Nuclear Power Station or Nuclear

Power Plant
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Electrical power can be generated by means of nuclear power. In nuclear
power station, electrical power is generated by nuclear reaction.Here,
heavy radioactive elements such as Uranium (U235) or Thorium (Th232) are
subjected to nuclear fission. This fission is done in a special apparatus called
as reactor. Before going to details of nuclear power station, lets try to
understand what is fission? In fission process, the nuclei of heavy radioactive
atoms are broken into two nearly equal parts. During this breaking of nuclei,
huge quantity of energy is released. This release of energy is due to mass
defect. That means, the total mass of initial product would be reduced
during fission. This loss of mass during fission is converted into heat energy
as per famous equation E = mc2, established by Albert Einstein.
The basic principle of nuclear power station is same as steam power
station. Only difference is that, instead of using heat generated due to coal
combustion, here in nuclear power plant, heat generated due to nuclear
fission is used to produce steam from water in the boiler. This steam is used
to drive a steam turbine. This turbine is the prime mover of the alternator.
This alternator generates electrical energy. Although, the availability of
nuclear fuel is not much but very less amount of nuclear fuel can generate
huge amount of electrical energy. This is the unique feature of a nuclear
power plant. One kg of uranium is equivalent to 4500 metric tons of high
grade coal. That means complete fission of 1 kg uranium can produce as
much heat as can be produced by complete combustion of 4500 metric tons
high grade coal. This is why, although nuclear fuel is much costlier, but
nuclear fuel cost per unit electrical energy is still lower than that cost of
energy generated by means of other fuel like coal and diesel. To meet up
conventional fuel crisis in present era, nuclear power station can be the most
suitable alternatives.

Advantages of Nuclear Power Station

1.

As we said, the fuel consumption in this power station is quite low and
hence, cost for generating single unit of energy is quite less than other
conventional power generation method. Amount of nuclear fuel required
is also less.
2.
A nuclear power station occupies much smaller space compared to
other conventional power station of same capacity.
3.
This station does not require plenty of water, hence it is not essential
to construct plant near natural source of water. This also does not
required huge quantity of fuel; hence it is also not essential to construct
the plant near coal mine, or the place where good transport facilities are

available. Because of this, the nuclear power station can be established

very near to the load centre.
4.
There are large deposits of nuclear fuel globally therefore such plants
can ensure continued supply of electrical energy for coming thousands
years.

Disadvantages of Nuclear Power Plant

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The fuel is not easily available and it is very costly.

Initial cost for constructing nuclear power station is quite high.
Erection and commissioning of this plant is much complicated and
sophisticated than other conventional power station.
The fission by products is radioactive in nature, and it may cause high
radioactive pollution.
The maintenance cost is higher and the man power required to run a
nuclear power plant is quite higher since specialist trained people are
required.
Sudden fluctuation of load cannot be met up efficiently by nuclear
plant.
As the by products of nuclear reaction is high radioactive, it is very big
problem for disposal of this by products. It can only be disposed deep
inside ground or in a sea away from sea share.

Different
Station

Components

of

Nuclear

Power

A nuclear power station has mainly four components.

1.
Nuclear reactor,
2.
Heat exchanger,
3.
Steam turbine,
4.
Alternator.
Lets discuss these components one by one:

Nuclear Reactor
In nuclear reactor, Uranium 235 is subjected to nuclear fission. It controls
the chain reaction that starts when the fission is done. The chain reaction
must be controlled otherwise rate of energy release will be fast, there may
be a high chance of explosion. In nuclear fission, the nuclei of nuclear fuel,
such as U235 are bombarded by slow flow of neutrons. Due to this
bombarding, the nuclei of Uranium is broken, which causes release of huge
heat energy and during breaking of nuclei, number of neutrons are also
emitted.
These emitted neutrons are called fission neutrons. These fission neutrons
cause further fission. Further fission creates more fission neutrons which
again accelerate the speed of fission. This is cumulative process. If the
process is not controlled, in very short time the rate of fission becomes so

high, it will release so huge amount of energy, there may be dangerous

explosion. This cumulative reaction is called chain reaction. This chain
reaction can only be controlled by removing fission neutrons from nuclear
reactor. The speed of the fission can be controlled by changing the rate of
removing fission neutrons from reactors.
A nuclear reactor is a cylindrical shaped stunt pressure vessel. The fuel rods
are made of nuclear fuel i.e. Uranium moderates, which is generally made of
graphite cover the fuel rods. The moderates slow down the neutrons before
collision with uranium nuclei. The controls rods are made of cadmium
because cadmium is a strong absorber of neutrons.
The control rods are inserted in the fission chamber. These cadmium controls
rods can be pushed down and pull up as per requirement. When these rods
are pushed down enough, most of the fission neutrons are absorbed by
these rods, hence the chain reaction stops. Again, while the controls rods
are pulled up, the availability of fission neutrons becomes more which
increases the rates of chain reaction. Hence, it is clear that by adjusting the
position of the control rods, the rate of nuclear reaction can be controlled
and consequently the generation of electrical power can be controlled as per
load demand. In actual practice, the pushing and pulling of control rods are
controlled by automatic feedback system as per requirement of the load. It
is not controlled manually. The heat released during nuclear reaction, are
carried to the heat exchanger by means of coolant consist of sodium metal.

Heat Exchanger
In heat exchanger, the heat carried by sodium metal, is dissipated in water
and water is converted to high pressure steam here. After releasing heat in
water the sodium metal coolant comes back to the reactor by means of
coolant circulating pump.

