POWER PLANT

A power plant is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Most power
stations contain one or more generators, a rotating machine that converts mechanical power
into electrical power. The relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor creates
an electrical current. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. Most
power stations in the world burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate
electricity. Others use nuclear power, but there is an increasing use of cleaner renewable
sources such as solar, wind, wave and hydroelectric.

THERMAL POWER PLANT:

In thermal power stations, mechanical power is produced by a heat engine that
transforms thermal energy, often from combustion of a fuel, into rotational energy. Most
thermal power stations produce steam, so they are sometimes called steam power stations
CLASSIFICATION
I.

By heat source

Fossil-fuel power stations may also use a steam turbine generator or in the case
of natural gas-fired plants may use a combustion turbine. A coal-fired power
station produces heat by burning coal in a steam boiler. The steam drives a steam
turbine and generator that then produces electricity The waste products of combustion
include ash, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides andcarbon dioxide. Some of the gases can
be removed from the waste stream to reduce pollution.

Nuclear power plants use a nuclear reactor's heat that is transferred to steam which
then operates a steam turbine and generator.

Geothermal power plants use steam extracted from hot underground rocks.

Biomass-fuelled power plants may be fuelled by waste from sugar cane, municipal solid
waste, landfill methane, or other forms of biomass.

In integrated steel mills, blast furnace exhaust gas is a low-cost, although low-energydensity, fuel.

Waste heat from industrial processes is occasionally concentrated enough to use for
power generation, usually in a steam boiler and turbine.

Solar thermal electric plants use sunlight to boil water and produce steam which turns
the generator.
II.

By prime mover

Steam turbine plants use the dynamic pressure generated by expanding steam to turn
the blades of a turbine. Almost all large non-hydro plants use this system. About 90% of
all electric power produced in the world is through use of steam turbines.

Gas turbine plants use the dynamic pressure from flowing gases (air and combustion
products) to directly operate the turbine. Natural-gas fuelled (and oil fueled) combustion
turbine plants can start rapidly and so are used to supply "peak" energy during periods
of high demand, though at higher cost than base-loaded plants. These may be
comparatively small units, and sometimes completely unmanned, being remotely
operated.

Combined cycle plants have both a gas turbine fired by natural gas, and a steam boiler
and steam turbine which use the hot exhaust gas from the gas turbine to produce
electricity. This greatly increases the overall efficiency of the plant, and many new base
load power plants are combined cycle plants fired by natural gas.

Internal combustion reciprocating engines are used to provide power for isolated
communities and are frequently used for small cogeneration plants. Hospitals, office
buildings, industrial plants, and other critical facilities also use them to provide backup
power in case of a power outage. These are usually fuelled by diesel oil, heavy
oil, natural gas, and landfill gas.

Microturbines, Stirling engine and internal combustion reciprocating engines are low-cost
solutions for using opportunity fuels, such as landfill gas, digester gas from water
treatment plants and waste gas from oil production.
III.

By duty
Power plants that can be dispatched (scheduled) to provide energy to a system include:

Base load power plants run nearly continually to provide that component of system load

that doesn't vary during a day or week. Baseload plants can be highly optimized for low
fuel cost, but may not start or stop quickly during changes in system load. Examples of
base-load plants would include large modern coal-fired and nuclear generating stations,
or hydro plants with a predictable supply of water.
Peaking power plants meet the daily peak load, which may only be for one or two hours

each day. While their incremental operating cost is always higher than base load plants,
they are required to ensure security of the system during load peaks. Peaking plants
include simple cycle gas turbines and sometimes reciprocating internal combustion
engines, which can be started up rapidly when system peaks are predicted.
Hydroelectric plants may also be designed for peaking use.
Load following power plants can economically follow the variations in the daily and

weekly load, at lower cost than peaking plants and with more flexibility than baseload
plants.

Functioning:
A thermal power works on RANKINE CYCLE.

An ideal Rankine cycle involves four processes:

(1-2): Isentropic Compression in pump; (2-3): Constant pressure heat addition in Boiler;
(3-4): Isentropic expansion in Turbine; (4-1): Constant pressure heat rejection in Condenser
A thermal power plant contains Boiler and Turbine. Steam is generated in the Boiler using the
heat of the fuel burned in the combustion chamber. The steam generated is passed through
steam turbine where part of the thermal energy is converted into mechanical energy which is
further used for generation of electric power. The steam coming out of turbine is condensed in
the condenser and condensate is supplied back to the boiler with the help of feed pump.

The total scheme of a typical thermal power station

The thermal power plant consists of mainly 4 circuits:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Coal and Ash circuit

Air and gas circuit
Water and Steam circuit
Cooling water circuit.

Coal and Ash circuit:

In this circuit, the coal from the storage is fed to the boiler through coal handling
equipment for the generation of steam. Ash produced due to the combustion to coal is removed
to ash storage through ash handling system.
Air and Gas circuit:
Air is supplied to the combustion chamber of thee boiler either through Forced
Draught or Induced draft fan or by using both. The dust from the air is removed before supplying
to the combustion chamber. The exhaust gases carrying sufficient quantity of heat and ash are
passed through the air-heater where the exhaust heat of the gases is given to the air and then it
is passed through the dust collectors where most of the dust is removed before exhausting the
gases to the atmosphere through chimney.
Feed Water and Steam Circuit:
The steam generated in the boiler is fed to the steam prime mover to develop the
power. The steam coming out of the prime mover is condensed in the condenser and then fed to
the boiler with the help of pump. The condensate is heated in the feed-water heaters using the
steam tapped from the different points of the turbine. The feed heaters may be of mixed type or
indirect heating type.
Cooling Water Circuit;

The quantity of cooling water to condensate the steam is considerably large and
it is taken from lake, river or sea. The cooling water is taken from the upper side of the river, it is
passed through the condenser and heated water is discharged to the lower side of the river.
Such system of the cooling water supply is possible if adequate cooling water is available
throughout the year. This system is known as open system. When the adequate water is not
available, then the cooling water coming out of the condenser is cooled either in the cooling
pond or cooling towers. This system is known as closed system.