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SUMMER TRAINING REPORT

21st JUNE to 31st JULY

SUBMITED BY:-
Rohit Juyal
08/ME/94
BSATIM, FBD.
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ABOUT THE COMPANY

NTPC, the largest power Company in India, was setup in

1975 to accelerate power development in the country. It is
among the world’s largest and most efficient power
generation companies. In Forbes list of World’s 2000 Largest
Companies for the year 2007, NTPC occupies 411th place.

A View of Badarpur Thermal Power Station, New Delhi

NTPC has installed capacity of 29,394 MW. It has 15 coal

based power stations (23,395 MW), 7 gas based power
stations (3,955 MW) and 4 power stations in Joint Ventures
(1,794 MW). The company has power generating facilities in
all major regions of the country. It plans to be a 75,000 MW
company by 2017.
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NTPC has gone beyond the thermal power generation. It has

diversified into hydro power, coal mining, power equipment
manufacturing, oil & gas exploration, power trading &
distribution. NTPC is now in the entire power value chain and
is poised to become an Integrated Power Major. NTPC's share
on 31 Mar 2008 in the total installed capacity of the country
was 19.1% and it contributed 28.50% of the total power
generation of the country during 2007-08. NTPC has set new
benchmarks for the power industry both in the area of power
plant construction and operations. With its experience and
expertise in the power sector, NTPC is extending consultancy
services to various organizations in the power business. It
provides consultancy in the area of power plant
constructions and power generation to companies in India
and abroad. In November 2004, NTPC came out with its
Initial Public Offering (IPO) consisting of 5.25% as fresh issue
and 5.25% as offer for sale by Government of India. NTPC
thus became a listed company with Government holding
89.5% of the equity share capital and rest held by
Institutional Investors and Public. The issue was a
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resounding success. NTPC is among the largest five

companies in India in terms of market capitalization.

Recognizing its excellent performance and vast potential,

Government of the India has identified NTPC as one of the
jewels of Public Sector 'Navratnas'- a potential global giant.
Inspired by its glorious past and vibrant present, NTPC is well
on its way to realize its vision of being "A world class
integrated power major, powering India's growth, with
increasing global presence".
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Thermal power station employs a great number of equipment

performing number of complexity processes. The ultimate aim being
the production of electricity. In order to have stable generating
condition always a balance has to be achieved so that heat input is
equal to electricity output and losses. BTPS is designed by the central
water and power commission.

 Approval capacity

750 MW

 Installed capacity

705 MW

 Location

New Delhi

 Coal source – Jharia coal fields

 CCL (Central Coal Fields Ltd.)
 BCCL (Bharat Cooking Coals Ltd.)
 ECL (Eastern Coal Fields Ltd.)

 Water source

Agra canal

 Beneficing state

New Delhi

 Size of units

3*95 and 2*210

 Commissioning of units

 Unit 1 – 95 MW – 1973-74
 Unit 2 – 95 MW – 1974-75
 Unit 3 – 95 MW – 1974-75
 Unit 4 – 210 MW – 1978-79
 Unit 5 – 210 MW – 1981-82
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Site Selection For Power

Plant

Selection of site for a thermal power plant is one of the

most important aspects which an effect the efficiency
of a thermal power plant. For the overall economy of
the plant, the following points should be considered
while selecting a site:-

 Availability of coal: - Steam power station should be

located near mines so that minimum cost of fuel is
maintained. However if such a plant is to be installed at
such a place where coal is not available, the adequate
facilities should be made for transportation of coal. Like
the railway lines which are provided in such case of
BTPS.

 Availability of water: - A large amount of water is

necessary for the condenser therefore such a plant
should be located at the bank of the river or near a
canal like the Agra canal in case of BTPS.
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A coal-fired Thermal Power Plant

 Means of transportation: - The plant should be well
interconnected with roads or and railway system for
the efficient transportation of material.

 Land properties: - The land should be cheap and there

should be enough land surrounding the plant so that
there may be option of expanding. The land should also
be able to withstand the load of heavy equipments.

 Nearness of the road centers: - This is very important

factor when considering dc transmission. If an ac
system is employed than this factor is less important
because ac can be transmitted at high voltage with
consequent reduce transmission cause. That is why; it
is possible to install the plant away from the load
centers provided other conditions are favorable.
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 Ash disposal facilities: - The quantity of ash to handle is

as large as 1500 to 2000 tons per day. The disposal of
large quantities of ash from the power station can be
into the river, see or lake or can be brought into useful
purposes like in the manufacturing of bricks as done by
BTPS.

 Distance from populated areas: - Since there is a lot

ash from the power station there will be lot smokes
fumes that make the surrounding of plant very
hazardous.

