Thermal Report

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INTRODUCTION
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Thermal power station

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 termenergy 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.
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Introductory overview
Almost all coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermal electric, and waste incineration plants, as well as many natural gas power plants are thermal. Natural gas is frequently combusted in gas turbines as well as boilers. The waste heat from a gas turbine can be used to raise steam, in a combined cycle plant that improves overall efficiency. Power plants burning coal, fuel oil, or natural gas are often called fossil-fuel power plants. Some biomass-fueled thermal power plants have appeared also. Non-nuclear thermal power plants, particularly fossil-fueled plants, which do not use co-generation are sometimes referred to as conventional power plants. Commercial electric utility power stations are usually constructed on a large scale and designed for continuous operation. Electric power plants typically use three-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Large companies or institutions may have their own power plants to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if steam is created anyway for other purposes. Steam-driven power plants have been used in various large ships, but are now usually used in large naval ships. Shipboard power plants usually directly couple the turbine to the ship's propellers through gearboxes. Power plants in such ships also provide steam to smaller turbines driving electric generators to supply electricity. Shipboard steam power plants can be either fossil fuel or nuclear. Nuclear marine propulsion is, with few exceptions, used only in naval vessels. There have been perhaps about a dozen turbo-electric ships in which a steam-driven turbine drives an electric generator which powers an electric motor for propulsion. combined heat and power (CH&P) plants, often called co-generation plants, produce both electric power and heat for process heat, space heating, or process heat. Steam and hot water lose energy when piped over substantial distance, so carrying heat energy by steam or hot water is often only worthwhile within a local area, such as a ship, industrial plant, or district heating of nearby buildings.
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Efficiency
The energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered as salable energy as a percent of the heating value of the fuel consumed, is typically 33% to 48%. This efficiency is limited as all heat engines are governed by the laws of thermodynamics. The rest of the energy must leave the plant in the form of heat. This waste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of withcooling water or in cooling towers. If the waste heat is instead utilized for district heating, it is called co-generation. An important class of thermal power station are associated with desalinationfacilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater production and electricity are equally important co-products. Since the efficiency of the plant is fundamentally limited by the ratio of the absolute temperatures of the steam at turbine input and output, efficiency improvements require use of higher temperature, and therefore higher pressure, steam. Historically, other working fluids such as mercury have been used in a mercury vapor turbine power plant, since these can attain higher temperatures than water at lower working pressures. However, the obvious hazards of toxicity, high cost, and poor heat transfer properties, have ruled out mercury as a working fluid. Above the critical point for water of 705 F (374 C) and 3212 psi (22.06 MPa), there is no phase transition from water to steam, but only a gradual decrease in density. Boiling does not occur and it is not possible to remove impurities via steam separation. In this case a super critical steam plant is required to utilize the increased thermodynamic efficiency by operating at higher temperatures. These plants, also called once-through plants because boiler water does not circulate multiple times, require additional water purification steps to ensure that any impurities picked up during the cycle will be removed. This purification takes the form of high pressure ion exchange units called condensate polishers between the steam condenser and the feed water heaters. Sub-critical fossil fuel power plants can achieve 3640% efficiency. Super critical designs have efficiencies in the low to mid 40% range, with new "ultra critical" designs using pressures of 4400 psi (30.3 MPa) and dual stage reheat reaching about 48% efficiency. Current nuclear power plants operate below the temperatures and pressures that coal-fired plants do. This limits their thermodynamic efficiency to 3032%. Some advanced reactor designs being studied, such as the Very high temperature reactor, Advanced gas-cooled reactor and Super critical water reactor, would operate at temperatures and pressures similar to current coal plants, producing comparable thermodynamic efficiency.
Cost of electricity
The direct cost of electric energy produced by a thermal power station is the result of cost of fuel, capital cost for the plant, operator labour, maintenance, and such factors as ash handling and disposal. Indirect, social or environmental costs such as the economic value of environmental impacts, or environmental and health effects of the complete fuel cycle and plant decommissioning, are not usually assigned to generation costs for thermal stations in utility practice, but may form part of an environmental impact assessment
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PRINCIPLE
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Working Cycle of Thermal Power Plant

