Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Electronic Industries
Electronic Industries
Electric equipment industry contributes over 2% of GDP which is projected to increase to about 12% in 2015 according to a
study by Frost & Sullivan. During the period, consumption of electrical equipment is estimated to increase from over USD 28
billion now to USD 363 billion, growing at a CAGR of about 30%. It is also expected that during 2010-2015, the Indian
equipment manufacturing will grow at 5.5 times the growth rate of global electronic equipment production.
The electrical equipment and accessories industry, with its highly diversified content, may be broadly segmented into (i)
generation equipment, (ii) transmission equipment, and (iii) distribution equipment. The equipments and accessories under
these segments include motors, turbines, generators, switchgears, transformers, circuit breakers, induction motors, power
capacitors, meters, transmission towers. Besides these, the spectrum covers a whole range of power cables including XLPE
and AAC and ACSR conductors and electrical consumer products like fans, electric lamps, exhausts and domestic appliances
and accessories. Inverters, gensets, UP also fall under its domain.
The electrical industry has been showing signs of recovery after poor performance in the recent years. The domestic electrical
industry, which includes equipment for generation, transmission, distribution and use of power in industrial units, constitutes
a major part of the electrical products.
The growth of the industry is directly related to the development of power generation and distribution. India's generation
capacity of 2,300 MW in 1950 expanded to over 116,500 MW including non-utilities at the end 2000-01. The total installed
capacity of electric power generation further increased to 141,080 MW in 2007-08 (upto January 2008) compared to a
capacity of 128,000 MW during the same period in 2006-07. The Eleventh Plan has targeted a capacity addition of 78,570
MW.
The five years (2007-2012) may be the best of times for power equipment makers with the power sector on an expansion spree.
With order-book growth expanding over the last three years, there is a good chance that this will continue. Close to 82% of
the planned generation capacity for the Tenth Plan was either implemented or was in the process of being implemented. Even
assuming a 70% implementation ratio for the Eleventh Plan, close to 55,000 MW will be added. Five ultra mega power
projects, totaling 20,000 MW are coming up in 2008. In the transmission sector, for example, Power Grid Corporation is
planning a capex of Rs 710 billion by 2010.
Earlier, the shortfalls in achieving the Plan targets of addition to power generation and up-gradation of transmission and
distribution had adversely affected the electrical equipment industry. The peak shortage which was over 11% of the
requirement in 2003-04 increased to 11.7% in 2004-05 and to over 12% in 2005-06. The shortage further rose to about 14% in
2006-07. In the ten months of 2007-08 the peak shortage had risen to over 15% of the peak demand of 107,010 MW.
Major players in electrical equipment segment are ABB, BHEL, BHEL Power Solutions, Havell's India, Kirloskar Electric,
Crompton Greaves and Suzlon Energy.
According to the Power Ministry, the power sector has tied up Rs 2,240 billion worth of investments to build power plants with
70,000 MW capacities in the next three years.
With some fast moves at launching fast track projects to augment supplies, the Indian industry needs to improve its
competitiveness. The Indian market is growing and multinationals with newer technologies are now more active.
We can provide you detailed project reports on the following topics. Please select the projects
of your interests.
Each detailed project reports cover all the aspects of business, from analysing the market,
confirming availability of various necessities such as plant & machinery, raw materials to
forecasting the financial requirements. The scope of the report includes assessing market
potential, negotiating with collaborators, investment decision making, corporate diversification
planning etc. in a very planned manner by formulating detailed manufacturing techniques and
forecasting financial aspects by estimating the cost of raw material, formulating the cash flow
statement, projecting the balance sheet etc.
We also offer self-contained Pre-Investment and Pre-Feasibility Studies, Market Surveys and
Studies, Preparation of Techno-Economic Feasibility Reports, Identification and Selection of
Plant and Machinery, Manufacturing Process and or Equipment required, General Guidance,
Technical and Commercial Counseling for setting up new industrial projects on the following
topics.
Many of the engineers, project consultant & industrial consultancy firms in India and worldwide
use our project reports as one of the input in doing their analysis.
