F.X. Arnold Giovanni H.

(13112029)

Assignment 3 - Energy Conversion System I

Raja Chapter 4: Steam Power Plant

Overview
Steam power plant is a power plant that uses steam as its work fluid. Usually the heat needed to
produce the steam comes from coal combustion.
Traits desired for a steam power plant:

High efficiency.
Low cost
Ability to burn lower grade coals
Low pollution
Low water requirement
High reliability and availability

Advantages of using steam as work fluid:

Produced from water which is abundant in nature

Does not react much with materials

Essential Steam Power Plant Equipment and Material Flow

The must have equipment are:

Furnace
To burn the fuel and produce heat
Steam generator/boiler
Use the heat from the furnace to generate steam
Main power unit (turbine and such)
The main power units function is to utilize the thermal energy generated in the steam and turn
it to other forms of energy such as by using turbine, engine, and such.
Piping system
To transport steam, water, etc.

Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Page 1

F.X. Arnold Giovanni H. (13112029)

Beside the main equipment, there are various auxiliaries to support the main equipment. Those are:

Fuel handling system

This is the system that handles the fuel. The fuel can be in various forms such as coal, wood,
garbage, plastic, gas, etc. The fuel handling system consists of subsystems to store, prepare, and
transport the fuel
Cooling water system
The cooling water is mainly used to condense the steam after it has been expanded in the
turbine. But it is also crucial in cooling various parts of the power plant. Usually a power plant is
built near the sea so it can utilize seawater as its cooling fluid.
Waste handling system
The combustion of the fuel generates ash, soot, and various gases such as CO, CO2, and NO.
These substances cannot be disposed directly to the environment. A waste management system
is needed to treat these substances so it can be used or disposed safely.

There are several flows of material in a steam power plant. These are:

Coal and Ash Flow

Coal

Coal
Storage

Coal
Handling

Furnace
(Burned)

Ash
Handling

Ash

Ash
Storage

Feed Water and Steam Flow

Condensed
Water
Condenser

L.P. Pump

Turbine

L.P. Heater

Superheater

Boiler Feed
Pump

Boiler

H.P. Heater
Economiser

Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Page 2

F.X. Arnold Giovanni H. (13112029)

Air and Gas Flow

Air

Air
Preheater

Boiler

Flue Gas

Superheater

Chimney

Air
Preheater

Economiser

Cooling Water Flow

Condenser

Circulating
Water
Pump

Cooling
tower

The schematic of a steam power plant:

Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Page 3

F.X. Arnold Giovanni H. (13112029)

Coal Handling
Coal is mainly used to fuel a steam power plant. Therefore it is important to know how to handle coals.
The main considerations in coal handling or fuel handling in general are:

Plant flue rate

Plant location in respect to fuel shipping
Storage area available

Steps in coal handling:

Coal Delivery

Unloading

Preparation

Transfer

Covered storage
(Live S.)

In Plant
Handling

Weighing and
Measuring

Furnace

Outdoor Storage
(Dead S.)

Coal transportation system:

Type
Belt Conveyors
Screw Conveyor
Bucket Elevator
Grab Bucket
Elevator
Skip Hoist

Flight Conveyor

Usage
Horizontal/Incline
Long distance
Medium/Large P.P.
Any
Short distance
Limited space
Vertical
Vertical
Vertical

Horizontal/Incline

Advantages
Smooth and clean
Less Power
Large qtt of coal
Low Initial cost
Small space
Less op. cost
Low maintenance
Simple and
compact
Low initial cost
For coal or ash
Speed can be
regulated easily
Rugged
construction
Little operational
care

Disadvantages
Need more space
Power consumption
is high
Screw wear

Comments
Incline about
20
200-300rpm
75-125rpm

High initial cost

Large energy
consumption
Considerable wear
High maintenance
cost
Speed is low

To store coal, care is needed because it is combustible. The coal will whether so this must also be
considered. Before using the coal, it is usually dewatered and cleaned to improve quality.
Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Page 4

F.X. Arnold Giovanni H. (13112029)

Furnace
Conditions for furnace to burns fuel completely:

