POWER PLANT FAMILARISATION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS) situated near Ibrahimpatnam, Vijayawada is

an AP state government undertaking organization. This is recently renamed as Dr. NTTS
by APGENCO (Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation) in memory of Dr. Tata
Rao, Ex-Chairman who has contributed well to the development of VTPS. Dr. NTTS has
4 stages (Stage I - 2×210 MW; Stage II - 2×210 MW; Stage III - 2×210 MW; Stage IV -
1×500 MW under construction) of construction.
The main auxiliaries of main plant are Boiler, Turbine and Generator. The common
auxiliaries are Coal Handling Plant (CHP), Ash Handling Plant (AHP), Raw water
system, Fuel oil system, AC system, Compressors, Fire Fighting system etc. The main
auxiliaries and the common auxiliaries are discussed briefly in the following sections.

2.0 RAW WATER TREATMENT

The three sources of raw water are (i) Surface water (Contains high suspended solids and
high TDS i.e. Total Dissolved Solids), (ii) Ground water (Free from suspended solids, but
contain high TDS) and (iii) Sea water (Contains high dissolved salts). Surface water is
treated and used as cooling water for condenser (clarified water), DM water as make up
water, filtered clarified water for drinking and LP/HP water for ash disposal.
The impurities in raw water are classified as non-ionic (Turbidity, mud, oil, bacteria,
colour, suspended matter etc), ionic (carbonates, sulphides, etc) and organic
(bicarbonates). Non-ionic impurities can be removed by pretreatment i.e clarification
including coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation. Ionic impurities can be removed
either by Ion exchange or Electro dialysis or by Reverse Osmosis. Ion exchange process
is used for demineralization in Dr. NTTS. Organic Impurities can be removed by
Chlorination.
Pretreatment process: This is done to remove the particles of size between 1mµ and 1µ.
(i) Coagulation: A coagulant such as potash alum and aluminum sulphate will be quickly
added to the raw water to start the process of dirt. Effective coagulation takes place at a
PH of 6 to 7.0.
(ii) Flocculation: Mixing of coagulant by a stirrer causes the dirt particles to stick and
form a heavier particle.
(iii) Sedimentation: The heavier particles formed in the process of flocculation settles
down to the basin bottom due to gravity. The top layer of water is sent for chlorination.

Chlorination: Liquid chlorine is dosed to the clarified water at a pressure of 2 to 3 kg/hr

to remove organic matter and microorganisms.
Cl2 + H2O à HCl + HOCl
Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) liberates oxygen which prevents growth of microorganisms.
Residual chlorine of 0.2ppm is maintained at the outlet of the clarifier. If it exceeds the

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limit, it leads to teeth cavitations, gastric problems due to the formation of HCl. The
turbidity of water at the outlet of clarifier is 10ppm.
The clarified water can be sent directly to the gravity/pressured sand filters or to clarified
water storage tank (CWST) at a rate of 2500 T/hr. The water stored in CWST can be
used for condenser cooling or can be filtered, de-mineralized and can be used as make up
water. At Dr. NTTS, separate clarifier is used for DM water.

Flocculation Zone

Coagulation Zone Sedimentation Zone

Clarifier

Filtration: Pressurized sand filters are being used at Dr. NTTS for filtration. The media
used for filtration is sand. The size of particles that can be removed in filters is >1µ size.
Rate of filtration is around 90 T/hr. The turbidity of water at the outlet of filters is 2 ppm.
The filtered water is sent to ACF (Activated Carbon Filter) or to Filtered water storage
tank which is used for back washing (when the water pressure in the filter is 3kg/cm2).

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 Filtration Demineralization

Demineralization: The clarified and filtered water is fed to ACF (filter media is active
carbon) where excess chlorine is removed. The outlet water from ACF (P H - 6.8 to 7.0) is
good for drinking. As the TDS at the outlet of filters is < 800 ppm, Ion exchange process
is used at Dr. NTTS for demineralization (to remove salts).

Ion exchange process: It consists of Cation and Anion. Operating capacity of

Cation/Anion is 4000m3. The outlet water from ACF is fed to SAC (Strong Acid Cation)
where the resin used is PVB (Poly Vinyl Benzene or Poly Divinyl Benzene) or Sulphonic
acid (HSO3-). It is acid in nature and liberates H+ ions and SO3- reacts with salts to form
suplhates. Outlet water from Cation is sent to Degasifier where CO2 is removed and then
passed through the SBA (Strong Base Anion) where the resin used is basic in nature. It
liberates OH- ions. H+ ions liberated in Cation and OH- ions liberated in Anion reacts to
form water. Outlet water from SBA is passed through MB (Mixed Bed) where anionic
resin is placed at top and cationic resin at bottom. First the water is allowed to pass
through the anionic resin and 4% HCL is allowed to pass from bottom to activate the
cation at a rate of 3m3/hr. The mixture is removed from the outlet at the middle of the two
resins. Next the water is allowed to pass through the cationic resin and 6% NaOH is
allowed to pass from top to activate the anion at the same flow rate. The outlet water
from the mixed bed is DM water which can be stored in DMWST (DM Water Storage
Tank) and can be used as make up water at the outlet of condenser.

