Base Load and Peak Load

The unvarying load, which occurs almost the whole day on the power plant is called the base load where as the various peak demands of the load over and above the base load of the power plant is called the peak loads. The power plants to be employed as base power plants should have (i) low operating cost (ii) capability of working continuously for the long periods (iii) requirement of few operating personnel and their repair should be economical and speedy. The power plants to be employed as peak power plants should have the capability of quick start, synchronization and taking up of system load and quick response to load variation. The Hydro-power plants are well suited for both base load and peak load operations. The hydro-power plants should be employed for base load operation as far as possible because of their higher capital cost. However during the periods of draught, hydro-plants may be used as peak load plants. A steam power plant gives minimum cost of generation per unit when used as base load plant. However, in order to save fuel it may be used as peak load plant. Nuclear power plants are suitable only for base load operation at high load factors exceeding 0.8. Gas turbine power plants are suitable for supplying peak loads and diesel power plants play a very little role in bulk power generation because of their uneconomical operation costs.

ECONOMICS OF GENERATION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY

The generation of electrical energy economically is not an ordinary matter; rather it requires a long experience to decide about the type, location and the rating of generating stations. The generating stations may be steam, hydro, diesel or other type. The power stations should be as near as possible to the centre of the load so that the transmission cost and losses are minimum. This factor is important when dc supply system is adopted. However in case of ac supply system where transformation of energy form lower to higher voltage and vice-versa possible, power station can be located at places other than that of centre of load provided other conditions are favourable. The other consideration for the design of the power station is reliability, minimum capital and operating costs. The scheme employed should be such that extension could be made to meet with the increase in demand in future without incurring further heavy expenditure. Before a power project is taken into hand, the project engineer should have the informations regarding estimate of probable load, future load conditions and location of loads, especially in case of hydro power stations because the cost of transmission is also required to be considered. For deciding the type and rating of generating plant it is necessary to become familiar with the following important terms. (i) The Load Curves. The load on the power station is seldom constant; it varies from time to time. The daily variations in load on the power stations from time to time-hourly or half hourly can be plotted on a graph taking load on Y-axis and time on X-axis. The curve so obtained is known as daily load curve. From the daily load curves of a particular month, the monthly load curve can be plotted by calculating the average value of power at a particular time of the day. Similarly if we consider such monthly load curves of a particular year, and

find the average value of the power at a particular time of the day, the annual load curve can be obtained. The load curve bears a great importance in generation. The load curves supply the following informations: (i) The variation of the load during different hours of the day. (ii) The area under the curve represents the total number of units generated in a day. (iii) The peak of the curve represents the maximum demand on the station on the particular day. (iv)The area under the load curve divided by the number of hours represents the average load on the power station. (v) The ratio of the area under the load curve to the total area of the rectangle in which it is contained gives the load factor. Thus on the basis of above informations the load curves help in deciding the size of the units to be installed and also in preparing the schedule of operation of the generating units. (ii) Load Duration Curve. This is another type of curve which indicates the variation of load, but with the loads arranged in descending order of magnitude i.e. the greatest load on the left, lesser loads towards the right and the least load at the extreme right. This curve gives the number of hours for which a particular load lasts during the day,. The area under this curve like load curve or chronological curve gives the total number of units generated for the period considered. From this curve the load factor of the station can also be determined. From these curves the distribution of load between various generating units can also be predicted. (iii) Mass Curve. This curve is plotted with units (kWh) as ordinate and time as abscissa. Thus a mass curve gives the total energy consumed by the load up to a particular time in a day. (iv) Connected Load. The sum of continuous ratings of all the electrical equipment connected to the supply is known as connected load. (v) Maximum Demand. It is not necessary that all the connected load be switched to a system at a time. The greatest of all short time interval averaged (15 minutes or hour or 1 hour) during a given period (a day, a month or a year), on the power station is called the maximum demand. It is sometimes also called as system peak. It is the maximum demand which determines the size and cost of the installation. (vi)Demand factor. The ratio of actual maximum demand on the system to the total rated load connected to the system is called the demand factor. It is always less than unity. (vii) Average Load or Demand. The average load or demand on the power station is the average of loads occurring at the various events. It can also be stated as energy delivered during a given period divided by the number of hours in that period. Depending upon the duration of time period such as a day, a month or a year, we get daily, monthly or annual average load.

