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1 Introduction
A thermal power plant is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. It
is also termed as energy centre because it more accurately describes what the plants do,
which is the conversion of other forms of energy like chemical energy, heat energy into
electrical energy.
Energy exists in various forms i.e. mechanical, thermal, electrical etc... One form of
energy can be converted into other by the use of suitable arrangements. Out of all these forms
of energy, electrical energy is preferred due to the following advantages:
Power is primarily associated with mechanical work and electrical energy. Therefore,
power can be defined as the rate of flow of energy and can state that a power plant is a unit
for production and delivery of a flow of mechanical and electrical energy. In common usages,
a machine or assemblage of equipments that produce and delivers a flow of mechanical or
electrical energy is power plant.
A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven.
Water is heated, converted into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical
generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and
recycled to where it was heated; this is known as Rankine Cycle. The greatest variation in the
design of thermal power station is due to the different fossil fuel resources generally used to
heat the water. Certain thermal power plants are also designed to produce heat energy for
industrial purposes district heating or desalination of water, in addition to generating
electrical power. Globally, fossil fuelled thermal power plant produce a large part of manmade CO2 emission to the atmosphere, and efforts to reduce these are many, varied and
widespread.
Commercial electric utility power stations are most usually constructed on a very
large scale and designed for continuous operation. Electric power plants typically use three
phase or individual phase electric generators to produce Alternating Current (AC) electric
power at a frequency of 50Hz (hertz, which is an AC sine wave per second).
Coal and lignite accounted for about 57% of Indias installed capacity. However,
wind energy depends upon wind speed, and hydropower energy on water level, thermal
power plant accounts for over 65% of Indias generated electricity, Indias electricity sector
consumes about 80% of the coal product in the county.
India expects that its projected rapid growth in electricity generation over the next
couple of decades is expected to be largely met by thermal power plant.
2.1 Introduction
A steam power plant converts the chemical energy of the fossil fuels (Coal, Oil and
Gas) into mechanical/electrical energy. This is achieved by raising the steam in the boilers,
expanding it through the turbines and coupling the turbines to the generator which convert
mechanical energy to electrical energy.
The steam may be used for varying industries such as textiles, food manufacturing,
paper mills, sugar mills and refineries etc.
of the steam and water is lost passing through different components of the system;
therefore, feed water is supplied from external source to compensate this loss. The
feed water supplied from external source is passed through the purifying plant to
reduce the dissolved salts to an acceptable level. The purification is necessary to avoid
the scaling of the boiler tubes.
4. Cooling water circuit. The quantity of cooling water required to condensate the
steam is considerably large and it is taken either from lake, river or sea. The cooling
water is taken from the upper side of the river; it is passed through the condenser and
discharged to the lower side of the river. Such system of cooling water supply is
possible if adequate cooling water is available throughout the year. This system is
known as open system. When adequate water is not available, then the water coming
out from the condenser is either cooled in the cooling pond or cooling tower. The
cooling is affected by partly evaporating the water. This evaporative loss is nearly 2 to
5% of the cooling water circulated in the system. To compensate the evaporative loss,
the water from the river is continuously supplied. When the cooling water coming out
of the condenser is cooled again and supplied to the condenser, then the system is
known as closed system. When the water coming out of the condenser is discharged
to river downward side directly, the system is known as open system.
= (hb hc) wp
The Rankine efficiency of the cycle is given by
r =
= [(hb hc) wp] / [hb (hfd + wp)]
The pump work is always neglected for all practical purpose as it is very small
compared with other heat quantities.
r = (h3-h4) / (h3-hf4) as wp is zero.
The fuel oils used for industrial or domestic purposes are obtained by refining the
crude oil. The refining process separates and recombines the hydro-carbons into specialised
products like gasoline, fuel oil, etc. The distillation process is generally used to separate into
different groups of fuel. The typical fractions from light to heavy are naptha, gasoline,
kerosene and gas oil and the remainder is heavy fuel oil which is commonly used for steam
generation.