BMD
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FUNCTIONING

Functioning of thermal power plant:

In a thermal power plant, one of coal, oil or natural gas is

used to heat the boiler to convert the water into steam. The
steam is used to turn a turbine, which is connected to a
generator. When the turbine turns, electricity is generated
and given as output by the generator, which is then supplied
to the consumers through high-voltage power lines.
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Detailed process of power

generation in a
Thermal power plant:
1) Water intake: Firstly, water is taken into the boiler
through a water source. If water is available in a plenty in
the region, then the source is an open pond or river. If
water is scarce, then it is recycled and the same water is
used over and over again.

2) Boiler heating: The boiler is heated with the help of

oil, coal or natural gas. A furnace is used to heat the fuel and
supply the heat produced to the boiler. The increase in
temperature helps in the transformation of water into steam.

3) Steam Turbine: The steam generated in the boiler is

sent through a steam turbine. The turbine has blades that
rotate when high velocity steam flows across them. This
rotation of turbine blades is used to generate electricity.

4) Generator: A generator is connected to the steam

turbine. When the turbine rotates, the generator produces
electricity which is then passed on to the power distribution
systems.

5) Special mountings: There is some other equipment

like the economizer and air pre-heater. An economizer uses
the heat from the exhaust gases to heat the feed water. An
air pre-heater heats the air sent into the combustion
chamber to improve the efficiency of the combustion
process.

6) Ash collection system: There is a separate residue

and ash collection system in place to collect all the waste
materials from the combustion process and to prevent them
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from escaping into the atmosphere. Apart from this, there

are various other monitoring systems and instruments in
place to keep track of the functioning of all the devices. This
prevents any hazards from taking place in the plant.
There are basically three main
units of a thermal power plant:

1. Steam Generator or Boiler

2. Steam Turbine

3. Electric Generator

Typical Diagram of a Coal based Thermal Power Plant

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1. Cooling tower 10. Steam governor 19. Super heater

valve
2. Cooling water pump 11. High pressure 20. Forced draught
turbine fan
3. Transmission line (3- 12. Deaerator 21. Reheater
phase)
4. Unit transformer (3- 13. Feed heater 22. Air intake
phase)
5. Electric generator (3- 14. Coal conveyor 23. Economizer
phase)
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6. Low pressure turbine 15. Coal hopper 24. Air preheater

7. Condensate extraction 16. Pulverized fuel mill 25. Precipitator

pump
8. Condensor 17. Boiler drum 26. Induced draught
fan
9. Intermediate pressure 18. Ash hopper 27. Chimney Stack
turbine

Coal is conveyed (14) from an external stack and ground to a

very fine powder by large metal spheres in the pulverized
fuel mill (16). There it is mixed with preheated air (24) driven
by the forced draught fan (20). The hot air-fuel mixture is
forced at high pressure into the boiler where it rapidly
ignites. Water of a high purity flows vertically up the tube-
lined walls of the boiler, where it turns into steam, and is
passed to the boiler drum, where steam is separated from
any remaining water. The steam passes through a manifold
in the roof of the drum into the pendant superheated (19)
where its temperature and pressure increase rapidly to
around 200 bar and 540ｰC, sufficient to make the tube walls
glow a dull red. The steam is piped to the high pressure
turbine (11), the first of a three-stage turbine process. A
steam governor valve (10) allows for both manual control of
the turbine and automatic set-point following. The steam is
exhausted from the high pressure turbine, and reduced in
both pressure and temperature, is returned to the boiler
reheater (21). The reheated steam is then passed to the
intermediate pressure turbine (9), and from there passed
directly to the low pressure turbine set (6). The exiting
steam, now a little above its boiling point, is brought into
thermal contact with cold water (pumped in from the cooling
tower) in the condensor (8), where it condenses rapidly back
into water, creating near vacuum-like conditions inside the
condensor chest. The condensed water is then passed by a
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feed pump (7) through a desecrator (12), and pre-warmed,

first in a feed heater (13) powered by steam drawn from the
high pressure set, and then in the economizer (23), before
being returned to the boiler drum. The cooling water from
the condensor is sprayed inside a cooling tower (1), creating
a highly visible plume of water vapor, before being pumped
back to the condensor (8) in cooling water cycle. The three
turbine sets are sometimes coupled on the same shaft as the
three-phase electrical generator (5) which generates an
intermediate level voltage (typically 20-25 kV). This is
stepped up by the unit transformer (4) to a voltage more
suitable for transmission (typically 250-500 kV) and is sent
out onto the three-phase transmission system (3). Exhaust
gas from the boiler is drawn by the induced draft fan (26)
through an electrostatic precipitator (25) and is then vented
through the chimney stack (27).

