A Training report on

General concepts and working of thermal power plant, and its components, especially turbine
AT

Thermal power plant

Submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of degree of

Bachelor of Technology ME
(Session: 2009-2013)

Submitted To:
MECHNICAL DEPT.

Submitted By:
Ravinder Pal 25095

University Institute of Engineering and Technology Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra 136119

Acknowledgement

The tree of knowledge grows best when it has sturdy roots and the strength of them is clearly dependent upon our intentions. During the journey of knowledge we meet certain people who play a pivotal role in our development and its a privilege to thank them for the same. So I would take this opportunity in expressing gratitude towards my mentor and guide in this period of vocational training, Mr. Summit Chaurasia. It would have been extremely difficult to cover this course without his able guidance. Then Im obliged to thank Mr. Pawan Tiwari sir who took the pains and interest in explaining the nicks of the thermal power plant. Im ever thank full to my parents and of course god. In fact, many people have contributed to this report and I would love to express my gratitude to all of them, like Mr. Anil Awasthi, Mr. Chandra Prakash, Mr. Bharat Patel and many more.

Ravinder Pal

Abstract

A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in the design of thermal power stations is due to the different fuel sources. Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities convert forms of heat energy into electricity. Some thermal power plants also deliver heat energy for industrial purposes, for district heating, or for desalination of water as well as delivering electrical power. A large part of human CO2 emissions comes from fossil fueled thermal power plants; efforts to reduce these outputs are various and widespread. At present 54.09% or 93918.38 MW (Data Source CEA, as on 31/03/2011) of total electricity production in India is from Coal Based Thermal Power Station. A coal based thermal power plant converts the chemical energy of the coal into electrical energy. This is achieved by raising the steam in the boilers, expanding it through the turbine and coupling the turbines to the generators which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Contents
Project

Report

To study the general concepts and working of thermal power plant, and its components,especially turbine.

Objectives:-

To learn the basic working of thermal power plants. To learn about various components of the same. To develop the understanding of the operation and maintenance of turbines.

Plant Layout

Products and specifications

Following two are the main products in a thermal power plant Electricity Electricity is produced at approximately 15.5 KV after which it is stepped up to 220 KVfor reduction in losses due to transmission. Then it is connected to the grid for supply.

Ash
Ash is the byproduct of coal after its combustion. It can be categorized in two parts:1. Fly ash, which is sold to cement manufacturing organizations like Diamond and Satna. Earlier they were given away to the same, but since posses certain value, theyre now being sold to them which generates revenues up to twenty lakhs. 2. Ash slurry, it is a waste product which is generally provided to construction companies for road-filling etc.

Product flow Chart

Procedure for production of electricity is based on modified Rankine cycle. The four process ofRankine cycle as used in thermal power plants are as follows: Heat addition in boiler. Adiabatic expansion in turbines Heat rejection in condenser and Adiabatic compression in boiler feed pumps. This may seem to be a simple enough process, but every step employs various circuits toaccomplish the required conditions for the fore told steps. Certain circuits are as follows Fuel and Ash Circuit. Air and Gas Circuit. Feed water and Steam Circuit. Cooling Water Circuit
Various methods are employed to increase the efficiency of classical rankine cycle by adding devices like air-preheater, economizer, superheater etc

The input at boiler is the DM water and pulverized coal with air. The DM water is prepared in the water treatment plant facility where it is deionized and deareated. It prepared in the scale of neutral liquid i.e. 7ph, although, slightly basic nature is used. The coal is prepared at coal handling plant, where it first arrives in wagons. The coal is taken out from wagons with the help of a machine known as wagon tippler. The coal is the picked and sent to crushers, where it crushed and then to bunkers. From bunkers the coal moves on to mills and is finely grounded to a pulverized form and the fed to the boiler. Then this coal is fed to the boiler and combustion takes place. The energy of the combustion is helpful in transforming the water into the steam. This steam is then used to drive the turbine, the turbine shaft drives the generator. Hence electricity is developed. The other product, which is ash, is fed into the ash treatment plant and flue gasses are expelled in the atmosphere.