Steam Turbine
In nuclear power plant, the steam turbine plays the same role as coal power
plant. The steam drives the turbine in same way. After doing its job, the
exhaust steam comes into steam condenser where it is condensed to provide
space to the steam behind it.

Alternator
An alternator, coupled with turbine, rotates and generates electrical power,
for utilization. The output from alternator is delivered to the bus-bars
through transformer, circuit breakers and isolators.

Site Selection of Nuclear Power Station

1.
Availability of Water : Although very large quantity of water is
not regulated as hydro-electric power plant, but still sufficient supply of
neutral water is obvious for cooling purposes in nuclear power station.
That is why it is always preferable to locate this plant near a river or sea
side.

2.

Disposal of Water : The by products or wastes of nuclear power

station are radioactive and may cause severe health hazards. Because of
this, special care to be taken during disposal of wastes of nuclear power
plant. The wastes must be buried in sufficient deep from earth level or
these must be disposed off in sea quite away from the sea share. Hence,
during selecting the location of nuclear plant, these factors must be
taken into consideration.
3.
Distance from Populated Area : As there is always a probability
of radioactivity, it is always preferable to locate a nuclear station
sufficiently away from populated area.
4.
Transportation Facilities : During commissioning period, heavy
equipments to be erected, which to be transported from manufacturer
site. So good railways and road ways availabilities are required. For
availability of skilled manpower good public transport should also be
present at the site.

Diesel Power Station

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For generating electrical power, it is essential to rotate the rotor of an
alternator by means of a prime mover. The prime mover can be driven by
different methods. Using diesel engine as prime mover is one of the popular
methods of generating power. When prime mover of the alternators is diesel
engine, the power station is called diesel power station.The mechanical
power required for driving alternator comes from combustion of diesel. As
the diesel costs high, this type of power station is not suitable for producing
power in large scale in our country. But for small scale production of electric
power, and where, there is no other easily available alternatives of producing
electric power, diesel power station are used. Steam power stations and
hydro power plants are mainly used to produce maximum portion of the
electrical load demands. But for steam power station, sufficient supply of
coal and water are required.
For hydro power station, plenty source of water and big dams are required.
But where all these facilities are not available, such as no easy way of coal
transportation and no scope of constructing dam, there diesel plant is
established. Diesel power plants are also popularly used as standby supply
of different industries, commercial complexes, hospitals, etc. During power
cut, these diesel power generators are run to fulfill required demand.
Advantages of Diesel Power Station
1.
This is simple in design point of view.
2.
Required very small space.
3.
It can also be designed for portable use.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

It has quick starting facility, the small diesel generator set can be
started within few seconds.
It can also be stopped as when required stopping small size diesel
power station, even easier than its starting
As these machines can easily be started and stopped as when
required, there may not be any standby loss in the system.
Cooling is easy and required smaller quantity of water in this type
power station.
Initial cost is less than other types of power station.
Thermal efficiency of diesel is quite higher than of coal.

9.
Disadvantages of Diesel Power Station
1. As we have already mentioned, the cost of diesel is very high
compared to coal. This is the main reason for which a diesel
power plant is not getting popularity over other means of
generating power. In other words the running cost of this plant is
higher compared to steam and hydro power plants.
2. The plant generally used to produce small power requirement.
3. Cost of lubricants is high.
4. Maintenance is quite complex and costs high.
5. Plant does not work satisfactorily under overload conditions for
a longer period.

Different Components of Diesel Power Station

In addition to diesel generator set or DG set there are many other

auxiliaries attached to at diesel power station. Lets discuss one by
one.
Fuel Supply System
In fuel supply system there are one storage tank strainers, fuel
transfer pump & all day fuel tank. Storage tank where oil in stored.
Strainer : This oil then pump to dry tank, by means of transfer
pump. During transferring from main tank to smaller dry tank, the
oil passes through strainer to remove solid impurities. From dry
tank to main tank, there is another pipe connection. This is over
flow pipe. This pipe connection is used to return the oil from dry
tank to main tank in the event of over flowing. From dry tank the oil
is injected in the diesel engine by means of fuel injection pump.
Air Intake System
This system supplies necessary air to the engine for fuel
combustion. It consists of a pipe for supplying of fresh air to the
engine. Filters are provided to remove dust particles from air

because these particles can act as an abrasive in the engine

cylinder.
Exhaust System
The exhaust gas is removed from engine, to the atmosphere by
means of an exhaust system. A silencer is normally used in this
system to reduce noise level of the engine.
Cooling System
The heat produced due to internal combustion, drives the engine.
But some parts of this heat raise the temperature of different parts
of the engine. High temperature may cause permanent damage to
the machine. Hence, it is essential to maintain the overall
temperature of the engine to a tolerable level. Cooling system of
diesel power station does exactly so. The cooling system requires a
water source, water source, water pump and cooling towers. The
pump circulates water through cylinder and head jacket. The water
takes away heat from the engine and it becomes hot. The hot water
is cooled by cooling towers and is re-circulated for cooling.
Lubricating System
This system minimises the wear of rubbing surface of the engine.
Here lubricating oil is stored in main lubricating oil tank. This
lubricating oil is drawn from the tank by means of oil pump. Then
the oil is passed through the oil filter for removing impurities. From
the filtering point, this clean lubricating oil is delivered to the
different points of the machine where lubrication is required the oil
cooler is provided in the system to keep the temperature of the
lubricating oil as low as possible.
Engine Starting System
For starting a diesel engine, initial rotation of the engine shaft is
required. Until the firing start and the unit runs with its own power.
For small DG set, the initial rotation of the shaft is provided by
handles but for large diesel power station. Compressed air is
used for starting.