Steam Generator or Boiler

The boiler is a rectangular furnace about 50 ft (15 m) on a

side and 130 ft (40 m) tall. Its walls are made of a web of
high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches (60 mm) in
diameter.
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Pulverized coal is air-blown into the furnace from fuel nozzles

at the four corners and it rapidly burns, forming a large
fireball at the center. The thermal radiation of the fireball
heats the water that circulates through the boiler tubes near
the boiler perimeter. The water circulation rate in the boiler
is three to four times the throughput and is typically driven
by pumps. As the water in the boiler circulates it absorbs
heat and changes into steam at 700 ｰF (370 ｰC) and 3,200
psi (22.1MPa). It is separated from the water inside a drum
at the top of the furnace. The saturated steam is introduced
into superheat pendant tubes that hang in the hottest part of
the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Here the
steam is superheated to 1,000 ｰF (540 ｰC) to prepare it for
the turbine.

The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the

high purity, pressure and temperature required for the
steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. The
generator includes the economizer, the steam drum, the
chemical dosing equipment, and the furnace with its steam
generating tubes and the super heater coils. Necessary
safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid
excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path
equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan, air preheater
(APH), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash
collectors (electrostatic precipitator or bag house) and the
flue gas stack.
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Schematic diagram of a coal-fired power plant steam

generator

For units over about 210 MW capacity, redundancy of key

components is provided by installing duplicates of the FD
fan, APH, fly ash collectors and ID fan with isolating
dampers. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per
unit may instead be provided.
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Boilers can be classified as water tube boiler and fire tube boiler.

Fire Tube Boiler

In this boiler, products of combustion pass through tubes

which are surrounded by water. Depending on where the
tubes are horizontal or vertical. They are further classified as
horizontal or vertical tube boilers. They may be internally or
externally fed. An internally fed has grate or combustion
chamber enclosed with in the boiler shell. In an externally
fed boiler the setting, including furnace and grates is
separate and distant from boiler shell. A fire tube boiler is
simple compact and rugged in construction. Its initial cost is
low. A vertical fire tube boiler occupies less floor space.
However they are economical only for low pressure and are
there for available in small sizes having steam capacity of
about 15000kg/hr.
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External View of an Industrial Boiler at Badarpur Thermal Power

Station, New Delhi

Water Tube Boiler

In this boiler water flows inside the tubes and hot gases
flows outside the tubes are interconnected to common water
channels and to steam outlet. Water tube boilers are
classifieds as vertical full. The number of drum may be one
or more.

The circulation of water in the boiler may be natural or

forced through the action pumps. Forced circulation has the
advantage of:

1) Lesser weight of boiler and cheaper foundation.

2) Lighter tube.

3) Freedom from scaling problem.

4) Uniform heating of all parts.

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5) Increased efficiency of boiler.

6) Better control of temperature.

7) Quicker response to local changes.

8) Greater freedom in configuration of furnace, tube etc.

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Boiler Furnace and Steam

Drum

Once water is inside the boiler or steam generator, the

process of adding the latent heat of vaporization or enthalpy
is underway. The boiler transfers energy to the water by the
chemical reaction of burning some type of fuel.
The water enters the boiler through a section in the
convection pass called the economizer. From the economizer
it passes to the steam drum. Once the water enters the
steam drum it goes down the down comers to the lower inlet
water wall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises
through the water walls and is eventually turned into steam
due to the heat being generated by the burners located on
the front and rear water walls (typically). As the water is
turned into steam/vapor in the water walls, the steam/vapor
once again enters the steam drum.
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The steam/vapor is passed through a series of steam and

water separators and then dryers inside the steam drum.
The steam separators and dryers remove the water droplets
from the steam and the cycle through the water walls is
repeated. This process is known as natural circulation.
The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal
feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers, water lancing
and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation
of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any
accumulation of combustible gases after a trip out are
avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion
zone before igniting the coal.
The steam drum (as well as the super heater coils and
headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial startup.
The steam drum has an internal device that removes
moisture from the wet steam entering the drum from the
steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the
super heater coils.
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Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use

naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be
used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or
contains excessive suspended solids. Nuclear plants also boil
water to raise steam, either directly passing the working
steam through the reactor or else using an intermediate
heat exchanger.

Fuel Preparation System

In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal
storage area is first crushed into small pieces and then
conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boilers. The coal is
next pulverized into a very fine powder. The pulverize may
be ball mills, rotating drum grinders, or other types of
grinders.
Some power stations burns fuel oil rather than coal. The
oil must kept warm (above its pour point) in the fuel oil
storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and
becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about
1000C before being pumped through the furnace fuel oil
spray nozzles.
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Boiler Side of the Badarpur Thermal Power Station, New

Delhi

Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as

their main fuel. Other power stations may use processed
natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel
supply (coal or oil) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas
burners are provided on the boiler furnaces.

