Module 2-Steam Power Plants

POWER PLANT ENGINEERING
Module 2- Steam Power Plants
by
Dr. Mukesh Sharma
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Birla institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi
Steam Power Plants
Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Steam Power Plants
Layout of Steam Power Plant
Fuel
Ash Turbine Electric
Handling Boiler Generator
Chimney
Precipitator
Air
Preheater Economizer Condenser
Condensate
Water Pump Cooling
Tower
Circulating
Water Pump
Steam Power Plants
The main power plant can be
subdivided in to several smaller units
namely,
➢ Fuel handling unit.
➢ Ash handling unit.
➢ Boiler unit.
➢ Feed water unit.
➢ Cooling water unit.
➢ Generator unit.
➢ Turbine unit.

Steam Power Plants
Major Components-BOILERS
Boilers
A boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a means for

combustion and transfers heat to water until it converts into
steam. The steam under pressure is then usable for transferring
the heat to a process.
Water is useful and cheap medium for transferring heat to a

process. When water is boiled into steam its volume increases
about 1,600 times, producing a force that is almost as explosive
as gunpowder. This causes the boiler to be extremely dangerous
equipment and should be treated carefully.

Steam Power Plants
Requirements of a good BOILER
✓ The boiler should have maximum steam generation rate with minimum fuel
consumption.
✓ It should generate steam at required pressure, temperature and quality.
✓ It can be started or stopped quickly.
✓ Safe in working with minimum joints.
✓ Its initial cost, running and maintenance cost should not be high.
✓ The boiler should have positive controls and safety apparatus.
✓ It should be able to accommodate the load variation.
✓ It should occupy less floor space.
✓ It should be free from manufacturing defects.
✓ All parts of the boiler should be accessible for cleaning and inspection.
Steam Power Plants
Boiler Systems
✓ Water treatment systems
✓ Feed water systems
✓ Steam Systems permitted level of conductivity < 5.0

µS/m.
✓ Blow Down Systems
For tap water > 50 µS/m.
✓ Fuel Supply System For Sea water > 5 X 10^6 µS/m.
✓ Air Supply System
✓ Flue Gas

Steam Power Plants
Classification of Boilers
Orientation Water Tube Boilers
Type of firing
Fire Tube Boilers
Based on Fuel
Air circulation
Based on Tubes

Steam Power Plants
Fire Tube Boilers
✓ In fire-tube boilers, combustion gases pass through the

inside of the tubes with water surrounding the outside of
the tubes.
✓ The name "fire-tube" is very descriptive. The fire, or hot flue
gases from the burner, is channelled through tubes that are
surrounded by the fluid to be heated.
✓ The body of the boiler is the pressure vessel and contains the
fluid. In most cases, this fluid is water that will be circulated
for heating purposes or converted to steam for process use.

Steam Power Plants
Advantages
✓ Flexible in operation
✓ Relatively inexpensive
✓ Easy to clean
✓ Compact in size
✓ Easy to replace tubes
Disadvantages
❖ Not suitable for high pressure applications

❖ Limitation for high capacity steam generation

Steam Power Plants
Water Tube Boilers
✓ A water-tube design is the exact opposite of a fire-tube.
✓ The water flows through the tubes and is encased in a
furnace in which the burner fires.
✓ These tubes are connected to a steam drum.
✓ The water is heated and steam is produced.

Steam Power Plants
Water Tube Boilers
Advantages
✓ Are available in sizes far greater than a fire-tube design.
✓ Higher steam generating capacities up to 50000 Kg-per-hour
of steam.
✓ Are able to handle higher pressures up to 200 bar.
✓ Recover faster than their fire-tube.
✓ Have the ability to reach very high temperatures.
Disadvantages
•High initial capital cost

•Cleaning is more difficult due to the design
•Physical size may be an issue

Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers
Fire Tube Boilers
Lancashire Boiler
Cornish Boiler
Cochran Boiler
Locomotive Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers

Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers

Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers
Cornish Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers
Cochran Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers
Locomotive Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers
Locomotive Boiler
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire-tube_boiler
Steam Power Plants
Fire tube Boilers
Locomotive Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Water tube Boilers
Water Tube Boilers
Stirling Boiler
Babcox and
Wilcox Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Water tube Boilers
Stirling Boiler Equalising
Tube
Steam Circulating Tube

Drums
Bent Tubes
Furnace
Mud
Drum
Steam Power Plants
Water tube Boilers
Stirling Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Water tube Boilers
Babcox and Wilcox Boiler
Power Plant Engineering Source: https://www.mech4study.com Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Steam Power Plants
Water tube Boilers
Babcox and Wilcox Boiler

Steam Power Plants
Major Components-TURBINES
Steam Turbines
✓ A steam turbine is a device that extracts thermal energy from
pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating
output shaft.
✓ It was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.