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4% HCL will be dosed to SAC and 4% NaOH will be dosed to SBA for regeneration i.e.
to activate the exhausted resin.

The chemical properties of raw water, clarified water, DM water, Feed water and Boiler
water are given below:

Clarified DM water Feed water

Raw water Boiler
Chemical water (at the (at the outlet (at the
(Krishna water (In
Property inlet of of suction of
river) drum)
condenser) condenser) BFP)
PH 6.8 - 8.4 6.5 – 7.5 6.8 – 7.0 8.8 – 9.2 9.4 – 9.7
TH 2000 15 - 20 Nil Nil Nil
λ (mµ/cm2) 250 - 650 250- 650 <0.2 5 100
TDS (ppm) 435 435 Nil Nil Nil
DO (ppm) 5 5 5 0.007 0.007
Silica (ppm) 30 - 0.02 0.2 0.02
Fe (ppm) 0.5 - 0.01 0.01 -
Cu (ppm) - - 0.005 0.01 -
NH3 (ppm) - - 1 < 0.5 -
N2H4 (ppm) - - Nil 0.022 – 0.03 -
CO2 12 - 15 5 Nil Nil Nil
Phosphate (ppm) - - - - 2-6

Note: TH refers to Total Hardness, λ refers to thermal conductivity, TDS refers to Total
Dissolved Solids and DO refer to Dissolved Oxygen.

In addition to the above, the raw water contains alkalinity, organic matter, sulphates,
chlorates, nitrates, salts and organic matter.

3.0 COAL HANDLING PLANT

Coal Handling Plant (CHP) covers 30 to 40% of total plant area. Dr. NTTS imports coal
from Talcheru coal mines (Orissa) and Singareni coal mines. Indian Coal consists of 5 -
8% of moisture, 20 – 25% of volatile material, 45 to 50 % of ash and balance % of fixed
carbon. Coal is classified in eight grades based on its Useful Heat Value (UHV) which is
defined as given below:
UHV = 6800 – 136 (% of Ash + % of Moisture)
The classification of coal is given in the table below:

UHV Grade
≤ 1300 EG
1301 - 2400 G
2401 - 3360 F
3361 - 4000 E

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 4001 - 4940 D
4941 – 5600 C
5601 – 6200 B
> 6200 A

F grade coal is used for stages I to III whose Calorific value (defined as amount of heat
liberated per 1 kg mass of coal) is 2700 kcal/kg and D grade coal for stage I whose
calorific value is 4500 kcal/kg. Approximate quantity of coal required for 1 unit is 3200
T /day and the coal stock yard can have minimum of 10 days and maximum of 21 days
storage. But due to the shortage of coal in the mines, only two days storage is possible at
the moment. Hence Dr. NTTS is importing coal from Indonesia and the calorific value of
imported coal is 6500 kcal/kg. Hence they adopt blending technique to avoid damage of
water walls in the boiler.
The main objectives of CHP are
(i) Emptying of wagons: The wagons can be emptied by two methods (a) using
wagon tippler (2 nos.) (b) BOBR(Bottom Open Bottom Rapid discharge)

Wagon tippler BOBR Operation

a) Once the wagon is positioned using the side arm charger, the wagon tippler
(capacity – 105 T) tipples the wagon by 135 ◦ and the coal is fed into the hopper
through a mesh of 300 ×300 mm size. If the size is > 300 mm, the pieces are
manually broken. From the hopper, the coal is fed to the conveyors through the
apron feeder.
b) BOBR operation: In BOBR operation, the wagons have gates at the bottom. When
the gates are open, the coal falls into the track hopper. From the track hopper, the
coal will be fed into the conveyors through paddle feeder and the uncrushed coal
will be sent to the uncrushed coal stockyard.
Dr. NTTS requires 7 rakes / day for all 6 units (1 rake = 58 wagons; 3000 T
/rake). One rake has to be emptied in 6 hours time; if not demurrage charges of
Rs. 50/wagon/hr for all the wagons have to be paid to Railways.

(ii) Feeding of coal to bunker: The coal from the wagon tippler complex (for stage
II, III and IV of Dr. NTTS) and truck hopper (for stage I of Dr. NTTS) will be
sent to the crusher through screens where the coal is crushed to a maximum size

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 of 50 mm (designed for 20 mm). From the crusher house, the coal is fed to the
bunkers (6 nos./unit, 2-stand by & capacity – 500T) through the chute and to the
mills through the feeder. Size of coal at mill outlet is 74µ. Once all the bunkers
are full, the coal will be stacked in the crushed coal stockyard (coal can be
stocked up to 10 m height) through the stacker cum reclaimer. When the bunkers
are empty, the coal from the crushed stockyard is reclaimed through a stacker cum
reclaimer.

