UNIT-I

Power Plants
INTRODUCTION
Power plants are used for the generation of electric power.
In 1950. the total installed capacity in Tamil Nadu was only 156 MW
which has been increased to about 5473 MW in 1990.
On all India basis, the figures in the same period were 2301 MW and 6393
MW respectively.
In India, the per capita consumption of electricity was only 12 kWh in
1950 which has increased to about 280 kWh in 1990 while in Japan, it
has gone as high as 5633 kWh.
CLASSIFICATION OF POWER PLANTS
Power plants can be mainly classified as follows:
1. Steam power plant
2. Nuclear power plant
3. Gas turbine power plant
4. Diesel power plant
5. Hydro power plant
6. Power from alternate sources of energy
In the remaining part of this chapter, a description of the above power plants and
alternate sources of energy are provided.
STEAM POWER PLANT
The layout of a steam power plant is given in Fig
Steam from the boiler is taken to the turbine through the steam pipe fitted with
an expansion joint.
The joint provides a flexible connection to prevent any crack in the steam pipe
which is subjected to expansion and contraction due to the variation of
temperature.
From the turbine, the steam enters a condenser, details of which are shown in
Fig. In the condenser, the exhaust steam from the turbine is condensed due to
which a high vacuum is produced.
Due to the vacuum, the power output and the thermal efficiency of the turbine
are considerably in creased.
In the condenser, cooling water is circulated by a pump through the water tubes
to condense the exhaust steam.
The cooling water at the outlet becomes hot and it is taken to a cooling pond or
a cooling tower to cool and to recalculate the same water if the power plant is
not located on the bank of a river or a lake.
The condensate from the condenser before entering the boiler is subjected to the
following treatments.
1. Removal of air and oxygen
2. Preheating the feed water in different stages using low pressure heater (LPH) deaerator
and high pressure heater (HPH).
Air and oxygen are removed at the air ejector and the deaerator. In case, air and oxygen
are not removed from the feed water, the vacuum cannot he main tained in the condenser,
resulting in loss of power and thermal efficiency.
Factors to be Considered in the Selection of a- Site for a Steam Power Plant
1. The location of the plant should be at a minimum distance from the load centre
(consumer) to avoid transmission losses.
2. Availability of water is a desirable factor.
3. The water should be preferably free from salt to reduce the cost for water treatment.
4. The soil should be satisfactory for a strong foundation.
5. The site should be away from the thickly populated area to reduce the effect of
pollution.
NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
A nuclear power plant is very similar to a conventional steam power plant
except for the furnace. The nuclear reactor becomes the furnace in this
case.
It has been estimated that complete fission of 1 kg of uranium produces
heat energy equivalent to 4500 tons of coal or 1700 tons of oil.
Some of the important commercial reactors commonly used for power generation
are given be low:
1. Boiling water reactor (BWR)
2. Pressurized water reactor (PWR)
3. Gas cooled reactor (GCR)
Boiling Water Reactor
A simple boiling water reactor is shown in Fig. 17.2.
Due to nuclear fission of the fuel uranium, large amount of heat is
produced.
The nuclear reaction and thereby the temperature is controlled by
moderators.
The coolant used here is water which absorbs the heat produced in the
reactor. Water evaporates and steam is generated in the reactor itself.
In this type of power plant. there is no need for a separate boiler.
The steam produced in the reactor is used to run the turbine coupled with a
generator from which we get the electrical power.
The steam after expansion i the turbine is condensed in the condenser. The
condensate after getting heated in several feed water heaters is pumped
again into the reactor by means of feed pump.
In the reactor, the thermal shielding reduces the heat loss and th thick
concrete shielding prevents external
radiation.
In the primary loop, the pressuriser maintains a high pressure in the water in the
range of 150 bar. Due to the high pressure of water in the reactor, the water does
not boil.
The coolant gets heated in the reactor and the hot water goes to the boiler and
transfers the heat to the feed water in the boiler in the secondary loop.
The feed water evaporates and becomes steam and runs a turbo generator from
which power is obtained. Functions of various parts of the reactor are the same as
those of a boiling water reactor.