Production Process

In a coal based power plant coal is transported from coal mines to the power plant by railway in wagons or in a merry-go-round system. Coal is unloaded from the wagons to a moving underground conveyor belt. This coal from the mines is of no uniform size. So it is taken to the Crusher house and crushed to a size of 25mm. From the crusher house the coal is either stored in dead storage( generally 20 days coal supply) which serves as coal supply in case of coal supply bottleneck or to the live storage(8 hours coal supply) in the raw coal bunker in the boiler house. Raw coal from the raw coal bunker is supplied to the Coal Mills by a Raw Coal Feeder. The Coal Mills or pulverizer pulverizes the coal to 200 mesh size. The powdered coal from the coal mills is carried to the boiler in coal pipes by high pressure hot air. The pulverized coal air mixture is burnt in the boiler in the combustion zone. Generally in modern boilers tangential firing system is used i.e. the coal nozzles/ guns form tangent to a circle. The temperature in fire ball is of the order of 1300 deg.C. The boiler is a water tube boiler hanging from the top. Water is converted to

steam in the boiler and steam is separated from water in the boiler Drum. The saturated steam from the boiler drum is taken to the Low Temperature Superheater, Platen Superheater and Final Superheater respectively for superheating. The superheated steam from the final superheater is taken to the High Pressure Steam Turbine (HPT). In the HPT the steam pressure is utilized to rotate the turbine and the resultant is rotational energy. From the HPT the out coming steam is taken to the Reheater in the boiler to increase its temperature as the steam becomes wet at the HPT outlet. After reheating this steam is taken to the Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) and then to the Low Pressure Turbine (LPT). The outlet of the LPT is sent to the condenser for condensing back to water by a cooling water system. This condensed water is collected in the Hotwell and is again sent to the boiler in a closed cycle. The rotational energy imparted to the turbine by high pressure steam is converted to electrical energy in the Generator.

Principal Coal based thermal power plant works on the principal of Modified Rankine Cycle.

Components of Coal Fired Thermal Power Station:

Fuel preparation system In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is first crushed into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boilers. The coal is next pulverized into a very fine powder. The pulverizers may be ball mills, rotating drum grinders, or other types of grinders. Air path External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced draft fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for better combustion, injects it via the air nozzles on the furnace wall. The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through any opening. Boiler furnace and steam drum Once water inside the boiler or steam generator, the process of adding the latent heat of vaporization or enthalpy is underway. The boiler transfers energy to the water by the chemical reaction of burning some type of fuel. The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer. From the economizer it passes to the steam drum. Once the water enters the steam drum it goes down the downcomers to the lower inlet waterwall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises through the waterwalls and is eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners located on the front and rear waterwalls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the waterwalls, the steam/vapor once again enters the steam drum. The steam/vapor is passed through a series of steam and water separators and then dryers inside the steam drum. The steam separators and dryers remove water droplets from the steam and the cycle through the waterwalls is repeated. This process is known as natural circulation. The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers,water lancing and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior.

Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after a trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting the coal. The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial startup. The steam drum has internal devices that removes moisture from the wet steam entering the drum from the steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the superheate coils. Superheater: Coal based power plants can have a superheater and/or reheater section in the steam generating furnace. Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. In a coal based plant, after the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the steam drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into tubes inside an area of the furnace known as the superheater, which has an elaborate set up of tubing where the steam vapor picks up more energy from hot flue gases outside the tubing and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves before the high pressure turbine. Reheater:
Power plant furnaces may have a reheater section containing tubes heated by hot flue gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high pressure turbine is rerouted to go inside the reheater tubes to pickup more energy to go drive intermediate or lower pressure turbines. This is what is called as thermal power.