Why Supply Frequency is 50 Hz or

60 Hz?
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In olden days people do not have integrated power system as we

have now. They had their own standard and load items which are
suitable for their power system. That time they had operating
frequency range between 16.75 Hz to 133.33 Hz.

When people think about large power generation system, they

puzzled with the standard that to be adopted by them. Finally it
reveals about single standard for all. They came to conclusion
regarding to their issue, from the analysis and performance
evaluation conducted on different standards of power system by
them.

Then they felt single standard is essential! because production

of electric devices were limited by realm of power system
boundary i.e., suppose a country consist of 10 different
standards then 10 different manufacturing measures and
processes are required for same device. This factor puts hurdles
in batch production of device. It leads electric devices much
more costly.
There is no strong technical reason behind 50 Hz or 60 Hz. This is
not like that these values give best performance among all other
available standard values of supply frequencies. But these two
frequencies give good optimized performance among others. Since
superior performance has been found finally these values 50 Hz and
60 Hz were picked by most of the electrical power systems.
Technical Reasons for not using Higher Frequencies
1. It increases series impedance in electrical transmission
system. This reduces power transfer capability so we cannot
access full fruit of transmission system.
2. Constant losses are directly proportional to frequency and its
square, so they may increase system losses.
3. Harmonics with higher frequency can carry more power and it
introduces excess heat losses.
4. As the frequency directly proportional to the rotating speed of
alternator and it is not practical to construct very high speed
gigantic alternators. Hence it is practically difficult to achieve
high frequency electrical power during generation.
Problems with Lower Frequencies
Olden days they observed some issues with frequencies which are
less than 40 Hz.

1.

Perceptible flickering in filament lamp, starting problem in arc

lamp and arcing devices so they need additional devices for
starting purpose and for maintaining better operation.
2. Frequency is directly proportional to power hence size of lower
frequency devices are quite larger than higher frequency so
material involved, cost involved in manufacturing and
transporting are also quite larger than that of higher frequency
devices.
These are the reasons for using higher frequencies in aircraft, in
ships
and
in
similar
type
isolated
load.

From
these relations we can conclude without confusion, larger frequency
reduces area of core in transformer and magnetic circuits. Devices
which have bigger magnetic circuit weight more. It is needless to
say weight of net system is in great concern in ship and aircraft. So
there we have higher frequency devices.
Economiser in Thermal Power Plant | Economiser
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The considerable increase of the demand of electricity throughout

the world has resulted in increased size of power plant. The process of
electrical power generation, in a coal fired thermal power plant is one
of the most widespread and conventional methods, of bulk power
generation all over, as it vastly feeds the power requirement of a 7
billon plus population all across the globe. The increased size needs
increase in fuel requirement. But as we all must be knowing, the
availability of coal beneath the earths crust is not going to last for
ever. So, the process of power generation is becoming more and
more expensive with each passing day.Secondly, all major thermal
power plants have hundreds of intricately sophisticated instruments,
and each of them has a certain amount of power loss associated

with them. Thus the end result being the efficiency of the plant is
restricted to only 20 % to 26 % depending upon the plant capacity.
The above two mentioned constraints lay emphasis on the fact, that
there is a dire need, to economize the process of power generation,
and an economizer is a device that aids in doing exactly the same.
So, I guess it will be worthwhile for all of us to look into the process
of economization in greater details.

What is an Economizer?

An economiser is a mechanical device which is used as a heat

exchanger by preheating a fluid to reduce energy consumption. In a
steam boiler, it is a heat ex-changer device that heats up fluids or
recovers residual heat from the combustion product i.e. flue gases
in thermal power plant before being released through the chimney.
Flue gases are the combustion exhaust gases produced at power
plants consist of mostly nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, soot
carbon monoxide etc. Hence, the economiser in thermal power
plants, is used to economise the process of electrical power
generation, as the name of the device is suggestive of. The
recovered heat is in turn used to preheat the boiler feed water, that
will eventually be converted to super-heated steam. Thus, saving on
fuel consumption and economising the process to a large extent, as
we are essentially gathering the waste heat and applying it to,
where it is required. Nowadays however, in addition to that, the
heat available in the exhaust flue gases can be economically
recovered using air pre-heater which are essential in all pulverized
coal fired boiler.
Working Principle of Economizer

As
shown in the figure above, the flue gases coming out of the steam
boiler furnace carry a lot of heat. Function of economiser in thermal
power plant is to recover some of the heat from the heat carried
away in the flue gases up the chimney and utilize for heating the
feed water to the boiler. It is simply a heat ex-changer with hot flue
gas on shell side and water on tube side with extended heating
surface like Fins or Gills. Economisers in thermal power plant
must be sized for the volume and temperature of flue gas, the
maximum pressure drop passed the stack, what kind of fuel is used
in the boiler and how much energy needs to be recovered. When
the water is boiled in steam boiler, the steam is produced which is
then super-heated after which it is passed to the turbines. Then the
exhausted steam from turbine blades, is passed through steam
condenser of turbine in which the steam is condensed and this
condensed water then is pre warmed first in feed water heater then
in it before re-feeding in boiler. It is placed in the passage of flue
gases in between the exit from the boiler and the entry to the
chimney. In this a large number of small diameter thin walled tubes
are placed between two headers. The flue gases flow outside the
tubes usually in counter flow.