Gas Cooled Reactor
The schematic diagram of a gas cooled reactor is shown in Fig. 17.2(b).
In this, gas CO is employed as coolant and the heat carried by the gas from the
reactor is either used for steam generation in the secondary circuit like pressurized
water reactor or is directly used as the working fluid in a gas turbine plant.
Usually the gas used is CO and graphite is the moderator.
C O gas gets heated in the reactor and loses its heat to the superheater, evaporator
and economiser tubes in the secondary loop.
The cooled gas is recirculated again in the primary loop by means of a gas blower.
The superheat ed steam is expanded in the turbine to run the generator to produce
electrical power.
Advantages of a Nuclear Power Plant
1. Very large amount of heat is liberated by a very small quantity of fuel
2. Suitable for large power generation
3. Cost of fuel transportation and storage is less.
Disadvantages
Installation cost is very high.
2. Availability of nuclear fuel is scarce and cost is high.
3. Large number of trained and qualified personnel are required to oper ate the plant.
4. Maintenance cost is higher.
5. We have the problems involved in waste disposal and also the risk of radiation
hazards.
GAS TURBINES
Gas turbines are used mainly for electric power generation and also in jet engines
of aircrafts and in turbochargers of internal combustion (IC) engines.
It has limited application in marine engines. Gas turbines have the unique
advantage of using any type of fuel, i.e. solid, liquid or gas.
Gas turbines operate either on an open cycle or in a closed cycle.
Working of an Open Cycle Single Stage Gas Turbine
A simple open cycle gas turbine is represented in Fig. 17.3(a).
It consists of a compressor, a combustion chamber and a turbine.
The compressor and turbine co by a common shaft with a suitable flange.
Air from the atmosphere is taken and compressed to a pressure ratio ranging from
2-8 before assing to the combustion chamber where the fuel is injected.
The fuel burns and the temperature is raised at constant pressure. Then, it passes
to the turbine where it expands to its original pressure before being exhausted to
atmosphere. Fig. 17.3 (b).
Advantages of Gas Turbines
1. Possibility to use any type of fuel.
2. Compact size, less weight and low space requirement.
3. Simple foundation and low installation cost.
4. Less requirement of lubrication oil, water, etc.
5. Vibration is less.
Disadvantages of Gas Turbines
1. High operating temperature in the combustion chamber and in the turbine. So we need
special high temperature alloys.
2. Thermal efficiency is very low in the case of simple gas turbine due to high
temperature of about 450C in the waste exhaust gases.
and also for cooling.
Methods to Improve the Thermal Efficiency of a Single Stage Gas Turbine
1.By using a regenerator to heat the compressed air before entering the
combustion chamber as in Fig. 17.4 thereby making use of the heat in the exhaust gases
before
leaving to the atmosphere.
2. By using a multistage compressor with intercooling to reduce the work of
compression.
3. By using a multistage turbine to reduce the temperature of exhaust gases before
leaving the turbine.
Closed Cycle Gas Turbine
The closed cycle plant can use some stable gas with a higher specific heat as the
working medium.
Instead of burning the fuel directly in the air steam, an externally fired
combustion chamber or furnace is used and heat is transferred to the working
medium through a heat exchanger.
Intercooler is also provided to improve the overall efficiency of compressions.
As a multistage turbine is used, the temperature of exhaust gases leaving the
turbine is considerably reduced resulting in a higher thermal efficiency.
The regenerator preheats the gas before entering the furnace. By these provisions,
the thermal efficiency is further increased to about 30 per cent.
The closed cycle has the following advantages:
1. Flexibility as to the type of fuel.
2. Uncontaminated working medium, and hence maintenance is easier.
3. Possibility of using a gas having better thermal properties as the working medium. By
using an inert gas with high specific heat, the unit will become compact.
DIESEL POWER PLANT
The layout of a diesel power plant is given in Fig. 17.6.
Multicylinder 2-stroke turbocharged Diesel engines are used in power plants. In
turbocharged engine,
The atmospheric air is compressed by a compressor run by an exhaust driven gas
turbine and the compressed air is taken inside the cylinder.Due to this, mass of air
intake and amount of fuel burnt will be considerably increased giving rise to
increased output power and higher thermal efficiency.