Earlier, the shortfalls in achieving the Plan targets of addition to power generation and upgradation of transmission and distribution had adversely affected the electrical equipment
industry. The peak shortage which was over 11% of the requirement in 2003-04 increased
to 11.7% in 2004-05 and to over 12% in 2005-06. The shortage further rose to about 14%
in 2006-07. In the ten months of 2007-08 the peak shortage had risen to over 15% of the
peak demand of 107,010 MW.
The national grid envisage 200,000 MW transmission capacity and 37,700 MW of interregional power transfer capacity (current inter-regional power transfer capacity is 20,750
MW) to ensure smooth transfer of power from power surplus to power-deficit regions.
According to the Power Ministry, the power sector has tied up Rs 2,240 billion worth of
investments to build power plants with 70,000 MW capacities in the next three years. The
Indian government has set ambitious goals in the 11th plan for power sector owing to
which the power sector is poised for significant expansion. In order to provide availability
of over 1000 units of per capita electricity by year 2012, it has been estimated that needbased capacity addition of more than 100,000 MW would be required. This has resulted in
massive addition plans being proposed in the sub-sectors of Generation Transmission and
Distribution. Investment is also expected to flow into different segments of the value chain,
covering the segments of power generation, transmission and distribution and allied
sectors such as equipment, technology and services. The private sector is expected to play
a more active role in investment and capital productivity. The government has undertaken a
number of initiatives to facilitate private sector participation.
With some fast moves at launching fast track projects to augment supplies, the Indian
industry needs to improve its competitiveness. The Indian market is growing and
multinationals with newer technologies are now more active.
We can provide you detailed project reports on the following topics. Please select the
projects of your interests.
Each detailed project reports cover all the aspects of business, from analysing the
market, confirming availability of various necessities such as plant & machinery, raw
materials to forecasting the financial requirements. The scope of the report includes
assessing market potential, negotiating with collaborators, investment decision making,
corporate diversification planning etc. in a very planned manner by formulating detailed
manufacturing techniques and forecasting financial aspects by estimating the cost of raw
material, formulating the cash flow statement, projecting the balance sheet etc.
We also offer self-contained Pre-Investment and Pre-Feasibility Studies, Market Surveys and
Studies, Preparation of Techno-Economic Feasibility Reports, Identification and Selection of
Plant and Machinery, Manufacturing Process and or Equipment required, General Guidance,
Technical and Commercial Counseling for setting up new industrial projects on the following
topics.
Many of the engineers, project consultant & industrial consultancy firms in India and
worldwide use our project reports as one of the input in doing their analysis.
Manufacturing Techniques:
Formulae Detailed Process of Manufacture, Flow Sheet
Diagram.
Market Survey:
Present Market Position, Expected Future Demand,
Statistics of Imports & Exports, Export Prospect, Names
and Addresses of Existing Units (Present Manufactures).
Personnel Requirements:
Requirement of Staff & Labour, Personnel Management,
Skilled & Unskilled Labour.
Raw Material:
List of Raw Materials, Properties of Raw Materials,
Availability of Raw Materials, Required Quality of Raw
Materials, Cost / Rates of Raw Materials.
Financial Aspects:
Cost of Raw Materials, Cost of Land & Building, Cost of
Plant & Machineries, Fixed Capital Investment, Working
Capital, Project Cost, Capital Formation, Cost of
Production, Profitability Analysis, Break Even Point, Cash
Flow Statement for 5 to 10 Years, Depreciation
Chart,Conclusion, Projected Balance Sheet, Land Man
Ratio.
In coal fired thermal power plant, steam is obtained in very high pressure inside the steam boiler by
burning the pulverized coal. This steam is then super heated in the super heater to extreme high
temperature. This super heated steam is then allowed to enter into the turbine, as the turbine blades
are rotated by the pressure of the steam. The turbine is mechanically coupled with alternator in a
way that its rotor will rotate with the rotation of turbine blades. After entering into the turbine, the
steam pressure suddenly falls leading to corresponding increase in the steam volume. After having
imparted energy into the turbine rotors, the steam is made to pass out of the turbine blades into the
steam condenser of turbine. In the condenser, cold water at ambient temperature is circulated with
the help of pump which leads to the condensation of the low pressure wet steam. Then this
condensed water is further supplied to low pressure water heater where the low pressure steam
increases the temperature of this feed water, it is again heated in high pressure. This outlines the
basic working methodology of a thermal power plant.