Stacker cum Reclaimer

Uncrushed coal from Singareni mines is stacked in the uncrushed coal stockyard. From
the stock yard, it will be sent to the crusher through reclaim hopper where the coal is
sieved through a mesh of 300 × 300 mm size and then to bunkers or to crushed coal stock
yard.
There is also a provision to send the coal from the wagon tippler complex to the
uncrushed coal stock yard. If the resources are available, this will be used.

The complete layout of CHP for stages 1,2, 3 and 4 is shown in the figure below

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4.0 AIR PRE HEATER

It is a heat exchanger that absorbs waste heat from outgoing flue gas and transfers to cold
air. It is used for heating Primary Air from PA fan that is used for drying the coal in the
mill and also to transport from the mill to the furnace. It also heats the secondary air from
FD fan that is used for effective combustion (decreases the fuel costs by 15%). Boiler
efficiency also increases by 1% for every 20◦C reduction in the fuel temperature.

There are two types of Air Pre Heaters (APH) namely Recuperative and Regenerative. In
case of Recuperative APHs, the heating elements gets continuously heated due to the flue
gas and cold air picks up some heat from the heating elements while passing through it.
In case of Regenerative APHs, first the heating elements gets heated up due to the flue
gas and then the cold air picks up heat from the heating elements. Recuperative APHs are
used for boiler capacities ≤ 60MW and Regenerative APHs are used for boiler capacities
> 60MW.
Recuperative APH are classified in to (i) Tubular APH where the flue gas flow parallel to
and between the tubes and cold air enters normal to the tubes. The tubes can be placed
either horizontally or vertically. (ii) Plate APH where the flue gas flow parallel to a series
of plates and cold air flow normal to plates. In Tubular and Plate type APH cold air
absorbs heat from the flue gas. (iii) Steam coil APH consist a coil in which steam flows
and cold air absorbs heat from steam. This type of APH is preferred when the boiler is
just started.

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Regenerative APH are further classified into Ljungstorm and Routhemule. Ljungstorm
APHs are used for stages 1, 2 & 3 of Dr. NTTS. The Ljungstrom APH absorbs waste heat
from flue gas and transfers this heat to incoming cold air by means of continuously
rotating heat transfer metal plates as shown in the figure above. These plates are

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connected to the rotor in 12 sector shaped compartments for heater sizes from 24.5 to
26.5 and 24 sector shaped compartments for heater sizes from 27 to 36. Outer surface of
these compartments are connected with two semicircular end plates called rotor housing.
This housing is adequately sealed by radial and axial sealing members forming an air
passage through one half of the pre heater and the gas passage through the other. The flue
gas and cold air stream junctions are sealed by sector plates. First the heating elements
absorb heat from the flue gas and as the rotor revolves at a speed of 1 to 3 rpm, the
incoming cold air absorbs the heat from the heating elements.

5.0 MILLS

In mills, the coal is grinded to fineness that 70 – 80% passes through 200 (74µ) mesh
sieve. But the maximum size that is obtained in Dr. NTTS is 20 mm. The performance of
mills is decided based on grindability (Hard groove Index - 45 to 60 for Indian coals),
moisture content (efficiency reduces as moisture content increases), fineness of output
required (efficiency reduces as fineness of output is more), size of coal input (efficiency
reduces as size of coal input is more) and mill wear (efficiency reduces and ash content
increases as wear increases). The mill will be lined inside with 70 mm thick Hycron
liners. The coal temperature at mill outlet is 75 - 80◦C.
Mills are classified in to three types depending upon the speed.
(i) Slow speed mills: These mills rotate at a speed of 15 to 25 rpm. These mills are
also called as horizontal mills. Ex: Tube mills, Ball mills, Ball tube mills etc.
(ii) Medium speed mills: These mills rotate at a speed of 50 to 100 rpm. These mills
are also called as vertical mills. Ex: Bowl mills, Ball and race mills etc.
(iii) High speed mills: These are directly connected to the driving motor and rotate at a
speed of 750 to 1000 rpm. Ex: Hammer mill
Bowl mills: This is the advanced design, presently manufactured
by BHEL. It consists of a revolving bowl driven by a gear
mechanism connected to an electric motor. The coal is crushed
due to the imposed force between the grinding roll and the bowl.
Low power consumption, reliability, minimum maintenance,
wide capacities (1.7 to 100 T/hr), vibration less operation, wide
range of coals (HGI- 35 to 100 %, moisture content – 2 to 26%,
lignite – 50% and ash content – 5 to 50 %). These mills are used
in Stage I and IV of Dr. NTTS.