Steam Power Plants

Steam Power Plants
Steam Turbines
✓ This type of turbine works on the principle of impulse.
✓ It mainly consists of a nozzle or a set of nozzles and moving
blades.
Simple Impulse turbine
✓ In reaction turbine nozzle is not used.

✓ It mainly consists of fixed blades and moving blades
Reaction Turbine

Steam Power Plants
Simple Impulse Turbine
N MB ✓ The steam passes through the nozzles.
✓ Increase in the velocity takes place in nozzles.

Velocity increases in nozzle
✓ The pressure is dropped in the nozzle.

Pressure remains
constant in moving ✓ When the steam enters the moving blades the
blades
velocity is decreased and the pressure
remains constant.
Velocity
Pressure

Steam Power Plants
Reaction Turbine

Steam Power Plants
Reaction Turbine ✓ No nozzles
✓ Instead Fixed Blades are used.
FB MB
✓ Fixed blades and Moving Blades are arranged in an
order.
Pressure decreases
both in Fixed
Velocity increases in Fixed
✓ When the steam passes the fixed blades it’s velocity

blades and moving
increases and there is a drop in the velocity after
blades
passing the moving blade.
blades
✓ And pressure is dropped in the fixed blade and

there is another drop of pressure in the moving
Velocity blades .
Pressure
✓ So it is seen that both pressure and velocity changes
in the reaction turbine when the fluid passes the
Power Plant Engineering runner . Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Steam Power Plants
Major Components-CONDENSERS
Condenser

Steam Power Plants
Condenser
✓ The function of the condenser is to condense exhaust steam from the steam turbine by
rejecting the heat of vaporisation to the cooling water passing through the condenser.
✓ Once the steam has passed through the turbine, it enters the condenser where heat is
removed until it condenses back into liquid water.
✓ This is done by passing the wet steam around thousands of small cold water tubes.
✓ The cold water is usually supplied from a nearby sea, lake, river, or from a cooling tower.
✓ The condensed steam is collected at the bottom of the condenser and returned to the boiler
using feedwater pumps, to begin the water-to steam, steam-to-water cycle again.

Steam Power Plants
Major Components-CONDENSER
Condensers
Low Level Jet condensers
Jet Condensers
High Level Jet condensers
Surface condensers

Steam Power Plants
Low Level Jet-Condenser

Steam Power Plants
Low Level Jet-Condenser
➢ A small capacity air pump is required at the top of the condensed tank, to extract air
and uncondensed vapour.
➢ The air pump, required for jet condenser is of small capacity for two main reasons.
➢ It has to handle air and vapour alone.
➢ It has to handle with small volume of air and vapour since the volume of air and vapour
is reduced due to their cooling while rising through the steam of condensing water.
➢ In this type of steam condenser, there is no need of extra pump for lifting cooling water
from cooling pond to condenser chamber, as the water lifted itself by vacuum created
in the condenser due to condensation of exhaust steam.

Steam Power Plants
High Level Jet- Condenser

Steam Power Plants
Condenser
➢ The water out let pipe from the condenser bottom comes straight vertically to the hot well which is placed
at the ground level.
➢ Cooling water is fed to the condenser chamber by means of pump.
➢ The cooling water enters from the side near to the top of the condenser chamber.
➢ The exhaust steam enters from the side near to the bottom of the condenser.
➢ This is basically a counter flow jet condenser.
➢ The steams travels upwards inside the condenser whereas the water jets falls from top.
➢ The condensates and cooling water comes to the hot-well through vertical tail pipe due to gravitational
force.
➢ The air, uncondensed steam are removed from the chamber by using a dry air pump at the top of the
condenser.
➢ The capacity and size of dry air pump is quite small as it has only to deal with air, and uncondensed
steam, and it has not to handle with cooling water and condensed steam.
Steam Power Plants
Surface Condenser
Mainly Shell in Tube type condensers are

used in steam power plants.
These types of condensers are also

classified as:
✓ Single pressure or multi-pressure,
✓ By the number of shells
✓ As either single pass or two-pass,
depending on the number of parallel
water flow paths through each shell.

