Steam Power Plants Component Part 1

Dr: Aly Hassan Elbatran

 History of Steam Power Plant
The first application ever of steam power was in England in 1712 when Thomas
Newcomen invented the first steam engine to pump water out of. In 1776 James
Watt made basic improvements to the engine and his name is more frequently
associated with steam engines development.
The application of steam engines in the marine field started in the 1780s in Europe
and America simultaneously with at least seven steamers built until 1807 all of
them working with Scotch (fire tube) boilers. Due to its increased efficiency and
higher power to weight ratio if compared with the steam engine, the steam
turbine has completely replaced the reciprocating steam engine. The first idea of
steam turbine was established by Hero of Alexandria in 120 B.C. Later in 1551, the
Egyptian scientist Taqi El-Din developed an invention based on the steam turbine
principle. In 1629, the Italian scientist Giovanni Branca described a machine based
on the same idea. Finally in 1886, the known steam turbine was invented by
Charles Parsons and few years later, the American George Westinghouse scaled up
the output power, many variations and developments followed like the famous
Curtis, de Laval and Rateau turbines. Nowadays the major commercial user of
steam power plants is the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) sector, where the BOG
(Boil-Off Gas) from the natural gas cargo is burnt in boilers to generate steam.

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 Steam Power Plant Components
The different types of systems and components used in steam power plant are as follows :
(a) High pressure boiler (b) Prime mover (c) Condensers and cooling towers (d) Fuel (coal) handling system (e) Ash and dust
handling system (f) Draught system (g) Feed water purification plant (h) Pumping system (i) Air preheater, economizer, super
heater, feed heaters.

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 Steam Power Plant Components
Air taken from the atmosphere is first passed through the air pre-heater, where it is heated by flue gases. The hot air then

passes through the furnace. The flue gases after passing over boiler and superheater tubes, flow through the dust collector

and then through economizer, air pre-heater and finally they are exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney.

Steam condensing system consists of the following :

(a) Condenser

(b) Cooling water

(c) Cooling tower

(d) Condenser cooling water pump

(e) Condensate air extraction pump

(g) Boiler feed pump

(h) Make up water pump.

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 Steam Power Plant Components
BOILERS
Boiler is an apparatus to produce steam. Thermal energy released by combustion of
fuel is transferred to water, which vaporizes and gets converted into steam at the
desired temperature and pressure.
In addition to Marine application, The steam produced is used for :
(a) Producing mechanical work by expanding it in steam engine or steam turbine.
(b) Heating the residential and industrial buildings.
(c) Performing certain processes in the sugar mills, chemical and textile industries.
Boiler is a closed vessel in which water is converted into steam by the application of
heat. Usually boilers are coal or oil fired.

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 Steam Power Plant Components
BOILERS
A boiler should fulfill the following requirements :
(a) Safety : The boiler should be safe under operating conditions.
(b) Accessibility : The various parts of the boiler should be accessible for repair and maintenance.
(c) Capacity : The boiler should be capable of supplying steam according to the requirements.
(d) Efficiency : To permit efficient operation, the boiler should be able to absorb a maximum amount
of heat produced due to burning of fuel in the furnace.
(e) It should be simple in construction and its maintenance cost should be low.
(f) Its initial cost should be low.
(g) The boiler should have no joints exposed to flames.
(h) The boiler should be capable of quick starting and loading.

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 Steam Power Plant Components
TYPES OF BOILERS
The boilers can be classified according to the following criteria. According to flow of water and hot gases :
(a) Water tube: water circulates through the tubes and hot products of combustion flow over these tubes
(b) Fire tube: the hot products of combustion pass through the tubes, which are surrounded, by water.

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 Steam Power Plant Components
TYPES OF BOILERS

 Fire tube boilers have low initial cost, and are more compacts. But they are more likely to explosion, water

volume is large and due to poor circulation they cannot meet quickly the change in steam demand. For the

same output the outer shell of fire tube boilers is much larger than the shell of water-tube boiler.

 Water tube boilers require less weight of metal for a given size, are less liable to explosion, produce higher

pressure, are accessible and can respond quickly to change in steam demand. Tubes and drums of water-tube

boilers are smaller than that of fire-tube boilers and due to smaller size of drum higher pressure can be used

easily. Water-tube boilers require lesser floor space. The efficiency of water-tube boilers is more.

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 Steam Power Plant Components
WATER TUBE BOILERS
Advantages of water tube boilers are as
follows :
(a) High pressure can be obtained.
(b) Heating surface is large. Therefore
steam can be generated easily.
(c) Large heating surface can be obtained
by use of large number of tubes.
(d) Because of high movement of water in
the tubes the rate of heat transfer becomes
large resulting into a greater efficiency.
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 Steam Power Plant Components
WATER TUBE BOILERS
Water tube boilers are classified as follows :

1. Horizontal Straight Tube Boilers

(a) Longitudinal drum - (b) Cross-drum.

2. Bent Tube Boilers

(a) Two drum

(b) Three drum

(c) Low head three drum

(d) Four drum.

3. Cyclone Fired Boilers

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