Constituent Carbon
Percentage 84
Hydrogen
Sulphur
Oxygen
22
2
1
Table.3.1 Fuel Oil Analysis.
Nitrogen
0.5
Moisture
3.5
The important properties of liquid fuel considered are specific heat, viscosity, pour
points, flash point, volatility, carbon residue, heating value, ash, moisture, sediments and
sulphur.
The pour point indicates the case of handling the oil flow through the lowest
temperature at which the oil will flow under specified conditions.
The viscosity is the measure of resistance to the oil flow through the pipes and
nozzles. This affects the cost of pumping the fuel. The viscosity of the fuel oil is generally
determined by standard viscometer.
The flash point of fuel oil decides the safety of fuel and it is also an indication of ease
of ignition.
The percentage of sulphur should be as minimum as possible as it results in the
corrosion of different parts in the plants and reduces the life.
For better combustion of fuel, the moisture and sediments must be as small as
possible. The ash content in the fuel oil is not very important in steam power plant.
As the fuel oil contains more percentage of hydrogen as compared to coal, therefore,
the moisture carried by the gas per kg on fuel burned is considerably more. This results in
overall lower combustion efficiency of the plant as compared to coal burning.
The use of oil for steam generation has no scope in India due to limited resources of
oil which are badly needed for industrial and transport purposes.
3. Gaseous Fuel
The gaseous fuel may be either natural or manufactured. The manufactured gas is
costly, therefore, only natural gas is used for steam generation.
The natural gas generally comes out of gas wells and petroleum wells. It contains
60.95% of methane with small amounts of other hydrocarbons such as ethane, napthene and
aromatic, CO2 and nitrogen. The natural gas is carried through pipes to distances which are
hundreds of kilometres from the source.
10
The natural gas is colourless, odourless and non-poisonous. Its C.V. lies between
25000kJ to 50,000 kJ/m3 according to percentage of methane in gas.
The various manufactured gases are coal gas, coke oven gas, blast furnace gas, water
gas and producer gas. The coal gas and coke oven gas are produced by carbonizing high
volatile bituminous coal. The blast furnace gas is produced as by-product from blast furnace
used in steel industry. The water gas is produced by passing steam and air through a bed of
incandescent carbon.
The gaseous fuels have all the advantages of oil fuels except ease of storage. The
major disadvantage of using natural gas as fuel is that the power plant must be located near
the natural gas field otherwise transportation and cost of transportation play an important part
in selecting the fuel for thermal power plant.
11
reclamation, cost of area required, cost required to protect the stored coal from deterioration
and many others. With all this disadvantages of coal storage, it is more important to public
service stations as light and power have become vital and essential in every day domestic and
industrial life.
To store the coal containing high sulphur is more troublesome because local heating
further aggravates the reaction between sulphur, air and water causing rapid deterioration of
coal and increases the chances of spontaneous combustion. Lower rank coals (lignite and
bituminous) have a higher tendency to ignite spontaneously compared with high rank coals
(anthracite and graphite).
The coal is stored by using one of the following methods to reduce the chances of
oxidation and combustion:
1. Stocking the Coal in Heaps. The ground used for stocking should be dry and level.
Generally concrete floored are is used to prevent the flow of air from the bottom. The
coal is piled at height of 10m to 12m. During storage of coal in heaps, the coal should
be compacted in layer of 15 to 30 cm in thickness by means of bulldozers and rubbertired scrapers. This effectively prevents the sir circulation in the interior of the pile.
Another method of removing the heat of oxidation is, the air is allowed to move through
the layers evenly so that the heat of reaction is carried away and the temperature of coal is
maintained below the combustion temperature (70C.).
2. Under-Water Storage. The possibility of slow oxidation and spontaneous
combustion can be completely eliminated by storing the coal under water. The dock
basins can be used for storage of coal under water.
The following points should be kept in mind during selecting the site for storage and
piling.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
4.1 Introduction
Steam is mainly required for power generation, process heating and space heating
purposes. The capacity of the boilers used for power generation is considerably large
compared with other boilers.