Process of Heat Transfer in Economizer, Evaporator and Superheater

Heat transfer to water in steam generator takes place in 3 different

regimes, as shown in the figure below. Water is at first pre-heated
sensibly in the economizer in liquid phase at a certain pressure
from state 4 to state 5 (refer to the diagram below) till it becomes a
saturated liquid. It is then send to the evaporator, where this
saturated liquid is boiled associating a change of phase from 5 to 6
by absorbing the latent heat of vaporization, at that particular
pressure. Now this saturated vapor in state 6 is further heated in
the super-heater, to bring it to state 1, i.e. in gaseous or vapor
form. For unit mass of fluid, the heat transfer equation in the 3
types of heat ex-changers are given by, QEconomizer = h5 - h4 QEvaporator =
h6 - h5 QSuperheater = h1 - h6 Out, of these 3 major heat ex-changer
components, only the economizer operates with, zero fuel
consumption, and thus it is one of the most vital and economical
equipment
in
a
thermal
power
plant

Types of Economizer

CI Gilled Tube Economizer

The gilled tube economizers are made up of cast iron which are
fabricated using graded cast iron fins, have following features,
1.

High optimum efficiency due to proper contact of gills with

tubes.
2. Commonly used in plants where intoxicated flue gas is
generated due to the quality of fuel burnt.

Round Gilled Tube Economizer

This is made by mild steel fabricated with square and round fins,
welded on carbon steel seamless tubes, have the feature,
1.

Proper contact between the tubes and fins are ensured for
optimum efficiency.

Coiled Tube Type Economizer

These are used mostly in thermal power plants and large processing
units. These coiled tube type Economizers are fabricated out of
carbon steel seamless, have following features,
1.
2.

These are very efficient in recovering the heat from gases.

Occupy very little space.

Horizontal Finned Tube Economizer

In this is carbon steel seamless tube sealed welded with horizontal

fins to make a complete assembly of economizer for heat transfer,
have following features,
1.

Proper care is taken for making the contact of fins with tubes
for perfect heat transfer.
2. These are used mainly used by Thermal Power Plants.
Types of Economizers Based on Boiler Efficiency

Throughout this article, we have been having a qualitative

discussion on the economical aspect of the economizer, let us now
see how the different types of economizers can be judicially
assembled along with the boiler, in order to perceive maximum
boiler efficiency. They are broadly classified into two types, as has
been described below.
Non - condensing Economizer

The most widely used one, in a thermal power plant is the noncondensing economizer. These are basically heat ex-changer
coils that are finned around in the form of a spiral and are located
inside the flue gas duct near the exit region of the boiler. They have
the ability to reduces the fuel requirements of a boiler by
transferring heat from the exit flue gas to the steam boiler feed
water. It is used in the case of coal-fired boilers, where the lowest
temperature to which flue gas can be cooled is about 250 o F
(120oC).
You can well understand form the discussion above that, cooling the
flue gas below 250o F and transferring that additional heat to the
boiler feed water would have resulted in greater efficiency, but in a
coal fired power plant, this should not be done, since coal as a fuel
contains sulphur in a very large extent as impurity. And the flue gas
thus formed by burning this coal, results in the formation of
sulphurous compounds as by product. Now if this flue gas is allowed
to cool below 250o F, condensation of the gaseous compounds result
in the formation of sulphuric acid, which is considered extremely
corrosive against the metal surface. Since the installation and
maintenance cost of a power plant is huge, it is note-worthy that a
non-condensing economizer be installed to limit the cooling
capacity of the flue gas to about 250 o F, i.e above the condensation
temperature and increase the overall boiler efficiency by about 3 to
6 %.
Condensing Economizer

The condensing economizers are mainly used in natural gas fired

thermal power plants, as they have the ability to improve the waste
heat recovery by cooling the flue gas below its condensation
temperature, which is about 80o F (25oC). This particular variant of
economizers result in greater efficiency of around 10 to 15% and
more economical operation as it reclaims both sensible heat from
the flue gas and latent heat by condensing water vapor present in
the flue gas. This is contradictory to the conventional noncondensing economizers as they increase the efficiency to only

about 5 %. But the condensing variant with greater value of

efficiency can only be used, when the flue gas does not contain any
sulphurous, nitrate or other corrosive compounds.
Applications of Economizer

It is used in all modern plants. The use of economizer results in

saving fuel consumption, increases steaming rate and boiler
efficiency.
Some of the common applications of economizer are given
below, In steam power plants it captures the waste heat from boiler
stack gases (flue gases) and transfers it to the boiler feed water.
Air-side economizers HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Condition)
can save energy in buildings by using cool outside air as a means of
cooling the indoor space. Refrigeration : This is commonly used in
industrial refrigeration where vapor compression refrigeration is
essential. Systems with economizers aim to produce part of the
refrigeration work on high pressures, condition in which gas
compressors are normally more efficient.
Advantages and Benefits of Economizer

1.

