Gas turbine Plants

Overview
✗ It is power plant where a gas turbine is used as
prime mover for electrical energy generation
✗ In thermal power plants, products of combustion
are used to generate steam which is expanded
in prime
✗ mover but in Gas Turbine Power Plant Gas is
directly expanded in Prime Mover.
✗ In turbine blading, working gas expands & heat
energy is first converted to kinetic energy & then
to work of turbine shaft rotation.
✗ Gas Turbines in simple mode have an efficiency
of 32% to 38%.
Schematic
Working
✗ Compressor used in Gas Turbine Power Plant is of rotary
type.
✗ Filter removes the dust from air intake from atmosphere.
✗ Combustion chamber has a chamber in which air is injected at
high pressure, fuel is injected & burnt in stream of air supplied.
✗ Gases of combustion pass over turbine blades & expand &
result in rotation
✗ Alternator coupled to turbine converts mechanical energy to
electrical energy.
✗ Electric motor for starting the compressor & it is mounted on
some shaft as that of turbine.
Fuels Used
✗ Products of combustion should have minimum matter which can
be disposed easily.
✗ Coal of Peat can be used but they have ash handing problems.
✗ Kerosene, Diesel Oil, Residual Oil can be used but they have
higher costs.
✗ Natural Gas (Methane) is generally used which has high calorific
value.
Selection of Site
✗ Distance from load center
✗ Availability of land
✗ Availability of fuel
✗ Availability of transportation facilities.
✗ Distance from populated areas
✗ Type of land
Merits
✗ Simplicity of design & installation
✗ High reliability
✗ Simple liberation system
✗ Clean exhaust requiring no stack.
✗ Compactness
✗ Low initial cost
✗ No stand by losses.
Demerits
✗ Low net output
✗ Low 𝜂
✗ Noisy operation
Solar Plants
Overview
✗ Sun radiates energy of about 3.5 × 1023 kW
into space and 2 × 1014 kW energy reaches
earth.
✗ Even if 90% of energy is lost in refection,
refraction & absorption in outer layers of
atmosphere then energy that can be
harnessed is 2 × 1013 kW. This is equivalent
to burning 17 million tons of coal.
Schematic and Working
✗ Large parabolic collectors are employed as solar collector.
✗ Solar energy collected is used to heat a fluid. This heat is transferred to feed water
which is converted to steam.
✗ The steam is used to run a turbine which is coupled to a generator which
generates electric power
Solar Collector
✗ A solar collector absorbs the incident solar
radiation & converts it into useful heat
energy which is used to heat fluid such as
water, oil or air.
✗ Surface of solar collector is designed for
high absorption & low emission.
Flat plate collectors
✗ Used where temperature below 100°C are
required.
✗ They can be liquid heating type which are
used for heating water.
✗ The structure is placed at proper inclination
to absorb solar radiations.
✗ It is mainly used for water heating, space
heating & space cooling.
✗ The collection efficiency varies from 40-
60%.
Focusing or Concentrating
Collectors
✗ To achieve temperatures higher than
achievable by flat plate collectors , focusing
collector are used
✗ It can give temperature in range of 100-200° C
✗ It can be used for steam engines & turbines.
✗ These collectors have to be rotated with
motion of sun.
✗ High operating temperatures such as 1000° C
can be achieved with point focus collectors
Drawbacks
✗ Energy density per unit area is very low
✗ Available only for parts of a day
✗ Cloudy & hazy atmospheric conditions
largely reduce the energy received.
✗ A means to store energy is required.
Wind Power
Generators
Overview
✗ Winds are caused by solar heating of
atmosphere They carry enormous energy.
✗ This source of power is non-steady &
unreliable. There are wide variations in
speed & direction of winds.
Wind turbine
✗ Blowing wind spins the blades on a wind
turbine when blows a pocket of low pressure
is formed on down side of blade & pull the
blade towards it, causing rotor to turn.
✗ The shaft goes through a gear transmission
box where the rotating speed is increased.
✗ The rotating shaft turns a generator which
produces electrical energy.

✗ Types of Wind turbines :

✗ Horizontal axis wind Turbine.
✗ Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.
Horizontal axis wind Turbine (HAWT)
✗ Main rotor shaft and electrical generator are
kept at top of tower & must be pointed to
wind.
✗ Turbine blades are made stiff so they are not
pushed into tower.
✗ Turbines used in wind forms for commercial
production of electrical energy are there
bladed & pointed to wind by computer
controlled motors.
✗ The blades rotate at 10.22 rpm & at 22 rpm
the tip speed reaches 90 m/s..
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
✗ Main rotor shaft is vertical.
✗ The turbine does not require to be pointed
into wind to be effective.
✗ This is an advantage when wind direction is
variable.
✗ It is difficult to mount vertical turbine at
height so they are mounted near base like
roof tops but in that case they collect less
power.
Diesel Power
Plants
Uses of Diesel Electric Station:
✗ Standby Plant
✗ Peak Load Plant
✗ Emergency Plant
✗ Mobile Plant
✗ Supply Units for Cinemas, Hospitals etc.
Components of Diesel Electric
Power Plant:
The essential components of a diesel electric
power plant are as follow:
✗ Diesel Engine
✗ Engine Fuel Supply System
✗ Engine Air Intake System
✗ Engine Exhaust System
✗ Engine Cooling System
✗ Engine Lubrication System.
✗ Engine Starting System.
✗ AC or DC Generators
Schematic :
Diesel Engine:
✗ It is the main components used in diesel
electric power plant for developing
mechanical power. This mechanical power
we use to run the generator & produce
electrical energy. For producing the
electrical energy the diesel engine is
mechanically coupled to generator.
Selection of site
✗ Near to Load Center
✗ Availability of Land
✗ Availability of Water
✗ Foundations
✗ Fuel Transportation
✗ Local Conditions
✗ Noise Pollution
Advantages of Diesel Power Station :
✗ This is simple in design point of view.
✗ It can also be designed for portable use.
✗ It has quick starting facility; the small diesel generator set can be
started within few seconds.
✗ As these machines can easily be started and stopped as when
required, there may not be any standby loss in the system.
✗ Cooling is easy and required smaller quantity of water in this type
power station.
✗ Initial cost is less than other types of power station.
✗ Thermal efficiency of diesel is quite higher than of coal.
✗ It requires less operating staff.
✗ The overall cost is much less than that of steam power station of
same capacity.
Disadvantages of Diesel Power Station
✗ The cost of diesel is very high compared to coal. This is the main
reason for which a diesel power plant is not getting popularity over
other means of generating power.
✗ The plant generally used to produce small power requirement.
✗ Cost of lubricants is high.
✗ Maintenance is quite complex and costs high.
✗ The plant doesn’t work satisfactorily under overload conditions for
a longer period.
✗ The cost of lubrication is generally high.
✗ The maintenances charges are generally high