Fly ash collection: Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters. Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to storage silos for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad cars. Bottom ash collection and disposal At the bottom of the furnace, there is a hopper for collection of bottom ash. This hopper is always filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers falling down

from the furnace. Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying the crushed clinkers and bottom ash to a storage site.
Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return of condensate to the boiler, losses due to blowdown and leakages have to be made up to maintain a desired water level in the boiler steam drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler water system. Impurities in the raw water input to the plant generally consist of calcium and magnesium salts which impart hardness to the water. Hardness in the make-up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water surfaces which will lead to overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water, and that is done by a water demineralising treatment plant (DM). A DM plant generally consists of cation, anion, and mixed bed exchangers. Any ions in the final water from this process consist essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions, which recombine to form pure water. Very pure DM water becomes highly corrosive once it absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very high affinity for oxygen. The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and quantity of salts in the raw water input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM water is continuously withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water is made from materials not affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The piping and valves are generally of stainless steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the tank to avoid contact with air. DM water make-up is generally added at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arrangement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the dissolved gases being removed by an air ejector attached to the condenser Steam turbine-driven electric generator

The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work satisfactorily and safely. The steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally has a heavy, large diameter shaft. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also has to be kept in position while running. To minimise the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft has a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in hich the shaft rotates, are lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provided to further reduce the friction between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat generated. Barring gear Barring gear (or turning gear) is the mechanism provided to rotate the turbine generator shaft at a very low speed after unit stoppages. Once the unit is tripped (i.e., the steam inlet valve is closed), the turbine coasts down towards standstill. When it stops completely, there is a tendency for the turbine shaft to deflect or bend if allowed to remain in one position too long. This is because the heat inside the turbine casing tends to concentrate in the top half of the casing, making the top half portion of the shaft hotter than the bottom half. The shaft therefore could warp or bend by millionths of inches. This small shaft deflection, only detectable by eccentricity meters, would be enough to cause damaging vibrations to the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted. The shaft istherefore automatically turned at low speed (about one percent rated speed) by the barring gear until it has cooled sufficiently to permit a complete stop.

Condenser

The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes. The exhaust steam from the low pressure turbine enters the shell where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor-driven exhausters for continuousremoval of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum. For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 C where the vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum. Thus leaks of noncondensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning. The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to reject waste heat to the atmosphere, or once-through water from a river, lake or ocean. Feedwater heater In the case of a conventional steam-electric power plant utilizing a drum boiler, the surface condenser removes the latent heat of vaporization from the steam as it changes states from vapour to liquid. The heat content (joules or Btu) in the steam is referred to as enthalpy. The condensate pump then pumps the condensate water through a Air ejector condenser and Gland steam exhauster condenser. From there the condensate goes to the deareator where the condenstae system ends and the Feedwater system begins Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system.This reduces plant operating costs and also helps to avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the steam cycle. Deaerator A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed water should be devoid of air and other dissolved gases, particularly corrosive ones, in order to avoid corrosion of the metal. Generally, power stations use a deaerator to provide for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the boiler feedwater. A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration section mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank. Cooling tower A cooling tower is a heat rejection device, which extracts waste heat to the atmosphere though the cooling of a water stream to a lower temperature. The type of heat rejection in a cooling tower is termed evaporative in that it allows a small portion of the water being cooled to evaporate into a moving air stream to provide significant cooling to the

rest of that water stream. The heat from the water stream transferred to the air stream aises the airs temperature and its relative humidity to 100%, and this air is discharged to the atmosphere. Evaporative heat rejection devices such as cooling towers are commonly used to provide significantly lower water temperatures than achievable with air cooled or dry heat rejection devices, like the radiator in a car, thereby achieving more cost-effective and energy efficient operation of systems in need of cooling.

The cooling towers are of two types: 1. Natural Draft Cooling Tower 2. Mechanized Draft Cooling Tower i. Forced Draft cooling tower ii. Induced Draft cooling tower iii. Balanced Draft cooling tower

Auxiliary systems Oil system An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam turbine generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbines main inlet steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and seal oil systems, the relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms. At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine main shaft takes over the functions of the auxiliary system.