It recovers more heat of flue gases which normal air preheater can not do.
2. Due increase in fuel prices, all power plants are facing
pressure for increasing boiler efficiency. So by using economizer,
this pressure can be minimized.
3. Power plants where it is not used, large quantity of water is
required to cool the flue gas before desulphurization which is
minimized by using economizers.
4. The efficiency of power plant reduced when steam air preheater required steam.
MHD Generation or Magneto Hydro Dynamic Power Generation
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The MHD generation or, also known as magneto hydrodynamic

power generation is a direct energy conversion system which
converts the heat energy directly into electrical energy, without any
intermediate mechanical energy conversion, as opposed to the case
in all other power generating plants. Therefore, in this process,
substantial fuel economy can be achieved due to the elimination of
the link process of producing mechanical energy and then again
converting it to electrical energy .
History of MHD Generation

The concept of MHD power generation was introduced for the very
first time by Michael Faraday in the year 1832 in his Bakerian
lecture to the Royal Society. He in fact carried out an experiment at
the Waterloo Bridge in Great Britain for measuring the current, from
the flow of the river Thames in earth's magnetic field.
This experiment in a way outlined the basic concept behind MHD
generation over the years then, several research work had been
conducted on this topic, and later in August 13, 1940 this concept of
magneto hydro dynamic power generation, was imbibed as the
most widely accepted process for the conversion of heat energy
directly into electrical energy without a mechanical sub-link.
Principle of MHD Generation

The principal of MHD power generation is very simple and is

based on Faradays law of electromagnetic induction, which states that
when a conductor and a magnetic field moves relative to each other,
then voltage is induced in the conductor, which results in flow of
current across the terminals. As the name implies,the magneto hydro
dynamics generator shown in the figure below, is concerned with
the flow of a conducting fluid in the presence of magnetic and
electric fields. In conventional generator or alternator, the conductor
consists of copper windings or stripswhile in an MHD generator the
hot ionized gas or conducting fluid replaces the solid conductor. A
pressurized, electrically conducting fluid flows through a transverse
magnetic field in a channel or duct. Pair of electrodes are located on

the channel walls at right angle to the magnetic field and connected
through an external circuit to deliver power to a load connected to
it. Electrodes in the MHD generator perform the same function as
brushes in a conventional DC generator. The MHD generator develops
DC power and the conversion to AC is done using an inverter.
<<<>>>>>
The power generated
approximately given by,

per

unit

length

by

MHDgenerator

is

Where, u is the fluid velocity, B is the magnetic flux density, is the

electrical conductivity of conducting fluid and P is the density of fluid.
It is evident from the equation above, that for the higher power
density of an MHD generator there must be a strong magnetic field
of 4-5 tesla and high flow velocity of conducting fluid besides
adequate conductivity.
MHD Cycles and Working Fluids

The MHD cycles can be of two types, namely

1. Open Cycle MHD.
2. Closed Cycle MHD.
The detailed account of the types of MHD cycles and the working
fluids used, is given below.
Open Cycle MHD System

In open cycle MHD system, atmospheric air at very high

temperature and pressure is passed through the strong magnetic
field. Coal is first processed and burnet in the combustor at a high
temperature of about 2700C and pressure about 12 atp with preheated air from the plasma. Then a seeding material such as
potassium carbonate is injected to the plasma to increase the

The resulting mixture having an electrical

conductivity of about 10 siemens/m is expanded through a nozzle,
so as to have a high velocity and then passed through the magnetic
field of MHD generator. During the expansion of the gas at high
temperature, the positive and negative ions move to the electrodes
and thus constitute an electric current. The gas is then made to
exhaust through the generator. Since the same air cannot be reused
again hence it forms an open cycle and thus is named as open cycle
MHD.
electrical

conductivity.

Closed Cycle MHD System

As the name suggests the working fluid in a closed cycle MHD is

circulated in a closed loop. Hence, in this case inert gas or liquid
metal is used as the working fluid to transfer the heat. The liquid
metal has typically the advantage of high electrical conductivity,
hence the heat provided by the combustion material need not be
too high. Contrary to the open loop system there is no inlet and
outlet for the atmospheric air. Hence, the process is simplified to a
great extent, as the same fluid is circulated time and again for
effective heat transfer.
Advantages of MHD Generation

The advantages of MHD generation over the other conventional

methods of generation is given below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Here only working fluid is circulated, and there are no moving

mechanical parts. This reduces the mechanical losses to nil and
makes the operation more dependable.
The temperature of working fluid is maintained the walls of
MHD.
It has the ability to reach full power level almost directly.
The price of MHD generators is much lower than conventional
generators.
MHD has very high efficiency, which is higher than most of the
other conventional or non-conventional method of generation.

Cogeneration
and Power

Combined

Heat

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Cogeneration is also called as combined heat and power or

combine heat and power. As it name indicates cogeneration
works on concept of producing two different form of energy by using
one single source of fuel. Out of these two forms one must be heat
or thermal energy and other one is either electrical or mechanical
energy.Cogeneration is the most optimum, reliable, clean and
efficient way of utilizing fuel. The fuel used may be natural gas, oil,
diesel, propane, wood, bassage, coal etc. It works on very simple
principle i.e the fuel is used to generate electricity and this
electricity produces heat and this heat is used to boil water to
produce steam, for space heating and even in cooling buildings. In
conventional power plant, the fuel is burnt in a boiler , which in turn
produces high pressure steam. This high pressure steam is used to
drive a tribune, which is in turn is connected to an alternator and
hence drive an alternator to produce electric energy.
The exhaust steam is then sent to the condenser, where it gets cool
down and gets converted to water and hence return back to boiler
for producing more electrical energy. The efficiency of this
conventional power plant is 35 % only. In cogeneration plant the
low pressure steam coming from turbine is not condense to form
water, instead of it its used for heating or cooling in building and
factories, as this low pressure steam from turbine has high thermal
energy. The cogeneration plant has high efficiency of around 80 90 %. In India, the potential of power generation from cogeneration
plant is more than 20,000 MW. The first commercial cogeneration
plant was built and designed by Thomas Edison in New York in year

1882.
As
shown in above diagram, in traditional power plant, when we gave
fuel as input we get electrical energy and losses as output but in
case of cogeneration with fuel as input, the output is electrical
energy,
heat
or
thermal
energy
and
losses.