Fuel Firing System and Igniter

System

From the pulverized coal bin, coal is blown by hot air through
the furnace coal burners at an angle which imparts a swirling
motion to the powdered coal to enhance mixing of the coal
powder with the incoming preheated combustion air and
thus to enhance the combustion.
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To provide sufficient combustion temperature in the

furnace before igniting the powdered coal, the furnace
temperature is raised by first burning some light fuel oil or
processed natural gas (by using auxiliary burners and
igniters provide for that purpose).

Air Path
External fans are provided to give sufficient air for
combustion. The forced draft fan takes air from the
atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for
better combustion, injects it via the air nozzles on the
furnace wall.
The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out
combustible gases from the furnace, maintaining a slightly
negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through
any opening. At the furnace outlet, and before the furnace
gases are handled by the ID fan, fine dust carried by the
outlet gases is removed to avoid atmospheric pollution. This
is an environmental limitation prescribed by law, and
additionally minimizes erosion of the ID fan.

Auxiliary Systems

Fly Ash Collection

Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by

electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes
both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the
induced draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from
the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters.
Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to
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storage silos for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad

cars.

Bottom Ash Collection and Disposal

At the bottom of every boiler, a hopper has been provided

for collection of the bottom ash from the bottom of the
furnace. This hopper is always filled with water to quench
the ash and clinkers falling down from the furnace. Some
arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for
conveying the crushed clinkers and bottom ash to a storage
site.

Boiler Make-up Water Treatment Plant

and Storage

Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and

continuous return of condensate to the boiler, losses due to
blow-down and leakages have to be made up for so as to
maintain the desired water level in the boiler steam drum.
For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler
water system. The impurities in the raw water input to the
plant generally consist of calcium and magnesium salts
which impart hardness to the water. Hardness in the make-
up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water
surfaces which will lead to overheating and failure of the
tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water
and that is done by water demineralising treatment plant
(DM).
A DM plant generally consists of cation, anion and
mixed bed exchangers. The final water from this process
consists essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions
which is the chemical composition of pure water. The DM
water, being very pure, becomes highly corrosive once it
absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very
high affinity for oxygen absorption.
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A DM plant generally consists of cation, anion and

mixed bed exchangers. The final water from this process
consists essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions
which is the chemical composition of pure water. The DM
water, being very pure, becomes highly corrosive once it
absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very
high affinity for oxygen absorption.
The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and
quantity of salts in the raw water input. However, some
storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for
maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed
from which DM water is continuously withdrawn for boiler
make-up. The storage tank for DM water is made from
materials not affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The
piping and valves are generally of stainless steel.
Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless
steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the
tank to avoid contact with atmospheric air. DM water make-
up is generally added at the steam space of the surface
condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arrangement not only
sprays the water but also DM water gets deserted, with the
dissolved gases being removed by the ejector of the
condenser itself.
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PAM
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Water treatment plant

The availability of suitable supply of water both for cooling
purpose and for boiler feed make up in the basic
requirement of power plant station. The boiler treatment
plant (WTP) is meeting this requirement. The water, which is
used in the boiler circuit, must be in pure form to avoid
corrosion of boiler tubes, scale formation on the inside
surface of various pressure parts and avoid silica carry one
to turbine. The main objective of WTP is to remove all
impurities from the water being sent to boiler in order that
the steam generated is pure and boiler can give
uninterrupted service.

The major constituents of all natural waters consist of salt of

sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium together with
bio carbonate, sulphate, chloride and nitrate ion.

Clarifloculator
To the chlorinator raw water chemicals are added in the form
of solutions and violent turbulence chemicals are adequately
mixed in a flush mix. The water is then led to central
chamber of Clarifloculator having rotary type of
arrangement. The water from outer than led into clear water
storage tank. The accumulated sedge at the bottom is then
pumped out in slurry form.
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Demineralization
The filtered water as processed above is having by now only
dissolved salts as impurities in the form of ions. This water is
then pushed through a strongly acidic cation exchange
resins in hydrogen form. The resin is chemically similar to
plastic but is treated in such a way so as to confer ion
exchange properties. All cation periling in water are
exchanged for hydrogen ion only. The result is that the
neutral salts are connected to their corresponding acids.

2RH + Ca(NO3)2 ―› R2Ca + 2HNO3

or

RH + KCl ―› RK + HCl

i.e. resin in H2 form + impurities in the form of chloride

sulphate nitrate etc.

Resin in cation form + strong acids of free mineral acidity.

