Course NE 3104: Thermal Hydraulics and Reactor Safety Lab

Industrial visit report on

Siddhirganj 210MW Thermal Power Station

Dated on: 07 March 2019

Report Submission date: 11 April, 2019

Submitted to:

Dr Md Shafiqul Islam Md Iqbal Hosan

Associate professor and Chairman, Lecturer

Department of Nuclear Engineering, Department of Nuclear Engineering,

University of Dhaka. University of Dhaka.

Submitted by:

Arif Akhter Rangon

Batch 4; Roll 12;

Department of Nuclear Engineering

University of Dhaka
Acknowledgement:
Dated on 07 March 2019, we along with our two senior teachers paid a visit to the Siddhirganj
Thermal Power Station (STPS) situated at Narayanganj, Dhaka. For such an educational tour to
have successfully completed we awfully express our gratitude to our teachers and authority who
made the tour happen. Then we express our feeling of gratitude to the chief engineer of
Siddhirganj 210 MW thermal power plant for granting permission to visit the plant. We are
especially very much thankful to the assistant engineer of the plant, who took great effort to share
his practical knowledge with the students. Finally we would love to appreciate their concern for
the technical upliftment of the students.

We are very much thankful Dr. Shafiqul Islam, chairman of Department of Nuclear Engineering
University of Dhaka for allowing and guiding for the proper execution of the visit. We are also very
much thankful to Md lqbal Hosan for the proper guiding and explanation of the plant components
during the visit.

Introduction:
210 MW Siddhinganj thermal power station in located at Siddhinganj of Narayanganj in Dhaka,
Bangladesh. This infrastructure is of type gas power plant with capacity of 210 MWe. It has one
unit and the unit was commissioned in 2004 operated by Bangladesh Power Development Board
(BPDB). The primary fuel of the power plant in natural gas and the thermal efficiency of this plant
is about 35%. For some problems it is now operated at 150 MWe. The main components of this
power plant are boiler, steam turbine, electric generator, condenser and different types of pump
etc. It is steam turbine based power plant which has fuel consumption rate of about 0.308 cubic
meter per second.

What is thermal power plant:

A thermal power plant is a plant is which heat energy is converted into electric power. In most of
the places in the world the turbine steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins
steam turbine which drives an electric generator. It converts energy like that of the following flow
diagram:

Chemical energy of fuel > Heat energy in boiler > Mechanical energy in turbine> Electrical energy
in generator.

After passing through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where
it is heated. It is known as Rankin cycle.
Thermal power plant is a collective term which includes fossil fuels, geothermal, solar and nuclear
power plants as well as waste incineration plants. The basic mechanism is that:

1. Use the heat energy to boil water, producing steams

2. The steam turbine spins and then drives the electric generator
3. Condense the steam into water for reusing
4. Repeat the cycle

This cycle is known as the Rankin cycle:

General Layout of thermal power plant:

Though each plant is unique in itself in terms of specific features and functionalities, still there is
a broad outline to which all thermal power plants confirm to and in this article we will study about
the general layout of a typical power plant.

There are four main circuits in any thermal power plant and these are

Coal & Ash Circuit – this circuit deals mainly with feeding the boiler with coal for combustion
purposes and taking care of the ash that is generated during the combustion process and includes
equipment and paraphernalia that is used to handle the transfer and storage of coal and ash.

Air & Gas Circuit – we know that air is one of the main components of the fire triangle and hence
necessary for combustion. Since lots of coal is burnt inside the boiler it needs a sufficient quantity
of air which is supplied using either forced draught or induced draught fans. The exhaust gases
from the combustion are in turn used to heat the ingoing air through a heat exchanger before
being let off in the atmosphere. The equipment which handles all these processes fall under this
circuit.
Feed Water & Steam Circuit – this section deals with supplying of steam generated from the boiler
to the turbines and to handle the outgoing steam from the turbine by cooling it to form water in
the condenser so that it can be reused in the boiler plus making good any losses due to evaporation
etc.

Cooling Water Circuit – this part of the thermal power plant deals with handling of the cooling
water required in the system. Since the amount of water required to cool the outgoing steam from
the boiler is substantial, it is either taken from a nearby water source such as a river, or it is done
through evaporation if the quantity of cooling water available is limited.