In convential power plant, with 100 % energy input ,only 45 % of

energy is used and rest 55 % is wasted but with cogeneration , the
total energy used is 80% and energy wasted is only 20 % . It
means with cogeneration the fuel utiliuzation is more efficient and
optimized and hence more economical.

Need for Cogeneration

Cogeneration helps to improve the efficiency of the plant.

Cogeneration reduce air emissions of particulate matter,
nitrous oxides, sulphur dioxide, mercury and carbon dioxide
which would otherwise leads to greenhouse effect.

It reduces cost of production and improve productivity.

Cogeneration system helps to save water consumption and

water costs.

Cogeneration system is more economical as compared to

conventional power plant.

Types of Cogeneration Power Plants

In a typical Combined heat and power plant system there is a steam

or gas turbine which take steam and drives an alternator. A waste
heat exchanger is also installed in cogeneration plant, which
recovers the excess heat or exhaust gas from the electric generator
to in turn generate steam or hot water. There are basically two
types of cogeneration power plants, such as
Topping cycle power plant

Bottoming cycle power plant

Topping cycle power plant- In this type of Combine Heat and
Power plant electricity is generated first and then waste or exhaust
steam is used to heating water or building. There are basically four
types of topping cycles.
1. Combined-cycle topping CHP plant - In this type of plant the
fuel is firstly burnt in a steam boiler. The steam so produced in a
boiler is used to drive turbine and hence synchronous generator
which in turn produces electrical energy. The exhaust from this
turbine can be either used to provide usable heat, or can be
send to a heat recovery system to generate steam, which maybe
further used to drive a secondary steam turbine.
2. Steam-turbine topping CHP Plant- In this the fuel is burned to
produce steam, which generates power. The exhaust steam is
then used as low-pressure process steam to heat water for
various purposes.
3. Water- turbine topping CHP Plant- In this type of CHP plant a
jacket of cooling water is run through a heat recovery system to
generate steam or hot water for space heating.
4. Gas turbine topping CHP plant- In This topping plant a natural
gas fired turbine is used to drives a synchronous generator to
produce electricity. The exhaust gas is sent to a heat recovery
boiler where it is used to convert water into steam, or to make
usable heat for heating purposes.
Bottoming cycle power plant - As its name indicate bottoming
cycle is exactly opposite of topping cycle. In this type of CHP plant

the excess heat from a manufacturing process is used to generate

steam, and this steam is used for generating electrical energy. In
this type of cycle no extra fuel is required to produce electricity, as
fuel is already burnt in production process.
Configuration of Cogeneration Plant

Gas turbine Combine heat power plants which uses the waste
heat in the flue gas emerging out of gas turbines.

Steam turbine Combine heat power plants that use the heating
system as the jet steam condenser for the steam turbine.

Molten-carbonate fuel cells have a hot exhaust, very suitable

for heating.

Combined cycle power plants adapted for Combine Heat and

Power.

Thermoelectric Power Generators

or Seebeck Power Generation
Previous

The term theroelectric is combination of two words thermo and

electric and as its name indicates thermal means heat energy and
electric means electrical energy. Thermoelectric power generators
are the devices which used to convert temperature difference
between two junctions into electrical energy. A working of
thermoelectric generator is based on Seebeck effect. According to
which, a loop of two dissimilar metal develops an emf when the two
junctions are kept at different temperature. That is why it is also
referred as Seebeck Power Generation. A thermo-electrical
generator basically consists of heat source, which is kept at high
temperature and a heat sink, which is maintained at a temperature
less than the heat source. The temperature difference between heat
source and heat sink causes direct current to flow through the load.
In this type of energy conversion there is no intermediate energy
conversion like in case of most of the conversion so, it is also called
direct power conversion.
The power generated due to Seebeck power generation is single
phase DC and given by I2RL or VI where RL is the load resistance. The
output voltage and output power are increased either by increasing
the temperature difference between the hot and cold ends or by
connecting several thermoelectric power generators in series.

The current will continue to flow as long as heat is supplied to the

hot junction and removed from the cold junction. This current
produced by thermoelectric or Seebeck power generation is DC
in nature and can be converted into AC by using invertors and its
voltage level can be further step up by using transformers. The
energy conversion through thermoelectric or Seebeck power
generation is reversible process i.e the direction of energy flow can
be reversed. If we remove load and supply DC power across the
terminals where load was connected, the heat can be easily drawn
from the thermoelectric power generator.

Performance
Analysis
Power Generator

of

Thermoelectric

Consider a thermoelectric power generator having heat source at

one end and heat sink at other end. The heat source is kept at high
temperature as compare to heat sink. Let the temperature
difference between two junctions is T. The sides of generating
device are insulated so, the heat flows along the length only. The
applied heat to the hot junction causes the electrons in the n type
block and the holes in the p type block to flow away from the heat
junction and thereby producing a electrical potential difference. The
circuit is completed by connecting a load resistance, R L. The current
will start flowing through this load resistance, RL.
The voltage of this generator is given by V = T where is
Seebeck coefficient and T is the temperature difference between hot
and cold junction. Let R is the internal resistance of the

thermoelectric power generator then the

through the external resistance RL is given by

current

flowing

Substitute the value of voltage in above equation we get current,

We know that power flow to external load is given by, PL = I2RL
Substitute the value of I

This power will be maximum when R = R L So, maximum power is

given by
In Seebeck Power Generation the term (2 / R) is called figure of
merit. For power to be maximum T and ( 2 / R) should have large
value or we can say internal resistance should be low and this can
be done by decreasing the length and increasing the diameter. T
can be increased by increasing the temperature difference between
heat source and heat sink.