Ball mills: These mills are designed as per STEIN,

France. Forged steel balls of size 40, 50 and 60 mm
size (total quantity 60 T), occupies 25% volume of
the mill. The balls and coal are lifted to a certain
height and allowed to fall down. Due to the impact
of balls on coal particles and sliding of particles one
over the other and over the liners, the coal gets
crushed. Once in a year, the mill will be stopped
and the grinding material will be examined. If 15 T

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gets wasted, the grinding material will be replaced. Hot flue gases are used for drying the
coal and primary air to lift and transport to the classifier. The coarser particles are
returned by the classifier for further grinding. These mills are used in Stage II and III of
Dr. NTTS.

6.0 FUEL OIL SYSTEM

Fuels can be classified in to primary and secondary fuels. Primary fuels can be solids,
Liquids or gases and the secondary fuels are classified as Light Diesel Oil (LDO) & High
Furnace Oil (HFO). The calorific value of LDO and HFO are 10700 and 10500 kcal/kg
respectively.
The chemical composition of a crude oil consists of 83 – 87% of Carbon; 16% of
Hydrogen; 1 – 7% of Oxygen and Nitrogen; 1 – 4% of Sulphur and moisture content.
Carbon residue and water content should be less to have high boiler efficiency.
Fuel oil combustion consists of two stages (i) Automization i.e. splitting of oil into small
droplets (using service air & steam for LFO and compressed air for HFO) so that the
surface area gets increased and hence combustion is effective (ii) Evapourization i.e.
adding oxygen increases the temperature of oil and gets vapourized.
Light Diesel Oil (LDO) (80 kl) will be generally used for start up of the boiler (up to flue
gas temperature of 300 ◦C or up to 100◦C flue gas temp at chimney outlet) because it can
be fired with air. HFO can also be used whereas auxiliary steam is required for firing
which can be obtained from other unit if running otherwise start up boiler is required.
Once the steam attains 100◦C, HFO will be used for rising the temperature (20 – 25kl) as
LDO is costly.
From the rail wagons, oil will be sent to the Decanting header through a common suction
valve. From the header, oil is pumped using 4 pumps (3W+ 1S) to the storage tanks (2
nos. – 1000 kl each). LFO will be supplied at room temperature (less than flash point of
38◦C) from the wagons to the storage tank where as HFO temperature will be raised by
steam heaters to 36-50◦C (less than flash point of 66◦C) inside the wagon and then
supplied to the storage tank. Oil is supplied to all the six units through two common
headers. Eight pumps are used to pump oil to the six units (four pumps from one end of
the header and four pumps from the other end). Pumps 1 and 3 supply fuel through one
common header and pumps 2 and 4 supply through another common headers. From the
two common headers, connection will be to each unit. One common return header is also
provided for HFO connecting all the six units to have continuous circulation of oil. Here
oil flows by pressure to the pump house.

7.0 BOILER

Boiler is supported at EL 64.00 on steel beams supported on four RCC pylons. Powdered
coal from the mills is transported by Primary Air to the furnace (located between EL
16.00 to 24.00) and Secondary Air supplied by FD fan is used for combustion.
The pressure parts of the boiler are:
(i) Tubes or water walls

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 (ii) Super Heaters
(iii) Re Heaters
(iv) Economizer
(v) Riser tubes
(vi) Drum
Initially half the drum and complete water walls are filled with water through boiler fill
pumps. Coal is fed to all the four corners of the furnace through the classifier. Each
corner of the furnace consists of 13 compartments named AA, A, AB, B, BC, C, CD, D,
DE, E, EF, F, FF. AA and FF are end air compartments, A, B, C, D, E, F are coal
compartments, AB, CD, EF are oil compartments and BC, DE are secondary air
compartments. Coal nozzles in the furnace can be tilted by ± 30◦ to maintain the furnace
temperature and to have effective combustion.
Tangentially firing is being done at Dr. NTTS where the flame enters the furnace from the
four corners and creates four tangents to an imaginary circle formed at the centre of the
furnace (fire ball). Secondary air is sent to the furnace by means of wind boxes connected
on two opposite sides at a rate of 700 T/hr. Water walls gain heat from the fire ball and
part of the water converts to steam. The steam will be passed to the drum by riser tubes.
Bottom half of the drum is occupied by water due to its high density and the upper half of
the drum is occupied by the steam. The temperature and pressure in the drum are 320 ◦C
and 160 kg/cm2 respectively. The steam and water mixture is then sent to the super
heaters by down comers.

Types of Boilers: Two types of boilers are used in Dr. NTTS (i) Two pass boiler (for
stages 1 and 4) (ii) Tower type boiler (stages 2 and 3). In case of two pass boiler, super
heaters and re heaters will be placed vertically and economizer will be placed
horizontally whereas in the case of tower type boiler, super heaters, re heaters and
economizer will be placed horizontally.