Generator heat dissipation The electricity generator requires cooling to dissipate the heat that it generates. While small units may be cooled by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units generally require special cooling arrangements. Hydrogen gas cooling, in an oil-sealed casing, is used because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its low viscosity which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during start-up, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly flammable hydrogen does not mix with oxygen in the air. The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmospheric pressure to avoid outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward leakage where the shaft emerges from the casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are installed with a very small annular gap to avoid rubbing between the shaft and the seals. Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to atmosphere. The generator also uses water cooling. Since the generator coils are at a potential of about 22 Kv and water is conductive, an insulating barrier such as Teflon is used to interconnect the water line and the generator high voltage windings. Demineralized water of low conductivity is used. Generator high voltage system The generator voltage ranges from 11 kV in smaller units to 22 kV in larger units. The generator high voltage leads are normally large aluminum channels because of their high current as compared to the cables used in smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminum bus ducts and are supported on suitable insulators. The generator high voltage channels are connected to step-up transformers for connecting to a high voltage electrical substation (of the order of 115 kV to 520 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid. The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high voltage leads. Thus, the steam turbine generator and the transformer form one unit. In smaller units, generating at 11 kV, a breaker is provided to connect it to a common 11 kV bus system. Other systems Monitoring and alarm system Most of the power plant operational controls are automatic. However, at times, manual intervention may be required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems that alert the plant operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating from their normal range. Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plants control systems, communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, and emergency

lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the units in an emergency situation.

TURBINES
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Parsons in 1884. It has almost completely replaced the greater thermal efficiency and higher motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electricity generation in the world is by use of steam turbines.

TYPES

Steam turbines are made in a variety of sizes ranging from small <1 used as mechanical drives for pumps, compressors and other shaft driven equipment, to 2,000,000 hp (1,500,000 kW) turbines used to generate electricity. There are several classifications for modern steam turbines. thermal energy from pressurized Sir Charles

reciprocating piston steam engine primarily because of its power-to-weight ratio. Because the turbine generates , electrical generator about 80% of all hp (<0.75 kW) units (rare) nical steam, r . rotarybout

Steam supply and exhaust conditions

These types include condensing, non condensing, reheat, extraction and induction. Non condensing or back pressure turbines are most widely used for process steam applications. The exhaust pressure is controlled by a regulating valve to suit the needs of the process steam pressure. These are commonly found at refineries, district heating units, pulp and paper plants, and desalination facilities where large amounts of low pressure process steam are available. Condensing turbines are most commonly found in electrical power plants. These turbines exhaust steam in a partially condensed state, typically of a quality near 90%, at a pressure well below atmospheric to a condenser. Reheat turbines are also used almost exclusively in electrical power plants. In a reheat turbine, steam flow exits from a high pressure section of the turbine and is returned to the boiler where additional superheat is added. The steam then goes back into an intermediate pressure section of the turbine and continues its expansion. Extracting type turbines are common in all applications. In an extracting type turbine, steam is released from various stages of the turbine, and used for industrial process needs or sent to boiler feed water heaters to improve overall cycle efficiency. Extraction flows may be controlled with a valve, or left uncontrolled. Induction turbines introduce low pressure steam at an intermediate stage to produce additional power

Casing or shaft arrangements

These arrangements include single casing, tandem compound and cross compound turbines. Single casing units are the most basic style where a single casing and shaft are coupled to a generator. Tandem compound are used where two or more casings are directly coupled together to drive a single generator. A cross compound turbine arrangement features two or more shafts not in line driving two or more generators that often operate at different speeds. A cross compound turbine is typically used for many large applications. Principal And design operation:An ideal steam turbine is considered to be an isentropic process, or constant entropy process, in which the entropy of the steam entering the turbine is equal to the entropy of the steam leaving the turbine. No steam turbine is truly isentropic, however, with typical isentropic efficiencies ranging from 20%-90% based on the application of the turbine. The interior of a turbine comprises several sets of blades, or buckets as they are more commonly referred to. One set of stationary blades is connected to the casing and one set of rotating blades is connected to the shaft. The sets intermesh with certain minimum clearances, with the size and configuration of sets varying to efficiently exploit the expansion of steam at each stage.