These alternative sources of generation has been given due importance in the last few decades
owing to the depleting amount of the natural fuels available to us. In the centuries to come, a stage
might be reached when several countries across the globe would run out of their entire reserve for
fossil fuels. The only way forward would then lie in the mercy of these alternative sources of energy
which might play an instrumental role in shaping the energy supplies of the future. For this reason
these might rightfully be referred as the energy of the future.
be fed by other alternators without affecting availability of the system. As many numbers of
alternators are connected and run in parallel, the frequency and voltage of the system becomes
much stable irrespective of degree of loading present in the system. The main drawback of the grid
system is, when an alternator is connected to the grid, its frequency, voltage and phase sequence
must match with that of the grid, and the process of matching the said parameters of alternator with
the grid is not a simple task and the process is called synchronizing.
This steam is then passed through the turbine blades and the turbine shaft rotates due to this steam
pressure. The rotor of an alternator is mechanically coupled with the turbine shaft and hence it also
rotates. This rotation produces electric power.
Although running cost of a hydal power plant is quite low, but initial constructional cost of this plant is
quite high as compared to thermal power plant. As because, there is huge involvement of money in
construction of dams and other necessary civil buildings. Water turbine generally runs at a low
speed, hence number of poles in the generator is higher to achieve fixed 50 Hz power frequency.
The number of pole in a hydal alternator may be up to 20 or more.
neutrons which again hit by other U 235 nuclear and create mare heat energy and other fission
neutrons. During fission process the nucleus of U 235 is divided into two parts. The fission process
is commutative in nature. That is why, a nuclear reaction is a chain reaction and hence it should be
allowed to be occurred in a controlled manner. The moderates and control rods are used to control
this chain reaction.
Moderates are used to reduce the velocity of neutrons and control rods are used to absorb neutrons
for maintaining, required number of neutrons for the process. Moderates are made of heavy water or
pure carbon and control rods are made of cadmium or boron steel. The speed of the nuclear
reaction can be controlled by inserting control rods up to a desire deep into the reaction chamber. By
pushing down and pulling up the control rods, the output of the nuclear generating plant is controlled.
Although this process is not manual, it is controlled by the automatic feedback control system. The
heat generated during fission is taken out from the reactor by means of coolant consisting of liquid
sodium or some gaseous fluids. The coolant is circulated between heat exchanger and the reactor. It
takes heat from the reactor and gives the heat to the water in the heat exchanger. Thus the water in
the heat exchanger is converted to high pressure and high temperature steam. This steam then
drives a turbine and exhausts into a condenser where it is condensed into water and cooled down
for re- feeding to the heater changes again via a feed water pump. The main advantage of nuclear
power plant is its minimum fuel consumption. It has been observed that for running a 1000 MW
thermal power plant, nearly 6 X106 kg of coal to be burnt every day, whereas in a nuclear power
plant only 2.5 kg of Uranium to be consumed daily for getting same output. But the initial investment
of nuclear power plant is quite high. It produces electricity without causing any air pollution, but, it
has always a chance of radiation hazard because of leakage in reactor chamber. Another major
disadvantage of this plant is its disposals, as because its disposals are not free from radioactivity.
condenses the low pressure wet steam. This condensed water is further supplied to low pressure
water heater where the low pressure steam increases the temperature of this feed water, it is again
heated in high pressure.
For better understanding we furnish every step of function of a thermal power station as follows,
1) First the pulverized coal is burnt into the furnace of steam boiler.
2) High pressure steam is produced in the boiler.
3) This steam is then passed through the super heater, where it further heated up.
4) This supper heated steam is then entered into a turbine at high speed.
5) In turbine this steam force rotates the turbine blades that means here in the turbine the stored
potential energy of the high pressured steam is converted into mechanical energy.
6) After rotating the turbine blades, the steam has lost its high pressure, passes out of turbine blades
and enters into a condenser.