Due to the requirement of high efficiency, the steam for power generation is produced
at high pressures and in very large quantities. They are very large in size and are of individual
design depending on the type of fuel used.
A steam generator popularly known as boiler is a closed vessel made of high quality
steel in which steam is generated from water by the application of heat. The water receives
heat from the hot gases through the heating surface of the boiler. The hot gases are formed by
burning fuel, may be coal, oil or gas. Heating surface of the boiler is that part of the boiler
which is exposed to hot gases on one side and water or steam on the other side. The steam
which is collected over the water surface is taken from the boiler through super heater and
then suitable pipes to turbine. Usually boilers are coal or oil fired.
According to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (A.S.M.E.) a steam
generating unit is defined as:
A combination of apparatus for producing, furnishing or recovering heat together
with the apparatus for transferring the heat so made available to the fluid being heated and
vaporised.
The steam generated is employed for the following purposes:
i.
ii.
iii.
15
16
17
19
Under normal water level condition in the boiler, this plug is covered with water
which keeps the temperature of the fusible metal below its melting point. But when the water
level in the boiler falls low enough to uncover the plug; the fusible metal between the plug
quickly melts and drops out. The opening so made allows the steam to rush the water into the
furnace and extinguish the fire. The steam rushing out puts out the fire and gives warning that
the crown of the furnace is in danger of being overheated.
4.5.6 Feed Check Valve
The function of the feed check valve is to allow the supply of water to the boiler at
high pressure continuously and to prevent the back flow of water from the boiler when pump
pressure is less than boiler pressure or when pump fails.
20
By periodic blow-off, the salt concentration in the boiler is also reduced. Even with a
small amount of dissolved salt, over a period of time, due to the evaporation of water, the salt
accumulates in the boiler, raising the salt concentration.
It is fitted to the lowest part of the boiler either directly with the boiler shell or to a pip[e
connected with the boiler.
The main body is made of cast steel. The valve, valve seat and the nut through which
the valve spindle works, are made of brass for smooth working. The spindle is passed through
a gland to prevent the leakage of steam. The spindle is rotated by means of hand wheel. Due
to the rotation of hand wheel, the valve may move up or down and it may close or open the
passage fully or partially for the flow of the steam.
22
23
Pressure in the
boiler in
(Kgf/cm2)
8
13
18
Saturation temp. in
the boiler in (C)
174.5
194.1
208.8
Max
economiser
outlet temp.
in ( C)
149.5
169
183
45C
65C
85C
17
20
23
14
17
19
10
14
16
Table.4.1 Maximum Pressure for Varying Pressures and the Possible Fuel Savings for
Different Hot Well Temperatures.
Design Requirement for an Economiser. The design requirements must satisfy the
following conditions:
24
Corrosion of Economiser and Its Prevention. The corrosion and its prevention are very
important for safe and efficient working of the economiser. Internal and external corrosion
are the primary enemies of an economiser and dissolved O2 and CO2 are the major culprits.
A properly designed deaerator, combined with water treatment plant, virtually eliminates
internal corrosion in the economiser tubes. Deaeration removes 95% dissolved O2 and CO2
from the feed water. Vigorous steam scrubbing with chemical assist should follow deaeration
to ensure complete O2 removal and corrosion control.
CO2 forms carbonic acid (H2CO3) when it dissolves in water. This compound is unstable
and ionizes into H2 ion (H+) and bicarbonate radical (H CO3-). The H CO3- further ionizes to
form the H+ ion and carbonate ion (CO3 -). The H2CO3 is the only one that exerts gas
pressure; therefore, CO2 must be removed by deaeration at low pH levels.
NH3 gas forms NH4 OH (ammonium hydroxide) upon dissolving in water. NH4 OH
ionizes to form NH4+ and OH- ions. Therefore, NH4 OH is responsible for exerting gas
pressure and it must be removed by deaeration at higher pH.
