Q.1 Ans.

Draw the layout of thermal power plant ……

4. Transfer
Almost two third of electricity requirement of the world is fulfilled by thermal 5. Outdoor storage
power plants (or thermal power stations). In these power stations, steam is
produced by burning some fossil fuel (e.g. coal) and then used to run a steam 6. Covered storage
turbine. Thus, a thermal power station may sometimes called as a Steam Power 7. Inplant handling
Station. After the steam passes through the steam turbine, it is condensed in a
8. Weighing and measuring
condenser and again fed back into the boiler to become steam. This is known
as ranking cycle. This article explains how electricity is generated in thermal 9. Feeding the coal into furnace.
power plants. As majority of thermal power plants use coal as their primary fuel, i) Coal delivery
this article is focused on a coal fired thermal power plant. The coal from supply points is delivered by ships or boats to power stations situated
near to sea or river whereas coal is supplied by rail or trucks to the power stations
Typical Layout And Working Of A Thermal Power Plant which are situated away from sea or river. The transportation of coal by trucks is used
A simplified layout of a thermal power station is shown below. if the railway facilities are not available.
ii) Unloading
The type of equipment to be used for unloading the coal received at the power station
depends on how coal is received at the power station. If coal delivered by trucks, there
is no need of unloading device as the trucks may dump the coal to the outdoor storage.
Coal is easily handled if the lift trucks with scoop are used. In case the coal is brought
by railways wagons, ships or boats, the unloading may be done by car shakes, rotary
car dumpers, cranes, grab buckets and coal accelerators. Rotary car dumpers although
costly are quite efficient for unloading closed wagons.
(iii) Preparation
When the coal delivered is in the form of big lumps and it is not of proper size, the
preparation (sizing) of coal can be achieved by crushers, breakers, sizers, driers and
magnetic separators.
iv)Transfer
After preparation coal is transferred to the dead storage by means of the following
systems.
1. Belt conveyors
2. Screw conveyors
3. Bucket elevators
4. Grab bucket elevators
5. Skip hoists
6. Flight conveyor

Q.2 Ans. Discuss the steps involved in the coal and ash handling system .. Q.3 Ans. Discuss the factors considers for the site selection of thermal power
Coal delivery equipment is one of the major components of plant cost. The plant
1. Availability of raw material :
various steps involved in coal handling are as follows: Modern steam power plants using coal or oil as fuel require very large amount of fuel per annum.
On rough estimates, a steam power plant of 300 MW capacity requires about 3000 tonnes of coal
1. Coal delivery. per day. Therefore, it is necessary to locate the plant as far as possible near the coal fields to
reduce the cost of transportation of fuel. If the plant is located away from coal fields it may create
2. Unloading problems due to failure of transportation system, strike in mines etc.
For above reasons, atleast 15 days coal supply is needed to be stored at site. It results into :
3. Preparation (a) Increased space requirement

(b) Increased investment

(c) Additional staff requirement
(d) Losses in storage
In case it is not possible to locate the plant near the coal fields then it must be located near the
railway station to reduce the cost of road transportation cost from railway station to site of power
plant.

2. Nature of land and its cost :

The site selected should have high bearing capacity of at least 10 N / mm² to withstand dead
load of the plant. It would reduce the cost of foundation of the plant. Total space required is 1500-
2500 m² per MW capacity of plant including the space required for coal storage and ash handling
system. Therefore , the land cost must be reasonable to reduce its capital cost.
To reduce the civil engineering cost, the land selected should not need much levelling of site i.e.
it should not require filling or blasting. Also, the site selected should not have any mineral
deposits.

3. Availability of water :
Steam plants use water as working fluid which is repeatedly evaporated and condensed. It also
needs about 2% of steam generated as make up water due to its loss.
Also, considerable amount of water is needed for condensing the steam in condenser.
On rough estimates it requires about 18 x 10 litres of water per day for a 300 MW capacity plant
and 36 x 10 litres of water as make up water. Thus, it is necessary to locate a thermal power plant
near a place where required quantity of water is available throughout the year e.g. near a river,
sea or lake.

4. Load centre :
A power plant must be located near the load to which the power is supplied. However, it is not
possible to locate the power plant near all the loads. As such the centre of gravity (C.G) of all the
loads is determined with reference to reference axis where the plant is usually located. The
location of power plant at C.G. of loads reduces the cost of transmission lines and the losses
occurring in it. It should also take into account the future developments while selecting the load
centre.

5. Transport facilities :
The power plant should be located where the adequate transport facilities are available for
transportation of fuel and heavy machinery for installation.

6. Availability of labour :
Large men power is needed during the construction of plant. Therefore, labour should be
available near the construction site at cheap cost.

7. Ash disposal facilities :

Huge amount of hot ash comes out of the coal based thermal power plants which is hazardous to
human and plant life. It is corrosive and polluting in nature. Therefore, there must be sufficient
space and facilities available to dispose of large quantity of ash.

8. Future expansion :
The site selected should be such that it allows economic extensions of the plant with the
estimated growth of load.

9. Pollution :
The thermal power plants should be located away so as to avoid any nuisance from smoke, fly
ash, noise and heat discharged from the plant.

10. Away from air fields :

The power plant should be located away from the densely populated and industrial area by
taking into account the aerial warfare.