CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Energy and Power. Energy is possessed f the ability to produce a dynamic, vital effect.
Energy is associated with physical substance, but is not a substance itself. It shows itself by the
excited, animated state assumed by material which receives energy. We see the manifestations
everywhere around us, in bodily physical activity produced by the consumption of energy-containing
food, or in masses in motion, wind and wave, projectiles and vehicles; we see it in the heat received
from the sun, also as heat generated from fuels and other sources; we see it in the sudden galvanizing
into action of an idle electric motor which has been connected to a far distant source.
All these manifestations are conveniently classified as: (1) mechanical work; (2) heat; (3) electricity;
and (4) radiation.
Power is the rate at which energy is produced or consumed. Generally, it is used in connection
with the mechanical and electrical forms of energy. The rate of production or consumption of heat
energy and to a certain extent, of radiation energy is not ordinarily thought of as power. Power is
primarily associated with mechanical work and electrical energy. Therefore, power is defined as the
rate of flow of energy and state that a Power Plant is a unit built for the production and delivery of a
flow of mechanical and electrical energy.
In common usage, a machine or assemblage of equipment that produces and delivers a flow of
mechanical r electrical energy is a Power Plant. Hence, an internal combustion engine is a power
plant; a water wheel is a power plant, etc. However, what we generally mean by the term is that
assemblage of equipment permanently located on some chosen site, which receives raw energy in the
form of a substance capable of being operated in such a way as to produce electrical energy for
delivery from the power plant.
Efficiency or energy efficiency will be taken to mean that fraction of the energy supplied to a unit or a
system which is finally usefully converted to the purpose for which the project was conceived. In its
simplest form it is output divided by input. Efficiency may be expressed as output power divided by
input power.
Sources for energy to make power:
1. Fuels
2. Flowing streams of water
3. Ocean tides and waves
4. Winds
5. Solar rays
6. Terrestrial heat
7. Atomic nuclei
Fuels. Fuels are substances having sufficient carbon or hydrogen for the chemical oxidation to
produce, exothermically, worth-while quantities of heat. The principal fuels are coal, natural gas and
petroleum and their derivatives. Bituminous coal is the principal steaming coal.
Flowing Streams of Water. The energy contained in flowing streams of water is a form of
mechanical energy. It may exist as the kinetic energy of a moving stream or as the potential energy of
water held behind a dam.
Hydraulic plants are slowly increasing in number although the number of new plants of this type
built annually is quite small compared with those which exploit heat energy.
Ocean Tides and Waves. That there is an enormous amount of energy in waves and tides is apparent
to anyone who witnesses these oceanic phenomena.

Winds. Power from the winds has served man for many centuries, but the total amount of energy
generated in this manner is small.
Windmill power equipment might be classified under four heads:
1. The multi-bladed turbine wheel
2. The high-speed propeller type
3. The rotor
4. The Dutch sail type.
The foremost type in use is the multi-bladed turbine wheel, called the American type in order t
distinguish it from the older Dutch type. The efficiency of the multi-bladed turbine wheel is about
10% of the kinetic energy of the wind passing through it. It is said to be 20% for the Dutch type. The
propeller and rotor types are suitable for the generation of electrical energy, as both of them possess
the ability to start in very low winds.
Solar Rays. In a few instances the direct rays of the sun have been used to generate power by
absorbing energy first as heat and using the heat in some type of heat engine. A serious fault of this
source of energy is, of course, that it is effective only during the day, so that if continuous output is
needed, some large reservoir of energy, such as a storage battery or a heat accumulator tank, must be
drawn upon at night.
Terrestrial Heat. Natural steam from surface vents in many places on the earth. Such natural steam
wells suggest possibility of tapping terrestrial heat in this form and using it for the development of
power.
Atomic Nucleus. It is commonly accepted that the physical universe is composed of molecules
which, in turn, are composed of some 92 basic types of atoms, called elements. In an imaginary super
atom built like a sphere 6.1m in diameter, the nucleus would be a tiny sphere of pinhead dimensions
located at the center.
The combinations of particles into atoms, or of atoms and particles into other atoms can result in end
products of slightly smaller mass than the components. Likewise the jarring of complex nuclei into
fragments can end in products of slightly decreased total mass. These fusion and fission activities are,
however, capable of liberating an enormous quantity of energy for they involve that astronomically
large number, the energy equivalence of mass.
The binding energy is the energy liberated when nuclei are formed.
The surface temperature of the sun is 5000C.
Except for atomic energy, and possibly terrestrial heat, all the sources energy may be traced back to
the sun.
1.2 Background of Power Study. Properties are basic physical quantities describing the state of a fluid
substance:
1. Pressure, p
2. Volume, v
3. Temperature, t
4. Enthalpy, h
5. Entropy, s
To these basic five quantities others may be added:
6. Specific heat, c
7. Density, d
8. Internal energy, u
Dryness factor, x, this is the fractional part of a sample of a wet vapor that is true vapor. Quality may
be either dryness factor or superheat.