Efficiency of Thermoelectric Power Generator

The efficiency of thermoelectric power generator is defined as

the ratio of power developed, PL across load resistance, RL to the
heat flow, Q from the source

Materials Suitable for Thermoelectric Power Generators

The most commonly used material for this generator is lead
telluride. Lead telluride is a compound made of lead and tellurium
having small amount of bismuth or sodium. Other compounds used
for making thermoelectric power generators are bismuth telluride,

bismuth sulphide, germanium telluride, zinc antimonite, tin telluride

and indium arsenide etc.
Application of Thermoelectric Generators

For increasing the fuel efficiency of cars, thermoelectric

generators are used. These generator use heat produced when
the vehicle is running.

Seebeck Power Generation is used to supply power to

spacecrafts.

These generators are used to supply power to remote stations

like weather stations, relay stations etc.
Limitations of Thermoelectric Power Generators

High output resistance required - As explained earlier for

getting high output voltage and power several thermoelectric
generators are connected in series, which in turn increases the
total output resistance. Therefore for transferring high power
efficiently large resistances are needed. This problem can be
overcome by connecting more thermoelectric elements in parallel
rather in series because it causes decrease in effective
resistance.

Thermoelectric power generators generate less electric power

for the same heat flow i.e they have low efficiency as compared
to other mechanical generators. For the same energy input, the
Seebeck Power Generation produces less output as compare
to other energy converters.

Low thermal characteristics - The heat dissipation of any

device depends upon its thermal conductivity. Any good
thermoelectric power generator has low thermal conductivity
and hence poor heat dissipation. So, these generators are
efficient only when small power is required.

Thermoelectric generators are costly as compare to other

generators.
Basic Wind Energy
Next
Wind Energy System

Wind energy simply means kinetic energy of air in motion. Air

flown on the earth due to uneven heating of the Earths surface by
radiant energy from the sun. We know that the Earths surface is
containing very different types of land and lots of water
(approximately earth 71 % surface covered by water ). It sucks up
the suns energy at unusual rates means the sun heat is not
uniformly distributed over the earths surface. Wind or flow of air on
earth is caused by massive convection currents in the atmosphere.
As long as the sun heats up the earth, there will be wind energy
available on the earth. Formation of wind can be clearly visible at
ocean bank where land and huge water meet. If we see during the
day time, the air on top of the land becomes hot more quickly than
the air above water. The warm air above the land expands, becomes
less dense.
But air over water becomes hot less quickly then that on the land
hence air above the water remains heavier, denser compared to the
air above the land. The hotter air above the land gets higher due to
it's less density. As soon as this air gets high, cooler air over the
water flows in to take the vacant place and consequently there is a
wind hence wind energy. Again at night time, the land radiates
heats more rapidly than water. Hence land portion becomes cooler
more quickly than water. Because of that the air above the land
becomes cooler than air above the water. Hence at night the hotter
air above the water gets high because of lesser density. This vacant
space will be occupied by cooler and heavier air from land portion.
Hence there will be again a wind but in reverse direction compared
to day time. In the same cycle, the full of atmosphere winds that
surround the Earth are produced because of the land near the
equator is heated more by the sun than land near the North and
South Poles. The kinetic energy available in the wind is referred as
wind energy and that energy can be efficiently utilized for
generating electricity. Wind is renewable or non-conventional source
of energy. This is clean, has no any effect of greenhouse on the
atmosphere. Most important thing - it is substitute of fossil fuels
such as coal, oil or petroleum and natural gas etc. These are in

limited quantity on earth and but primary source of producing

electricity. Globally, 67 % of electricity generated from fossil fuels,
13 % from nuclear energy and rest of 20% from renewable energy
source such as hydro energy, solar energy, wind energy, tidal
energy etc. So we see how much the world depends on fossil fuel
for producing electricity and that is why we focus on wind and other
renewable energy sources to generate electricity for overcoming the
dependence on fossil fuels. Running cost of electricity produced by
wind is low once the turbines are installed and no much
maintenance is required for long time. It also takes some land for
installation but most of the land they are on can be still farm or
used to crop animals so using of land is not an issue. One important
thing is that, most cases wind plant is installed at the good height to
obtain sufficient wind to produce electricity. It is the worlds fastest
growing electricity resource.
During generation of electric energy by means of wind energy
through wind turbines, numbers turbines are connected together to
obtain desire output. This assembly of wind turbines together is
called wind farm. Actually, single wind turbine may not be sufficient
to produce desired electricity as our requirement thats why we
build a wind farm to produce larger electricity. We must choose the
place for constructing wind farm where the wind speed is sufficient
to move the blade of turbine. When the wind flows through the
blades of turbine, the turbine rotates for running a generator to
produce electricity. This electricity flows down through the cable
attached to turbine tower. This cable is also interconnected with
cables from other wind turbines in the wind farm.
Hence, electricity from all turbines comes to a common node from
where it is taken for further ends. After all this electricity is used
directly for domestic or industrial load or is drawn by any grid to
fulfill the requirement of electricity. This was a brief discussion on
the basic of wind energy.
Wind Turbine | Working Types and History of Wind Turbine