Carbonate and bicarbonate ions are mostly decomposed

under such strong acid medium to carbon dioxide. The rest
decomposed into carbonic acid.

The anion exchange resin bed but packed with strongly basic
resins.

ROH + HCl ―› RCl + H2O

H2SO4 ―› R2SO4 + H2O

HNO3 ―› RNO3

i.e. Resin in hydrogen form + anions in acid form ―›

exchanged resins + water.
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Circulating Water System

Water requirements: - apart from water usage in making
steam for thermal plant the other fields where bulk amount
of water is used are:

1) Bulk requirement of water in thermal power plant for

the purpose of cooling the steam in condenser. The
requirement for this purpose is of the order of 1.5 to 2.0
of installation.

2) The second place where large amount of water is used

is in sluicing out ash that is produce by burning the
coal.

3) Also in the coal handling plant water is used for

separation of dust.
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Cooling towers
Cooling tower is important components of thermal power
station where a limited supply to make up water is available.
Cooling towers thus provide flexibility for selection of sites
for thermal power station even though capital investment
and running costs are generally on the high side.

Types of Cooling Tower

Forced Draft Cooling Tower:- Motor driven fans

are located at the base i.e. ground level, below air into the
tower from the sides. The top of the tower is open to the air
vapour discharge. The main drawback in this type of tower is
that exit velocity is low and this result in reciprocating hot air
into the fan intake. Thus the efficiency of the tower is
reduced. The disadvantage of forced draft cooling tower can
be summarized as:-

1) High velocity from the fan located at the base makes a

difficult to distribute air evenly over the whole of
packing.
2) Low height, low velocity of air low wind velocity
generally results in reciprocating of hot air which leads
to rise in temp and reduction and efficiency.

3) It is the experience that there is rapid growth of fungus

inside cooling tower which leads to reduction in the
removal of droplets from the air. Thus the efficiency
gets reduced.
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Induced Draft Cooling Tower: - Induced draft

is preferred over the forced draft. In an induced draft fan,
the fan is located at the top and air enters from the openings
located at ground level. Air, mixed with vapour, is
discharged through a form stack located at the top of the
tower, most of the discharged higher in the atmosphere
there by dispersing to a great distance from tower. There is
cylindrical RCC structure supported on RCC columns. Hot
water taken to the top of the tower by steel pipes and
discharged on the packaging with distribution system of
preheats of hole in the tubes. Eliminators of asbestos are
provided at the top to arrest the droplets. The fan is located
at the top to draw air from the cylinder for dispersion.
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TMD
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Steam Turbine
Steam turbines are used in all of our major coal fired power
stations to drive the generators or alternators, which
produce electricity. The turbines themselves are driven by
steam generated in 'Boilers' or 'Steam Generators' as
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they are sometimes called.

Energy in the steam after it leaves the boiler is

converted into rotational energy as it passes through the
turbine. The turbine normally consists of several stages with
each stage consisting of a stationary blade (or nozzle) and a
rotating blade. Stationary blades convert the potential
energy of the steam (temperature and pressure) into kinetic
energy (velocity) and direct the flow onto the rotating
blades. The rotating blades convert the kinetic energy into
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forces, caused by pressure drop, which results in the rotation

of the turbine shaft. The turbine shaft is connected to a
generator, which produces the electrical energy. The
rotational speed is 3000 rpm for Indian System (50 Hz)
systems and 3600 for American (60 Hz) systems.
In a typical larger power stations, the steam turbines
are split into three separate stages, the first being the High
Pressure (HP), the second the Intermediate Pressure (IP) and
the third the Low Pressure (LP) stage, where high,
intermediate and low describe the pressure of the steam.
After the steam has passed through the HP stage, it is
returned to the boiler to be re-heated to its original
temperature although the pressure remains greatly reduced.
The reheated steam then passes through the IP stage and
finally to the LP stage of the turbine.
A distinction is made between "impulse" and "reaction"
turbine designs based on the relative pressure drop across
the stage. There are two measures for pressure drop, the
pressure ratio and the percent reaction. Pressure ratio is the
pressure at the stage exit divided by the pressure at the
stage entrance. Reaction is the percentage isentropic
enthalpy drop across the rotating blade or bucket compared
to the total stage enthalpy drop. Some manufacturers utilize
percent pressure drop across stage to define reaction.
Steam turbines can be configured in many different
ways. Several IP or LP stages can be incorporated into the
one steam turbine. A single shaft or several shafts coupled
together may be used. Either way, the principles are the
same for all steam turbines. The configuration is decided by
the use to which the steam turbine is put, co-generation or
pure electricity production. For cogeneration, the steam
pressure is highest when used as process steam and at a
lower pressure when used for the secondary function of
electricity production.
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Nozzles and Blades