Due to turbo charging, the operating temperature of the engine is increased. So.
the lubricating oil coming out of the engine should be cooled in an oil cooler.
The cooling water from the engines is normally cooled in a spray tank and
recirculated. Due to high capacity, the engine is started by using com pressed air.
HYDRO POWER PLANT
In a hydro power plant, the potential energy of water stored in a dam is made use
of in running a water turbine coupled to an electrical generator.
It is esti mated that bout 23 per cent of the total electric power in the world comes
from hydro power.
In Tamil Nadu. the total generation of power from hydroelectric plants amounts to
1950 MW and in all India level, it amounts to about 18000 MW.
Layout of a Hydro Power Plant
The layout of a hydro power plant is given in Fig. 17.7.
The water from the dam is brought to the water turbine by a large diameter
penstock pipe. The penstock pipe is made of steel or reinforced concrete.
It is desirable to eliminate sharp bends in the penstock pipe to avoid the loss of
head and special anchoring.
Depending upon the load on the turbine, the amount of water needed is controlled
automatically by a valve operated by a centrifugal governor.
In case the amount of water is suddenly reduced or stopped by the governor
mechanism. water coming down with a high velocity will produce turbulence
resulting in a water hammer in the pipe.
The penstock pipe may be damaged due to the water hammer. To prevent this, a
surge tank is provided. From the turbine, water is allowed to pass through a draft
tube to the tail race.
The tail race is the water path leading the discharge water from the turbine to the
river or canal.
MHD (Magneto Hydro Dynamic) -STEAM POWER PLANT
The maximum steam temperature and pressure being fixed by metallurgical
considerations, the minimum temperature by the ambient conditions, and with the
optimum degree of regeneration and number of reheats, the ceiling for the
conversion efficiency of a conventional thermal power station is somewhere near
45%.
There is a great deal of world-wide interest to achieve a higher conversion
efficiency and hence, fuel economy, by converting heat directly to electricity
eliminating the link process of producing mechanical energy via steam.
The magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) power generation seems to be the most
promising for a utility system.
The maximum limiting temperature for turbine blades being 750 800 C, the
MHD generator is capable of tapping the vast potential offered by modern
furnaces, which can reach temperatures of more than 2500 K, and up to 3000 K
with preheating of air.
Principle of MHD Power Generation
Faraday s law of electromagnetic induction states that when a conductor and a
magnetic field move relative to each other, an electric voltage is induced in the
conductor.
The conductor may be a solid, liquid or gas. In an MHD generator, the hot ionized
gas replaces the copper windings of an alternator.
When a gas is heated to high temperatures, the valence electrons of the excited
atoms move on to higher quantized orbits and ultimately, at certain energy levels
they fly off and become free electrons.
For a gas to be conducting, a certain number of free electrons must be present
along with an equal number of ions and the main body of neutral atoms.
Since a very high temperature is required to ionize a gas (thermal ionization)
which cannot be endured by the materials available, the hot gas is seeded with an
alkali metal, such as cesium or potassium (K or KOH) having a low ionization
potential (energy needed to ionize one g mol of atoms) before the gas enters the
MHD duct.
An adequate electrical conductivity of the order of 10 mho/m can thus be realized
at somewhat lower temperatures in the range 22002700 C.
A simple view of the MHD generator is shown inFig The duct through
which the electrically conducting ionized gas flows has two sides
supporting a
strong transverse magnetic field of 4 5 tesla (1 tesla = i gauss) at right angles
to the flow and the other sides forming the faces of electrodes which are joined
through an electrical circuit.
As the hot ionized gas or plasma enters the MHD duct, due to the effect of the
strong magnetic field and the consequent Lorentz force, there is a decrease in the
kinetic energy of the plasma, and the electrons and ions get deposited on the
opposite electrodes.
The power generated per unit length is approximately proportional to cru B where
c-is the electrical conductivity, u is the velocity of the gas, B is the magnetic field
strength and p is the density.