Overview and Schematic Diagram of STPS:

The schematic diagram on which the Siddhirganj thermal power station works is shown below:
Working Components of Thermal Power Plant
Thermal Power Plant consists of a whole set of steps in series for producing electricity.

The fuel is transported from mines via trains to the fuel storage facility in a power plant. The fuel
transported to the plant is generally bigger in particle size and before it is fed to the boiler furnace
it is broken down into smaller pieces using crushers. The fuel is then fed to the boiler generating
a large amount of combustion heat.

On the other hand treated water free from impurities and air is fed to the boiler drum where the
combustion heat from the fuel is transferred to water to convert it into high pressure and
temperature steam.

Generally, flue gases from the boiler exhaust are at high temperature and if this heat is not utilized
will lead to a large amount of losses resulting in reduced boiler efficiencies. So generally this waste
heat is recovered by heating either air required for combustion or preheat water before sending
it into a boiler.

Flue gases are then allowed to pass through a dust collector or a bag filter to arrest dust particles
so as to prevent air pollution before sending it to the atmosphere through a chimney.
 1. Fuel storage and handling plant:

The most essential part of any power plant is to store the fuel safely in an appropriate amount so
that the plant can run smoothly in normal days as well as when the supply of fuel from mines is
improper. So a fuel storage facility is defined in a plant to store an adequate amount of fuel.

In a thermal power plant, the first step in process of power generation is that the fuel is brought
to breaker house with the help of belt conveyor, here light dust is separated with the help of rotary
machine through the action of gravity. It further goes to the crusher where it is crushed to a size
of about 50mm.

2. Water Treatment Plant:

In thermal power, plant water is used in large quantity this water is converted into steam and used
to rotate the turbine so this water and steam come into direct contact with the boiler, boiler tubes,
boiler accessories, and turbine blades.

Normal water is taken from the river, well contains a lot of dirt, suspended particulate matter
(SPM), dissolved minerals and dissolved gases such as air etc. If the water fed to the boiler is not
treated then it will reduce the life and efficiency of equipment by corroding the surfaces and
scaling of equipment which may lead to overheating of pressure parts and explosions.

Suspended matter from the water is removed by adding alum into the water tank through gravity
separation. Addition of alum coagulates the suspended particles and due to an increase in the
density, it settles at the bottom of the tank through gravity.

After gravity separation, water softening is done by ion exchange process. As the hardness comes
through the carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium and magnesium, these salts are removed
from water anion exchange and cation exchange process.

Water also contains dissolved oxygen and this leads to corrosion and fouling of boiler tubes and
surfaces when it comes in their contact. So removing dissolved oxygen from water is done by
adding oxygen scavengers and by using a Deaerator tank. Deaerator tank also acts as a feed water
tank to store the feed water. On heating feed water in a deaerator tank decreases the solubility of
air in water, thereby removing the dissolved air from the water.

3. Economiser:

An economiser is essentially a feed water heater and derives heat from the flue gases for this
purpose. The feed water is fed to the economizer before supplying to the boiler. The economiser
extracts a part of heat of flue gases to increase the feed water temperature. This results in
increasing boiler efficiency saving fuels.

4. Air Preheater:

An air pre-heater increases the temperature of the air supplied for coal burning by deriving heat
from flue gases. Air is drawn from the atmosphere by a forced draught fan and is passed through
air pre-heater before supplying to the boiler furnace. The air pre-heater extracts heat from flue
gases and increases the temperature of air used for coal combustion. The principal benefits of
preheating the air are: increased thermal efficiency and increased steam capacity per square
meter of boiler surface.

Depending upon the method of heat transfer from flue gases in boiler to the air, the air-preheater
can be divided into two main types:

a. Recuperative Type: The recuperative type air-preheater consists of group of steel tubes. The
flue gases are passed through the tubes while the air flows externally to the tubes. Thus heat of
flue gases is transferred to air.

b. Regenerative Type: The regenerative type air pre-heater consists of slowly moving drum made
up of corrugated metal plates. The flue gases flow continuously on one side of the drum & air on
the other side. This action permits the transference heat of flue gases to the air being supplied to
the boiler furnace for coal combustion.