Steam Power Plants
Surface Condenser
Single pass Multi pass

Steam Power Plants
Fuels and its properties
Fuels
Fuels are any material which upon burning in oxygen liberates heat energy.
❑ Natural or primary fuels are found in nature such as wood, peat, coal, natural
gas, petroleum.
❑ Artificial or secondary fuels are prepared from primary fuels charcoal, coal
gas, coke, kerosene oil, diesel oil, petrol, etc.
❑ Fuels are further classified as
✓ Solid Fuels
✓ Liquid Fuels
✓ Gaseous Fuels

Steam Power Plants
Characteristics of solid fuels Characteristics of liquid fuels
✓ Ash is high. ✓ High calorific value
✓ Low thermal efficiency ✓ No dust ash and clinker
✓ Form clinker ✓ Clean fuels
✓ Low calorific value and require large excess air. ✓ Less furnace air
✓ Cost of handling high ✓ Less furnace space
✓ Cannot be used in IC engines. ✓ Used in IC engines
Characteristics of Gaseous fuels

✓ Have high heat content
✓ No ash or smoke
✓ Very large storage tanks are required

Steam Power Plants
Coal
Coal is a compact black or dark-brown sedimentary rock formed some 300 million years ago by
high pressure and temperature anaerobic decomposition of dead plants
Several types of coal are:
Peat
▪ First stage of transformation.
▪ Contains less than 40 to 55 per cent carbon == more impurities.
▪ It burns like wood, gives less heat, emits more smoke and leaves a lot
of ash.

Steam Power Plants
Coal
Lignite
▪ Brown coal.
▪ Lower grade coal.
▪ 40 to 55 per cent carbon.
▪ Dark to black brown.
▪ Moisture content is high (over 35 per cent).
Bituminous Coal
▪ Soft coal; most widely available and used coal.
▪ Derives its name after a liquid called bitumen.
▪ 40 to 80 percent carbon.
▪ Moisture and volatile content (15 to 40 per cent)
▪ Dense, compact, and is usually of black colour.
▪ Calorific value is very high due to high proportion of carbon and low
moisture.
▪ Used in production of coke and gas.

Steam Power Plants
Coal
Anthracite Coal
▪ Best quality; hard coal.

▪ 80 to 95 per cent carbon.
▪ Very little volatile matter.
▪ Negligibly small proportion of moisture.
▪ Ignites slowly and burns with a nice short blue flame. In
India, it is found only in Jammu and Kashmir and that too in
small quantity.

Steam Power Plants
Fuel Handling systems
Coal handling systems Coal delivery
Unloading
Preparation
Transfer
Outdoor Storage
Covered Storage
In plant handling
Weighing and measuring
Power Plant Engineering Feeding the coal into the furnace Dr. Mukesh Sharma
Steam Power Plants
Transfer
Belt conveyor
Screw conveyor
Bucket conveyor
Grab bucket elevator

Steam Power Plants
Pulverised coal firing
Unit system or Direct system
Bin or central system

Steam Power Plants
Unit system or Direct system

Steam Power Plants
Bin or central system

Steam Power Plants
Pulverized coal burners
➢ Burners are used to burn the pulverised coal.
➢ For bituminous coals the turbulent type of burner is used whereas for low volatile coals the
burners with long flame are used.
A pulverised coal burner should satisfy the following requirements:
✓ It should mix the coal and primary air thoroughly and should bring this mixture before it
✓ enters the furnace in contact with additional air known as secondary air to create sufficient
turbulence.
✓ It should deliver the air to the furnace in right proportions and should maintain stable
ignition of coal air mixture and control flame shape and travel in the furnace.
✓ Coal air mixture should move away from the burner at a rate equal to flame front travel
inorder to avoid flash back into the burner.

Steam Power Plants

Steam Power Plants

Steam Power Plants

Steam Power Plants
Pulverized coal burners Types
Long Flame Burner (U-Flame Burner).

In this burner air and coal mixture travels a considerable distance thus providing sufficient time
for complete combustion.

Steam Power Plants
Short Flame Burner (Turbulent Burner).

The burner is fitted in the furnace and the flame enters the furnace horizontally.

Steam Power Plants
Tangential Burner.
In this system one burner is fitted attach corner of the furnace. The inclination of the burner is so
made that the flame produced are tangential to an imaginary circle at the centre.

Steam Power Plants
Cyclone Burner.
This burner uses crushed coal instead of pulverised coal.