The pH value of water passing through the economiser should be maintained between 8
and 9 to reduce its effect of acid. CO2 removal is achieved at low pH and NH3 removal is
achieved at high pH, therefore complete degasification of flow containing combination of
two is very difficult to achieve through deaeration alone.
Advantages of Economiser. There are several indirect advantages obtained by installing an
economiser with a boiler plant as listed below:
1) The feeding of the boiler with water at a temperature near the boiling point
reduces the temperature differences in the boiler, prevents the formation of
stagnation pockets of the cold water and thus reduces greatly the thermal stress
created in the pressure part of the boiler and the boiler and promotes better
internal circulation.
2) When the feed water is not as pure as it should be, the temporary hardness is
deposited on the inside of the economiser tubes and while this necessitates
internal cleaning of the economiser, the evil is not as great as internal cleaning
of the boiler.
3) Due to the reduction in the combustion rate of the furnace, the boiler will be
more efficient and the actual fuel saving will be greater than the theoretically
calculated.
4) The flow of flue gases over the economiser tubes acts indirectly as a grit
arrester and large portion of the soot and fly-ash is deposited on the tubes and
scraped off into the soot chamber. This reduces the omission of soot and flyash.
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Improved combustion.
Successful use of low grade fuel.
Increased thermal efficiency.
Saving in fuel consumption.
Increased steam generation capacity of the boiler.
The air preheater are generally divided into two groups as recuperative and
regenerative type.
The recuperative heaters continuously transfer the heat from hot gases to cold air. The
regenerative heater alternately gets heated and cooled by hot gases and cold air. Unlike the
recuperative type, the regenerative is discontinuous in action and operates on cycle. In rotary
regenerative type, the cyclic action applies to the heating and cooling of an individual
element of the surface but the flowing steam of air receives heat continuously.
The two recuperative types of heat-exchangers which are commonly used for airheating are described below:
Tubular Air-Heater. The flue gases flow through the tubes and air is passed over the
outer surface of the tubes. The horizontal baffles are provided to increase time of contact
which will help for higher heat transfer. The steel tubes 3 to 10 m in height and 6 to 8 cm in
diameter are commonly used.
26
27
Fig.4.15 Superheater.
Superheated steam has the following advantages:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Types of Superheater
There are two types of super heaters:
1. Convective superheater
2. Radiant superheater
Convective superheater makes use of heat in flue gases whereas a radiant superheater
is placed in the furnace and a wall tube receives heat from the burning fuels through radiant
process. The radiant type of superheater is generally used where a high amount of superheat
temperature is required.
Heat from the hot gases to the vapour in the superheater is transferred at high
temperatures. Therefore primary section of superheater is arranged in counter flow and
secondary section in parallel flow to reduce the temperature stressing of the tube wall. The
metal used for superheat tubes must have high temperature strength, high creep strength and
high resistance to oxidation as superheater tubes get rougher service than water wall of the
modern boilers. Carbon steels (510C) and chromium-molybdenum alloys (650C) are
commonly used for superheater tubes.
The superheater tubes are subjected to corrosion when they are exposed to oxidising
and reducing conditions alternately. This destroys the protective oxide film and exposes the
metal surface open to further corrosion. The alkali deposits formed also have corrosion effect
28
on steel depending upon its temperature and composition. Low chromium ferritic steels
confer some corrosion resistance but marked resistance is obtained by the use of austenitic
alloys.
4.6.5 Steam Separator
The steam available from a boiler may be wet, dry; or superheated; but in many cases
there will be loss of heat from it during its passage through the steam pipe from the boiler to
the engine tending to produce wetness. The use of wet steam in an engine or turbine is
uneconomical besides involving some risk; hence it is usual to need to separate any water that
may be present from the steam before the latter enters the engine. This is accomplished by the
use of a steam separator. Thus the function of a steam separator is to remove the entrained
water particles from the steam conveyed to the steam turbine.
