Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Power Plant Engineering

Introduction to
Power Plant
Engineering

2
 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.
• Application of Power Plant Eng.
• Layout of Power Plant Eng.
• Site selection of Power Plant Eng.
• How Power Plant Eng.
• Classification of Power Plant Eng.
• Major Components of Power Plant Eng.

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 Power Plant Eng.
Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.
Definition
• Power Plant Eng. Deals with the study of Energy, its
sources and utilization of energy for power generation.

• Next to the food, fuel and power are the most important
items on which national standard life depends.

• The energy of a body is its capacity to do work.

• The development of a country depends mainly on amount

of power generation.

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 Power Plant Eng.
Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.
• Energy Can exist in numerous forms:-
• Mechanical(Kinetic and Potential Energy)
• Thermal Energy
• Electrical Energy
• Nuclear Energy
• Chemical Energy
• Magnetic Energy
• Electricity is the only form of energy that can be easy to :-
– Produce -Cheapness
– Transport
– Use
– control
• So, it is mostly the terminal form of energy for transmission and
distribution.
• Electricity consumption per capita is the index of living standard
of a country.
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 Power Plant Eng.
Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.
Power plant can be defined as :
• A power plant is assembly of systems or subsystems to
generate electricity, i.e., power with economy and
requirements.

• “A machine or assembly of equipment that generate and

deliver a flow of mechanical or electrical energy.

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Application of Power Plant Eng.
 POWER - steam engines, steam
turbine, steam pumps

 DRYING – bleaching, palm kernel,

ironing, curing concrete
 STERILIZING – operation theater
equipment, palm oil

 HEATING – buildings, bulk storage

 COOKING – pressure cooking,
steam jackets

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 Power Plant Eng.
• The purposes of steam power plant:
To produce electric power

To produce steam for industrial

purposes (textiles, paper mills,
sugar mills, etc)

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.
Layout of Power Plant Eng.

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.

Layout of Power Plant Eng.

THERMAL POWER PLANT

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng. Layout of Power Plant Eng.

THERMAL POWER PLANT

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.

Layout of Power Plant Eng.

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.

Layout of Power Plant Eng.

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng.
• Layout of Power Plant Eng.
• The General layout of the thermal power plant consists
of mainly 4 circuits.

• The four main circuits are:-

1. Coal and Ash circuit

2. Air and gas circuit

3. Feed water and steam flow circuit

4. Cooling water circuit

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Basic Concept on power Plant Eng. Layout of Power Plant Eng.
To chimney
Coal
storage
Flue gases
Air
Air
preheater
Coal handling
plant
Flue gases

Economiser
Feed water
Air
Main
Super heated valve
Ash storage Ash handling Super steam Turbine
plant Boiler heater Generator
Flue
gases

High pressure Exhaust

heater steam
Condensate
Steam extraction
Boiler feed
pump
pump Condenser
Low pressure heater

Circulating
water
pump

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 Power Plant Eng.
1. Coal and Ash circuit
 Coal from the storage area (called stack) is
taken to the boiler furnace by means of Coal
storage
coal handling equipment such as belt
conveyors, bucket elevators etc.
Note : A thermal power plant of 400 MW
capacity requires 5000 to 6000 tones of coal Coal and
handling
per day. plant
 ash resulting from the combustion of coal
in the boiler furnace collects at the back of
the boiler and is removed to the ash
storage yard through the ash handling Ash Ash
equipment like belt conveyors, screw Boiler
storage handling
conveyors etc. plant
Note : A thermal power plant of 400 MW
capacity requires 10 hectares area per year if
ash is damped to a height of 6.5 meters.
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 Power Plant Eng.
2. Air and gas circuit
To chimney
 Air is taken from the atmosphere to the air
preheater. Flue gases
 Air is heated in the air preheater by the heat of
Air Air
flue gas which is passing to the chimney. preheater
 The hot air is supplied to the furnace of the boiler.
 The flue gases after combustion in the furnace,
pass around the boiler tubes. Economiser

 The flue gases then passes through a dust

collector, economizer and pre-heater before being
Boiler Superheater
exhausted to the atmosphere through the
chimney. Flue gases
 The heat of the flue gases which would have been
wasted otherwise is used effectively. Thus the
overall efficiency of the plant is improved.
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 3.
Power Plant Eng.
Feed water and steam flow circuit

 The steam generated in the boiler passes

through super heater and is supplied to the
steam turbine.
 Work is done by the expansion of steam in
Feed water
the turbine and the pressure of steam is Econo
reduced. miser
Main
 The expanded steam then passes to the valve
condenser, where it is condensed. Super Superheated Turbine
 The wet steam passes through a condenser heater steam
where it completely becomes water. The Boiler
condensed water that has a temperature of High pressure Exhaust
300C to 400C is collected in a tank called hot steam heater steam
well.
Boiler feed pump
 The water from the hot well is fed into the
boiler through the economizer. Condense
Low Condensate
 The economizer preheats the water before pressure extracting pump
r
entering the boiler. heater
 The economizer receives its heat from the
flue gases leaving the boiler .
 Preheating the feed water in the economizer
increases the boiler efficiency and helps
quicker production of steam.
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 Power Plant Eng.
1. Cooling water circuit

 Water is circulated around the

condenser to condense the steam
coming out of the turbine.
 Cooling water enters the condenser
at 100C to 150C and leaves at 200C
to 250C.
 Plenty of water is required for
condensing the steam in the
condenser. The water may be taken
from sources such as river or lake.
 If adequate quantity of water is not
available at the plant site, the hot
water from the condenser is cooled
in the cooling tower or cooling ponds
and circulated again.

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Site selection of Power Plant Eng.
• A few important factors to be considered for the selection of site for
thermal plants are listed below:
Availability of fuel
Ash Disposal Facility
Space Requirements
Nature of Land
Availability of Water
Transport Facilities
Availability of a Labor
Public Problems
Size of the Plant
Future extension

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Classification of Power Plant Eng.
 Power plants are classified into different groups based on the criteria
used for the classification.

 The criteria used

– Energy Source

– Fuel type

– Capacity

– Operation

– Prime mover

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 Power Plant Eng.
• Classification of Power Plant Eng.
– Energy Source
Power Plant Eng.

Conventional
(Non-Renewable) Non-Conventional
Example (Renewable)
Steam Engines Power Plants Example
Steam Turbine Power Plants Wind Energy PP
Diesel Power Plants Geothermal Energy
Gas Turbine Power Plants Wave and Tidal Wave
Hydro Electric Power Plants Solar energy
Nuclear Power Plants

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