Energy Resources

Conventional and non-conventional energy resources:

Energy is one of the major parts of the economic infrastructure, being the basic
input needed to sustain the economic growth. There exists a strong relationship
between economic development and energy consumption.
The more developed is a country; higher is the per capita of energy
consumption and vice-versa.
The two major sources of energy can be classified under:
1. Conventional Sources
2. Non-Conventional Sources
Below you could see the difference between conventional and non-conventional
sources of energy.

Conventional Sources of Energy:

These sources of energy are also known as non-renewable sources of energy

and are available in limited quantity apart from hydro-electric power. Further it
can be classified under commercial and non-commercial energy.
Commercial Energy Sources:
The coal, electricity and petroleum are known as commercial energy since the
consumer needs to pay its price to buy them.

a) Coal:
Coal is the most important source of energy. There are more than 148790
Coal deposits in India. In between 2005-2006, the annual production went
 up to 343 million tons. India is the fourth largest coal-producing country
and the deposits are mostly found in Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and
Bengal.

b) Oil and Natural Gas:

Today oil is considered to be the liquid gold and one of the crucial
sources of energy in India and the world. Oil is mostly used in planes,
automobiles, trains and ships. It is mainly found in Assam, Gujarat and
Mumbai. The total production of oil in India was 0.3 million tons in
1950-51, which increased up to 32.4 million tons in 2000-01.
c) Electricity: Electricity is a common source of energy and used for
domestic and commercial purposes. The electricity is mainly utilized in
electrical appliances like Fridge, T.V, washing machine and air
conditioning.
The major sources of power generation are mentioned below:
1. Nuclear Power
2. Thermal Power
3. Hydro-electric power

1. Thermal Power:
Thermal power is generated at various power stations by means of oil and coal.
It is a vital source of electric current and its share in total capacity of the nation
in 2004-05 was 70 percent.
2. Hydroelectric Power:
The hydroelectric power is produced by constructing dams above flowing
rivers like Damodar Valley Project and Bhakra Nangal Project. The installed
capacity of hydroelectric power was 587.4 mW in 1950-51 and went up to
19600 mW in 2004-05.
3. Nuclear Power:
The fuel used in nuclear power plants is Uranium, which costs less than coal.
Nuclear power plants can be found in Kota (Rajasthan), Naroura (UP) and
Kalapakam(Chennai).

Non-commercial energy sources

Generally, the energy sources that are freely available are considered as
the non-commercial energy sources. The examples of non-commercial
energy sources are, Straw, dried dung, firewood.
 Non-Conventional Sources of Energy
These non-conventional sources are also known as renewable sources of
energy. The examples include solar energy, bioenergy, tidal energy and
wind energy.
1. Solar Energy: This is the energy that is produced by the sunlight. The
photovoltaic cells are exposed to sunlight based on the form of electricity
that needs to be produced. The energy is utilized for cooking and
distillation of water.
2. Wind Energy: This kind of energy is generated by harnessing the
power of wind and mostly used in operating water pumps for irrigation
purposes. India stands as the second largest country in the generation of
wind power. 3. Tidal Energy: The energy that is generated by exploiting
the tidal waves of the sea is known as tidal energy. This source is yet to
be tapped due to the lack of cost-effective technology.

Hydro power Plant

Hydro Power Plant is an electricity-producing plant in which the water is an

essential fuel, the potential energy is being converted into kinetic energy and
kinetic energy is further converted into mechanical and into electrical energy
with the help of a turbine and motor.

Hydro Power Plant Layout or Construction:

The following Construction or Layout of Hydro Power Plant:

1. Head pond or Reservoir
2. Control gate
3. Penstock
4. Turbine
5. Draft Tube
6. Tail Race
7. Transmission Line
8. Generator
9. Transformer
10. Power House
Head pond:
There is one reservoir which is having a large area in which A huge amount of
water is being stored here. So, the energy here is in the form of Potential energy.

We Know Potential Energy is mgh [Mass*Gravitational force* Height]

Control Gate:
There are having multiple control gates in a single hydro power plant. The work
of control gate is to regulate the flow of water. When the control gate is fully
opened the speed of water flowing is maximum.

Penstock:
The penstock is also called Pipe. The water stored at the dam or head pond is
being released by the control gate, the water starts moving to the turbine. The
Head Pond is having high heights and the Turbine is situated below.
So, the speed of water gets increased because of gravitational force. The
material of the penstock is hard steel being used.

Valve and Nozzle:

The valve work is similar to the control gate and Nozzle work is striking water
in a specific direction [Pressure is high] that is a turbine blade.

Surge tank:
Surge tank is an additional and essential component which is used to
accumulate the water which is in pipe when we want to close the turbine
working. Or you can say it is used for avoiding the pipe burst.
Turbine:
Turbine is a device which is used for generation of electricity. Turbine work is,
the fluid having kinetic energy is being converted into rotational energy.

The high kinetic energy water comes through the penstock to the nozzle and
strikes the turbine blades. The turbine blades start rotating. So the rotational
energy can also be called mechanical energy.

Draft Tube:
Drat tube is mechanical component which is used for enlarging the area of pipe
for sending maximum fluid to the other side.

Tail Race:
Tailrace carries water away from the plant. Hence the water is sent to the river.

Transmission Line:
The transmission line carries power from the power unit or transformer and
transfers or supplies from one source to another. It is made up of conductor.

Generator:
When the turbine buckets start rotating, the turbine shafts also rotating. the
motors are attached to the turbine shafts which is also rotating and generator is
attached to them which generates electricity.

Transformer:
The transformer is attached to the generator. The electricity generated is now
controlled by the transformer. The work of transformer is to set up or set down
the voltage.