Two pass boiler (Stages 1&4) Tower type boiler (Stages 2&3)

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Advantages of two pass boiler over tower type boiler:
(i) Combustion is effective as the time of residence is more
(ii) For higher capacities, the drum height increases and hence two pass boiler is
preferred. Height of drum for two pass boiler is 54 m whereas it is 65 m for
tower type boiler
(iii) Clinker formation is less as it takes more time to settle
Advantages of tower type pass boiler over two pass boiler:
(i) Erosion is less due to lower velocity of flue gas (15 m/s) whereas the velocity of
flow is 25 m/s in two pass boiler. Erosion is also more at the corners in two
pass boiler due to the sudden change in the direction of flow.
(ii) Maintenance is less
(iii) Erection time is less as it is hanged from top girders whereas two pass boilers
have to be supported sideways and at top
(iv) No. of headers for super heater are less (9) whereas 14 headers are used for two
pass boilers
Function of Boiler: Secondary air will be used for combustion.
Combustion: Carbon reacts with Oxygen to form Carbon dioxide i.e.
C + O2 = CO2 + heat
Sometimes due to improper combustion, 2C + O2 = CO, Carbon monoxide which is
explosive. Hence excess air of 15 - 20% will be sent to the furnace. The flame colour will
be pale yellow if the combustion is effective and red (or) black if the combustion is
ineffective.
Flue gas picks up the heat liberated during the combustion process and flows up. Super
heaters and re heaters gain heat from up flowing flue gas and heat the steam that comes
from the drum. The temperature and pressure of the steam at the outlet of super heaters is
535◦C and 150 kg/cm2 respectively. Outlet steam from the super heaters pass through the
main steam line and hits the HP turbine.
The efficiency of boiler is 85 to 87%.

8.0 TURBINE

Turbines can be classified into three categories based on the pressure (i) High Pressure
(HP) turbine, Intermediate Pressure (IP) turbine and Low Pressure (LP) turbine. Volume
of steam flow increases as the steam flow from HP to LP turbines due to the increase in
the size and hence the pressure drops. The pressure of steam at the inlet of HP and outlet
of LP turbine are 150 kg/cm2 and 0.1 kg/cm2 respectively.
Working principle of a steam turbine: The turbine consists of series of fixed and
rotating blades spaced at 3 mm apart. As the steam flows between the blades i.e. through
a narrow path, the velocity of the steam increases with decrease in pressure and it gains
some kinetic energy. Kinetic energy will be further converted to mechanical energy
through the impact of steam on the blades. As the steam pass over the blades of the
turbine, centrifugal forces develop normal to the turbine blades. The resultant force acting
on the turbine will be the sum of centrifugal forces acting at all points of the blades and

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the change in momentum caused due to the flow between the blades. This resultant force
causes the rotary motion of blades which drives the generator that is connected to the
rotor.
Based on the function, they are also classified as Impulse and Reaction turbines. In case
of an impulse turbine, the pressure drop occurs between the blades and across the fixed
blades and in case of reaction turbines, the pressure drop occurs over the fixed and
moving blades. In reality, perfect reaction turbines are not possible to produce. Hence
they are termed as Impulse Reaction turbines.
Impulse turbines are used in Stage 1. These turbines are designated as LMW series.
Reaction turbines (HMN series) are used in stages 2, 3 and 4. They are designated as KN
(K refers that the HP and IP turbines are combined and N refers to LP turbine) series and
HMN (H refers to HP turbine, M refers to IP turbine and N refers to LP turbine) series.
KN series will be used for higher MW generation.
The efficiency of the turbine is the product of efficiency of the power plant (0.3 - 0.48),
efficiency of boiler (0.75 – 0.95), efficiency of thermal cycle (0.35 – 0.5), efficiency of
turbine internal (0.85 – 0.94), efficiency of turbine mechanical (0.99 – 0.985) and
efficiency of turbine (0.985 to 0.99).

Impulse reaction turbine for 210MW of Dr. NTTS

For 210 MW of Dr. NTTS, Efficiency of turbine, η T = 0.36×0.88×0.43×0.9×0.99×0.99 =

0.2. Efficiency of the turbine can be significantly increased by increasing the power plant
efficiency which can be mainly possible by increasing the temperature & pressure of
steam. Efficiency of turbine increases by 0.5% for every 10◦C increase in the initial and
reheat steam temperature and 0.2% for every 10 bar increase in the pressure. This can be
achieved by designing the boilers for supercritical (temperature of 593 ◦C and pressure of
300 kg/cm2) and ultra supercritical (temperature of 650◦C and pressure of 357 kg/cm2)
stages.
The turbine rotors can be of two types (i) Disc type where disc will be connected to the
rotor and the blades will be fixed to the disc (ii) Drum type where rotor shaft itself acts
like a drum and blades are fixed to the drum.