Enthalpy is a term expressing the combination of internal molecular energy expansion work, and flow
work.
Entropy measures the fraction of heat energy that is unavailable for conversion to mechanical work.
Entropy has no absolute scale of values; it is always the change of entropy that is pertinent.
Mechanical Work. 3 common forms:
1. The force overcoming a resistance linearly or the torque applied rotatively.
2. The kinetic mass, either in form of a fluid jet or a solid body.
3. The potential mechanical energy of mass poised above a datum elevation.
Heat. (Common unit: Joule) Heat can exist internally in a fluid as random molecular motion, and
externally as a volume under pressure. Also, quantities of heat energy are involved in processes
accompanying a change in physical state as from liquid to vapor or solid to liquid. Transferred heat
energy, designated by Q, is definitely associated with temperature changes in gases, but may occur at
constant temperature vapors.
It is the function of a heat power plant to convert as much of the heat energy produced in it into highgrade mechanical and electrical energy as economically feasible. The supply of heat energy is
commonly produced from combustion, a chemical reaction of exothermic nature.
The higher heating value, or calorific value, QH, of a fuel is the heat given out during combustion,
with equal initial and final temperatures, usually constant pressure. It includes the latent heat of any
water vapor present whenever the fuel contains H 2, and which is necessarily condensed. If a
deduction is made for the aforesaid latent heat for the reason that it is not available in an engineering
process, then the net heat is termed the lower heating value Q L. For some time it has been the
common practice of engineers to use Q H as a standard in the external combustion field, and Q L in the
internal combustion field.
Electrical Energy. The common electrical form of energy is a flow of electrons forced against or
urged along by an electrical potential (voltage).
Radiant Energy. Radiant energy may consist of particles in motion through space, or it may exist as
a propagated wave.
A significant feature of all electromagnetic waves is that their velocity of propagation is uniformly
3x1010cm/sec.
The radiant energy of thermodynamics consists of electromagnetic waves having frequencies
between 1x1011 and 7.5x1014cps.
Transformation of Energy. Since work, heat, electricity, all are forms of energy; they are mutually
interchangeable at fixed ratios.
1.3 Working Processes. To effect the transformation of high-grade forms of energy such as work or
electricity into heat is quite easy, but to upgrade heat energy into the higher forms is difficult.
The working nonflow processes for ideal gases are known as the polytropic processes.
Investigations of properties and processes of a vapor require the use of a table of the thermodynamic
properties of the vapor.
The Mollier Diagram is a chart of all the common properties except volume. It is an enthalpy-entropy
graph, with contours of pressure and quality.
1-4. The Power Age. Historically, the progress of mankind in the production and application of power
might be divided into three phases.
The introduction of mechanical power soon produced a centralization of industry near the source of
its power. But then came electrical energy in the alternating current form which offered flexible and
economic transmission of energy from a central generating station to distributed industries.

Decentralization became possible which means that industries are not concentrated in one place
because long-distance transmission of energy became possible.
The application of power t the service of man has been the means of elevating his standard of living.
It was in the field of lighting that the central station production of power made the first headway.
1.5. Power Plant Engineering and Design. The term Power Plant may imply Electrical Power
Generating Station.
Power Plant Engineering is the art of selecting and placing the necessary power-generating equipment
so that a maximum of return will result from a minimum of expenditure over the working life of the
plant; and the operation of the completed plant in a manner to provide cheap, reliable and continuous
service.
Except for the smallest industrial or institutional units a power plant design is an exceedingly
complex activity. A visit to a public service station and a view of the maze of equipment there is
sufficient to convince anyone of the need for complete and comprehensive initial planning.
The design drawings must always be preceded by a considerable amount of engineering work.
Assume that a bid has been submitted on a certain project and the contract is awarded the method of
handling the subsequent design rests almost entirely on the size of the job.
On the other hand, when a large station design is undertaken, failure to set up a workable procedure
for handling the routine features of the design job is courting confusion and much waste of effort in
the drawing rooms.
As many as 50 or 75 men may be employed at one time on the design of a large power station.
The 1st step after the award of the contract is the assignment, by the Engineering Manager, f the
engineers who are to work on that particular job. The Supervising Engineer will be responsible for the
entire job not only for its engineering design but for its cost and success. The 1 st step in the
engineering department is the preparation of estimates which are essentially in order to keep each
phase of the plant within a certain allotted amount, so that the entire cost will not exceed the
anticipated figures upon which the contract is based. Each engineer prepares an estimate for his class
of work and his estimate is reviewed by his chief engineer. The separate estimates are then sent to the
Chief Estimator who assembles them and adds the proper amount for engineering and drafting. The
total estimate is then reviewed by the Engineering and Construction Managers.
The next step is the preparation of schedules for construction, drafting and purchasing. These are
worked backwards; that is, the date on which the plant is to be finished is the starting point and
everything is scheduled backwards from that point so to know when construction must start to meet
this date, when the drawings must be started in order to be completed in time for construction
purposes, & when specifications must be started in order to receive bids with the proper tine
allowance for the placing of the bid, drawing site so that it is on hand when the date of erection
arrives.
The respective engineers are then put in possession of the main points of design and the dates upon
which certain information must be ready for the field.
Designers are first engaged in preliminary studies and sketches which determine the rough
characteristics of the plant and, when approved by executive engineers serve as an outline to guide
preparation of final drawings. In the course of final design work there is necessarily a considerable
amount of cross checking to be done between different individuals or groups so that interferences will
be eliminated and information can be mutually exchanged.
The efficiency with which drawings can be produced is greatly dependent upon the close attention the
engineer gives to the drafting.