(viii) Load Factor. The ratio of average load to the maximum demand during a certain period of time such as a day or a month or a year is called the load factor. Since average load is always less than the maximum demand, load factor is therefore, always less than unity. (ix) Diversity Factor. The maximum demands of all the consumers supplied from an installation do not occur usually at the same time, maximum demand on the installation is, therefore, always less than the sum of individual maximum demands of all consumers connected to it. The ratio of sum of the individual maximum demands of all the consumers supplied by it to the maximum demand of the power station is called the diversity factor. It is always greater than unity. (x) Capacity Factor or Plant Factor. Every plant has to have a reserve capacity so as to take care of the future expansion and increase in load and therefore total installed capacity of the plant is usually greater than that actually required (maximum demand). Capacity (or plant) factor is defined as te ratio of the average load to the rated capacity of the power plant. (xi) Utilization Factor: It is a measure or the utility of the power plant capacity and is the ratio of maximum demand to the rated capacity of the power plant. It is always less than unity. (xii) Plant Operating Factor or Plant Use Factor. It is defined as the ratio of actual energy generated during a given period (say a year) to the product of capacity of the plant and the number of hours the plant has been actually in operation during the period. (xiii)Installed Capacity. The total of station capacities available to supply the system load is called the installed capacity. (xiv) Firm Power. It is the power intended to be always available (even under emergency conditions). (xv) Cold Reserve. It is that portion of the installed reserve kept in operable conditions and available for service, but not normally ready for immediate loading. (xvi) Hot Reserve. It usually refers to boiler excess capacity, which is kept hot and with steam pressure, ready for use. (xvii) Operating Reserve. It refers to capacity in service in excess of peak load. (xviii) Spinning Reserve. It is the generating capacity connected to the bus and ready to take load.

Merits And Demerits Of Gas Turbine Electric Power Plants

The gas turbine power plant has got some inherent advantages such as simplicity of design and installation, high reliability, simple lubrication system, clean exhaust requiring no stack, compactness, low initial cost, requiring small building space and light foundations and requiring little cooling water. The delivery and installation time for such power plants is

much less than that for steam power plants. The gas turbine can be started quickly and can be put to share full load within few minutes and efficiency can be improved considerably by using heat economy devices. Gas turbine may be operated by remote control and need little or no personnel while operating and while shutdown. Though the fuel costs in such powr plants are usually higher than in other power plants but maintenance costs are lower than for diesel power plants. The gas turbine has got some limitations also, which probably will be overcome or minimized with more experience and research, such as inability of using coal or heavy residual petroleums as fuel, low net output (a greater part of power developed by the turbine being used in driving the compressor), low overall efficiency (the exhaust gases from the turbine contain sufficient heat), noisy operation, high specific fuel consumption and limited unit capacity. The gas turbine, like steam turbine, is not readily reversible. In summer, some pre-cooling of the air to the compressor is desirable and possibly essential since at temperatures higher than 32 C the density of air may be so low that oxygen starvation may occur. The temperature of combustion chamber is quite high (3,000o F) and therefore its life is comparatively reduced. The unit has got starting problems as the compressor has to be started before starting of turbine and the former requires power form some external source. However, once the unit starts, the external power is not required as the turbine itself supplies the necessary motive power to the compressor.

Merits And Demerits Of DIESEL-ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS

Merits. Layout, design and construction of foundation and building simple and cheap, procurement, installation and commissioning quick, flexibility in location, simple design and installation, less space requirement because of minimum auxiliaries, no stand by losses, limited cooling water requirement, high operation efficiency irrespective of load, less fire hazard. Such plants can be started and put on load quickly, can respond to varying loads without any difficulty, need less space for fuel storage and are free from ash handling problem. The overall capital cost including installation per unit of installed capacity is lesser than that of steam power station. Such plants being simple in operation need less operating and supervision staff in comparison to that for steam power plants. Demerits. Limited diesel until capacity, series problem of noise from the exhaust, high maintenance and lubrication cost and high fuel cost. Diesel power plants cannot supply over loads continuously.

Thermal (Coal-Steam) Plant Efficiency

Efficiency of thermal power plants is quite low. Even for most modern super critical-pressure steam power plants using various heat saving devices, the overall plant efficiency is not more than 40% but for majority of plants it is between 25 and 30 per cent only. The effectiveness for thermodynamic cycle, boiler, turbine and generator are 45,85,85 and 98 per cent respectively. About 5 per cent energy is needed for operation of auxiliaries. The coal consumption depends in addition to the power plant efficiency, on the quality of the coal used and load factor of the plant. The average coal consumption varies from 0.6 kg per

kwh generated 9for plants using good quality coal and operating at high load factor) to 1.6 kg per kwh generated (for plants using inferior coal and operating at low load factor.