7) In the condenser the cold water is circulated with help of pump which condenses the low pressure
wet steam.
8) This condensed water is then further supplied to low pressure water heater where the low
pressure steam increases the temperature of this feed water, it is then again heated in a high
pressure heater where the high pressure of steam is used for heating.
9) The turbine in thermal power station acts as a prime mover of the alternator.
The working fluid is water and steam. This is called feed water and steam cycle. The ideal
Thermodynamic Cycle to which the operation of a Thermal Power Station closely resembles is the
RANKINE CYCLE.
In steam boiler the water is heated up by burning the fuel in air in the furnace & the function of the
boiler is to give dry super heated steam at required temperature.
The steam so produced is used in driving the steam Turbines. This turbine is coupled to
synchronous generator (usually three phase synchronous alternator), which generates electrical
energy.
The exhaust steam from the turbine is allowed to condense into water in steam condenser of turbine,
which creates suction at very low pressure and allows the expansion of the steam in the turbine to a
very low pressure. The principle advantages of condensing operation are the increased amount of
energy extracted per kg of steam and thereby increasing efficiency and the condensate which is fed
into the boiler again reduces the amount of fresh feed water.
The condensate along with some fresh make up feed water is again fed into the boiler by pump
(called the boiler feed pump).
In condenser the steam is condensed by cooling water. Cooling water recycles through cooling
tower. This constitutes cooling water circuit.
The ambient air is allowed to enter in the boiler after dust filtration. Also the flue gas comes out of
the boiler and exhausted into atmosphere through stacks. These constitute air and flue gas circuit.
The flow of air and also the static pressure inside the steam boiler (called draught) is maintained by
two fans called Forced Draught (FD) fan and Induced Draught(ID) fan.
The total scheme of a typical thermal power station along with different circuits is illustrated below.
Inside the boiler there are various heat exchangers, viz. Economiser, Evaporator (not shown in
the fig above, it is basically the water tubes, i.e. downcomer riser circuit), Super Heater (sometimes
Reheater, air preheater are also present).
In Economiser the feed water is heated to considerable amount by the remaining heat of flue gas.
The Boiler Drum actually maintains a head for natural circulation of two phase mixture (steam +
water) through the water tubes.
There is also Super Heater which also takes heat from flue gas and raises the temperature of steam
as per requirement.
upto 1MW
4%
1MW to 10MW
12%
10MW to 50MW
16%
50MW to 100MW
24%
above 100MW
27%
A thermal power station or thermal power plant has ultimate target to make business profit. Hence
for optimizing the profit, the location of the station is much important factor. Power generation plant
location plays an optimizing part in the economy of the station.
The most economical , location of power plant can be determined by graphical method as described
below,
The most economical and ideal power plant location is the center of gravity of the load because for
such a power generation plant the length of the power transmission network will be minimum, thus
the capital cost to the system is reduced.
Lets explain the graphical method, say, X and Y be two reference axes.
Lets Q1(x1, y1), Q2(x2, y2), Q3(x3, y3), Q4(x4, y4),.and Qn(xn, yn) are n
numbers of load centers. From the above graph we get, the coordinates of the center of gravity of
the load, Q(x, y) where
Obviously the location of thermal power station is best at the center of gravity of the load, but many
times it is not possible to establish a thermal power plant at the CG of the load. Since normally CG
point of the load may be at the heart of the city. so other many points to be considered to decide the
best optimized location of the power plant.
1) The electric power generation plant must be constructed at such a place where the cost of land
is quite reasonable.
2) The land should be such that the acquisition of private property must be minimum.
3) A large quantity of cooling water is required for the condensers etc of thermal power generation
plant, hence the plant should preferably situated beside big source of natural water source such as
big river.
4) Availability of huge amount of fuel at reasonable cost is one of the major criterion for choosing
plant location.
5) The plant should be established on plane land.
6)The soil should be such that it should provide good and firm foundation of plant and buildings.
7) The thermal power plant location should not be very nearer to dense locality as there are
smoke, noise steam, water vapors etc.
8) There must be ample scope of development of future demand.
9) Place for ash handling plant for thermal power station should also be available very near by.
