Hydro Electric Power Plant:

A hydropower plant consists of a dam

(reservoir of water), conduit
pipe(Penstock) and water turbine coupled
to a generator . The water in the reservoir
is made to flow through the penstock and
the nozzle, impinges on the blade of the
turbine, causing the rotor of the connected
generator to rotate at high speed. This
generates electricity, thus the potential
energy in water is converted into kinetic
energy in the turbine. This kinetic energy
is further converted to electric energy in
the generator.

Thermal Power Plant

In the steam power plant the pulverised

coal is fed into the boiler and it is burnt
in the furnace. The water present in the
boiler drum changes to high pressure
steam. From the boiler the high pressure
steam passed to the superheater where it
is again heated upto its dryness. This
superheated steam strikes the turbine
blades with high speed and the turbine
starts rotating at high speed. A generator
is attached to the rotor of the turbine and
as the turbine rotates it also rotates with
the speed of the turbine. The generator
converts the mechanical energy of the
turbine into electrical energy. After
striking on the turbine the steam leaves the turbine and enters into the condenser. The steam gets
condensed with the help of cold water from the cooling tower. The condensed water with the
feed water enters into the economiser. In the economiser the feed water gets heated up before
entering into the boiler. This heating of water increases the efficiency of the boiler. The exhaust
gases from the furnace pass through the superheater, economiser and air pre-heater. The heat of
this exhaust gases is utilised in the heating of steam in the superheater, feed water in the
economiser and air in the air pre-heater. After burning of the coal into the furnace, it is
transported to ash handling plant and finally to the ash storage.
Nuclear Power Plant:

Construction: The schematic diagram of

nuclear power plant is shown in figure. A
generating plant in which nuclear energy
is converted into electrical energy is
known as nuclear plant. The main
components of this plant are nuclear
reactor, heat exchanger or steam generator,
steam or gas turbine, AC generator and
condenser.

Working: The reactor of a nuclear power

plant is similar to the furnace in a steam
power plant. The heat is liberated in the
reactor due to the nuclear fission of the
fuel is taken by the coolant circulating in the reactor. A hot coolant leaves the reactor at the top
and then flows through the tubes of heat exchanger and transfers its heat to the feed water on its
way. The steam produced in heat exchanger is passed through the turbine. The low pressure
steam expands from the turbine and is passed through the condenser, which converts steam into
water and once again this is circulated to the heat exchanger through pump. The turbine rotor
turns the generator and thus producing electricity.

Solar Pond:

A solar pond is natural or artificial body

water used for collecting and absorbing
solar radiation energy and storing it as a
heat energy.

Working: A simple pond is a very shallow

with depth ranging from 1 metre to 5
metres. The bottom is lined with black
plastic to absorb the solar radiations. A
bed of insulating materials under the tank
minimizes the heat losses to the ground.
As the solar radiations enter the water in the tank, it is partially absorbed by the water and fully
by the black bottom. If the water is fresh, hot water at the bottom rises to the top surface loses to
the atmosphere and the cold water at the top goes to the bottom. Thus a convective circulation
sets in and most of the heat collected is lost. To prevent this phenomenon, brine water is fed at
the bottom of the tank. Then three zones are created.
 i) Surface convective zone of fresh water:
Depth of 0.3 to 0.5 m and has very low salinity
of less than 5 %.
ii) Non-convective zone: Depth of 1.0 m to
1.5 m and the salinity is more than 5 %
iii) Storage zone of brine water: Depth of
1.5 m and salinity increases to about 20 %.

The Schematic diagram of a solar power plant

is shown in figure, where hot brine at the
bottom of the tank is extracted by a pump and
circulated through the evaporator (heat
exchanger).The working fluid receives heat
from the hot brine and gets evaporated. The high pressure vapour enters turbine and expands to
low pressure, causing a turbine to rotate in turn rotating generator to produce electricity.

Tidal power plant working:

During high tide, when the level of water in

the sea is high, sea-water flows into the
reservoir of the barrage and turns the
turbines. The turbines then turn the generator
shaft to produce electricity.

During low tide, the sea-water stored in the

barrage reservoir is allowed to flow out into
the sea. This flowing water also turns the
turbines and generates electricity. Thus, as
the sea-water flows in and out of the tidal
barrage during high and low tides, the
turbines rotate continuously to generate
electricity.
Wind Energy:

Wind energy is defined as kinetic energy

associated with moment of large masses of air
flowing over the earth surface. The air is
circulated on the earth surface is due to uneven
heating of earth surface by the sun.

Wind Mill:

Construction: Horizontal axis wind mill consists

of

 Blade or rotor which converts the energy in the

wind to rotational shaft energy.
 Drive train, usually including a gearbox and a
generator.
 Tower that supports the rotor and drive train
and other equipment, including tail fin,
controls, electrical cables, ground support
equipment, and interconnection equipment.

Working: When a current of air is blowing, the wind mill turns towards the opposite direction to
the flow of wind, the blades cut the current of air which instead makes the blades to rotate. The
blades are connected to hub, wind shaft, bearing and generator. As the blade rotates, in turn it
rotates the wind shaft and generator, by this mechanical effect the generator produces electric
current. The tail fin directs the wind mill to turn opposite to the flow of wind currents.