5. Circulating pumps:

ower plants usually employ the use of different kinds of pumps for a wide range of operations. For
instance, boiler feed pumps are crucial for the operation of power plants.

These are typically used in different stages for the delivery of feedwater to boilers. The feedwater
is then turned into steam, which is what turns the turbines generating power at the power plants.
To assist in the pumping of feedwater, booster pumps are also present upstream of the feed
pumps. The booster pumps which are specifically used in boiler feed applications increase the
suction pressure of feedwater. This process serves to fulfill the Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH)
requirement of the main boiler feed pump.

Condensate pumps collect saturated water from the condenser hot well and pump it either to a
de-aerating heater or back into the boiler feed pump. These pumps operate at extremely low
suction pressures.

As such, they are often located at the lowest level of any pump in the power plant. They are also
installed in a suction can that is below ground level. Furthermore, the velocity of the flow entering
the condensate pipe is kept to a minimum. This helps to limit frictional losses in the piping.

Condenser circulating pumps deliver cool water from freshwater sources near the power plant.
They then pump it through the condenser to condense exhaust steam from the turbine. These
pumps can be either located in dry pits or wet pits. If they are in wet pits they will have a vertical
design.

Boiler circulating pumps pump water through a boiler. This helps to increase the effectiveness of
the boiler. The water is at the same temperature and pressure as the boiler and the pump operates
at a low total head requirement.

CIRCULATING WATER PUMP MAJOR EQUIPMENT

Manufacturer: Russia
Type: 96ДB-4.5/23TB3 Vertical, Mixed Flow, Single Stage.
Number of Pumps: Three
Delivery: 14290 m3 / h
Capacity: 1048 KW.
Head: 21.3m
Voltage: 6.6KV

6. Boiler:

A boiler is a pressure vessel which is used to generate high-pressure steam at a saturated

temperature. At this high pressure and temperature generally, bi-drum water tube boilers are
used. Water tube boiler consists of a furnace enclosed by the water tubes membrane. The crushed
fuel from the crushers is fed into the boiler furnace over the grate. The hot air from the Forced
Draft (FD) fan is mixed with the crushed fuel causing combustion of fuel.
Combustion of fuel generates a lot of radiation heat which is transferred to water in the membrane
tubes. Flue gases generated during combustion travel at high velocity across the convection bank
of tubes thereby heating water through convection heat transfer. Hot water is sent to a boiler
drum at high pressure through the feed water pump.

The boiler tubes which are in contact with low temperature acts as down comers to circulate the
water while the tubes which are in contact with high temperature acts as risers to carry steam.
This leads to an effective circulation of water thereby preventing the tubes from getting
overheated.

Steam leaving the boiler is at a saturated temperature and pressure but there are a lot of heat
losses during its transportation to the turbines. So to increase the quality of steam, steam
Superheater is installed in a radiative section of a boiler to increase its temperature and dryness
fraction without increasing its pressure as well as to accommodate for the transportation
temperature losses.

The exhaust gases leaving the boiler are generally at high temperature and this waste heat is
extracted by installing an Economiser or Water Pre heaters to preheat the feed water to the boiler
and Air Preheaters to pre-heat the air coming from the Forced Draft Fan required for the
combustion of fuel. Installing this equipment help to decrease the flue gas temperature thereby
increasing the efficiency.

The flue gases leaving the boiler also contain some ash particles, so to reduce the air pollution,
flue gases are allowed to pass through the Dust Collectors and Bag Filters to remove the ash
particulates from the flue gases and are sometimes passed through the Wet Scrubbers to decrease
the sulfur content from the gases.

The flue gases are drawn through this equipment using an Induced Draft (ID) Fan which is designed
for a fixed capacity and head to prevent any back pressure. After the ID fan, flue gases are
exhausted off into the atmosphere using a chimney. In our plant visit we got the following
specifications in the plant:

Boiler Specification:
 Manufacturer: TKZ, Russia.
 Type: Ep 670-138-545G (Model:TGME-206/VSO)
 Rated Steam Capacity: 670 t/h
 Superheated Steam Temperature: 545o c
 Pressure of Superheated Steam: 138 kgf/cm2
 Fuel: Natural Gas
 Reheated Steam temperature inlet/outlet: 334 / 545 c
 Temperature of Feed Water: 246C