Thermal power plant works on Rankine cycle. Rankine cycle is described briefly below:
Rankine cycle
The Rankine cycle is a cycle that converts heat into work. The heat is supplied externally to a closed loop, which usually uses water. This cycle generates about 80% of all electric power used throughout the world, including virtually all solar thermal, biomass, coal and nuclear power plants. It is named after William John Macquorn Rankine, a Scottish polymath. The Rankine cycle is the fundamental thermodynamic underpinning of the steam engine.
Description
Physical layout of the four main devices used in the Rankine cycle A Rankine cycle describes a model of steam-operated heat engine most commonly found in power generation plants. Common heat sources for power plants using the Rankine cycle are the combustion of coal, natural gas and oil, and nuclear fission. The Rankine cycle is sometimes referred to as a practical Carnot cycle because, when an efficient turbine is used, the TS diagram begins to resemble the Carnot cycle. The main difference is that heat addition (in the boiler) and rejection (in the condenser) are isobaric in the Rankine cycle and isothermal in the theoretical Carnot cycle. A pump is used to pressurize the working fluid received from the condenser as a liquid instead of as a gas. All of the energy in pumping the working fluid through the complete cycle is lost, as is most of the energy of vaporization of the working fluid in the boiler. This energy is lost to the cycle because the condensation that can take place in the turbine is limited to about 10% in order to minimize blade erosion; the vaporization energy is rejected from the cycle through the condenser. But pumping the working fluid through the cycle as a liquid requires a very small fraction of the energy needed to transport it as compared to compressing the working fluid as a gas in a compressor (as in the Carnot cycle).
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The efficiency of a Rankine cycle is usually limited by the working fluid. Without the pressure reaching super critical levels for the working fluid, the temperature range the cycle can operate over is quite small: turbine entry temperatures are typically 565C (the creep limit of stainless steel) and condenser temperatures are around 30C. This gives a theoretical Carnot efficiency of about 63% compared with an actual efficiency of 42% for a modern coal-fired power station. This low turbine entry temperature (compared with a gas turbine) is why the Rankine cycle is often used as a bottoming cycle in combinedcycle gas turbine power stations. The working fluid in a Rankine cycle follows a closed loop and is reused constantly. The water vapor with entrained droplets often seen billowing from power stations is generated by the cooling systems (not from the closed-loop Rankine power cycle) and represents the waste energy heat (pumping and vaporization) that could not be converted to useful work in the turbine. Note that cooling towers operate using the latent heat of vaporization of the cooling fluid. While many substances could be used in the Rankine cycle, water is usually the fluid of choice due to its favorable properties, such as nontoxic and unreactive chemistry, abundance, and low cost, as well as its thermodynamic properties. One of the principal advantages the Rankine cycle holds over others is that during the compression stage relatively little work is required to drive the pump, the working fluid being in its liquid phase at this point. By condensing the fluid, the work required by the pump consumes only 1% to 3% of the turbine power and contributes to a much higher efficiency for a real cycle. The benefit of this is lost somewhat due to the lower heat addition temperature. Gas turbines, for instance, have turbine entry temperatures approaching 1500C. Nonetheless, the efficiencies of actual large steam cycles and large modern gas turbines are fairly well matched. The four processes in the Rankine cycle
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Ts diagram of a typical Rankine cycle operating between pressures of 0.06bar and 50bar
There are four processes in the Rankine cycle. These states are identified by numbers (in brown) in the diagram to the left.
Process 1-2: The working fluid is pumped from low to high pressure, as the fluid is a liquid at this stage the pump requires little input energy.
Process 2-3: The high pressure liquid enters a boiler where it is heated at constant pressure by an external heat source to become a dry saturated vapor. The input energy required can be easily calculated using mollier diagram or h-s chart or enthalpy-entropy chart also known as steam tables.
Process 3-4: The dry saturated vapor expands through a turbine, generating power. This decreases the temperature and pressure of the vapor, and some condensation may occur. The output in this process can be easily calculated using the Enthalpy-entropy chart or the steam tables.
Process 4-1: The wet vapor then enters a condenser where it is condensed at a constant temperature to become a saturated liquid.
In an ideal Rankine cycle the pump and turbine would be isentropic, i.e., the pump and turbine would generate no entropy and hence maximize the net work output. Processes 1-2 and 3-4 would be represented by vertical lines on the T-S diagram and more closely resemble that of the Carnot cycle. The Rankine cycle shown here prevents the vapor ending up in the superheat region after the expansion in the turbine, [1] which reduces the energy removed by the condensers.
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Variables
Heat flow rate to or from the system (energy per unit time) Mass flow rate (mass per unit time) Mechanical power consumed by or provided to the system (energy per unit time) therm Thermodynamic efficiency of the process (net power output per heat input, dimensionless)
pump,turb Isentropic efficiency of the compression (feed pump) and expansion (turbine) processes, dimensionless h1,h2,h3,h4 The "specific enthalpies" at indicated points on the T-S diagram h4s p1,p2 The final "specific enthalpy" of the fluid if the turbine were isentropic The pressures before and after the compression process
Equations
In general, the efficiency of a simple Rankine cycle can be defined as:
Each of the next four equations[1] is easily derived from the energy and mass balance for a control volume. therm defines the thermodynamic efficiency of the cycle as the ratio of net power output to heat input. As the work required by the pump is often around 1% of the turbine work output, it can be simplified.
When dealing with the efficiencies of the turbines and pumps, an adjustment to the work terms must be made.
pump/ turbine/
= h2-h1 v1p/pump v1(p2-p1)/pump = h3-h4 (h3-h4)*turbine
Real Rankine cycle (non-ideal)
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Rankine cycle with superheat In a real Rankine cycle, the compression by the pump and the expansion in the turbine are not isentropic. In other words, these processes are non-reversible and entropy is increased during the two processes. This somewhat increases the power required by the pump and decreases the power generated by the turbine. In particular the efficiency of the steam turbine will be limited by water droplet formation. As the water condenses, water droplets hit the turbine blades at high speed causing pitting and erosion, gradually decreasing the life of turbine blades and efficiency of the turbine. The easiest way to overcome this problem is by superheating the steam. On the Ts diagram above, state 3 is above a two phase region of steam and water so after expansion the steam will be very wet. By superheating, state 3 will move to the right of the diagram and hence produce a dryer steam after expansion.
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Equipments used in thermal power station
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Diagram of a typical coal-fired thermal power station
1. Cooling tower 2. Cooling water pump
3. transmission line (3-phase) 4. Step-up transformer (3-phase) 5. Electrical generator (3-phase) 6. Low pressure steam turbine 7. Condensate pump 8. Surface condenser 9. Intermediate pressure steam 18. Bottom ash hopper turbine
10. Steam Control valve 19. Superheater 11. High pressure steam 20. Forced draught (draft) fan turbine 12. Deaerator 21. Reheater 13. Feedwater heater 22. Combustion air intake 14. Coal conveyor 23. Economiser 15. Coal hopper 24. Air preheater 16. Coal pulverizer 25. Precipitator 17. Boiler steam drum 26. Induced draught (draft) fan 27. Flue gas stack
For units over about 200 MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by installing duplicates of the forced and induced draft fans, air preheaters, and fly ash collectors. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead be provided.
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Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature. Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in power stations. The towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures that can be up to 200 metres tall and 100 metres in diameter. A hyperboloid cooling tower was patented by Frederik van Iterson and Gerard Kuypers in 1918.
Classification of cooling tower by air-to-water flow

Cooling towers can be classified on the basis of air to water flow as following:
Crossflow
Crossflow is a design in which the air flow is directed perpendicular to the water flow (see diagram below). Air flow enters one or more vertical faces of the cooling tower to meet the fill material. Water flows (perpendicular to the air) through the fill by gravity. The air continues through the fill and thus past the water flow into an open plenum area. A distribution or hot water basin consisting of a deep pan with holes or nozzles in the bottom is utilized in a crossflow tower. Gravity distributes the water through the nozzles uniformly across the fill material.
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Counterflow
In a counterflow design the air flow is directly opposite to the water flow (see diagram below). Air flow first enters an open area beneath the fill media and is then drawn up vertically. The water is sprayed through pressurized nozzles and flows downward through the fill, opposite to the air flow.
Common to both designs:
The interaction of the air and water flow allow a partial equalization and evaporation of water. The air, now saturated with water vapor, is discharged from the cooling tower. A collection or cold water basin is used to contain the water after its interaction with the air flow.
Both crossflow and counterflow designs can be used in natural draft and mechanical draft cooling towers.
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Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.[1] It has almost completely replaced the reciprocating piston steam engine primarily because of its greater thermal efficiency and higherpower-to-weight ratio. Because the turbine generates rotary motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator about 80% of all electricity generation in the world is by use of steam turbines. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency through the use of multiple stages in the expansion of the steam, which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible process.
Fig: a steam turbine rotor
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Types
Schematic operation of a steam turbine generator system
Steam turbines are made in a variety of sizes ranging from small <1 hp (<0.75 kW) units (rare) 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.
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.
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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.
Principle of operation and design