The power produced being dc, the conversion to ac is done by an inverter. Figure
3.31 shows the principal components of a typical MHD plant and its cycle of
operations on T s diagram.
COMBINED CYCLE PLANTS
The maximum steam temperature in a power cycle does not exceed 600 C,
although the temperature in a dry bottom pulverized coal furnace is about 1300
C.
By superposing a high temperature power plant as a topping unit to the steam
plant, a higher energy conversion efficiency from fuel to electricity can be
achieved, since the combined plant operates through a higher temperature range.
Combined plants may be of the following types:
(i) Gas turbine steam turbine plant
(ii) MHD steam plant
(iii) Thermionic steam plant
(iv) Thermoelectric steam plar
GAS TURBINE-STEAM TURBINE POWER PLANT
The air standard cycle for a gas turbine power plant is the Brayton cycle which,
like Rankine cycle, also consists of two reversible adiabatics and two reversible
isobars, but unlike Rankine cycle the working fluid does not undergo phase
change.
A gas turbine plant can be either open or closed. Simple, open gas turbine plant is
shown in Fig. 3.6.
Since the product of combustion is the working fluid which produces power by
doing work on the blades of the gas turbine, it is an internal combustion plant.
However, unlike the reciprocating internal combustion engine, the gas turbine is a
steady flow device and the blades are always subjected to the highest gas
temperature.
To limit the maximum gas temperature to about 1200 K at inlet to the turbine
consistent with the materialused, a high air-fuel ratio is used.
The disadvantages of a gas turbine power plant in a utility system are the
following:
1. Large compressor work input, since the power required to drive the compressor is
considerably higher than that required by a pump for the same pressure rise. The
compressor thus consumes a large part of the work produced by the turbine.
2. Large exhaust loss, since the exhaust gas temperature is quite high and also the mass
flow rate of gas is large due to high air fuel ratio used.
3. Machine inefficiencies, since with the decrease in compressor efficiency (i the work
input to the compressor increases and with the decrease in turbine efficiency ( the work
output from the turbine decreases. At certain values of i and 17 a situation may arise
when the compressor consumes more power than what the turbine develops. So, the
machine efficiencies of the compressor and the turbine have to be high enough to yield
justifiable net work output.
4. Low cycle efficiency, due to the large exhaust loss, large compressor work and
machine inefficiencies.
5. Costly fuel, since the cost of kerosene and other fuels used is much higher than that of
coal. Its availability is also not always guaranteed.
Due to the above factors, the cost of power generated by a stationary gas turbine plant for
a utility system is high. However, a gas turbine plant offers certain advantages also, as
given below:
I. Less installation cost
2. Less installation time
3. Quick starting and stopping
4. Fast response to load changes
So, a gas turbine plant is often used as a peaking unit for certain hours of the day when
the energy demand is high. A large steam plant designed to meet peak loads would
operate at an uneconomical load factor during most of the year.
Thermodynamics of Brayton-Rankine Combined Cycle Plant
Let us consider two cyclic power plants coupled in series, the topping plant
operating on Brayton cycle and the bottoming one operating on Rankine cycle
(Fig. 3.7).
Helium gas may be the working fluid in the topping plant and water in the
bottoming plant. As shown in Section 3.4.1, the overall efficiency of the
combined plant is given by Eq. (3.6)

neglecting the pump work.

As inlet temperatures to gas turbine keep increasing (due to the use of better
material and blade cooling), the importance of supplementary firing diminishes
further. However, supplementary firing may provide increased operating and fuel
flexibilities in CC plants, which may fall into the following two categories.
1. Combined cycle plants with limited supplementary firing
Supplementary firing raises the temperature of the exhaust gas to 800 to 900 C.
Relatively high flue gas temperature raises the condition of steam (84 bar, 525 C),
thereby improving the efficiency of the steam cycle. Following is given an example
(Kehlhoffer 1991):
Combined MHD-Steam Power Plant
If the gas entering the MHD duct at about 3000 C could be expanded to the
ambient temperature of 30 C, the Carnot efficiency would have reached 90%.