7. Turbine:

A turbine is a mechanical device which converts the kinetic and pressure energy of steam into
useful work. From the superheater steam goes to the turbine where it expands and loses its kinetic
and pressure energy and rotates the turbine blade which in turn rotates the turbine shaft
connected to its blades. The shaft then rotates the generator which converts this kinetic energy
into electrical energy. In Siddhirganj thermal power plant we found the following data:

Turbine Specification :
 Manufacturer: LMZ, Russia.
 Type: K-210-130-8
 No. of Cylinder: Three
 Nominal Power: 210MW
 Rotor speed: 3000 rpm
 Pressure of Live Steam: 130 kgf/cm2
 Temperature of Live Steam: 540 C
 No. of Regenerative Extraction: 7
 No. of Stages: 29

8. Generator:

In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy)
into electrical power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam
turbines, gas turbines, water turbines, internal combustion engines and even hand cranks. In
Siddhirganj thermal power plant we found the following data :

Generator Specification:
Manufacturer: ELEKTROTJAZMASH, UKRAINE
Type: TΓB-200MT3
Capacity: 210MW (247MVA)
Generating Voltage: 15.75KV
Power Factor: 0.85
R.P.M: 3000rpm (50Hz)
Stator current: 9060 Ampere
Rotor Current: 1950 Ampere
Excitation Voltage: 430 V
Phase: Three

9. Condenser:

A condenser is a device which condenses the steam at the exhaust of the turbine. It serves two
important functions. Firstly, it creates a very low pressure at the exhaust of the steam turbine,
thus permitting expansion of the steam in the prime mover to a very low pressure. This helps in
converting heat energy of steam into mechanical energy in the prime mover. Secondly, the
condensed steam can be used as feed water to the boiler.

10. Cooling Arrangements:

In order to improve the efficiency of the plant, the steam exhausted from the turbine is condensed
by means of a condenser. Water is drawn from a natural source of supply such as a river, canal or
lake and is circulated through the condenser. The circulating water takes up the heat of the
exhausted steam and it becomes hot. This hot water coming out from the condenser is discharged
at a suitable location down the river. In case the availability of water from the source of supply is
not assured throughout the year, cooling towers are used. During the scarcity of water in the river,
hot water from the condenser is passed on to the cooling towers where it is cooled. The cold water
from the cooling tower is reused in the condenser.

11. Draught System:

Induced Draught fan (IDF): It consists of Exhaust fan: Its (IDF) function is to remove rapidly flue
gases (smoke) from the furnace chamber produced during combustion. OR The fans suck the flue
gases from combustion chamber and discharge it rapidly to the air through chimney.

Forced Draught fan (FDF): It consists of fan: Its (FDF) function is to provide forced air (oxygen) for
combustion process in furnace. OR Its (FDF) function is to supply required amount of air (oxygen)
to the furnace chamber for efficient and fast combustion.
 12. Cooling Tower:
The cooling tower is used to reduce the temperature of water coming from condensers & reused
the same. It is used: In case of thermal, nuclear power station & for similar application.
Working: The water coming from condenser is dropped in the cooling tower from a height of about
8–10 m. The cooling tower reduces the temperature of the hot water by about 7°C– 10°C. This
water at the reduced temperature is recirculated to the condenser and the cycle is repeated. In
the cooling tower temperature of water is reduced either by natural or by forced or by induced
draught method or by combine method.
 The function of cooling tower is to reduce the temperature of water coming from
condenser.
 A cooling tower is a steel or concrete hyperbolic structure. There is reservoir at the bottom
for storing the cold water.
 Water is circulated from the basin of the cooling tower to the condenser. It absorbs latent
heat from the steam and get warm.
 This warm water is return to the cooling tower to reduce the temperature.
 Hot water from condenser outlet is dropped from a height of about 8– 10 m. The cooling
tower reduces the temperature of the hot water by about 7°C–10°C, as it falls down into
the basin at the bottom of the cooling tower.
 This water at the reduced temperature is re-circulated through the condenser and the
cycle is repeated.
 In cooling Tower temperature of water is reduced either by natural or forced or induced
draught method or combine.

13. Chimney:
Flue gases (smoke) are produced during combustion process. These flue gases produce air
pollution, SO to reduce air pollution it should be passed in air as high as possible with the help of
Chimney.

