Utilization of Electrical Power

(M2H621476)

Thermal Power Plants-1

 Summary of Last Class
• Advantages of electrical energy over other forms of energy

• Natural sources of energy using which electricity can be generated

• Types of energy resources (Conventional, Non conventional, Renewable,

Non renewable)

• Classification of Power Plants

• Types of Thermal Power Plants

• Lay outs of General Power system

• Lay out of a Hydel Power Plant

• Lay out of Oman’s Power Sector

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 Starter

• Have you ever observed steam pushing out of a kettle of boiling water?
• What causes the kettle lid to rattle? How does a whistling comes out of a
pressure cooker?
• heated steam can push things into motion.
• That is Steam at pressure can do work
• This is the basic principle of steam engine
• The principle utilized in Steam Turbines for Electric Power Generation

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 Review of Basics –Power Generation
• To generate voltage or power we have to run or rotate a generator
• An external agency is needed to move / rotate the generator; called ?
• A turbine is used as prime mover to rotate the generator.
• There are different types of turbines - steam turbine, combustion turbine
and water turbine
• Thermal power plants use steam turbines or combustion turbines
• Conventional thermal power plants work on fossil fuels (Coal, Gas, Oil, ..)
• In a thermal power station with steam turbines, fuel like coal is burnt to
produce steam
• The steam at high pressure and temperature, drives the steam turbine
which in turn runs the generator
• Now we will study the elementary features of a thermal power plant

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 Steam Power Plant – Process Overview
• Coal is burnt to produce high temperature and high pressure steam in a boiler.
• The steam is passed through a steam turbine to produce rotational motion.
• The generator, mechanically coupled to the turbine, thus rotates producing electricity.
• Chemical energy stored in coal after a couple of transformations produces power
Simplified Lay out of a Steam Power Plant: courtesy: http://www.hk-phy.org/

Steam out
Condenser
Feed water

Chemical Energy Heat Energy in Mechanical l Electrical Energy

in Coal Steam Energy in Turbine Out

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 Steam Power Plants - Photos

Mundra Power Station Bełchatów Power Station

India Poland
4x 330MW + 5x 660MW Fuel - Lignite
Installed capacity: 12 x 370/380 MW + 1 x 858
4,620MW MW
Ref: Installed Capacity: 5,354 MW
http://www.power-technology.com/projects/ Annual generation : 27-28 TWh
Ref : http://www.elbelchatow.pgegiek.pl/

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 Steam Power Plants - Photos
• Steam power plants installed in many countries for Large scale production of electricity

Baoji-2 Huanggang Dabieshan

Location: Shaanxi –China Location: Shaanxi - China
4x300 MW 2 X 600 MW
Fuel: bituminous coal Fuel: bituminous coal

Photographs - Courtesy of : http://www.industcards.com/st-coal-china-shaanxi.htm

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 Steam Power Plants - Site Selection
Where to locate a steam power plant?
• Power needed at load centers
• Coal is located in fields / mines at remote places
• Coal based Plant also needs water, mostly for cooling
(condenser) purposes and also for producing steam and other
purposes

• A typical 500 megawatt coal power plant produces 3.5 billion kWh
per year. To produce this amount of electrical energy, the plant
burns 2 million tons of coal per year (230 tons per hour) and
50,000 cub meter (13Million Gallons) of water per hour.

• More economical – to install power plants near the coal mines –

pithead and to transmit power to load centres
• Also helps protecting the living environment from pollutions

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 Steam Power Plants - Site Selection
 What are the key factors to be considered while selecting the
site for a coal based thermal power plan?

1. Supply of fuel: Locate as close as possible to the coal mines. Optimum location
to make the cost/unit of received energy a minimum ( after considering the cost
of transmission and transportation of fuel and water)
2. Ash handling Disposal facility: Large space needed for handling/ storage of
ashes till it is disposed
3. Availability of Water: Huge quantities of water needed for condenser (cooling),
ash disposal, boiler and other uses. So location should be near a river/ canal
where continuous supply of water is available.
4. Land requirement: Adequate land should be available at cheap rate. Away from
city – Good withstanding capacity to bear the dead load of the plant and the
stresses/forces transmitted to the foundation during plant operation
5. Transport Facilities: Facilities to transport coal and other accessories

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 Sections of a Steam Power Plant