 41

Steam enthalpy is converted into rotational energy as it

passes through a turbine stage. A turbine stage consists of a
stationary blade (or nozzle) and a rotating blade (or bucket).
Stationary blades convert the potential energy of the steam
(temperature and pressure) into kinetic energy (velocity)
and direct the flow onto the rotating blades. The rotating
blades convert the kinetic energy into impulse and reaction
forces caused by pressure drop, which results in the rotation
of the turbine shaft or rotor.
Steam turbines are machines which must be designed,
manufactured and maintained to high tolerances so that the
design power output and availability is obtained. They are
subject to a number of damage mechanisms, with two of the
most important being:

Erosion due to Moisture: - The presence of water

droplets in the last stages of a turbine causes erosion to the
blades. This has led to the imposition of an allowable limit of
about 12% wetness in the exhaust steam;

Solid Particle Erosion: - The entrainment of erosive

materials from the boiler in the steam causes wear to the
turbine blades.

Cogeneration Cycles
In cogeneration cycles, steam is typically generated at a
higher temperature and pressure than required for a
particular industrial process. The steam is expanded through
a turbine to produce electricity and the resulting extractions
at the discharge are at the temperature and pressure
required by the process.
Turbines can be condensing or non-condensing design
typically with large mass flows and comparably low output.
Traditionally, pressures were 6.21 MPa and below with
 42

temperatures 441oC or lower, although the trend towards

higher levels of each continues.
There are now a considerable number of co-generation
steam turbines with initial steam pressures in the 8.63 to 10
MPa range and steam temperatures of 482 to 510 oC.

Bearings and Lubrication

Two types of bearings are used to support and locate the

rotors of steam turbines:

1) Journal bearings are used to support the weight of the

turbine rotors. A journal bearing consists of two half-
cylinders that enclose the shaft and are internally lined
with Babbitt, a metal alloy usually consisting of tin,
copper and antimony;

2) Thrust bearings axially locate the turbine rotors. A

thrust bearing is made up of a series of Babbitt lined
pads that run against a locating disk attached to the
turbine rotor. High-pressure oil is injected into the
bearings to provide lubrication. The oil is carefully
filtered to remove solid particles. Specially designed
centrifuges remove any water from the oil.
 43

Shaft Seals

The shaft seal on a turbine rotor consist of a series of ridges

and groves around the rotor and its housing which present a
long, tortuous path for any steam leaking through the seal.
The seal therefore does not prevent the steam from leaking,
merely reduces the leakage to a minimum. The leaking
steam is collected and returned to a low-pressure part of the
steam circuit.

Turning Gear

Large steam turbines are equipped with "turning gear" to

slowly rotate the turbines after they have been shut down
and while they are cooling. This evens out the temperature
distribution around the turbines and prevents bowing of the
rotors.

Vibration

The balancing of the large rotating steam turbines is a

critical component in ensuring the reliable operation of the
plant. Most large steam turbines have sensors installed to
measure the movement of the shafts in their bearings. This
condition monitoring can identify many potential problems
and allows the repair of the turbine to be planned before the
problems become serious.
 44

CHD
 45

Coal Handling Plant

Coal is delivered by highway truck, rail, and barge or collier
ship. Some plants are even built near coal mines and coal is
delivered by conveyors. A large coal train called a "unit
train" may be a kilometers (over a mile) long, containing 60
cars with 100 tons of coal in each one, for a total load of
6,000 tons. A large plant under full load requires at least one
coal delivery this size every day. Plants may get as many as
three to five trains a day, especially in "peak season", during
the summer months when power consumption is high. A
large thermal power plant such as the Badarpur Thermal
Power Station, New Delhi stores several million tons of coal
for use when there is no wagon supply.
 46

Modern unloader use rotary dump devices, which eliminate

problems with coal freezing in bottom dump cars. The
unloader includes a train positioner arm that pulls the entire
train to position each car over a coal hopper. The dumper
clamps an individual car against a platform that swivels the
car upside down to dump the coal. Swiveling couplers enable
the entire operation to occur while the cars are still coupled
together. Unloading a unit train takes about three hours.
 47

Shorter trains may use railcars with an "air-dump", which

relies on air pressure from the engine plus a "hot shoe" on
each car. This "hot shoe" when it comes into contact with a
"hot rail" at the unloading trestle, shoots an electric charge
through the air dump apparatus and causes the doors on the
bottom of the car to open, dumping the coal through the
opening in the trestle. Unloading one of these trains takes
anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. Older unloader
may still use manually operated bottom-dump rail cars and a
"shaker" attached to dump the coal. Generating stations
adjacent to a mine may receive coal by conveyor belt or
massive diesel electric- drive trucks.
Coal is prepared for use by crushing the rough coal to pieces
less than 2 inches (50 mm) in size. The coal is then
transported from the storage yard to in-plant storage silos by
rubberized conveyor belts at rates up to 4,000 tons/hour.
In plants that burn pulverized coal, silos feed coal
pulverizes (coal mill) that take the larger 2 inch pieces grind
them into the consistency of face powder, classify them, and
 48

mixes them with primary combustion air which transports

the coal to the furnace and preheats the coal to drive off
excess moisture content. In plants that do not burn
pulverized coal, the larger 2 inch pieces may be directly fed
into the silos which then feed the cyclone burners, a specific
kind of combustor that can efficiently burn larger pieces of
fuel.