Unfortunately, the MHD power output is restricted because by the time the gas
temperature falls to 2000 C the electrical conductivity becomes very low with the
electrons combining with ions to form neutral atoms, and the generator then ceases to
operate satisfactorily. Therefore, the MHD generator is used as a topping unit and the
MHD exhaust at about 2000 C is utilized in raising steam to drive turbine and generate
electricity in a conventional steam power
In the closed cycle scheme, helium (or argon) gas seeded with cesium is heated in
a nuclear reactor, passed into the MHD duct and then into the steam generating
system (Fig. 3.34). A gas turbine plant can also be used as a bottoming unit (Fig.
3.35).
The material has to stand up to temperatures above 2200 C and the corrosive
atmospheres of alkali-seeded gases.
The duct wall will also need to be an electrical insulator at these temperatures.
Materials used are magnesium oxide, strontium zirconate and hafnia. Electrodes
in the dc MHD generator perform the same function as brushes in a conventional
dc generator. Tungsten or carbon electrodes have been used.
Electrodes are often segmented to reduce energy losses due to Hall effect To
reduce the power consumption of these electromagnets, cryogenic or
superconducting coils at liquid helium temperatures have been suggested.
The only fuel which has better characteristics than coal is char, which contains
almost no hydrogen and, in general, results in a 25% increase in the performance
of the generator.
SELECTION OF POWER PLANT
The following factors are considered for the selection of power plant
1. Depending on the load requirement
2. Availability of fuel and water
3. Availability of fuel storage facility.
4. Transportation facility.
5. Availabilitv land
6. Environmental conditions
7. Efficiency of the plant
8. Capacity of the plant.
9. Distance from the load center.
10. Life of the plant.
11. Availability of time period for power production.
12. Cost of the fuel used.
13. Nature of losses.
14. Requirement of labours.
15. Depending on the noise of vibration.
UNIT-I
LAYOUT OF POWER PLANT
PART-A
1. Name the four major circuits in steam power plant.
2. What consists of air and flue gas circuit ?
3. What consists of feed water and steam flow circuit in steam power plant ?
4. What consists of cooling water circuit and coal and ash circuit in steam power
plant?
5. What is the main purpose of the reservoir?
6. What is the main purpose of the dam?
7. Why trash rack is used?
8. What is the use of surge tank?
9. What is the function of Fore bay?
10. Explain about penstock?
11. What is the use of spill ways?
12. Write about prime movers?
13. What are the uses of air filter and superchargers in diesel engine power plant?
14. What is the use of draft tube?
15. What is the function of cooling system in Diesel power plant?
16. What consists of lubrication system in diesel engine power plant?
17. Name different types of MILD generators?
18. What is the working principle of Magneto Hydro Dynamic power plant?
19. What is the purpose of intercooler in gas turbine power plant?
20. What is the use of Regenerator in gas turbine power plant?
21. What is the difference between open cycle and closed cycle gas turbine?
22 What is the use of moderator in Nuclear power plant?
23. What is the purpose of control rods?
24. What is the use of coolant and name some coolants used in Nuclear power plant?
25. Name some reflectors generally used and their uses in Nuclear power plant?
26. Name two combined power cycles?
27. Define turbo charging in combined gas turbine and diesel cycles?
PART-B
1. Explain the layout of steam power plant with neat sketch?
2. Explain the working of condenser used in steam power plant with a neat sketch?
3. What are the types of nuclear power plants? Also discuss advantages and
disadvantages of nuclear power plant?
4. Explain boiling water reactor briefly with a neat sketch?
5. Explain layout of pressurized water reactor with neat sketch?
6. Explain layout of gas cooled reactor with neat sketch?
7. Explain open cycle single stage gas turbine?
8. Explain the working of closed cycle gas turbine?
9. Explain the layout of diesel power plant with neat sketch?
10. Explain the layout of hydro power plant with neat sketch?
11. Explain types of water turbines?
12. Explain the principle and types of magneto hydro dynamic power plant?
13. Explain open cycle MHD?
14. Explain closed cycle MHD?
15. Explain closed cycle MHD with liquid metal?
16. Explain combined gas turbine and steam cycle?
17. Explain combined gas turbine and diesel cycle?