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5.1 Introduction
The steam turbine is a prime mover in which the potential energy of the steam is
transformed into kinetic energy and latter in its turn is transformed into the mechanical
energy of rotation of the turbine shaft. The turbine shaft, directly or with the help of a
reduction gearing, is connected with the driven mechanism. Depending on the type of the
driven mechanism a steam turbine may be utilised in most diverse fields of industry, for
power generation.
The steam turbines are mainly divided into two groups as:
a) Impulse turbine
b) Reaction turbine
In both types of turbine, first the heat energy of the steam at high pressure is
converted into kinetic energy passing through the nozzles. The turbines are classified as
impulse or reaction according to the action of high velocity steam used to develop the power.
In impulse turbine, the steam coming out at a very high velocity through the fixed
nozzles impinges on the blades fixed on the periphery of a rotor. The blades change the
direction of the steam flow without changing its pressure. The resulting motive force (due to
the change in momentum) gives the rotation to the turbine shaft.
rotating motion to the disc and the shaft. The shaft rotates in the opposite direction to the
direction of the steam jet.
In an impulse reaction turbine, the steam expands both in fixed and moving blades
continuously as the steam passes over them. Therefore, the pressure drop occurs gradually
and continuously over both moving and fixed blades.
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Disadvantages:
1. The friction losses are too larger due to the high velocity of steam.
2. The maximum blade efficiency and efficiency range decreases with an increase in
number of stages.
3. The power developed in each successive blade row decreases with an increase in
number of rows, even though all the rows require same space, material and initial
cost. Therefore all the stages are not economically used. Velocity compounded steam
turbines are generally used as drives for centrifugal compressors, centrifugal pumps,
and small generators and feed pumps of high capacity power plants.
33
5. Radiation Loss. The heat is lost from the turbine to the surroundings as its
temperature is higher than atmospheric temperature. Usually the turbines are highly
insulated to reduce this loss. The loss due to radiation is always negligible.
6. Loss Due To Moisture. The steam contains water particles passing through the lower
stages of the turbine as it becomes wet. The velocity of the water particles is less than
the steam and therefore the water particles have to be dragged along with the steam
and consequently part of the K.E. of the steam is lost.
Throttle Governing.
Nozzle Control Governing.
By-Pass Governing.
Combination of Throttle and Nozzle Governing.
Combination of Throttle and By-Pass Governing.
Throttle Governing. The quantity of steam entering into the turbine is reduced by the
throttling of the steam. The throttling is achieved with the help of double heat
balanced valve which is operated by a centrifugal governor through the servomechanism. The effort of the governor may not be sufficient to move the valve
against the piston in big units. Therefore an oil operated relay is incorporated in the
circuit to magnify the small force produced by the governor to operate the valve.
Sudden increase in the vibration of the turbine is the most usual indication of any
trouble caused during running of the turbine.
5.7 ALTERNATOR
5.7.1 Introduction
The alternator is universally used in automotive applications. It converts mechanical
energy into electrical energy, by electro-magnetic induction.
In a simple version, a bar magnet rotates in an iron yoke which concentrates the
magnetic field. A coil of wire is wound around the stem of the yoke. As the magnet turns,
voltage is induced in the coil, producing a current flow. When the North Pole is up, and South
is down, voltage is induced in the coil, producing current flow in one direction.
Fig.5.7 Alternator.
As the magnet rotates, and the position of the poles reverses, the polarity of the
voltage reverses too, and as a result, so does the direction of current flow. Current that
36
changes direction in this way is called alternating current, or AC. The change in direction
occurs once for every complete revolution of the magnet.
5.7.2 Theory of Operation
Alternators generate electricity by the same principle as DC generators. When
magnetic field lines cut across a conductor, a current is induced in the conductor. In general,
an alternator has a stationary part (stator) and a rotating part (rotor). The stator contains
windings of conductors and the rotor contains a moving magnetic field. The field cuts across
the conductors, generating an electrical current, as the mechanical input causes the rotor to
turn.
37
but the main thing to be considered in this method is to maintain power to the distribution
system till the time the alternator trips on any other protection devices.