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
Schematic diagram outlining the difference between an impulse and a reaction turbine
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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".
Reaction 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 is no 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 disengaged and steam is admitted to 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
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(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 no-load 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.
Thermodynamics of steam turbines

The steam turbine operates on basic principles of thermodynamics using the part of the Rankine cycle. Superheated vapor (or dry saturated vapor, depending on application) enters the turbine, after it having exited the boiler, at high temperature and high pressure. The high heat/pressure steam is converted into kinetic energy using a nozzle (a fixed nozzle in an impulse type turbine or the fixed blades in a reaction type turbine). Once the steam has exited the nozzle it is moving at high velocity and is sent to the blades of the turbine. A force is created on the blades due to the pressure of the vapor on the blades causing them to move. A generator or other such device can be placed on the shaft, and the energy that was in the vapor can now be stored and used. The gas exits the turbine as a saturated vapor (or liquid-vapor mix depending on application) at a lower temperature and pressure than it entered with and is sent to the condenser to be cooled.[13] If we look at the first law we can find an equation comparing the rate at which work is developed per unit mass. Assuming there is no heat transfer to the surrounding environment and that the change in kinetic and potential energy is negligible when compared to the change in specific entropy we come up with the following equation
t is the rate at which work is developed per unit time is the rate of mass flow through the turbine
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Isentropic turbine efficiency
Rankine cycle with superheat Process 1-2: The working fluid is pumped from low to high pressure. Process 2-3: The high pressure liquid enters a boiler where it is heated at constant pressure by an external heat source to become a dry saturated vapor. Process 3-3': The vapour is superheated. Process 3-4 and 3'-4': The dry saturated vapor expands through a turbine, generating power. This decreases the temperature and pressure of the vapor, and some condensation may occur. Process 4-1: The wet vapor then enters a condenser where it is condensed at a constant pressure to become a saturated liquid.
To measure how well a turbine is performing we can look at the isentropic efficiency. Isentropic efficiencies involve a comparison between the actual performance of a device and the performance that would be achieved under idealized circumstances.[14] When calculating the isentropic efficiency, heat to the surroundings is assumed to be zero. The starting pressure and temperature is the same for both the isentropic and actual efficiency. Since state 1 is the same for both efficiencies, the specific enthalpy h1 is known. The specific entropy for the isentropic process is greater than the specific entropy for the actual process due to irreversibility in the process. The specific entropy is evaluated at the same pressure for the actual and isentropic processes in order to give a good comparison between the two. The isentropic efficiency is given to us as the actual work divided by the maximum work that could be achieved if there were no irreversibly in the process.
.[14]
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h1 is the specific enthalpy at state one h2 is the specific enthalpy at state two for an actual process h2s is the specific enthalpy at state two for an isentropic process
Calculating turbine efficiency The efficiency of the steam turbine can be calculated by using the Kelvin statement of the Second law of Thermodynamics.
.[14]
Wcycle is the Work done during one cycle QH is the Heat transfer received from the heat source
If we look at the Carnot cycle the maximum efficiency of a steam turbine can be calculated. This efficiency can never be achieved in the real world due to irreversibility during the process, but it does give a good measure as to how a particular turbine is performing.
.[14]
TL is the absolute temperature of the vapor moving out of the turbine TH is the absolute temperature of the vapor coming from the boiler.
Electrical power stations use large steam turbines driving electric generators to produce most (about 80%) of the world's electricity. The advent of large steam turbines made central-station electricity generation practical, since reciprocating steam engines of large rating became very bulky, and operated at slow speeds. Most central stations are fossil fuel power plants and nuclear power plants; some installations usegeothermal steam, or use concentrated solar power (CSP) to create the steam. Steam turbines can also be used directly to drive largecentrifugal pumps, such as feedwater pumps at a thermal power plant. The turbines used for electric power generation are most often directly coupled to their generators. As the generators must rotate at constant synchronous speeds according to the frequency of the electric power system, the most common speeds are 3000 RPM for 50 Hz systems, and 3600 RPM for 60 Hz systems. Since nuclear reactors have lower temperature limits than fossil-fired plants, with lower steam quality, the turbine generator sets may be arranged to operate at half these speeds, but with four-pole generators, to reduce erosion of turbine blades.
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Surface condenser
Surface condenser is the commonly used term for a water-cooled shell and tube heat exchanger installed on the exhaust steam from a steam turbine in thermal power stations. These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its gaseous to its liquid state at a pressure below atmospheric pressure. Where cooling water is in short supply, an air-cooled condenser is often used. An air-cooled condenser is however significantly more expensive and cannot achieve as low a steam turbine exhaust pressure as a water cooled surface condenser. Surface condensers are used in condensing of steam turbine exhaust in power plants.
Purpose
In thermal power plants, the primary purpose of a surface condenser is to condense the exhaust steam from a steam turbine to obtain maximum efficiency and also to convert the turbine exhaust steam into pure water (referred to as steam condensate) so that it may be reused in the steam generator or boiler as boiler feed water.
Why is it required?
The steam turbine itself is a device to convert the heat in steam to mechanical power. The difference between the heat of steam per unit mass at the inlet to the turbine and the heat of steam per unit mass at the outlet to the turbine represents the heat which is converted to mechanical power. Therefore, the more the conversion of heat per pound or kilogram of steam to mechanical power in the turbine, the better is its efficiency. By condensing the exhaust steam of a turbine at a pressure below atmospheric pressure, the steam pressure drop between the inlet and exhaust of the turbine is increased, which increases the amount of heat available for conversion to mechanical power. Most of the heat liberated due to condensation of the exhaust steam is carried away by the cooling medium (water or air) used by the surface condenser.