10) Very tall chimney of power station should not obstruct the traffics of air ships.
Disadvantages:
1) The running cost for a thermal power station is comparatively high due to fuel,maintenance etc.
2) Large amount of smoke causes air pollution.The thermal power station is responsible for Global
warming.
3) The heated water that comes from thermal power plant has an adverse effect on the lives in the
water and disturbs the ecology.
4) Overall efficiency of thermal power plant is low like less 30%.
Definition of Boiler
Steam boiler or simply a boiler is basically a closed vessel into which water is heated until the
water is converted into steam at required pressure. This is most basic definition of boiler.
It includes with thermal efficiency, combustion efficiency & fuel to steam efficiency. Steam boiler
efficiency depends upon the size of boiler used. A typical efficiency of steam boiler is 80% to 88%.
Actually there are some losses occur like incomplete combustion, radiating loss occurs from steam
boiler surrounding wall, defective combustion gas etc. Hence, efficiency of steam boiler gives this
result.
Types of Boiler
There are mainly two types of boiler water tube boiler and fire tube boiler.
In fire tube boiler, there are numbers of tubes through which hot gases are passed and water
surrounds these tubes.
Water tube boiler is reverse of the fire tube boiler. In water tube boiler the water is heated inside
tubes and hot gasses surround these tubes.
These are the main two types of boiler but each of the types can be sub divided into many which
we will discuss later.
This is the basic definition of water tube boiler. Actually this boiler is just opposite of fire tube boiler
where hot gasses are passed through tubes which are surrounded by water.
The ignition occurs downwards against the primary air flow. The volatile matter filters through the
bed and is completely burnt. The combustion rate is high. The light ash contents and combustion
gases fly away to the atmosphere along with primary air. Heavier ash content comes down over the
grate and ultimately falls into ash pit.
Due to pulverization, the surface area of coal becomes much larger, and in this method air required
for combustion is much less. As the quantity of required air and fuel both are less, loss of heat in this
method of boiler firing is much less, hence temperature can easily be reached to the designated
level. As the combustion is most efficient pulverized coal firing increases the overall efficiency of
steam boiler. As handling of lighter coal dust is much easier than handling of heavier coal chips, it is
quite easy to control the output of the boiler by controlling supply of fuel to the furnace. Hence
fluctuation of system load can smoothly be met.
In addition these advantages, pulverized coal firing system has may disadvantages. Such as
1) The initial cost of installing this plant is very high.
2) Not only initial cost, running cost of this plant is quite high as separate pulverization plant to
installed and run additionally.
3) High temperature causes high thermal loss through flue gas.
4) This type of method of boiler firing has always a risk of explosion.
5) This is also difficult and expensive to filter fine ash particles from fine gas. Moreover, the quantity
of ash particles in the flue gas is more in pulverized system.
Pulvarization Process
Process of pulvarization is discussed here in brief.
1) First the coal is crushed by preliminary crasher. The coal is crushed to 2.5 cm. or less.
2) Then this crushed coal is passed through magnetic separator to separate any iron content in the
coal. Iron must be removed, otherwise during pulverizing iron particles will cause spark which results
unwanted fire hazard.
3) After that, crushed coal is dried properly before pulverization. The moisture content must be less
than 2% after drying operation.
4) Then the coal is crushed again in fine particles in ball mill. This process is referred as
pulverization.
5) This pulverized coal is then puffed with air and put into furnace as fluid.
Fluidization is a method of mixing fuel and air in a specific proportion, for obtaining combustion. A
fluidized bed may be defined as the bed of solid particles behaving as a fluid. It operates on the
principal that when an evenly distributed air is passed upward through a finely divided bed of solid
particles at low velocity, the particles remain undisturbed, but if the velocity of air flow is steadily
increased, a stage is reached when the individual particles are suspended in the air stream. If the air
velocity is further increased, the bed becomes highly turbulent and rapid mixing of particles occur
which appear like formation of bubbles in a boiling liquid and the process of combustion as a result is
known as fluidized bed combustion .