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9.0 STEAM AND WATER CYCLE

The steam flow path is shown in the figure below. The steam from the Super heater flows
through the Main Steam Line (MSL) and hits the HP turbine with a temperature of 535 ◦C
and pressure of 150 kg/cm2. The supply of steam to turbine is by hydro mechanical
operation for stage 1 and electromechanical operation for stages 2 and 3. After the work
done in HP turbine (12 stages), the temperature and pressure drops to 340-350 ◦C and 37
kg/cm2 respectively. The steam then flows to the Re heater through a Cold Re Heat
(CRH) line. In Re heater, the steam gets heated by picking up the heat from the flue gas.
Reheating in the boiler is preferred only above 100 MW generation. The temperature and
pressure of steam at outlet of Re heater is 535 ◦C and 36.5 kg/cm2 respectively. The drop
in the pressure is due to the increase in the specific volume of steam due to the increased
cross-section of Re heater tubes. After reheating, steam then flows to the IP turbine (2
steam inlets) through two Heat Re Heat (HRH) lines. After the work done in IP turbine
(11 stages), the steam goes directly to LP turbine (2×4 stages). The temperature and
pressure of steam at outlet of LP turbine are 48◦C and 0.18 kg/cm2 respectively.

Steam and water cycle

The outlet steam from LP turbine then enters the hot well where the steam is cooled to
32◦C by cooling water. In the process, cooling water picks heat which will be sent again
to the cooling tower for cooling. The steam is then sent to the condenser where the steam
is converted to water. The condensate water is then passed through the Gland Steam
Condensor (GSC) where it picks up heat from the gland steam and the temperature at

14
outlet of the condenser is 40◦C. The increase in temperature is due to the absorption of
heat from gland steam. To account for steam losses, DM water will be added. The water
is then sent to LPH2, LPH3 & LPH4 through condensate extraction pumps.
After getting heated in 3 LP heaters, the water will be sent to Deaerator to remove DO.
Dalton’s law is followed in Deaerator i.e. the dissolved gases escape either by increasing
the temperature (achieved by supplying steam) or by decreasing the pressure (achieved
due to its vessel size). The temperature and pressure in the Deaerator is >100 ◦C and 5
kg/cm2 respectively. DO content will be reduced to 0.01 – 0.02 ppm.
LP dosing: DO content should be limited to 0.007ppm in the boiler as it corrodes the
boiler tubes. In general, LP dosing is done at the outlet of CEP, But at Dr. NTTS, it is
done at the outlet of Deaerator as they were facing problems of frequent corrosion of
tubes in LPH2. Hydrazine is dosed at the outlet of Deaerator which at 230 ◦C, reacts with
water and decomposes to form nitrogen and ammonia releasing oxygen. Ammonia level
should be kept < 0.5 ppm to avoid attack on copper alloys. During the process, P H
increases to 8.8 - 9.2.
The feed water is then sent to HP heaters through Boiler Feed Pumps (BFP). The purpose
of providing heaters is to increase the efficiency of boiler. After heating the water using
HP heaters, the water (105◦C) is sent to the economizer where the temperature rises to
320◦C. From economizer, the water flows to the drum.
HP dosing: This is done at the inlet of drum to reduce the silica content by dosing tri-
sodium phosphate. Sodium phosphate reacts with silica to form sodium silicate and
phosphate. During the process, PH increases to 9.4 - 9.7. The residual phosphate in the
mixture is 2 – 6 ppm.
In the drum, the steam and water separates and the steam goes to super heaters through
down comers and the process continues. Total steam loss in Dr. NTTS is maintained
<1%.

10.0 ASH HANDLING PLANT

AHP can be classified into three categories (i) Collection of Bottom ash (15%) (ii)
Collection of fly ash (85%) and (iii) Ash disposal.
Collection of Bottom ash: Bottom ash will be collected in the hopper located below the
boiler and is fed to the scrapper conveyor by opening the 24 gates. Water is sprinkled to
the ash (ash to water ratio – 1:8) in the scrapper conveyor (pressure - 68 kg/cm 2) and the
slurry is passes through the clinker grinder where clinkers are pulverized. Clinker grinder
will be operated for half an hour once in 3 hrs. The slurry is then sent to the sluice trench
(capacity – 620T).

Collection of fly ash: 10% of fly ash will be collected in Economizer hoppers, Duct
hoppers – 2 Nos., Air Pre Heater (APH) hoppers -2Nos. and Stack hopper. Wet ash from
Economizer hoppers, Duct hoppers and APH hoppers will be sent to the sluice trench. Fly
ash from Economizer hoppers, Duct hoppers and APH hoppers will be removed by
wetting head mechanism. Ash collected from stack hopper will be very less (1T/yr) and it
is removed manually. Only 15 T of ash is collected recently when cleaned after 16 yrs.