1-6 Drawings, Specifications, and Correspondence. A design or consulting engineers plan for the
construction of a power plant is set forth in his drawings and specifications. Specifications are a
written set of rules, regulation, explanations, standard of quality, etc. which accompany a set of
drawings. The drawings and specifications should be adequately cross-referenced so that the reader
will be able to integrate the information they contain with minimum effort.
In general, specifications carry the following type of information and directions:
1. General info on what the contractor can expect at the site & the conditions of his use of the
premises. ETC.
The engineer should restrict his instructions to a contractor to what-to-build, and not be drawn into
specification of how to build, for he cannot enter into the latter activity and still expect the
responsibility for the complete job to rest on the shoulders of the contractor.
Similarly the engineer in his dealings with equipment manufacturers should be careful not to write
specifications that in the end could be legally interpreted as relieving the contractor of responsibility
for performance because the engineer had not only specified results, but also the design itself.
The major items of equipment in a power station are generally purchased through competitive
bidding.
When completed, power plant design drawings are put to three distinct uses: (1) Purchases of material
are made on the basis of the items indicated on drawings (2) drawings furnish erector with the
information he needs to build the plant in accordance with the designers ideas and (3) certain of the
drawings will be used as a source of information for the guidance of operating staff.
Layout drawings generally consist of one or more plans and a number of elevations.
Details, drawn to a large scale, supplement the plans and elevations and give important information
that cannot be shown on the general drawings
In the large station design, several drawings are often out some special phase of the equipment.
It is in function if the lines drawn are heavier which bring out primary information.
Correspondence reflects credit or discredit on a power station design. It plays an important part in the
engineering of any job.
The engineers duty is not only to design and construct, but to leave after him a complete record of
his work, and this record is largely his drawings and letters.
1-7 Electric Power Systems. If power could be generated for the same cost at any point in the
country there would be no difficulties arising from power distribution. The distribution system may
be separated into two parts, the primary and secondary systems. The primary distribution system
generally consists of transmission line carrying the three-phase current from the switchyard of the
plant to the substation located near the load served. The purpose of the substation is to transform the
high voltage necessary for economical long distance transmission to voltages suitable for lines in
residential districts and for the primaries of the light pole-top distribution transformers. The
secondary distributin system extends from the substation to the customers meter through the
transformers, strategically located with respect to a small group of customers which each one
supplies.
Power supply systems are owned and controlled by municipalities, institutions, government
agencies. A utility company may own one or more generating stations and a network of transmission
lines serving its territory.
One company divides its operating responsibility into five departments:

1. The system operating department which directs the operation of the electrical system and has the
care and operation of the electrical system, the load dispatching, the provision of safety about
high tension equipment, and the keeping of electrical records as its responsibility.
2. The steam department which has charge of mechanical equipment and expected to have
mechanical power ready for the generators at all times.
3. The substation department which maintains and operates all substations.
4. The test department, which runs tests, obtains and is responsible for keeping the operation of the
station at the highest possible efficiency.
5. The office department which handles electrical details, records and statistics.
Sales and mergers of public utility companies have resulted in holding management companies,
which may be state-wide or even national in their scope. The holding company is a device for
controlling more than one corporation.
The management company structure lent itself to promotional pyramiding and the public in general
derived little or no benefit from that situation.
The cost of a central power station is high. Only large organization can finance the new construction.
The financing of power plant construction, as in any other field of building, is at first the paramount
consideration.
Interconnections and mergers are slowly uniting pubic electric supply systems into network of
distribution. It provides relief from the necessity of splitting up the plant capacity into a number of
small units for the sake of uninterrupted service
A superpower system is a vast interconnected system, which has for its basis the maximum
exploitable water power of the country, relying on excess flows at one point to counteract low water
at another, and having steam plants suitably located to care for deficiencies in water power.