 Previous
Next

How wind turbine works? We all are aware of wind energy that is
converted into electrical energy by a wind turbine. But it is very
interesting how wind turbine converts kinetic energy from the wind
into electrical energy and what are the major parts of a wind
turbine.
Major Parts of Wind Turbine
Tower of Wind Turbine

Tower is very crucial part of wind turbine that supports all the other
parts. It is not only support the parts but raise the wind turbine so
that its blades safely clear the ground and so it can reach the
stronger winds at higher elevations. The height of tower depends
upon the power capacity of wind turbines. Larger turbines usually
mounted on tower ranging from 40 meter to 100 meter.
Nacelle of Wind Turbine

Nacelle is big box that sits on the tower and house all the
components in a wind turbine. It houses Power Converter, Shaft,
Gearbox, Generator, Turbine controller, Cables, Yaw drive.
Rotor Blades of Wind turbine

Blades are the mechanical part of wind turbine that converts wind
kinetic energy into mechanical energy. When the wind forces the
blades to move, it transfers some of its energy to the shaft. Blades

are shaped like airplane wings blades can be as long as 150 feet.

Shaft of Wind Turbine

The shaft is connected to the rotor. When the rotor spins, the shaft
spins as well. In this way, the rotor transfers its mechanical,
rotational energy to shaft which enters to an electrical generator on
the other end.
Gearbox

The rotor turns the shaft at low speed ex. 20 rpm but for generator
to generate electricity we need higher speed. Gearbox increases the
speed to much higher value required by most generator to produce
electricity. For example, if Gearbox ratio is 1:80 and if rotor speed is
15 rpm then gearbox will increase the speed to 15 80 = 1200
rpm that is given to generator shaft.
Generator

Generator is electrical device that converts mechanical energy

received from shaft into electrical energy. It works on
electromagnetic induction to produce electrical voltage or electrical
current. A simple generator consists of magnets and a conductor. The
conductor is typically a coiled wire. Inside the generator shaft
connects to an assembly of permanent magnets that surrounded by
magnets and one of those parts is rotating relative to the other, it

induce the voltage in the conductor. When the rotor spins to the
shaft, the shaft spins the assembly of magnets and generate
voltage in the coil of wire.
Power Converter

Because wind is not always constant so electrical potential

generated from generator is not constant but we need a very stable
voltage to feed the grid. Power converter is an electrical device that
stabilizes the output alternating voltage transferred to the grid.
Turbine Controller

Turbine controller is a computer (PLC) that controls the entire

turbine. It starts and stops the turbine and runs self diagnostic in
case of any error in the turbine.
Anemometer

It measures the wind speed and passes the speed information to

PLC to control the turbine power.
Wind Vane

It senses the direction of wind and passes the direction to PLC then
PLC faces the blades in such a way that it cuts the maximum wind.
Pitch Drive

Pitch drive motors control the angle of blades whenever wind

changes it rotates the angle of blades to cut the maximum wind,
which is called pitching of blades.
Yaw Drive

Blades and other components in wind turbine is housed in Nacelle ,

whenever any change in wind direction is there Nacelle has to move
in the direction of wind to extract the maximum energy from wind.
For this purpose yaw drive motor are used to rotate the nacelle .It is
controlled by PLC that uses the wind vane information to sense the
wind direction.
Working of Wind Turbine

Wh
en the wind strikes the rotor blades, blades start to rotating. Rotor
is directly connected to high speed gearbox. Gearbox converts the
rotor rotation into high speed which rotates the electrical generator.
An exciter is needed to give the required excitation to the coil so
that it can generate required voltage. The exciter current is
controlled by a turbine controller which senses the wind speed
based on that it calculate the power what we can achieve at that
particular wind speed. Then output voltage of electrical generator is
given to a rectifier and rectifier output is given to line converter unit
to stabilise the output ac that is feed to the grid by a high voltage
transformer. An extra units is used to give the power to internal
auxiliaries of wind turbine (like motor, battery etc.), this is called
Internal Supply unit. ISU can take the power from grid as well as
from wind. Chopper is used to dissipate extra energy from the RU
for safety purpose. Internal Block diagram of wind turbine
Types of Wind Turbine

There are generally two kinds of wind turbines. Horizontal axis and
vertical axis. Horizontal axis is divided as upwind and downwind
whereas vertical axis is divided as a drag based and lift based as
shown in below.

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine or
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine or

or HAWT Up wind
or HAWT Down wind
VAWT Drag based
VAWT Lift based

In Horizontal Axis Up Wind turbine, the shaft of turbine and

alternator both are aligned horizontally and the turbine blades are
placed at the front of the turbine that means air strikes the turbine
blades before the tower. In the case of Vertical Axis Down Wind
turbine the shafts of the rotor and generator are also placed
horizontally but turbine blades are placed after the turbine that
means the wind strikes the tower before the blades. If we observe
VAWT drag based turbine, the generator shaft is located vertically
with the blades positioning up and the turbines are normally
mounted on the ground or on a tiny tower. This type is also called
the Savonius turbine, after its inventor, S.I. Savonius. In the case of
VAWT lift based turbine, the generator shaft is placed vertically with
the blade's position is up. Now days Horizontal axis wind turbines
are most popular because of high efficiency. Since the blades always
move perpendicularly to the wind, and receive power through the
whole rotation.