Classification of costs of generating electricity

In general the cost of generating electrical energy can be divided into the following three elements. i. Fixed Cost. This cost is independent of maximum demand and energy output. It is due to annual cost of central organization, interest on the capital cost of land (especially if some land is held for future development) and salaries of high officials. ii. Semi-fixed cost. This cost depends upon the maximum demand but is independent of energy output. The semi-fixed cost is due to annual interest and depreciation on the capital cost of the generating plant, transmission and distribution network, building and other civil engineering works, all types of taxes and insurance charges and salaries of management and clerical staff. Also yearly compensation given to the workers is included under this head. The semi-fixed cost is approximately proportional to maximum demand. iii. Running or Operating cost. This cost depends upon the number of hours the plant is in operation or upon the number of units of electrical energy generated. The running or operating cost is due to annual cost of fuel, lubricating oil, water, maintenance and repair cost of equipment and wages and salaries of operational and maintenance staff and salaries of supervisory staff engaged on the running of the plant. The operating cost is approximately proportional to units generated. Total annual cost incurred in the power generation is represented by the expression. E = a + b kw + c kw Where a, b and c are constants. Fixed and semi-fixed cost being independent of the amount of energy generated is also called standing cost. In deciding any scheme for any given service the choice must be such that the total operating cost (sum of annual fixed cost, semi-fixed cost and operating cost) be minimum.

Interest And Depreciation For Electrical Power Generation

Usually money is borrowed from banks or insurance companies or other financial institutions for big projects such as generating plant and at the end of a year, the undertaking is required to pay the interest on the capital cost. Even if equipment is purchased out of reserve cash, the normal rate of interest must still be allowed for, since the money might otherwise be earning

this interest. If a capital outlay required for a certain installation is P and the rate of interest per unit is r per annum then an amount rP per annum must be provided as interest, and this is added to the annual operating cost. Rate of interest to be paid depends upon the money market position and the credit of the borrower and varies between 10 to 12 per cent (0.10 to 0.12 per unit) per annum. If the installation were to last forever, the interest is the only charge that would have to be made. In practice after a certain time (from ten to forty or fifty years) the plant and machinery have to be replaced due to its getting old, obsolete and inadequate and it is necessary to set aside certain amount annually to produce a sufficient sum at the end of the probable life for replacing the plant and machinery by new ones. This amount is known as depreciation and depends upon the type and make of machines. There are several methods of determining the yearly subscription towards this fund. Out of these the following methods are commonly used. (i) Straight Line Method: In this method provision is made for setting aside each year an equal proportion part of the depreciable cost depending upon the useful life of the plant i.e. annual depreciation charge = Initial cost-salvage value/Number of years of useful life = P - S/n Where P is the capital cost of the plant and S is the salvage value after n years. Though this method is very popular because of its simplicity but does not take into account the amount of interest earned by the amount set aside yearly. (ii) Diminishing Value Method. In this method provision is made for setting each year a fixed rate, first applied to the original cost and then to the diminishing value; such rate depending upon the useful life of the plant. This method results in distribution of the total expenses on the plant (depreciation plus maintenance cost) over its total useful life because in this method depreciation charges are low in late years when maintenance charges are heavy. The serious disadvantage of this method is that a heavy burden towards depreciation charges is imposed in the early years when the plant is to develop and build up its income. In this method also the amount of interest earned by the reserve accumulation is ignored. If P is the capital cost of the plant, S be the salvage value after n years and x is the annual depreciation unit The value of plant after n years S=P (1 x)n Or x = 1- (S/P)1/n Deposits to be made at the end of Ist year, 2nd year and 3rd year of completion of the plant will be x(x-1)(x-2) P and so on. (iii) Sinking Fund Method. In this method provision is made for setting aside each year such a sum as, invested at certain interest rate compounded annually, will give the amount equal to replacement cost of the installation at the end of its useful life. As compared to straight line method, it requires smaller annual amounts and also the amounts for annuity are uniform.

If P is the capital cost of the installation, S is the salvage value after n years, x is the annual rate of interest, and the cost of replacement after n years will be P-S. If the annual deposit be q, it will earn interest r q in one year, so that it will worth q + rq = q (1+r) at the end of one year. Thus its value will be multiplied by the ratio (1 + r) every year and it will worth q (1 +r)2 at the end of 2 years, q (1 + r)3 at the end of 3 years and Q (1+r)n at the end of n years. Thus amount of interest q deposited at the end of first year, 2n yr, 3rd yr and (n-1) th yr will become q(1 + r)n-1 , q (1 + r)n-2 , q(1 + r)n-3 and q (1 + r) whose sum will be q (1 + r)n - 1/r So total sinking fund after n years will become q (1 + r)n -1/r which should be equal to cost of replacement, Q1+rn-1r So annual deposit q = Qr/(1 + r)n - 1