Diagram of water-cooled surface condenser
Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser
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Cross-sectional schematic diagram of a power plant condenser for condensing exhaust steam from a steam turbine. This condenser is single-pass on both the tube and shell sides with a large opening at the top for the exhaust steam to enter and a hotwell at the bottom where condensate water drips down to and collects. Circulating water for cooling is shown in light greenish color and condensate is light blue. Note also that the springs at the condenser support pads or the expansion joint at the turbine exhaust are designed in for thermal expansion and a normal installation includes either one or the other, not both like in this diagram.
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Deaerator
A deaerator is a device that is widely used for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the feedwater to steam-generating boilers. In particular, dissolved oxygen in boiler feedwaters will cause serious corrosion damage in steam systems by attaching to the walls of metal piping and other metallic equipment and forming oxides (rust). Water also combines with any dissolved carbon dioxide to form carbonic acid that causes further corrosion. Most deaerators are designed to remove oxygen down to levels of 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm/L) or less. There are two basic types of deaerators, the tray-type and the spray-type: The tray-type (also called the cascade-type) includes a vertical domed deaeration section mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank.
The spray-type consists only of a horizontal (or vertical) cylindrical vessel which serves as both the deaeration section and the boiler feedwater storage tank.
Types of deaerators
There are many different horizontal and vertical deaerators available from a number of manufacturers, and the actual construction details will vary from one manufacturer to another. Figures given are representative schematic diagrams that depict each of the two major types of deaerators. Tray-type deaerator
Figure 1: A schematic diagram of a typical tray-type deaerator.
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The typical horizontal tray-type deaerator in Figure has a vertical domed deaeration section mounted above a horizontal boiler feedwater storage vessel. Boiler feedwater enters the vertical dearation section above the perforated trays and flows downward through the perforations. Low-pressure dearation steam enters below the perforated trays and flows upward through the perforations. Some designs use various types ofpacking material, rather than perforated trays, to provide good contact and mixing between the steam and the boiler feed water. The steam strips the dissolved gas from the boiler feedwater and exits via the vent at the top of the domed section. Some designs may include a vent condenser to trap and recover any water entrained in the vented gas. The vent line usually includes a valve and just enough steam is allowed to escape with the vented gases to provide a small and visible telltale plume of steam. The deaerated water flows down into the horizontal storage vessel from where it is pumped to the steam generating boiler system. Low-pressure heating steam, which enters the horizontal vessel through a sparger pipe in the bottom of the vessel, is provided to keep the stored boiler feedwater warm. External insulation of the vessel is typically provided to minimize heat loss.
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Spray-type deaerator
Figure 2: A schematic diagram of a typical spray-type deaerator.
As shown in Figure, the typical spray-type deaerator is a horizontal vessel which has a preheating section (E) and a deaeration section (F). The two sections are separated by a baffle(C). Low-pressure steam enters the vessel through a sparger in the bottom of the vessel. The boiler feedwater is sprayed into section (E) where it is preheated by the rising steam from the sparger. The purpose of the feedwater spray nozzle (A) and the preheat section is to heat the boiler feedwater to its saturation temperature to facilitate stripping out the dissolved gases in the following deaeration section. The preheated feedwater then flows into the dearation section (F), where it is deaerated by the steam rising from the sparger system. The gases stripped out of the water exit via the vent at the top of the vessel. Again, some designs may include a vent condenser to trap and recover any water entrained in the vented gas. Also again, the vent line usually includes a valve and just enough steam is allowed to escape with the vented gases to provide a small and visible telltale plume of steam The deaerated boiler feedwater is pumped from the bottom of the vessel to the steam generating boiler system.
Deaeration steam
The deaerators in the steam generating systems of most thermal power plants use low pressure steam obtained from an extraction point in their steam turbine system. However, the steam generators in many large industrial facilities such as petroleum refineries may use whatever low-pressure steam is available.
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Heat exchanger
A heat exchanger is a piece of equipment built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. The media may be separated by a solid wall, so that they never mix, or they may be in direct contact. They are widely used in space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power plants, chemical plants,petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, natural gas processing, and sewage treatment. The classic example of a heat exchanger is found in an internal combustion engine in which a circulating fluid known as engine coolant flows through radiator coils and air flows past the coils, which cools the coolant and heats the incoming air.
Flow arrangement
Parallel-flow heat exchangers, Counter-flow heat exchangers, Cross-flow heat exchangers, There are two primary classifications of heat exchangers according to their flow arrangement. In parallelflow heat exchangers, the two fluids enter the exchanger at the same end, and travel in parallel to one another to the other side. Incounter-flow heat exchangers the fluids enter the exchanger from opposite ends. The counter current design is most efficient, in that it can transfer the most heat from the heat (transfer) medium. See countercurrent exchange. In a cross-flowheat exchanger, the fluids travel roughly perpendicular to one another through the exchanger. For efficiency, heat exchangers are designed to maximize the surface area of the wall between the two fluids, while minimizing resistance to fluid flow through the exchanger. The exchanger's performance can also be affected by the addition of fins or corrugations in one or both directions, which increase surface area and may channel fluid flow or induce turbulence.
Types of heat exchangers