The velocity of air, causing fluidization depends on a number of parameter, like :-
The evaporator tubes of boiler are directly immersed in the fluidized bed and the tubes, being in
direct contact with the burning coal particles, produce very high heat transfer rates. Because of this,
the unit size is reduced to a great extent, and also produces combustion with very high efficiency.
Fluidized Bed combustion can be in 2 variants, namely :1) Vertical type FBC :These are generally used in smaller plant, and has the capacity to produce
steam of up to 6 tonnes per hour only. Their vertical shape reduces the overall dimension of the
steam boiler, and is extremely efficient in plants, where space provision is limited.
2) Horizontal type FBC : There are almost 10 times in capacity when compared to vertical type
fluidized bed combustion. They can produce as much as 60 tonnes of steam per hour, and are
placed horizontally with respect to the boiler tubes. The high capacity of the horizontal type Fluidized
boilers coupled with their high efficiency, makes them an extremely desirable choice for the coal
fired thermal power generating station .
8) The operation of fluidized bed furnace at lower temperature helps in reducing air pollution. The
low temperature operation also reduces the formation of nitrogen oxides. By adding either dolomite
(a calcium-magnesium carbonate) or lime stone (calcium carbonate) to the furnace the discharge of
sulphur oxides to the atmosphere can also be reduced if desired.
In view of all these advantages of fluidized bed combustion above, where fluidized bed
combustion emerges as the best alternative available today, still the major drawback of this system
is that the fan power has to be maintained at a considerably highvalue, since the air has to be
supplied continuously at a very high pressure for supporting the bed. This in turn increases the
operating cost of the auxiliary units of the plant. But it is more than compensated by the high values
of efficiency that FBC provides.
Power system mainly contains three parts namely generation, transmission and distribution.
Generation means how to generate electricity from the available source and there are various
methods to generate electricity but in this article we only focused on generation of electricity by the
means of hydro or water (hydro power plant). As we know that the power plant is defined as the
place where power is generated from a given source, so here the source is hydro thats why we
called it hydro power plant.
In hydro power plant we use gravitational force of fluid water to run the turbine which is coupled
with electric generator to produce electricity. This power plant plays an important role to protect our
fossil fuel which is limited, because the generated electricity in hydro power station is the use of
water which is renewable source of energy and available in lots of amount without any cost. The big
advantage of hydro power is the water which the main stuff to produce electricity in hydro power
plant is free, it not contain any type of pollution and after generated electricity the price of electricity
is average not too much high.
the electric power to the load center, and then we step down the voltage for industrial and large
consumer and then again we step down the voltage to distribute electricity at domestic level which
we used at home.
This is the whole process of generating electricity by the means of hydro (hydro power plant) and
then transmitting and distributing electricity.
Power Development after that in November 2008 once again Indian government announced this
plan and as a result India become leading country list to produce hydro power.
This a general idea about hydro power plant.
For generating electrical power, it is essential to rotate the rotor of an alternator by means of a prime
mover. The prime mover can be driven by different methods. Using diesel engine as prime mover is
one of the popular methods of generating power. When prime mover of the alternators is diesel
engine, the power station is called diesel power station.
The mechanical power required for driving alternator comes from combustion of diesel. As the diesel
costs high, this type of power station is not suitable for producing power in large scale in our country.
But for small scale production of electric power, and where, there is no other easily available
alternatives of producing electric power, diesel power station are used.
Steam power stations and hydro power plants are mainly used to produce maximum portion of the
electrical load demands. But for steam power station, sufficient supply of coal and water are
required.
For hydro power station, plenty source of water and big dams are required. But where all these
facilities are not available, such as no easy way of coal transportation and no scope of constructing
dam, there it is established.
Diesel power plants are also popularly used as standby supply of different industries, commercial
complexes, hospitals, etc. During power cut, these diesel power generators are run to fulfil required
demand.
7. Cooling is easy and required smaller quantity of water in this type power station.
8. Initial cost is less than other types of power station.
9. Thermal efficiency of diesel is quite higher than of coal.
10. Small involvement is less than steam power station.
Exhaust System
The exhaust gas is removed from engine, to the atmosphere by means of an exhaust system. A
silencer is normally used in this system to reduce noise level of the engine.