For this reason, the protection device has been designed in such a way that in case the over
current is not high enough, a time delay provided by an inverse definite minimum time
(IDMT) relay occurs, which prevents the alternator from tripping in case the over current
values reduces back to normal within the IDMT characteristics. But in case of a major fault
such as short circuit, the alternator will trip instantaneously without any delay, protecting all
devices on the distribution system. Overload of alternator is caused either due to increased
switchboard load or serious fault causing very high current flow.
If sudden over load occurs then, the load is reduced with the help of preferential trips
which removes non essential load such as of air conditioning, ventilation fans etc., from the
switchboard. These preferential trips are operated by relays which are set to about 110% of
the normal full load of alternator.
Reverse Power Protection. There is not much difference between an alternator and
electric motors from the engineer's perspective. They are both based on similar principles. So
just imagine what would happen if an alternator suddenly would act as a motor. This is only
possible in systems where two or more generators are running in parallel,
Hence this type of protection system is used only if there is more than one alternator
on board a ship. The system is designed in such a way that it will release the breaker and
prevent motoring of alternator if a reversal of power occurs. This protection device is also
used to prevent damage to the prime mover, which might be stopped due to some fault.
Though it is extremely difficult to detect reverse current with an alternating current system,
reverse power can be detected and protection can be provided by reverse power relay.
38
6.1 Introduction
A steam condenser is a device or an appliance in which steam condenses and heat
released by steam is absorbed by water. The use of condenser in the power plant improves the
efficiency of the power plant by decreasing the exhaust pressure of the steam below
atmosphere. Another advantage of the condenser is that the steam condensed may be
recovered to provide a source of good pure feed water to the boiler and reduces the water
softening plant capacity to a considerable extent.
The maximum possible thermal efficiency of a power system is given by (T1 T2)/T1
where T1 and T2 are the supply and exhaust temperatures. This expansion of efficiency shows
that the efficiency increases with an increase in temperature T1 and with the decrease in
temperature T2. The maximum value of temperature T1 of the steam supplied to a steam
prime-mover is limited by the material consideration. The temperature T2 can be reduced if
the exhaust of the steam prime mover takes place below the atmospheric pressure. This is
because; there is definite relation between the steam temperature and pressure. Low exhaust
pressure means low exhaust temperature. The steam cannot be exhausted to atmosphere if it
is expanded in the turbine below atmospheric pressure. Under this condition, the steam is
made to exhaust in a vessel known as condenser where the pressure inside is maintained
below the atmospheric pressure by condensing the steam with the circulation of the cold
water.
A closed vessel in which steam is condensed by abstracting heat from steam and the
pressure is maintained below atmospheric pressure is known as condenser. The efficiency of
the steam plant is considerably increased by the use of condenser.
39
The use of condenser in steam power plant reduces the overall cost of generation
by increasing the thermal efficiency of the power plant.
The efficient condenser plant must be capable of producing and maintaining a
high vacuum with the quality of cooling water available and should be designed to
operate for the prolonged periods without trouble.
The desirable features of good condensing plant are:
i.
Minimum quantity of circulating water.
ii. Minimum cooling surface area per KW capacity.
iii. Minimum auxiliary power.
iv.
Maximum area of condensed per m2 of surface area.
The effect of low vacuum is very pronounced. The efficiency of the power plant
depends to a greater extent on the pressure at the exhaust than the high pressure condition of
the steam at inlet.
Surface condenser consists of a cast iron air-tight cylindrical shell closed at each end.
A number of water tubes are fixed in the tube plates which are located between each
cover head and shell.
The exhaust steam from the prime mover enters at the top of the condenser and
surrounds the condenser tubes through which cooling water is circulated under force. The
steam gets condensed as it comes in contact with cold surface of the tubes. The cooling water
flows in one direction through the first set of the tubes situated in the lower half of condenser
and returns in the opposite direction through the second set of the tubes situated in the upper
half of the condenser. The cooling water comes out from the condenser is discharged into the
river or pond. The condensed steam is taken out form the condenser by a separate extraction
pump and air is removed by an air pump.