Shell and tube heat exchanger Plate heat exchanger Adiabatic wheel heat exchanger Plate fin heat exchanger Pillow plate heat exchanger Fluid heat exchangers Dynamic scraped surface heat exchanger Phase-change heat exchangers Direct contact heat exchangers Spiral heat exchangers
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Boiler feedwater pump

A boiler feedwater pump is a specific type of pump used to pump feedwater into a steam boiler. The water may be freshly supplied or returning condensate produced as a result of the condensation of the steam produced by the boiler. These pumps are normally high pressure units that take suction from a condensate return system and can be of the centrifugal pump type or positive displacement type.
Construction and operation

In either case, to force the water into the boiler, the pump must generate sufficient pressure to overcome the steam pressure developed by the boiler. This is usually accomplished through the use of a centrifugal pump. A common form of feed-water pumps run constantly and are provided with a minimum flow device to stop overpressuring the pump on low flows. The minimum flow usual returns to the tank or deaerator.
Boiler feed pumps used in a thermal power stations are:

Turbine driven boiler feed pump (TDBFP), Motor driven boiler feed pump (MDBFP).
Feedwater heater (HP Heater & LP Heater)

A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. 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 In a steam power plant (usually modeled as a modified Rankine cycle), feedwater heaters allow the feedwater to be brought up to the saturation temperature very gradually. This minimizes the inevitable irreversibilities associated with heat transfer to the working fluid (water). The energy used to heat the feedwater is usually derived from steam extracted between the stages of the steam turbine. Therefore, the steam that would be used to perform expansion work in the turbine (and therefore generate power) is not utilized for that purpose. The percentage of the total cycle steam mass flow used for the feedwater heater is termed the extraction fraction and must be carefully optimized for maximum power plant thermal efficiency since increasing this fraction causes a decrease in turbine power output. Feedwater heaters can also be open and closed heat exchangers. An open feedwater heater is merely a direct-contact heat exchanger in which extracted steam is allowed to mix with the feedwater. This kind of heater will normally require a feed pump at both the feed inlet and outlet since the pressure in the heater is between the boiler pressure and the condenser pressure. A deaerator is a special case of the open feedwater heater which is specifically designed to remove non-condensable gases from the feedwater.
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Closed feedwater heaters are typically shell and tube heat exchangers where the feedwater passes throughout the tubes and is heated by turbine extraction steam. These do not require separate pumps before and after the heater to boost the feedwater to the pressure of the extracted steam as with an open heater. However, the extracted steam (which is most likely almost fully condensed after heating the feedwater) must then be throttled to the condenser pressure, an isenthalpic process that results in some entropy gain with a slight penalty on overall cycle efficiency. Many power plants incorporate a number of feedwater heaters and may use both open and closed components. Feedwater heaters are used in both fossil-fueled (coal) and nuclear-fueled power plants. An economiser serves a similar purpose to a feedwater heater, but is technically different. Instead of using actual cycle steam for heating, it uses the lowest-temperature flue gas from the furnace (and therefore does not apply to nuclear plants) to heat the water before it enters the boiler proper. This allows for the heat transfer between the furnace and the feedwater to occur across a smaller average temperature gradient (for the steam generator as a whole). System efficiency is therefore further increased when viewed with respect to actual energy content of the fuel.
Electrostatic precipitator
An electrostatic precipitator (ESP), or electrostatic air cleaner is a particulate collection device that removes particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using the force of an induced electrostatic charge. Electrostatic precipitators are highly efficient filtration devices that minimally impede the flow of gases through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the air stream. In contrast to wet scrubbers which apply energy directly to the flowing fluid medium, an ESP applies energy only to the particulate matter being collected and therefore is very efficient in its consumption of energy (in the form of electricity).
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Fig: diagram of electrostatic precipitator
Modern industrial electrostatic precipitators

ESPs continue to be excellent devices for control of many industrial particulate emissions, including smoke from electricity-generating utilities (coal and oil fired), salt cake collection from black liquor boilers in pulp mills, and catalyst collection from fluidized bed catalytic cracker units in oil refineries to name a few. These devices treat gas volumes from several hundred thousand ACFM to 2.5 million ACFM (1,180 m/s) in the largest coal-fired boiler applications. For a coal-fired boiler the collection is usually performed downstream of the air preheater at about 160 C (320 deg.F) which provides optimal resistivity of the coal-ash particles. For some difficult applications with low-sulfur fuel hot-end units have been built operating above 371 C (700 deg.F).
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Fig: Parts of an electrostatic precipitator
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Fans & Auxilliaries:

Pumps: A pump is a machine fo raising a liquid - a relatively incompressible fluid - to a higher level of pressure or head. Compressors: A compressor is a machine for raising a gas - a compressible fluid to a higher level of pressure. Blowers: A blower is a machine for moving volumes of gas with moderate increase of pressuer Fans: a fan moves large amount of gas with low increase in pressure. Fans cause pressure increase by: Centrifugal force created by rotation of the column of air trapped between two blades. Kinetic energy is supplied to the air through the impeller. Total pressure = velocity head + static pressure. When a gas is forced through a duct system, a loss in pressure occurs. This loss in pressure is called System Resistance. System resistance is composed of two components: Friction losses, Dynamic losses.
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OPERATION
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Boiler and steam cycle