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75% of ash will be collected in ESP hoppers (48 Nos.) at a pressure of 7 kg/cm 2. 70% of
ash that is collected in ESP hoppers will be collected in the first row of hoppers. One-
third of the quantity collected in 1 st row will be collected in the second row of hoppers.
One-third of the quantity collected in 2nd row will be collected in the third row of
hoppers. Half of the quantity collected in the third row will be collected in the fourth row.
The remaining quantity is collected in 5th and 6th rows. Four hoppers are connected in
series up to first 4 rows of hoppers and eight hoppers are connected in series for 5 th and
6th row of hoppers. Out of the four/eight hoppers connected, the first hopper will have a
master control and all the other hoppers will have a slave control. Dome valve is used to
control the inflow and stoppage of ash.
The wet ash from ESP hoppers is sent to the sluice trench by wetting head (HP water is
sprinkled through a set of nozzles located at the outlet of hopper) and by Jar mix (Pipe
connecting the hopper is immersed in water and the wet ash flows to the sluice trench by
the vacuum created). Dry ash will be collected only if there is demand for it; otherwise,
water is added to it and sent to the sluice trench. Dry ash will be sent to the silo tank by
air at a pressure of 4 kg/cm2.
Fly ash silo tank: The capacity of Silo tank (2 Nos. per unit) is around 300 – 350T).
Above the tank, bags (16 – 24 Nos.) and vent filter are provided. Vent filter evacuates air
and part of ash dust sticks to the bags which can be dropped down in to the tank by
supplying air into the bags. HP water will be added at a pressure of 8 kg/cm 2 to load an
open truck.
The total quantity of bottom and fly ash that is collected per unit in Dr. NTTS is around
1280 T/day. Out of which 1000 T/day is being used by cement industry for preparation of
fly ash bricks and admixture for cement.
Ash Disposal: The wet ash slurry collected in the sluice trench will be pumped by 3
pumps (capacity – 1275 T/hr) connected in series to the ash pond. It is located around 6
km from the pump house. Height of the pond is around 80m.

11.0 SWITCHYARD

The 220 KV switch yard system at Dr. NTTS receives electrical power from 6 x 210 MW
and other inflows, Bheemadole (100 MW), Kothakota and LANCO (200 MW), via
incoming transmission lines and delivers electrical power via the outgoing transmission
lines to varies substations namely, Podili (2), Tallapalli (2), Nunna (2), Tadikonda (2),
Kondapalli (2), Gundadala (1), Bheemadole (1), Vijjeswaram (1), Narketpalli (1) and
Chilakallu (1).
Though the generation at Dr. NTTS is 1260 MW, only 1200 MW will tag on to the
switch-yard. The rest is utilized for auxiliary consumption.
The transformer and switch yard (Fig.1) comprises of 28 bays which include 6 GTs, 5
STs, 2 bypass, one bus coupler and 15 feeders. Through the feeders, the power will be
transmitted to the above mentioned 15 substations. An electrical substation is an
assemblage of electrical components including bus bars, isolators, circuit breakers,
transformers, lightning arresters, instrument transformers etc.

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The various transformers that are used in the transformer yard are:
Generator Transformer (GT): This will be connected between the generator and
substation. The generating voltages are between 11 to 22 kV (15.75 kV in Dr. NTTS). GT
steps up the generated voltage to the transmission voltage of 236 kV.
Station Transformer (ST): These transformers steps down the voltage from 220 kV
(substation) to 7.1 kV and supply power to the common auxiliaries such as Compressed
air system, Coal handling system, Fuel oil system etc.
Unit Auxiliary Transformer (UAT): These transformers steps down the voltage from
15.75 kV (GT) to 6.9 kV and supply power to unit auxiliaries such as Boiler Feed Pumps
(BFP), Condensate Extraction Pumps (CEP) etc.
LT Auxiliary Transformers (LAT): These are also step down transformers (steps down
the voltage from 6.6 kV to 0.433 kV) and supplies power for the accessories and lighting
system etc.
Converter Transformers: These transformers are used to convert the AC voltages into
DC voltages to collect the ash content in Electro Static Precipitators.

415 v SA BUS
S ta tio n
B us
T S S -1
6 .6 / 0 .4 3 3 K V
1 .6 M V A 1A BUS
22
415 v
ES P
B u s
T E P -1
Switch yard
6 .6 / 0 .4 3 3 K V
S T -1
1 .6 M V A
2 2 0 / 7 .1 K V
3 1 .5 M V A
U A T - A

220 KV BU S BA R
1 5 .7 5 / 6 .9 K V
15 M V A

G EN 220222

220
G T 1 5 .7 5 / 2 3 6 K V
U A T -B
1 5 .7 5 / 6 .9 K V 247 M VA
15 M V A

Switch yard
415 v
U n it
B us
T U -1
6 .6 / 0 .4 3 3 K V
1 .6 M V A S T -2
2 2 0 / 7 .1 K V
415 v 1B BUS 3 1 .5 M V A
S ta tio n
B us