Steam Power Plants
Ash Handling systems
A large quantity of ash is, produced in steam power plants using coal. Ash produced in about 10 to
20% of the total coal burnt in the furnace.
Handling of ash is a problem because ash coming out of the furnace is too hot, it is dusty and
irritating to handle and is accompanied by some poisonous gases.
It is desirable to quench the ash before handling due to following reasons:
1. Quenching reduces the temperature of ash.
2. It reduces the corrosive action of ash.
3. Ash forms clinkers by fusing in large lumps and by quenching clinkers will disintegrate.
4. Quenching reduces the dust accompanying the ash.

Steam Power Plants

Steam Power Plants
Ash handling equipments
Hydraulic
Water Jetting
Pneumatic
mechanical

Steam Power Plants
Ash handling equipments
Hydraulic
Water Jetting
Pneumatic
mechanical

Steam Power Plants
Dust Collector
A dust collector is a system used to enhance the quality of air released from industrial
and commercial processes by collecting dust and other impurities from air or gas.

Steam Power Plants
Dust Collectors
Dust Collector types
Mechanical
Settling Changed Baffle Cyclone

Chamber direction Chamber Chamber
Chamber
Electrostatic
Electrostatic precipitators use electrostatic forces to separate dust particles from exhaust gases. A
number of high-voltage, direct-current discharge electrodes are placed between grounded collecting
electrodes. The contaminated gases flow through the passage formed by the discharge and collecting
electrodes.
Steam Power Plants
Dust Collector

Steam Power Plants
Dust Collector

Steam Power Plants
Cooling Towers
A cooling tower is a heat rejection device that rejects waste heat to
the atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream to a lower
temperature.

Steam Power Plants
Cooling Towers
✓ In most large cooling towers, the cooling water and air are in direct contact.
✓ The cooling water is pumped into a system of sprayer pipes and nozzles within the
tower and is drawn by gravity into a pond below.
✓ Air from the atmosphere enters the base of the tower and flows through the falling
water.
✓ A "packing" is provided across the whole cross-section of the tower to ensure that the
water, in its descent, presents a large surface area to the air.
✓ Water flows as a film or splashes and is provided across the whole cross-section of the
tower to ensure that the water presents a large surface area to the air.
✓ Water flows as a film or splashes over the surfaces of the packing while air flows
between the surfaces. Depending on the particular design, air may flow predominantly
upwards (counter-flow) or horizontally (crossflow).
✓ As water temperature decreases, air temperature increases.
Steam Power Plants
Cooling Towers
Cooling Towers
Natural Draught
Mechanical Draught

Steam Power Plants
Cooling Towers

Steam Power Plants
Cooling towers
Cooling Towers
Mechanical
Forced Induced Induced

Draught Draught Crossflow
Steam Power Plants
Cooling Towers

03-10-2020
References
Web resources
✓ https://en.wikipedia.org
✓ https://www.mtholyoke.edu
✓ https://technologystudent.com
✓ https://energypedia.info
✓ https://mekanizmalar.com
Reference books
✓ Power Plant Technology: by M.M.E. Wakil, McGraw Hill Publication

✓ Power Plant Engineering: by Arora & Domkundwar, Dhanpatrai Publication
✓ Power System Engineering: by R.K. Rajput, Laxmi Publication
✓ Power Plant Engineering: by N.K.Nag, T.M. H. Publication
Power Plant Engineering Dr.Mukesh Sharma

Module 2-Steam Power Plants

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POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Module 2- Steam Power Plants

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

➢ Fuel handling unit.

➢ Ash handling unit.

➢ Feed water unit.

➢ Cooling water unit.

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

A boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a means for

Water is useful and cheap medium for transferring heat to a

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

✓ Water treatment systems

✓ Feed water systems

✓ Steam Systems permitted level of conductivity < 5.0

✓ Air Supply System

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Orientation Water Tube Boilers

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

✓ In fire-tube boilers, combustion gases pass through the

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

❖ Not suitable for high pressure applications

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

✓ A water-tube design is the exact opposite of a fire-tube.

✓ The water flows through the tubes and is encased in a

furnace in which the burner fires.

✓ These tubes are connected to a steam drum.

✓ The water is heated and steam is produced.

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

•High initial capital cost

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Water Tube Boilers

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Steam Circulating Tube

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Source: https://www.mech4study.com Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

✓ In reaction turbine nozzle is not used.

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

N MB ✓ The steam passes through the nozzles.

✓ Increase in the velocity takes place in nozzles.

✓ The pressure is dropped in the nozzle.

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

✓ When the steam passes the fixed blades it’s velocity

✓ And pressure is dropped in the fixed blade and

Power Plant Engineering runner . Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Power Plant Engineering Dr. Mukesh Sharma

Mainly Shell in Tube type condensers are

These types of condensers are also