In fossil-fueled power plants, steam generator refers to a furnace that burns the fossil fuel to boil water to generate steam. In the nuclear plant field, steam generator refers to a specific type of large heat exchanger used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to thermally connect the primary (reactor plant) and secondary (steam plant) systems, which generates steam. In a nuclear reactor called a boiling water reactor (BWR), water is boiled to generate steam directly in the reactor itself and there are no units called steam generators. In some industrial settings, there can also be steam-producing heat exchangers called heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) which utilize heat from some industrial process. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. A fossil fuel steam generator includes an economizer, a steam drum, and the furnace with its steam generating tubes and super heater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan, Air Preheater (AP), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash collectors (electrostatic
precipitator orbaghouse) and the flue gas stack.
Feed water heating and deaeration The feed water used in the steam boiler is a means of transferring heat energy from the burning fuel to the mechanical energy of the spinning steam turbine. The total feed water consists of
recirculatedcondensate water and purified makeup water. Because the metallic materials it contacts are subject to corrosion at high temperatures and pressures, the makeup water is highly purified before use. A system of water softeners and ion exchange demineralizers produces water so pure that it coincidentally becomes an electrical insulator, with conductivity in the range of 0.31.0 microsiemens per centimeter. The makeup water in a 500 MWe plant amounts to perhaps 20 US gallons per minute (1.25 L/s) to offset the small losses from steam leaks in the system. The feed water cycle begins with condensate water being pumped out of the condenser after traveling through the steam turbines. The condensate flow rate at full load in a 500 MW plant is about 6,000 US gallons per minute (400 L/s).
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Diagram of boiler feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section and horizontal water storage sectioN
The water flows through a series of six or seven intermediate feed water heaters, heated up at each point with steam extracted from an appropriate duct on the turbines and gaining temperature at each stage. Typically, the condensate plus the makeup water then flows through adeaerator[7][8] that removes dissolved air from the water, further purifying and reducing its corrosiveness. The water may be dosed following this point with hydrazine, a chemical that removes the remaining oxygen in the water to below 5 parts per billion (ppb).[vague] It is also dosed with pHcontrol agents such as ammonia or morpholine to keep the residual acidity low and thus non-corrosive. Boiler operation The boiler is a rectangular furnace about 50 feet (15 m) on a side and 130 feet (40 m) tall. Its walls are made of a web of high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches (58 mm) in diameter. Pulverized coal is air-blown into the furnace from fuel nozzles at the four corners and it rapidly burns, forming a large fireball at the center. Thethermal radiation of the fireball heats the water that circulates through the boiler tubes near the boiler perimeter. The water circulation rate in the boiler is three to four times the throughput and is typically driven by pumps. As the water in the boiler circulates it absorbs heat and changes into steam at 700 F (371 C) and 3,200 psi (Template:Convert/MP). It is separated from the water inside a drum at the top of the furnace. The saturated steam is introduced into superheat pendant tubes that hang in the hottest part of the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Here the steam is superheated to 1,000 F (500 C) to prepare it for the turbine. Plants designed for lignite (brown coal) are increasingly used in locations as varied as Germany, Victoria, and North Dakota. Lignite is a much younger form of coal than black coal. It has a lower energy density than black coal and requires a much larger furnace for equivalent heat output. Such coals may contain up
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to 70% water and ash, yielding lower furnace temperatures and requiring larger induced-draft fans. The firing systems also differ from black coal and typically draw hot gas from the furnace-exit level and mix it with the incoming coal in fan-type mills that inject the pulverized coal and hot gas mixture into the boiler. Plants that use gas turbines to heat the water for conversion into steam use boilers known as heat recovery steam generators (HRSG). The exhaust heat from the gas turbines is used to make superheated steam that is then used in a conventional water-steam generation cycle, as described in gas turbine combinedcycle plants section below. 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 to the lower inlet water wall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises through the water walls and is eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners located on the front and rear water walls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the water walls, 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 water walls 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. Furnaceexplosions 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 super heater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial start up. 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 super heater coils. Super heater Fossil fuel power plants can have a super heater and/or re-heater section in the steam generating furnace. In a fossil fuel 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 super heater, 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.
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Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. Experimental nuclear plants were equipped with fossil-fired super heaters in an attempt to improve overall plant operating cost. Steam condensing The condenser condenses the steam from the exhaust of the turbine into liquid to allow it to be pumped. If the condenser can be made cooler, the pressure of the exhaust steam is reduced and efficiency of the cycle increases.
Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface 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 continuous removal 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 non-condensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Typically the cooling water causes the steam to condense at a temperature of about 35 C (95 F) and that creates an absolute pressure in the condenser of about 27 kPa (Template:Convert/in Hg), i.e. a vacuum of about 95 kPa (Template:Convert/in Hg) relative to atmospheric pressure. The large decrease in volume that occurs when water vapor condenses to liquid creates the low vacuum that helps pull steam through and increase the efficiency of the turbines.
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The limiting factor is the temperature of the cooling water and that, in turn, is limited by the prevailing average climatic conditions at the power plant's location (it may be possible to lower the temperature beyond the turbine limits during winter, causing excessive condensation in the turbine). 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. The heat absorbed by the circulating cooling water in the condenser tubes must also be removed to maintain the ability of the water to cool as it circulates. This is done by pumping the warm water from the condenser through either natural draft, forced draft or induced draft cooling towers (as seen in the image to the right) that reduce the temperature of the water by evaporation, by about 11 to 17 C (20 to 30 F) expelling waste heat to the atmosphere. The circulation flow rate of the cooling water in a 500MW unit is about 14.2 m/s (500 ft/s or 225,000 US gal/min) at full load. The condenser tubes are made of brass or stainless steel to resist corrosion from either side. Nevertheless they may become internally fouled during operation by bacteria or algae in the cooling water or by mineral scaling, all of which inhibit heat transfer and reduce thermodynamic efficiency. Many plants include an automatic cleaning system that circulates sponge rubber balls through the tubes to scrub them clean without the need to take the system off-line. The cooling water used to condense the steam in the condenser returns to its source without having been changed other than having been warmed. If the water returns to a local water body (rather than a circulating cooling tower), it is tempered with cool 'raw' water to prevent thermal shock when discharged into that body of water. Another form of condensing system is the air-cooled condenser. The process is similar to that of a radiator and fan. Exhaust heat from the low pressure section of a steam turbine runs through the condensing tubes, the tubes are usually finned and ambient air is pushed through the fins with the help of a large fan. The steam condenses to water to be reused in the water-steam cycle. Air-cooled condensers typically operate at a higher temperature than water cooled versions. While saving water, the efficiency of the cycle is reduced (resulting in more carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity). From the bottom of the condenser, powerful condensate pumps recycle the condensed steam (water) back to the water/steam cycle. Re heater Power plant furnaces may have a re heater section containing tubes heated by hot flue gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high pressure turbine is rerouted to go inside the re heater tubes to pickup more energy to go drive intermediate or lower pressure turbines. Air path
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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.
Steam turbine generator

The turbine generator consists of a series of steam turbines interconnected to each other and a generator on a common shaft. There is a high pressure turbine at one end, followed by an intermediate pressure turbine, two low pressure turbines, and the generator. As steam moves through the system and loses pressure and thermal energy it expands in volume, requiring increasing diameter and longer blades at each succeeding stage to extract the remaining energy. The entire rotating mass may be over 200 metric tons and 100 feet (30 m) long. It is so heavy that it must be kept turning slowly even when shut down (at 3 rpm) so that the shaft will not bow even slightly and become unbalanced. This is so important that it is one of only five functions of blackout emergency power batteries on site. Other functions are emergency lighting, communication, station alarms and turbogenerator lube oil. Superheated steam from the boiler is delivered through 1416-inch (360410 mm) diameter piping to the high pressure turbine where it falls in pressure to 600 psi (4.1 MPa) and to 600 F (320 C) in temperature through the stage. It exits via 2426-inch (610660 mm) diameter cold reheat lines and passes back into the boiler where the steam is reheated in special reheat pendant tubes back to 1,000 F (500 C). The hot reheat steam is conducted to the intermediate pressure turbine where it falls in
both temperature and pressure and exits directly to the long-bladed low pressure turbines and finally exits to the condenser. The generator, 30 feet (9 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter, contains a stationary stator and a spinning rotor, each containing miles of heavycopper conductorno permanent magnets here. In operation it generates up to 21,000 amperes at 24,000 volts AC (504 MWe) as it spins at either 3,000 or 3,600 rpm, synchronized to the power grid. The rotor spins in a sealed chamber cooled with hydrogen gas, selected 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 startup, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly explosive hydrogen oxygenenvironment is not created. The power grid frequency is 60 Hz across North America and 50 Hz in Europe, Oceania, Asia (Korea and parts of Japan are notable exceptions) and parts of Africa. The electricity flows to a distribution yard where transformers step the voltage up to 115, 230, 500 or 765 kV AC as needed for transmission to its destination.
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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 minimize the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft has a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in which 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.
Stack gas path and cleanup