Generator

Fuel Boiler (Produce G

Turbine
(Coal) Steam) 3-φ Power

Ash
Condenser
Feed Water
Pump

 To generate power we need – Generator – Prime mover (turbine) -

Steam – fuel (Coal)- Water
+ Cooling (Condenser) - Ash Handling

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 Simplified layout of a
General Layout Steam Power Plant:
For detailed layout refer to the
text book

Major Sections of a Steam Power Plant

1. Coal and Ash handling plant
2. Steam Generating Plant (Boiler)
3. Steam Turbine
4. Alternator/ Generator
5. Feed water Circuit
To see the working
6. Cooling Water Circuit (Condenser)
Watch videos
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Environment
 Working of a Steam Power Plant
• Heat is produced by burning the fuel (pulverized coal) in boiler furnaces
• This heat causes water in the steam boiler to boil and the steam is
produced at high pressure
• This steam is further heated up in a super heater.
• This supper heated steam then enters into the turbine and rotates the
turbine
blades
• The turbine which is mechanically coupled with the generator (alternator) its rotor
rotates with the rotation of turbine blades

• After imparting energy to the turbine rotor the steam passes out of the turbine
blades into the condenser

• In the condenser the cold water is circulated with the help of pump which
condenses the low pressure wet steam
• This condensed water is further supplied to low pressure water heater and fed to
the boiler as feed water.
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 Activity
See the general layout and re-arrange the bullet points in logical sequence to explain the
operation of a Steam Turbine power plant
• High pressure steam is produced in the boiler.
• The force of this steam rotates the turbine blades.
• As the rotor rotates, the alternator generates electricity.
• The pulverized coal is burnt into the furnace of steam boiler.
• The shaft of the turbine is coupled to the rotor of the alternator.
• This super heated high pressure steam is then passed into the turbine.
• The steam is then passed through a super heater, where it is further heated up.
• Thus the turbine acts as the prime mover of the alternator in thermal power station.
• This water is then fed to the boiler, heated up & converted again to high pressure steam.
• The condenser, where cold water is circulated with help of a pump, condenses the low
pressure wet steam.
• After rotating the turbine blades, the steam which has lost its high pressure, passes out of
turbine blades and enters into a condenser.
• This condensate (water) is then supplied to low pressure water heater where the low
pressure steam increases the temperature of this feed water
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 Sections of a Steam Power Plant
1. Coal Handling Plant
• Coal handling starts at the discharge/ delivery end of coal carrier system
(rail, road or ship)
• After delivery the coal is stored in the storage yard. Then it passes through
various stages such as reclamation, pulverization, crushing, milling and
feeding to the furnace of the boiler as required

• Some equipment's used in Coal Handling Plant:

• Unloading equipment: Unloading towers, cranes, bridges, lifts, trucks, etc.
• Preparing Equipment: Crushers, sizers , driers etc.
• Transfer Equipment: Belt conveyors, elevators, skip-hoist conveyors
• Storage equipment: Bulldozers, scrapers, tramways, cranes etc.
• Weighing devices: Scales, Coal Meters, and samplers

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 Sections of a Steam Power Plant
1. Coal Handling Plant

Photo courtesy of http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/

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 Sections of a Steam Power Plant
1. Ash Handling Plant
• In a thermal power plant, 10-20% of the coal used turns out as ash
• This is to be removed from the boiler furnace for proper burning o the fuel
• Ash contains poisonous gases like CO, CO2 and SO2 (when mixed with water –
corrosive acids) + Silica causing erosion
• Ash handling refers to the method of collection, conveying, interim storage and
load out of various types of ash residue left over from coal (any other solid
fuel) combustion processes.
A good ash handling system should have:
• Adequate capacity to handle various components of ash
• Capability for operation with minimum attention of operators
• Capability for handling hot and wet ash effectively
• Minimum capital and running cost
Different types – mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, steam jet type etc.

For examples of Ash handling plants please refer :

http://www.mcnallybharat.com/projects/power-plant/sbu-ash-powder-material-water-projects.asp
http://www.nationalconveyors.com/ash/ash-handling/overview.html

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 Sections of a Steam Power Plant
1. Ash Handling Plant- Ash Collection & Cleaning of Flue Gases
• Flue gases after combustion is passes out to the air through the chimney
• These may carry dust, fly ash, carbon ash etc. and poisonous gases
• Such dust and ash are to be collected and handled to avoid them flying out to
atmosphere.
• Various types of dust and ash collectors are in use
• Most efficient and widely used ash collector is the electrostatic precipitator

