KBL collaborates with Tata Power to install the world’s largest water pumping system for Tata Power’s Mundra UMPP (Ultra Modern Power Plant)

January 09, 2014. By Moulin

Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL) has done India proud. The leading global fluid management company has collaborated with Tata Power and installed the world’s largest water pumping system for Tata Power’s Mundra UMPP (Ultra Modern Power Plant).

A mammoth 10.5 million litres of water is circulated with the help of KBL’s 10 sets of Concrete Volute Pumps every minute. The Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL), Tata Power’s wholly-owned subsidiary, which has implemented the 4000 MW (800 MW x 5 units) UMPP requires an enormous amount of water to condense the heat generated in the production of power.

On a turn-key basis, KBL created an open loop type of circulating water system for Tata Power’s subsidiary, wherein sea water from the Arabian Sea is used as heat sink to condense the steam in the condenser. Cold water from the sea is pumped by KBL’s unique circulating water pumps through the condenser going back to sea through an outfall structure. All of 10.5 million litres in 60 seconds!

Mr. Ravindra Ulangwar, Associate Vice President & Head - Power Sector, KBL said: “The World’s largest water pumping system is a salute to Indian engineering. The Mundra UMPP is India’s first and most energy efficient 800 MW unit coal-based thermal power plant, using supercritical technology to create lower greenhouse gas emissions. Its main power generation equipment is sourced from Japan and Korea. And thus came about Indian technology to create a water pumping system that rubs shoulders with world leaders.”

He added: “The layout of the pumping system is designed in such a way that large fluctuation in the water level due to tidal variation in the Arabian Sea is taken care of. The motors are installed above the high tide level, where as pumps are installed in such a way that enough submergence is possible during low tide levels. To accommodate this, the motors are connected with a pump shaft with specially designed cardon shaft. The length of the cardon shaft with universal coupling is 12 meters long, making it one of the longest pump shaft. The size of the entire pumping system is so large that it has become the largest circulating water system in the world.”

In order to ensure a perfect flow pattern for smooth operation of the pump, KBL also conducted Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis followed by a physical model study for fore-bay and sump at Hydraulic Research Centre at Kirloskarvadi factory. A prototype physical model was built with 1:12 scale ratio. KBL also conducted the pump model study to establish the Hydraulic Performance of the Concrete Volute pumps.
As reported earlier, the Mundra UMPP will meet 2% of India’s power needs and 16 million domestic, industrial and agricultural consumers in power starved Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab.

Tags:

Hydropower

If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content,
please contact: contact@energetica-india.net.

Next events

Renewable Energy India Expo 2025

October 30, 2025

The Renewable Energy India Expo (REI Expo) showcases India’s achievements in renewable energy and industry progress. In its remarkable 17th edition, the event brought together top brands and over 800 suppliers, featuring a diverse range of prod...

more information