As the combustion flue gas exits the boiler it is routed through a rotating flat basket of metal mesh which picks up heat and returns it to incoming fresh air as the basket rotates, This is called the air preheater. The gas exiting the boiler is laden with fly ash, which are tiny spherical ash particles. The flue gas contains nitrogen along with combustion products carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, andnitrogen oxides. The fly ash is removed by fabric bag filters or electrostatic precipitators. Once removed, the fly ash byproduct can sometimes be used in the manufacturing of concrete. This cleaning up of flue gases, however, only occurs in plants that are fitted with the appropriate technology. Still, the majority of coal fired power plants in the world do not have these facilities.[citation needed] Legislation in Europe has been efficient to reduce flue gas pollution. Japan has been using flue gas cleaning technology for over 30 years and the US has been doing the same for over 25 years. China is now beginning to grapple with the pollution caused by coal fired power plants. Where required by law, the sulfur and nitrogen oxide pollutants are removed by stack gas scrubbers which use a pulverized limestone or other alkaline wet slurry to remove those pollutants from the exit stack gas. Other devices use catalysts to remove Nitrous Oxide compounds from the flue gas stream. The gas travelling up the flue gas stack may by this time have dropped to about 50 C (120 F). A typical flue gas stack may be 150180 metres (490590 ft) tall to disperse the remaining flue gas components in the atmosphere. The tallest flue gas stack in the world is 419.7 metres (1,377 ft) tall at the GRES-2 power plant in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan. In the United States and a number of other countries, atmospheric dispersion modeling[13] studies are required to determine the flue gas stack height needed to comply with the local air pollutionregulations. The United States also requires the height of a flue gas stack to comply with what is known as the "Good Engineering Practice (GEP)" stack height. In the case of existing flue gas stacks that exceed the GEP stack height, any air pollution dispersion modeling studies for such stacks must use the GEP stack height rather than the actual stack height. Fly ash collection Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes both)
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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.
Auxiliary systems
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 imparthardness 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. 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.
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Some power stations burn fuel oil rather than coal. The oil must kept warm (above its pour point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100 C before being pumped through the furnace fuel oil spray nozzles. Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Other power stations may use processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel supply (coal or oil) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas burners are provided on the boiler furnaces. 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 is therefore automatically turned at low speed (about one percent rated speed) by the barring gear until it has cooled sufficiently to permit a complete stop. 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 turbine's 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 cooling While small generators 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 generator enclosure 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.
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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 for modern utility-connected generators 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 leads 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. Smaller units,may share a common generator step-up transformer with individual circuit breakers to connect the generators to a common bus. 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 plant's 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.
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About RGTPP, Khedar (Hisar)
o Brief description o Turbine Generation o Diagrams of steam cycles
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1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This unit is a two cylinder tandem compound double exhaust, condensing reheat turbine, designed for high operating efficiencies and maximum reliability. The design steam conditions, rated and normal speed are given in Thermal Performance Data book. The entire unit is shown on the Turbine Generator outline drawing. The internal construction is shown in the Longitudinal Section, which is a view through the vertical centreline of the turbine. The high-intermediate pressure (HP-IP) turbine is a combined impulse and reaction type. Steam enters the turbine initially through the throttle valves and then flows to the governor valves. The governor valves control the flow of steam into the HP steam inlet pipes. These pipes are connected to the turbine cylinder by three inlet sleeves in the cover and three inlet sleeves in the base. Each sleeve is connected to a nozzle chamber by a slip joint. The steam passes through the impulse stage and high pressure turbine blading to the re-heater through two exhaust opening in the outer casing base. It returns from the re-heater to the intermediate pressure turbine through two reheat stopinterceptor valve assemblies. The outlets of the interceptor valves are connected to the inlet chamber of the intermediate pressure turbine by slip joints. These two connections are in the base. The steam passes through the intermediate pressure turbine blading, located in the generator end of the HP-IP turbine rotor, and passes into the low pressure turbine through one crossover pipe. The low pressure turbine is a reaction, double flow machine with steam entering at the centre of the blade path and flowing toward an exhaust opening at each end. Openings are provided in the casings through which steam may be extracted for feed-water heating. The sizes and locations of these openings are given on the" Turbine Generator Outline drawing.
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ADMISSION VALVES The unit is provided with two throttle valve steam chest assemblies, one located along each side of the HPIP turbine cylinder. Each steam chest has one throttle valve and three governor valves. The position of these valves is controlled by a servo actuator mounted adjacent to each valve. The servo actuators respond to control signals from the Digital-Electro-Hydraulic (DEH) controller. CASINGS The structural shape of the casings and their method of support are carefully designed to obtain free and symmetrical movements resulting from thermal changes and thereby reduce to a minimum the possibility of distortion. The outer casing of the HP-IP turbine is an alloy steel casting split in the horizontal centre-plane to form a base and cover. The inner casing is likewise an alloy steel casing split in the centre-plane to form a base and cover. It is supported in the outer casing at the horizontal joint and guided at the top and bottom by dowel pins so as to maintain the correct position with regard to the turbine axis and at the same time to allow the parts to expand and contract freely in response to temperature changes. The high pressure turbine nozzle chamber inlets are welded in the inner easing and are located in the inner cylinder by keyways on the nozzle chambers which fit over lugs in the inner casing base and cover. The steam inlet sleeves are connected to each nozzle chamber by slip joints so that the possibility of distortion due to temperature changes is reduced to a minimum. In removing the outer casing, the cover is raised by means of jackscrews until the inlet sleeves are clear out of the nozzle chamber and then is lifted by a crane in the usual manner. In removing the inner casing base, the base is raised by means of jackscrews until the inlet sleeves are clear out of the nozzle chamber and then is lifted by a crane in the usual manner. In replacing the outer casing cover and the inner casing base, the nozzle chamber at each steam inlet seal is shaped so as to centre the rings as the casing is lowered. The No. 1 low pressure balance piston ring, the high pressure turbine blade ring, the balance piston rings which separate the high pressure turbine inlet from the intermediate pressure turbine inlet and