Run-Of-Mine (ROM) Coal

The coal delivered from the mine that reports to the Coal
Handling Plant is called Run-of-mine, or ROM, coal. This is
the raw material for the CHP, and consists of coal, rocks,
middlings, minerals and contamination. Contamination is
usually introduced by the mining process and may include
machine parts, used consumables and parts of ground
engaging tools. ROM coal can have a large variability of
moisture and maximum particle size.

Coal Handling
Coal needs to be stored at various stages of the preparation
process, and conveyed around the CHP facilities. Coal
handling is part of the larger field of bulk material handling,
and is a complex and vital part of the CHP.

Stockpiles
Stockpiles provide surge capacity to various parts of the
CHP. ROM coal is delivered with large variations in
production rate of tones per hour (tph). A ROM stockpile is
used to allow the wash plant to be fed coal at lower,
constant rate.
 49

Coal Handling Division of Badarpur Thermal Power

Station, New Delhi

A simple stockpile is formed by machinery dumping coal into

a pile, either from dump trucks, pushed into heaps with
bulldozers or from conveyor booms. More controlled
stockpiles are formed using stackers to form piles along the
length of a conveyor, and declaimers to retrieve the coal
when required for product loading, etc.
Taller and wider stockpiles reduce the land area
required to store a set tonnage of coal. Larger coal
stockpiles have a reduced rate of heat lost, leading to a
higher risk of spontaneous combustion.

Stacking
 50

Traveling, lugging boom stackers that straddle a feed

conveyor are commonly used to create coal stockpiles.
Stackers are nominally rated in tph (tones per hour) for
capacity and normally travel on a rail between stockpiles in
the stockyard. A stacker can usually move in at least two
directions typically: horizontally along the rail and vertically
by luffing its boom. Luffing of the boom minimizes dust by
reducing the height that the coal needs to fall to the top of
the stockpile. The boom is luffed upwards as the stockpile
height grows.

Wagon Tripler at Badarpur Thermal Power

Station, New Delhi

Some stackers are able to rotate by slewing the boom. This

allows a single stacker to form two stockpiles, one on either
side of the conveyor. Stackers are used to stack into
different patterns, such as cone stacking and chevron
 51

stacking. Stacking in a single cone tends to cause size

segregation, with coarser material moving out towards the
base. Raw cone ply stacking is when additional cones are
added next to the first cone. Chevron stacking is when the
stacker travels along the length of the stockpile adding layer
upon layer of material. Stackers and Reclaimers were
originally manually controlled manned machines with no
remote
Control. Modern machines are typically semi-automatic or
fully automated, with parameters remotely set.

Reclaiming

Tunnel conveyors can be fed by a continuous slot hopper or

bunker beneath the stockpile to reclaim material. Front-end
loaders and bulldozers can be used to push the coal into
feeders. Sometimes front-end loaders are the only means of
reclaiming coal from the stockpile. This has a low up-front
capital cost, but much higher operating costs, measured in
dollars per tone handled.
 52

Coal Storage Area of the Badarpur Thermal Power

Station, New Delhi

High-capacity stockpiles are commonly reclaimed using

bucket-wheel reclaimers. These can achieve very high rates.

Coal Sampling

Sampling of coal is an important part of the process control

in the CHP. A grab sample is a one-off sample of the coal at a
point in the process stream, and tends not to be very
representative. A routine sample is taken at a set frequency,
either over a period of time or per shipment.
 53

Screening
Screens are used to group process particles into ranges by
size. These size ranges are also called grades. Dewatering
screens are used to remove water from the product. Screens
can be static, or mechanically vibrated. Screen decks can be
made from different materials such as high tensile steel,
stainless steel, or polyethylene.