Electrostatic precipitator
• The gas carrying dust particles are passed through oppositely charged electrodes
• The electric field produced by the applied voltage ionizes the gas
• As the gas pass through the collection unit, where the alternate plates are
grounded, positively charged dust particles are attracted towards the grounded
plates
• The dust particles collected over the earthed plates are removed by tumbling
hammers and collected by the dust hoppers from where they are disposed

For more information on electrostatic precipitators, please refer to :

http://electricalengineeringtutorials.com/use-of-electrostatic-precipitators-esp-in-thermal-power-plants/

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 Sections of a Steam Power Plant
2. Steam Generating Plant
• It Consists of boiler and other auxiliary equipments, Super
heater, Economizer, and Air preheater
• Heat produced due to burning of coal is utilized in converting
water in the boiler drum into steam at suitable pressure and
temperature.
• Two types - Fire tube and Water tube boilers
Fire Tube : hot combustion gases pass through the
tubes surrounded by the water in the boiler which
gets heated and steam produced.
• In a fire-tube boiler, the entire tank is under
pressure, so need stronger container

Water Tube: Most commonly used type in large power

plants are water tube boilers
• Water runs through a rack of tubes that
are positioned in the hot gases from the fire
• Hightemperature (560oC) and
pressure (125Kg/cm2) possible

Figures Courtesy of http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/steam2.htm

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 Sections of a Steam Power Plant
2. Steam Generating Plant
• Super Heater: Steam coming out of the boiler is passed through a group of tubes
called super heater which are heated up by the flue gases (moving from furnace to
chimney) and the temperature of the steam is further raised. This results in higher
efficiency
• Economisers: Set of tubes through which the feed water is fed to the boiler which is
heated by the flue gases raising the temperature of water on its way to boiler . This
raises the boiler efficiency and reduces stress in the boiler
• Air Preheater: The heat energy still remaining in the flue gases after the super
heaters and economizers is further utilized in the air preheaters. The air supplied to
the furnace for coal combustion is preheated using the flue gases. This helps higher
furnace temperature and increase in overall plant efficiency.

Source: http://www.spiraxsarco.com/resources/steam-engineering-tutorials
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 A possible Answer for the Activity
See the general layout and re-arrange the bullet points in logical sequence to explain the
operation of a Steam Turbine power plant
• The pulverized coal is burnt into the furnace of steam boiler.
• High pressure steam is produced in the boiler.
• This steam is then passed through the super heater, where it is further heated up.
• This super heated high pressure steam is then passed into the turbine.
• The force of this steam rotates the turbine blades.
• The shaft of the turbine is coupled to the rotor of the alternator.
• Thus the turbine acts as the prime mover of the alternator in thermal power station.
• As the rotor rotates, the alternator generates electricity.
• After rotating the turbine blades, the steam which has lost its high pressure, passes
out of
turbine blades and enters into a condenser.
• The condenser, where cold water is circulated with help of a pump, condenses the low
pressure wet steam.
• This condensate (water) is then supplied to low pressure water heater where the low
pressure steam increases the temperature of this feed water
•Together
It isTowards
then Afed to Environment
Green the boiler where it is converted againPower
Utilization of Electric to high pressure steam. 20
 Review Questions
1. The mechanical system used to move / rotate the rotor of generator is called --- .
2. Turbines in power stations act as -------
3. Name any three types of turbines used in power plants
4. List the major sections of a steam turbine power plant
5. The section where , high pressure steam is produced in a steam power plant is ----.
6. Boilers can be classified into two categories as ------------- & ----------------
7. In a steam power plant there are two water circuits. Which are they?
8. One of the major disadvantage of a coal power plant may be
9. In a power plant rotor of the alternator is mechanically coupled to ----
10. What happens to the steam which passes out of turbine blades?
11.Critically evaluate the following statement. “A steam power plant can work even without super heater,
economizer or air preheater”.
12. With the help of simple layouts explain the following :
i. Flow of water in the feed water circuit ii. The flow of steam
13.Suggest methods to convert the harmful ash into useful materials. Give practical examples. [You may depend on
the video, (V3 -Working-of Steam Turbines Complete) or online resources].
14. Which are the power stations in Oman where steam turbines are used

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 Summary of this Class
• Basic principle of steam turbine

• Process overview of a coal based steam power plant: How it works

• Criteria for selecting the site for a coal based steam power plant

• Major sections of a steam power plant

• Requirements and components of Ash Handling system

• Steam Generating plant and Auxiliary equipments

• Types of boilers and their working

• Role of Super heaters, economizers, and air pre-heaters

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