the first reaction blade ring of the intermediate pressure turbine are supported in the inner casing at the horizontal joint and guided at the top and bottom by dowel pins in the same manner as the inner casing is supported in the outer casing. The second intermediate pressure turbine blade ring, inner gland rings and No. 2 low pressure balance piston ring are supported in the outer casing in the same manner. The high pressure turbine outer casing is supported by four arms (or lugs) which are cast integrally at the top of the base thus locating the point of support as closely as possible to the horizontal centreline at the exhaust end. At the exhaust end, these arms rest on keys placed between them and the pedestal formed by middle pedestal base and on which the arms are free to slide. At the thrust end, the cylinder arms are likewise supported on keys placed between them and the thrust end pedestal and are free to slide in the same manner. At each end, the outer casing is connected to the adjacent pedestal by an H beam which is bolted and doweled to the casing and the adjacent pedestal. These beams maintain the correct axial and transverse position of the casing with relation to the pedestals. The middle pedestal is connected to the low pressure casing through the LP turbine GVN gland (be assembled with a big compensator), and fixed by anchor plates in transverse and axial direction. The thrust end pedestal is free to slide axially on in its seating plate, but is held against transverse movement by an axial key placed on the longitudinal centreline between it and the seating plate. Any tendency to tilt or lift is limited by side gibs which are fitted with ample clearance to allow free movement axially. Any tendency of the casing to rise off the pedestals is limited by a stud bolt through each arm. These bolts are fitted with ample clearance under the nut and around the bolt to allow free movement of the cylinder arms in response to temperature changes. The low pressure inner and outer casing consists of a fabricated base and cover. The outer casing is divided vertically into three sections, each being split in the horizontal plane to form a base and cover. At the time of installation, the vertical joint is made up permanently and thereafter the cover is handled as a single piece. With the double flow arrangement, steam enters at the centre, flowing toward each end and thence downward into a combined exhaust into the condenser. The low pressure turbine is supported by a continuous foot or skirt which is made integral with and extends around the outer casing base. This foot rests on a seating plate which is grouted to the foundation. Its location is maintained in the longitudinal direction by four keys between the foot and the seating plate, located as follows: two keys, one at each end, placed usually on the longitudinal centreline, definitely locate the cylinder in a transverse direction hut permit free expansion in an axial direction. The other two keys, one on each side placed transversely near the transverse centreline, definitely locate the cylinder in an axial direction hut permit free expansion in a transverse direction. Therefore, from a point near the centre of the exhaust opening the casing can expand freely in any direction in the horizontal plane at the top of the foundation seating plate. The low pressure outer casing forms the housing for its own bearings and also for the No. 2 bearing of the high pressure-intermediate pressure rotor. The joints of the high-intermediate pressure turbine are bolted by large stud bolts (or studs). In order to obtain the proper stress in each of these bolts, they must be initially tightened to set up a definite stress.
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The correct method to obtain this stress is described under Bolt Tightening The cylinder joint faces are finished to make a tight joint under the standard hydrostatic and steam tests with the faces dry and metal to metal. When assembling the machining for operation, triple boiled linseed oil should be used on the joint faces. ROTOR The high-intermediate pressure turbine rotor is machined from a solid alloy steel forging. A separate stub shaft is bolted to the inlet end to form the thrust bearing collar and to carry the oil impellers and the overspeed trip. The low pressure rotor is likewise machined from a solid alloy steel forging. The entire rotors, after being completely bladed and machined, are given an accurate dynamic balance test. A flanged, rigid-type coupling is used between the high-intermediate pressure turbine and low pressure turbine rotors. The rotating element thus formed is located axially by the high pressure turbine thrust bearing. The low pressure rotor is in turn, connected to the generator by a rigid coupling. The main rotating element thus formed (consisting of high pressure-intermediate pressure turbine rotor, low pressure turbine rotor, generator rotor and exciter) is carried in seven bearings. BLADING The blade path includes an impulse element operating with partial admission control, followed by reaction blading in the high pressure intermediate pressure turbine and double flow reaction blading in the low pressure turbine. The exact blade arrangement and the number of stages or rows are shown in the Longitudinal Section. Throughout the blade path the massive rotating and stationary parts are separated by relatively large clearances and the reduced clearances necessary to control steam leakage are maintained by thin seal strips. These strips are made of an alloy steel. Should contacts occur under normal conditions, the strips will rub away. BALANCE PISTON At the steam inlet area of the high pressure turbine, the rotor is machined to form a two stage balance piston (or dummy) which is designed to over-balance the thrust on the blading and thus produce a thrust toward the inlet end of the machine under normal operating conditions. With this arrangement, any floating of the rotor, such as is possible in case of loss of load, can occur toward the exhaust end only, thus temporarily increasing the axial running clearance by the amount of clearance in the thrust bearing but maintaining at least the desired minimum clearance at all times. The balance piston labyrinth seals are of the radial clearance type and described in a separate leaflet. During starting and stopping periods in the first month of supervised operation of the unit, the rotor can be moved (by means of the thrust bearing locating mechanism) to change the axial clearance throughout the whole unit. During this time, measurements will be taken to determine the maximum relative movements of the turbine casing and rotor. After these movements have been established, the thrust bearing cage stops will be set (as described under Thrust Bearing Locating Mechanism) and no further adjustment of the mechanism will be required.
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Thermal Report

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Thermal power station

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Working Cycle of Thermal Power Plant

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

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= h2-h1 v1p/pump v1(p2-p1)/pump = h3-h4 (h3-h4)*turbine

Real Rankine cycle (non-ideal)

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

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Equipments used in thermal power station

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Diagram of a typical coal-fired thermal power station

1. Cooling tower 2. Cooling water pump

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Classification of cooling tower by air-to-water flow

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Common to both designs:

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Fig: a steam turbine rotor

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Schematic operation of a steam turbine generator system

Steam supply and exhaust conditions

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Casing or shaft arrangements

Principle of operation and design

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Operation and maintenance

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Thermodynamics of steam turbines

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

Isentropic turbine efficiency

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2X600 MW RGTPP HISAR

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Diagram of water-cooled surface condenser

Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser

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