Power House:
The name power house means there is a house in which the power is being
stored and released to the transformer and so on.

Nuclear power Plant

In a nuclear power plant, heat energy is generated by a nuclear reaction called

as nuclear fission. Nuclear fission of heavy elements such as Uranium or
Thorium is carried out in a special apparatus called as a nuclear reactor.
The main components of nuclear power plant are

1. Nuclear reactor,

2. Steam generator,

3. Turbine,

4. Coolant pump & feed pump,

5. Generator.

1. Nuclear reactor:

It consists of the following components.

(a) Core: This contains the nuclear fuel and space for coolant. The fuels used
are U233, U235, Pu239 To have uniform release of heat, the fuel is shaped and
located in the core.

(b) Moderator: The moderator is used to reduce the speed of the fast-moving
neutrons. For natural uranium, the following are used as moderators-graphite,
heavy water or beryllium. For enriched uranium, the ordinary water is used as
moderator.

(c) Control rods: The control rods are used to start the chain reaction, maintain
the chain reaction at required level and to shut down during emergency.
The control rods are made of cadmium, boron and hafnium.

(d) Coolant: Coolant is used to transfer the heat which is produced in the
reactor to steam generator for rising the steam. The generally used coolants are
ordinary & heavy water, air, carbon dioxide, helium and hydrogen and liquid
metals like sodium and potassium.

(e) Reflector: Reflector is used to reflect the escaping neutrons back into the
core. This improves the neutron economy of the reactor. The generally used
reflectors are heavy water, graphite and beryllium.

(f) Radiation shield: Radiation shield is a concrete shield to absorb dangerous

radiations like alpha, beta, gamma rays tend to escape to the atmosphere.

(g) Reactor vessel: This is a housing for all the equipment’s and it is designed
in such a way that it can withstand high pressures safely. The reactor is
positioned at the bottom of the vessel.

2. Steam generator:

In this, the steam is generated from the feed water by absorbing heat from the
hot coolant from the reactor.

3. Turbine:

The generated steam is made to expand in the turbine to produce work. This
work is converted into electricity by generator which is coupled with turbines.

4. Coolant pump & Feed pump:

The coolant pump is used to maintain the flow of coolant and the feed pump is
to pump the feed water to the steam generator.

5. Generator:

The generator is used to convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy.
The generator is directly coupled to the turbine.
Solar Power Plant
The sun is a primary source of energy. The energy from the sun that reaches the
earth is called "Solar energy". Much research is being done for the effective
conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. In this method, the solar
radiation is converted into heat energy which is further converted to "Electrical
energy".

The basic elements of a solar power plant are shown here. It basically consists
of large collectors for collecting solar energy. The Earth intercepts a lot of solar
power:173 thousand terawatts. How solar panels convert solar energy to
electrical energy is these Solar panels are made up of smaller units called solar
cells.

Fig : Solar power generation using solar cells

In a solar cell, crystalline silicon is sandwiched between conductive layers.

Each silicon atom is connected to its neighbors by four strong bonds, which
keep the electrons in place so no current can flow.

A silicon solar cell uses two different layers of silicon. N-type silicon has extra
electrons, and p-type silicon has extra spaces for electrons, called holes. Where
the two types of silicon meet, electrons can wander across the p/n junction,
leaving a positive charge on one side

and creating a negative charge on the other. You can think of light as the flow
of tiny particles called photons, shooting out from the Sun. When one of these
photons strikes the silicon cell with enough energy, it can knock an electron
from its bond, leaving a hole.
The negatively charged electron and the location of the positively charged hole

are now free to move around. But because of the electric field at the p/n
junction. they'll only go one way. The electron is drawn to the n-side, while the
hole is drawn to the p-side. The mobile electrons are collected by thin metal
fingers at the top of the cell.

From there, they flow through an external circuit, doing electrical work, like
powering a lightbulb, before returning through the conductive aluminium sheet
on the back. Each silicon cell only puts out half a volt, but you can string them
together in modules to get more power. Twelve photovoltaic cells are enough to
charge a cell phone, while it takes many modules to power an entire house.
Electrons are the only moving parts in a solar cell, and they all go back where
they came from. There's nothing to get worn out or used up, so solar cells can
last for decades.

Wind Power Plant

One of nature's most plentiful energy sources, the wind, is a type of solar
energy. It is free, available everywhere, renewable, and non-polluting. In short,
the wind is a stream of moving air molecules circulated by the sun's unequal
heating of the earth's surface. The power in the wind is the sum of all the
moving molecules of air, and according to the law of fluid dynamics, is
proportional to that of the wind. Almost 5 quadrillion tonnes of air are thought
to be constantly moving around the world. If we could extract 10% of the global
energy potential of the wind, we would comfortably meet the world's energy
requirements from that source alone.

Construction and Working of Wind Power Plants

Wind turbines capture the kinetic energy in surface winds and convert it into
electrical energy in the form of electricity, just as fossil-fuelled plants use steam
or combustion gases to turn electricity-producing rotors. They use three
fundamental components—blades, a shaft, and a generator—to do this.
As wind moves over turbine blades, it causes "lift" - the same effect used by
airplane wings. Lift makes the blades rotate. The turning blades turn a shaft.
The turning shaft moves a magnetic field in the generator, which in turn creates
electricity and is as shown here.

Wind power plant

In contrast to a fan, a wind turbine operates similarly but the opposite. Wind
turbines use wind to create power rather than utilizing electricity to create wind,
like a fan. The generator generates energy as the wind rotates the blades, which
spin a shaft.

Wind turbines typically start to generate power when the wind speed is between
7 and 30 m/sec. The wind must be blowing in order for wind power facilities to
generate energy; otherwise, no electricity is generated. The wind is referred to
as an intermittent resource because of this.