Screening and Separation Unit of Coal Handling Division of a

Thermal Power Plant
 54

Magnetic Separation
Magnetic separators shall be used in coal conveying systems
to separate tramp iron (including steel) from the coal.
Basically, two types are available. One type incorporates
permanent or electromagnets into the head pulley of a belt
conveyor. The tramp iron clings to the belt as it goes around
the pulley drum and falls off into a collection hopper or
trough after the point at which coal is charged from the belt.
The other type consists of permanent or electromagnets
incorporated into a belt conveyor that is suspended above a
belt conveyor carrying coal. The tramp iron is pulled from
the moving coal to the face of the separating conveyor,
which in turn holds and carries the tramp iron to a collection
hopper or trough. Magnetic separators shall be used just
ahead of the coal crusher, if any, and/or just prior to coal
discharge to the in-plant bunker or silo fill system.

Coal Crusher
Before the coal is sent to the plant it has to be ensured that
the coal is of uniform size, and so it is passed through coal
crushers. Also power plants using pulverized coal specify a
maximum coal size that can be fed into the pulverizer and so
the coal has to be crushed to the specified size using the
coal crusher. Rotary crushers are very commonly used for
this purpose as they can provide a continuous flow of coal to
the pulverizer.
 55

Pulverizer
Most commonly used pulverizer is the Bowl Mill. The
arrangement consists of 2 stationary rollers and a power
driven baul in which pulverization takes place as the coal
passes through the sides of the rollers and the baul. A
primary air induced draught fan draws a stream of heated air
through the mill carrying the pulverized coal into a
stationary classifier at the top of the pulverizer. The classifier
separates the pulverized coal from the un pulverized coal.

An external view of a Coal Pulverizer

 56

Advantages of Pulverized Coal:-

1) Pulverized coal is used for large capacity plants.

2) It is easier to adapt to fluctuating load as there are no

limitations on the combustion capacity.

3) Coal with higher ash percentage cannot be used

without pulverizing because of the problem of large
amount ash deposition after combustion.

4) Increased thermal efficiency is obtained through

pulverization.

5) The use of secondary air in the combustion chamber

along with the powered coal helps in creating
turbulence and therefore uniform mixing of the coal
and the air during combustion.

6) Greater surface area of coal per unit mass of coal

allows faster combustion as more coal is exposed to
heat and combustion.

7) The combustion process is almost free from clinker and

slag formation.

8) The boiler can be easily started from cold condition in

case of emergency.

9) Practically no ash handling problem.

10) The furnace volume required is less as the turbulence

caused aids in complete combustion of the coal with
minimum travel of the particles.

The pulverized coal is passed from the pulverizer to the

boiler by means of the primary air that is used not only to
dry the coal but also to heat is as it goes into the boiler. The
 57

secondary air is used to provide the necessary air required

for complete combustion. The primary air may vary
anywhere from 10% to the entire air depending on the
design of the boiler. The coal is sent into the boiler through
burners. A very important and widely used type of burner
arrangement is the Tangential Firing arrangement.

Tangential Burners-:

The tangential burners are arranged such that they

discharge the fuel air mixture tangentially to an imaginary
circle in the center of the furnace. The swirling action
produces sufficient turbulence in the furnace to complete the
combustion in a short period of time and avoid the necessity
of producing high turbulence at the burner itself. High heat
release rates are possible with this method of firing.
The burners are placed at the four corners of the
furnace. At the Badarpur Thermal Power Station five sets of
such burners are placed one above the other to form six
firing zones. These burners are constructed with tips that
can be angled through a small vertical arc. By adjusting the
angle of the burners the position of the fire ball can be
adjusted so as to raise or lower the position of the turbulent
combustion region. When the burners are tilted downward
the furnace gets filled completely with the flame and the
furnace exit gas temperature gets reduced. When the
burners are tiled upward the furnace exit gas temperature
increases. A difference of 100 degrees can be achieved by
tilting the burners.
 58

Ash Handling
The ever increasing capacities of boiler units together with
their ability to use low grade high ash content coal have
been responsible for the development of modern day ash
handling systems. The widely used ash handling systems
are:-

1) Mechanical Handling System

2) Hydraulic System

3) Pneumatic System

4) Steam Jet System

The Hydraulic Ash handling system is used at the Badarpur

Thermal Power Station.
 59

Ash Handling System of a Thermal Power Plant

Hydraulic Ash Handling System

The hydraulic system carried the ash with the flow of water
with high velocity through a channel and finally dumps into a
sump. The hydraulic system is divided into a low velocity and
high velocity system. In the low velocity system the ash from
the boilers falls into a stream of water flowing into the sump.
The ash is carried along with the water and they are
separated at the sump. In the high velocity system a jet of
water is sprayed to quench the hot ash. Two other jets force
the ash into a trough in which they are washed away by the
water into the sump, where they are separated. The molten
slag formed in the pulverized fuel system can also be
quenched and washed by using the high velocity system.
The advantages of this system are that its clean, large ash
handling capacity, considerable distance can be traversed,
absence of working parts in contact with ash.