T S S -2
6 .6 / 0 .4 3 3 K V
SB BUS
1 .6 M V A

Transformer yard

The equipments used in the switchyard are listed below:

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Conductor: This is used to carry current. It consists of several strands (individual wires)
wound in layers spiraled along its length. Consecutive layers are twisted spirally in
opposite direction to have good interlayer grip, strength and flexibility. ACSR
(Aluminium conductor steel reinforced) 54/7/3.18 (54 refers to no. of Al strands, 7 refers
to no. of GI strands, and 3.18 refers to the overall diameter of the conductor) is used as a
conductor in Dr. NTTS.
Insulator: This prevents the flow of leakage currents to earth. Conductors in a
transmission line and substation bus bar are supported on insulator. These are classified
into three categories (i) String insulators (also called suspension and tension insulators) in
which discs are connected in series and end fittings are connected to the cross arm on the
conductor side. (ii) Solid insulators that are used to reduce the conductor sag and to
maintain gap between the conductors and between the conductor & earth. (ii) Hollow
insulators cover the main conductor and are used for Current transformers (CT), Power
Transformers (PT) and Circuit Breakers (CB).
Bus bars: These are conducting bars to which a number of incoming or outgoing circuits
are connected. Electrical components of each circuit are connected in a definite sequence
such that a circuit can be switched off during normal operation. Two bus bar and two
transfer bar system is used in Dr. NTTS. In this system, if a circuit breaker fails, the load
from the generator will be transfer to the bus bars through transfer bus.
Circuit Breaker (CB): It is an automatic switch that can carry load, no load and fault
currents.
Isolator: It is also a switch but can operate in no load condition i.e. it works when CB
fails or during the maintenance of CB.
Earth switch: It will be located beside the insulator. This connects the conductor wire to
earth. It transfers the voltage trapped in the line to earth during the maintenance of CB
and Isolator,.
Current Transformer (CT): These instrument transformers are used for supplying the
current circuit of indicating instruments, meters, and protective relays. These
transformers will be connected in series.
Potential Transformer (PT): These instrument transformers are used for supplying the
voltage circuit of indicating instruments, meters, and protective relays. These
transformers will be connected in parallel.
Capacity Voltage Transformer (CVT): These transformers also measure the voltage
and also used for communication purpose.
Lightning Arrestor (LA): Arrests the passage of high voltages flowing to the equipment.
Power relays: It monitors both voltage and current

12.0 COOLING TOWER

Cooling towers are classified as (i) Natural Draft Cooling Tower (NDCT) and Induced
Draft Cooling Tower (IDCT). In case of NDCT, the hot water from condenser will be
sprinkled from certain height through a film to increase the surface area. As the hot water

18
comes down, atmospheric air absorbs heat from the water and the water gets cooled. The
hot air due to its low density flows up. I case IDCT, fans will be provided above the hot
water inlet to cool the water. As the cooling is natural, the base area and height of the
structure will be more in the case of NDCT. For stages I, II & III, IDCTs are provided and
for stage IV, NDCT is provided for cooling of condenser water.

The Civil Contractor for Stage IV NDCT is M/s. Om Constructions. As black cotton soil
is encountered at the plant, pile foundation is provided to support the tower. The height of
the tower is 151 m. 400mm Ф piles of 8 to 10 m deep (M35 grade concrete) are used to
the support the basin platform and 600mm Ф of 8 to 10 m deep to support racker
columns. Piling is completed in 3 months duration. Raft of 350 mm thick (M35 grade
concrete) is provided on the piles. The shell is supported on 44 pairs of racker columns of
1.05 m Ф precast using M60 concrete and Fe500 steel and the rebars used are of 32 and
36 Ф. W/c ratio is 0.41 for M35 concrete and 0.29 for M60 concrete. 2% complast is
added for M35 concrete and 5% for M60 concrete to achieve the workability. Jump form
(1.5 m layers) technique is used for the construction of the shell. The diameter of the shell
at base is 110 m, at racker column top level is 102 m, at throat is 63m and at top is 66m.
The thickness of the shell is 1.05 m up to EL 15.00, 230 mm thick from EL 15.00 to
141.0 above raft and 600 mm for top 10 m length). The diameter of bars used in shell
varies from 12 to 36 mm Ф. The shell is completed in 8 months duration. The basin
supporting columns (302 nos.) are cast-in-situ using M35 grade concrete in single pour.
The basin supporting beams (at EL 14.00 above the raft) are of precast using M35 grade
concrete. CW inlet is provided at EL 5.00 above the raft and the water flow is
16000m3/hr. Quantity of concrete used for superstructure including raft is 25000m 3 and
quantity of steel used for sub and super structures is 3500 T. Total period of construction
of the tower is 24 months.

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