Flame temperature should be suitable for the fuel. Continuous and reliable ignition of fuel is
desirable
Mixing of fuel and air should be thorough
The furnace should be able to regulate fuel feed rate
The fuel should stay in the furnace long enough
The fuel and air supply should be regulated
Coal firing equipment should have means to hold and discharge ash

Furnace type:
Furnace

Solid Fuel

Pulverized/
gaseous

Grate Fired
Furnace
Stationary
Grates
Hand Fired

The hand firing method is cheap but only

suitable for small power plants. The firing is a
discontinuous process because it uses manual
labor to supply the fuel. Some common types
of hand fired grates are:

Chamber
Fired Furnace

Travelling
Grates
Stoker

Semimechanized

The main characteristic of a grate fired furnace are the heat liberation per unit grate area and per unit of
furnace volume. The heat liberation per unit area and per unit volume is calculated as follows,
respectively.
=

/2 ; =
/3

Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Page 5

F.X. Arnold Giovanni H. (13112029)

The mechanical stokers are commonly used in medium and large size power plant. The advantages of
using stokers are:

Large quantities of fuel can be fed into the furnace. Thus greater combustion capacity is
achieved.
Poorer grades of fuel can be burnt easily.
Stoker save labor of handling ash and are self-cleaning.
By using stokers better furnace conditions can be maintained by feeding coal at a uniform rate.
Stokers save coal and increase the efficiency of coal firing.

The main disadvantages of stokers are their more costs of operation and repairing resulting from high
furnace temperatures.
The various types of stokers are:

Stokers

The principles of stokers: *look @coal and air pos.

1. Overfeed Principle

Overfeed
Conveyor
Stoker
Chain Grate
Stoker

Underfeed
Single-retort
Stoker
Multi-retort
Stoker

2. Underfeed Principle

Travelling
Grate Stoker

Pulverized Coal
There are two systems to pulverize coal: unit/direct system and bin/central system.
Type
Unit/Direct System:
1 Pulverizer 1 Burner

Bin/Central System:
1 Pulverizer distributed
to many burners

Advantage
The system is simple and cheaper than the central system.
There is direct control of combustion from the pulverizing mill.
Coal transportation system is simple
The pulverizing mill grinds the coal at a steady rate irrespective of
boiler feed.
There is always some coal in reserve. Thus any occasional
breakdown in the coal supply will not affect the coal feed to the
burner.
For a given boiler capacity pulverizing mill of small capacity will be
required as compared to unit system.

Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Disadvantage
No reserve coal
Grinding rate depends on boiler feed
The initial cost of the system is high.
Coal transportation system is quite
complicated.
The system requires more space.

Page 6

F.X. Arnold Giovanni H. (13112029)

Factors for coal selection:

Sizing
Caking
Swelling properties
Ash fusion temperature

To pulverize coal a mill is utilized. Usually, three actions are needed:

Impact
Attrition (Abrasion)
Crushing

Several type of coal pulverizing mills:

Ball mill
Hammer mill
Ball and race mill
Bowl Mill

Several types of burner to burn pulverized coal:

Type

Comment

Long Flame Burner (U-Flame

Burner)

Air and coal mixture travel a

considerable distance; sufficient
time for complete combustion

Shor Flame Burner (Turbulent

Burner)

The burner is fitted in furnace

wall and enters horizontally

Tangential Burner

Cyclone Burner

Image

One burner on each corner,

tangential to an imaginary circle
at the center

Use crushed coal instead of

pulverized

Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Page 7

F.X. Arnold Giovanni H. (13112029)

Ash, Smoke, and Dust Handling

The usually used ash handling systems are hydraulic, pneumatic, and mechanical

General

Dust collector can be mechanical or electrical. Mechanical can be wet/dry. Electrical has high
performance but costly, using electric field to ionize the dust particle.
The principle characteristic of an ash collector:
= . =

1 2 1 2
=
1
1

G = quantity of ash; C = concentration of ash. 1 =

inlet; 2=outlet

Fluidised Bed Combustion system improves the emission of power plant by using dolomite to absorb
Sulphur and use air to make the fuel stay afloat.
FBC

Atmospheric

Overfeed

Underfeed

Pressurized
Types of FBC

Commercial Circulation FBC

FBC System

Assignment 3 Energy Conversion System I

Page 8