Cooling System
The heat produced due to internal combustion, drives the engine. But some parts of this heat raise
the temperature of different parts of the engine. High temperature may cause permanent damage to
the machine. Hence, it is essential to maintain the overall temperature of the engine to a tolerable
level. Cooling system of diesel power station does exactly so. The cooling system requires a water
source, water source, water pump and cooling towers. The pump circulates water through cylinder
and head jacket. The water takes away heat from the engine and it becomes hot. The hot water is
cooled by cooling towers and is re-circulated for cooling.
Lubricating System
This system minimises the water of rubbing surface of the engine. Here lubricating oil is stored in
main lubricating oil tank. This lubricating oil is drawn from the tank by means of oil pump. Then the
oil is passed through the oil filter for removing impurities. From the filtering point, this clean
lubricating oil is delivered to the different points of the machine where lubrication is required the oil
cooler is provided in the system to keep the temperature of the lubricating oil as low as possible.
Starting System
For starting a diesel engine, initial rotation of the engine shaft is required. Until the firing start and the
unit runs with its own power. For small DG set, the initial rotation of the shaft is provided by handles
but for large diesel power station. Compressed air is made for starting.
Electrical power can be generated by means of nuclear power. In nuclear power station, electrical
power is generated by nuclear reaction.
Here, heavy radioactive elements such as Uranium (U235) or Thorium (Th232) are subjected to nuclear
fission. This fission is done in a special apparatus called as reactor.
Before going to details of nuclear power station, lets try to understand what is fission?
In fission process, the nuclei of heavy radioactive atoms are broken into two nearly equal parts.
During this breaking of nuclei, huge quantity of energy is released. This release of energy is due to
mass defect. That mean, the total mass of initial product would be reduced during fission. This loss
of mass during fission is converted into heat energy as per famous equation E = mc2, established by
Albert Einstein.
The basic principle of nuclear power station is same as steam power station. Only difference is
that, instead of using heat generated due to coal combustion, here in nuclear power plant, heat
generated due to nuclear fission is used to produce steam from water in the boiler. This steam is
used to drive a steam turbine. This turbine is the prime mover of the alternator. This alternator
generates electrical energy. Although, the availability of nuclear fuel is not plenty but very less
amount of nuclear fuel can generate huge amount of electrical energy. This is the unique feature of a
nuclear power plant. One kg of uranium is equivalent to 4500 metric tons of high grade coal. That
means complete fission of 1 kg uranium can produce as much heat as can be produced by complete
combustion of 4500 metric tons high grade coal. This is why, although nuclear fuel is much costlier,
but nuclear fuel cost per unit electrical energy is still lower than that cost of energy generated by
means of other fuel like coal and diesel. To meet up conventional fuel crisis in present era, nuclear
power station can be the most suitable alternatives.
Nuclear Reactor
In nuclear reactor, Uranium 235 is subjected to nuclear fission. It controls the chain reaction that
starts when the fission is done. The chain reaction must be controlled otherwise rate of energy
release will be fast, there may be a high chance of explosion. In nuclear fission, the nuclei of nuclear
fuel, such as U235 are bombarded by slow flow of neutrons. Due to this bombarding, the nuclei of
Uranium is broken, which causes release of huge heat energy and during breaking of nuclei, number
of neutrons are also emitted.
These emitted neutrons are called fission neutrons. These fission neutrons cause further fission.
Further fission creates more fission neutrons which again accelerate the speed of fission. This is
cumulative process. If the process is not controlled, in very short time the rate of fission becomes so
high, it will release so huge amount of energy, there may be dangerous explosion. This cumulative
reaction is called chain reaction. This chain reaction can only be controlled by removing fission
neutrons from nuclear reactor. The speed of the fission can be controlled by changing the rate of
removing fission neutrons from reactors.
A nuclear reactor is a cylindrical shaped stunt pressure vessel. The fuel rods are made of nuclear
fuel i.e. Uranium moderates, which is generally made of graphite cover the fuel rods. The moderates
slow down the neutrons before collision with uranium nuclei. The controls rods are made of cadmium
because cadmium is a strong absorber of neutrons.