Turbine efficiency

To maximize turbine efficiency the steam is expanded, doing work, in a number of stages. These stages are characterized by how the energy is extracted from them and are known as either impulse or reaction turbines. Most steam turbines use a mixture of the reaction and impulse designs: each stage behaves as either one or the other, but the overall turbine uses both. Typically, higher pressure sections are impulse type and lower pressure stages are reaction type.

Impulse turbines
An impulse turbine has fixed nozzles that orient the steam flow into high speed jets. These jets contain significant kinetic energy, which the rotor blades, shaped like buckets, convert into shaft rotation as the steam jet changes direction. A pressure drop occurs across only the stationary blades, with a net increase in steam velocity across the stage. As the steam flows through the nozzle its pressure falls from inlet pressure to the exit pressure (atmospheric pressure, or more usually, the condenser vacuum). Due to this higher ratio of expansion of steam in the nozzle the steam leaves the nozzle with a very high velocity. The steam leaving the moving blades has a large portion of the maximum velocity of the steam when leaving the nozzle. The loss of energy due to this higher exit velocity is commonly called the "carry over velocity" or "leaving loss".

REATION TURBINES

In the reaction turbine, the rotor blades themselves are arranged to form convergent nozzles. This type of turbine makes use of the reaction force produced as the steam accelerates through the nozzles formed by the rotor. Steam is directed onto the rotor by the fixed vanes of the stator. It leaves the stator as a jet that fills the entire circumference of the rotor. The steam then changes direction and increases its speed relative to the speed of the blades. A pressure drop occurs across both the stator and the rotor, with steam accelerating through the stator and decelerating through the rotor, with no net change in steam velocity across the stage but with a decrease in both pressure and temperature, reflecting the work performed in the driving of the rotor

Operation and maintenance When warming up a steam turbine for use, the main steam stop valves (after the boiler) have a bypass line to allow superheated steam to slowly bypass the valve and proceed to heat up the lines in the system along with the steam turbine. Also, a turning gear is engaged when there steam to the turbine to slowly rotate the turbine to ensure even heating to prevent uneven expansion. After first rotating the turbine by the turning gear, allowing time for the rotor to assume a straight plane (no bowing), then the turning gear is d the turbine, first to the astern blades then to the ahead blades slowly rotating the turbine at 10 to 15 RPM to slowly warm the turbine. Problems with turbines are now rare and maintenance requirements are relatively small. Any imbalance of the rotor can lead to vibration, which in extreme cases can lead to a blade letting go and punching straight through the casing. It is, however, essential that the turbine be turned with dry steam - that is, superheated steam with a minimal liquid water content. If water gets into the steam and is blasted onto the blades (moisture carryover), rapid impingement and erosion of the blades can occur leading to imbalance and catastrophic failure. Also, water entering the blades will result in the destruction of the thrust bearing for the turbine shaft. To prevent this, along with controls and baffles in the boilers to ensure high quality steam, condensate drains are installed in the steam piping leading to the turbine.

Speed regulation
The control of a turbine with a governor is essential, as turbines need to be run up slowly, to prevent damage while some applications (such as the generation of alternating current electricity) require precise speed control. Uncontrolled acceleration of the turbine rotor can lead to an overspeed trip, which causes the nozzle valves that control the flow of steam to the turbine to close. If this fails then the turbine may continue accelerating until it breaks apart, often spectacularly. Turbines are expensive to make, requiring precision manufacture and special quality materials. During normal operation in synchronization with the electricity network, power plants are governed with a five percent droop speed control. This means the full load speed is 100% and the noload speed is 105%. This is required for the stable operation of the network without hunting and drop-outs of power plants. Normally the changes in speed are minor. Adjustments in power output are made by slowly raising the droop curve by increasing the spring pressure on a centrifugal governor. Generally this is a basic system requirement for all power plants because the older and newer plants have to be compatible in response to the instantaneous changes in frequency without depending on outside communication.