Merits and demerits of a thermal power plant:

Advantages:
 Cost of fuel: Fuel used in thermal power station (TPS) is cheaper than cost of fuel used in
diesel & nuclear power station.
 Capital cost: Capital cost of TPS is less than hydro & nuclear power station.
 Near load center: TPS can be located near load center. The coal can be transport from coal
mines to power plant. As it is located load centre it reduces transmission cost and losses in
it.
 Space required: Less space required as compared to hydro power station.
 Generating cost: TPS can be built/construct of high generating capacity.
  Generating capacity: TPP can be build/construct of high generating capacity, so used as a
base load power plant.
 Overload capacity: Steam engines and turbine can work under 25% overloads
continuously.
 Time required for completion of project: Time required for completion of TPP project is
very less as compare to hydro power station.
Disadvantages:
 Air pollution: It produces air pollution due to smoke and ash produced during combustion
of fuel.
 Starting Time: TPP cannot be put into service immediately like HPP. As thermal power plant
required few hours (6-7 hour) to generate steam at high pressure and high temperature.
 Handling of fuel: Handling of coal and disposal of ash is quite difficult.
 Fuel transportation cost: When power plant are located away from coal mines i.e. near
load centre at that time fuel transportation cost is more.
 Preparation for fuel: There is more expenditure for preparation of coal (raw coal to
pulverized coal).
 Space required: Large amount of space is required for storage of fuel and ash as compare
to NPP.
 Efficiency: It is less efficient power plant overall efficiency is maximum 30 %.
 Stand by losses: Stand by losses is more as furnace is required to keep in operation even
when there is no load.
 Maintenance cost: High maintenance and operating cost because number of axillaries
plant are required such as coal and ash handling plant, pulverizing plant, condensing plant
and water purification plant etc.
 Availability of fuel: Less availability of high grade coal.
 Simplicity and cleanness: Layout of thermal power plant is complicated than HPP due to
coal and ash.
 Life: Life of TPP is less than HPP.
 Cost per unit (cost of generation)- High

Discussion on improvements of the plant:

Siddhirganj Thermal power station can be improved in both functionality and efficiency in some
cases. Such as the efficiency of the plant mainly depends on the heat input and heat extraction
which directly depend on economizer, air preheater and superheater.
Economizer: In economizer heat of flue gases is recovered (absorb) and used to increase the
temperature of feed water, so it increases efficiency of boiler by reducing steaming time.
Therefore good quality and large economizer should be employed.
Super heater: In super heater heat of flue gases is recovered (absorb) and used to increase the
temperature of steam to become dry (super heated), so it increases efficiency of turbine because
temperature of super-heated steam is more. More good quality gas should be supplied which has
more calorific value. Thus efficiency will be enhanced.
Air preheater: In air preheater the temperature of flue gases is recovered (absorb) and used to
increase the temperature of air passed in combustion chamber of boiler, so it increases efficiency
of boiler. Therefore, more than one air preheater can be used in series hence to enhance the
thermal efficiency of the plant.
For making the plant more cost efficient we should focus on the auxiliary components. If the cost
of these components can be optimized, per unit electricity production cost will be less the current
price. The components whose optimization are needed are coal conveyor. pulverizer. stoker,
boiler, furnace, economizer air-preheater, super heater, re-heater, HP and LP feed water heater,
condenser, cooling tower, chimney or stack, precipitator (dust collector) (electro-static
precipitator), ejector, deaerator, water treatment plant, forced draught fan & induced draught
fan.

Conclusion:
We finally finished our industrial tour at the afternoon with immense pleasure and intense
practical knowledge about a thermal power station. The main objective of the tour was to grab an
idea of how a nuclear power plant works. Fortunately, the thermal and nuclear power plants have
most of the things in common except the source of fuel. Therefore, the visit to the Siddhirganj
thermal power station was very helpful to get some intuition about the operation of a nuclear
power plant. We ardently wait for the days when we will pay visit the Rooppur nuclear power plant
which is not far away we think. The chairman and respective authority can make it possible with
their efforts for the sake of the students of Nuclear Engineering department, University of Dhaka.
Again, we thank our teachers and STPS engineers for their heartily support and co-operation.