The control rods are inserted in the fission chamber. These cadmium controls rods can be pushed
down and pull up as per requirement. When these rods are pushed down enough, most of the fission
neutrons are absorbed by these rods, hence the chain reaction stops. Again, while the controls rods
are pulled up, the availability of fission neutrons becomes more which increases the rates of chain
reaction. Hence, it is clear that by adjusting the position of the control rods, the rate of nuclear
reaction can be controlled and consequently the generation of electrical power can be controlled as
per load demand. In actual practice, the pushing and pulling of control rods are controlled by
automatic feedback system as per requirement of the load. It is not controlled manually. The heat
released during nuclear reaction, are carried to the heat exchanger by means of coolant consist of
sodium metal.
Heat Exchanger
In heat exchanger, the heat carried by sodium metal, is dissipated in water and water is converted to
high pressure steam here. After releasing heat in water the sodium metal coolant comes back to the
reactor by means of coolant circulating pump.
Steam Turbine
In nuclear power plant, the steam turbine plays the same role as coal power plant. The steam drives
the turbine in same way. After doing its job, the exhaust steam comes into steam condenser where it
is condensed to provide space to the steam behind it.
Alternator
An alternator, coupled with turbine, rotates and generates electrical power, for utilization.
But the main thing is that after these obstacles sun energy reach to earth is sufficient to produce or
generate electricity which is polluted free. Due to this consideration somewhat we reduce the use of
Thermal Power Plant, Gas Power Plant etc and reserve the non renewable energy sources like coal,
petroleum etc for future. In recent years solar energy system is rise as a primary source of energy
that converted into electricity and almost all country in the world utilize maximum solar energy to
produce electricity and this is very less costly.
The main benefit of solar energy system is that the sun light is present everywhere free of cost. To
produce electricity or convert solar energy to other form of energy first we invest heavy amount for
solar panel that convert solar energy to other form but the main advantage is after that installation no
any type of maintenance is required for 40 to 50 years.
Institute. In 1981, Paul Macready produced the first solar powered aircraft. in the year 1982 there
was the development of the first solar powered cars in Australia. In 1999 the largest plant was
developed producing more than 20 kilowatts.
In 1999, the most proficient solar cell was developed with a photovoltaic efficiency of 36 percent,
now a day we produce 200 megawatts to 600 megawatts electricity from solar energy like in Indias
Gujarat Solar Park, a compilation of solar farms spotted around the Gujarat region, show a mutual
installed capacity of 605 megawatts and Golmud Solar Park in China, with an installed capacity of
200 megawatts.
Fixed charges, as the name suggest does not vary either with the capacity of the plant or with plant
operation. These costs remain fixed under all circumstances. These mainly include the salaries of
higher officials of the central organization and the rent of the land reserved for future expansion.
1) Cost of the fuel delivered coupled with the fuel handling cost in the plant. Coal is the fuel used in a
thermal power plant, and diesel oil in case of a diesel station. In case of a hydro-electric plant there
is no fuel cost as water is the free gift of nature. But a hydro-plant requires higher installation cost
and their mega Watt output of power generation is also lower compared to the thermal power plants.
2) Wastage of the operational and maintenance stuff and salaries of supervisor staffs engaged in
running the plant.
3) In case of a thermal power plant, power generation economics includes the cost of feed water for
the boiler, like the cost of water treatment and conditioning.
4) As the amount of wear and tear of the equipment depends on the extent to which the plant is
being used, so the lubricating oil cost and repair and maintenance charges of the equipment are also
included in the running charges.
So, we can conclude saying, that the total annual charges incurred in the power generation, and the
overall power generation economics can be represented by the equation,
E = a + b KW + c kWH
1. Where a represents the total fixed cost of the plant, and has no relation with the total output of
the plant or the number of hours for which the plant is running.
2. b represents the semi-fixed cost, which mainly depends on the total output of the plant and not
on the number of hours for which the plant is being operated. The unit for b is thus ideally
chosen to be in k-Watt.
3. c essentially represents the running cost of the plant, and depends on the number of hours for
which the plant is running to generate a certain mega watt of power. Its unit is given in K-WattHr.
Objective Questions on Electrical Power Generation (MCQs)