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Introduction

 Nowadays, Thermal power plant constitute about 60 % of the total

installed capacity in the country. A Thermal power plant uses coal
and water to produce high pressure and high temperature steam.
The energy of this steam is converted in to mechanical energy due to
rotation of turbine. Now mechanical energy of turbine is converted
into electrical form with the help of alternators.

The functioning of every thermal power plant is based on the

following processes:
 Coal to steam.
 Steam to mechanical power.
 Power generation, transmission and distribution.
Working of Thermal Power Plant
Coal Handling Plant
 Water Treatment Plant

 The system which is used to remove the impurities present in raw water is
known as Water Treatment. Water treatment is done to protect the boiler
tubes from corrosion and thus from damage. The final product of Water
Treatment plant is de-mineralized water (DM water). The water treatment is
sub-divided as:- Pre - treatment and Post treatment.

 Pre-treatment- In the pre-treatment almost all visible matters are separated

from water. In practice, alum and lime are used for quick sedimentation . The
treatment removes 90% of organic impurities and thus clarified water is
obtained.

 Post treatment- This is about dissolved impurities which are mostly salts of
sodium, calcium and magnesium and other elements. After this process DM
water is obtained which is stored in DM water tanks and then supplied to
boiler.
Water Treatment Section
Water treatment plant
 The heat of combustion of coal in the boiler is utilized to convert water in to
steam at high temperature and pressure. The flue gases from boiler make
their journey through super heater, economizer, air-pre heater .The boiler in
the thermal power station consists of the following equipments:
1.) Super Heater
2.) Economizer
3.) Air pre-Heater

1.) Super heater: Super heater is used to remove the moisture content
from the steam. Super heater raises the temperature of steam above 540
degree celcius . Advantages of super heater-
 Increases efficiency.
 Reduces corrosion of turbine blades.
2.) Economizer :-An economizer is essentially a feed water heater and
derives heat from the flue gases for this purpose. The feed water is fed to the
economizer before supplying it to the boiler. The economizer extracts a part
of heat of flue gases to increase the feed water temperature. Thus, saving on
fuel consumption to a large extent.

3.)Air pre-heater:-An air pre-heater increases the temperature of the air

supplied for coal burning by deriving heat from flue gases. The heat is
transferred to the air fed into the boiler for combustion and increases
efficiency.
Boiler structure
 Electrostatic Precipitator
 They are used to separate the ash particles from flue gases. In this
the flue gas is allowed into the ESP, where there are several metallic
plates. when these gases enter , a very high potential difference is
applied, which causes gas particles to ionize and stick to the plates,
whereas the ash particles fall down and are collected in a hopper .
The flue gases is allowed to cool down and is the released to the
chimney.
 Turbine is the prime mover converting the energy of steam to the rotation of
turbine shaft which in turns rotates the rotor of generator.
 In small generation unit (below 100MW) only single stage turbine is used. But
in large generation unit three stage turbine is used.
 High pressure or (HP) turbine
 Intermediate pressure or (IP) turbine
 Low pressure or (LP) turbine
Turbine
 Electrical equipments in power
plant
Power plant consists of variety of electrical equipment. Major electrical
equipments are -:
 Alternator
 Exciters
 Synchronizing equipment,
 Circuit Breakers,
 Current and Potential transformers,
 Relays and protection equipments,
 Isolator,
 Lightening arresters
 Earthing equipment,
 Station transformer
 Battery and motor for driving auxiliaries.
 Transformer
 Transformer is a static device which transfers AC electrical power from
one circuit to another without changing the frequency but the voltage
level is changed. The rating of the 130MVA power Transformer is given
below:-

Cooling OFB OB ON
MVA 130 90 65
KV no-load 230 ( H.V.)
13.8 (L.V.)
Current (HV) 326.3 A 226 A 163 A
(LV) 5438.5 A 3765 A 2719 A
Phase 3
Frequency 50 Hz
Impedance voltage 12.56%
Vector symbol Yd11
Temperature rise Oil – 40 °C
Winding – 56 °C
Transformer
 Alternator or Ac generator

In electricity generation, an electric generator or alternator is a device that

converts mechanical energy into to electrical energy. Alternator generates 3-
phase power and supply it to transformer for transmission of power to various
substations.
Specification of Turbo generator (2x250 MW unit)

Maximum KVA rating : 294100 KVA

Maximum KW rating :250000KW
RPM (revolution/minute) : 3000 rpm
Rated stator voltage : 16.5 KV
Rated stator current : 10291 Amp
Rated power factor : 0.85 Lag
Excitation current : 2395 Amp
Excitation voltage : 292 V
Coolant : Hydrogen
 Switch Yard

 A switching substation, or switchyard, is a substation without transformers

that operates only at a single voltage level. Switchyards, used mainly for
connections and interconnections, are essential for transmission, distribution,
collection, and controlling the flow of electricity.
 The switchyard delivers power generated at the power plant to the electrical
grid.
 Switchyards are generally classified by voltage level, circuit breaker and bus
arrangements. Switchyards are often located directly adjacent to or near a
power station.
220 kv Switch Yard
 Lightening arrestor

 These are used to discharge lightening over voltages and switching over
voltages to earth.
 A lightning arrester (also called lightning diverter) is a device used on electric
power systems and telecommunication systems to protect the insulation and
conductors of the system from the damaging effects of lightning.
 Circuit breaker

 A circuit breaker is a mechanical device used to open and close contact

under loading and un-loading conditions.

 A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to

protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by excess current from an
overload or short circuit . Its basic function is to interrupt current flow after a
fault is detected.
 Relay

 Relay is electro-mechanical device which sense the excessive flow of

current and send signal to the circuit breaker.
 The first protective relays were electromagnetic devices, relying on coils
operating on moving parts to provide detection of abnormal operating
conditions such as over-current, over-voltage, reverse power flow, over-
frequency, and under-frequency.
 Isolator
 These are used to disconnect transmission line under no load condition for
safety, isolation and maintenance. An isolator is a mechanical switching
device that, in the open position, allows for isolation of the input and output of
a device. An isolator differs from a switch in that it is intended to be opened
when the circuit is not carrying current.
 Current Transformer
Current transformer is an instrument transformer which is used to measure
the current from high voltage line with the use of normal ampere meter.
 Potential transformer
 Potential transformer:- It is an instrument transformer which is used to
measure the high voltage from an ordinary low voltage instrument.
 Other Main Equipments

 Insulators :- The porcelain insulators

are used to support the bus-bar from
pole to ground. Current rating of
porcelain is above 2000Amp.

 Bus-bar :-Bus-bar is a main bar or

conductor carrying an electric current
to which many connections are to be
made.Material used for bus bar is
aluminium because it is high
corrosion resistance than copper and
lower cost. Bus-bar are of 5 to 6
meter in length.
 Control room
 A control room is a room serving as a centre where a large power equipment
facilities or services can be monitored and controlled.
Safety equipments used in power plants