41
The quantity of water sprayed over the condenser coil should be just sufficient to keep
the condenser coil thoroughly wetted. The water flow rate higher than this will only increase
the power requirement of water pump without increasing the condenser capacity. This type of
condenser works better in dry weather compared with wet weather as the water vapour
carrying capacity of dry air is higher than wet air at the same temperature.
The arrangement of this type of condenser is simple and cheap in first cost. It does not
require large quantity of water therefore needs a small capacity cooling water pump. The
vacuum maintained in this condenser is not as high as in surface condensers therefore the
work done per kg of steam is less with this condenser compared with surface condenser.
These condensers are generally preferred for small power plants and where there is acute
shortage of cooling water.
6.4 Corrosion and Scale Formation in Condenser Tubes and Their Prevention
The efficiency of the condenser tube depends upon maintenance of heat transfer
surface cleanliness, adjustment of water flow of best economy and reduction of air-leakage to
a minimum. The importance of water flow and prevention of air leakage are already
discussed. The success of heat transfer with minimum power consumption for a long time
mostly depends upon the clean lines of the condenser tubes. The corrosion and scale
formation are the common phenomenon in condenser tube during operation due to the action
of chemical compounds and deposited collected on the tube surface carried with the water.
The life of the tubes is also reduced due to erosion which ids the effect of abrasive materials
(like sand) carried with cooling water.
In the average condenser installation on a river or lake, provision must be made for
cleaning the condenser tubes. The fouling of tubes occurs because of algae, organic matter,
leaves or other floating debris. Grills and screens removes most of the floating debris, even
the small particle will eventually accumulate on the tubes and reduces the heat transfer. It is
also desirable to clean the condenser while it is under load. A single pass condenser during
working condition can be cleaned by using back-washing. A valve arrangement is generally
provided for back-washing purpose.
With the most waters, there is general tendency for algae growth to build up on the
tube surface. Algae growth is considerably more rapid under warm water conditions therefore
summer periods are of the greatest trouble from this source in North American power plants.
The algae often serve as a binder for mud or scale and if algae deposits are removed or
controlled, other deposits are also minimised as well.
In closed type cooling system, where the cooling water is concentrated by
evaporation, the possibility of scale formation is more if the water is not chemically treated
Two general methods of treatment are used for condenser tubes cleaning. First is the
sterilization of the heat exchange surface of the condenser. This sterilization can be
43
44
7.1 Introduction
The cooling water system is one of the most important systems of power plant and its
availability predominantly decides the plant site. The high cost of water makes it necessary to
use cooling towers for water cooled condenser.
The main steam condenser performs the dual function of removing this rejected
energy from the plant cycle and keeping the turbine back pressure at the lowest possible
level. The rejected energy must be returned to the atmosphere. The condenser does this by
transferring the latent heat of the exhaust steam to water exposed to the atmosphere. This
water is called circulating or cooling water. The cooling water requirement in an open system
is about 50times the flow of the steam to the condenser.
In power plants the hot water from condenser is cooled in cooling tower, so it can be
reused in condenser for condensation of steam. In a cooling tower water is made to trickle
down drop by drop so that it comes in contact with the air moving in the opposite direction.
As a result of this some water is evaporated and is taken away with air. In evaporation the
heat is taken away from the bulk of water, which is thus cooled.
Factors affecting cooling of water in a cooling tower are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Temperature of air.
Humidity of air.
Temperature of hot air.
Size and height of tower.
Velocity of air entering tower.
Accessibility of air to all parts of tower.
Degree of uniformly in descending water.
Arrangement of plates in tower.
45
Disadvantages:
1. The fan size is limited to 4 meters.
2. Power requirement high (approximately double that of induced draught system for the
same capacity).
3. In the cold weather, ice is formed on nearly equipments and buildings or in the fan
housing itself. The frost in the fan outlet can break the fan blades.
48
.............
15.2 c.m.
Length
.............
38 c.m.
.............
6.5 c.m.
.............
6.5 c.m.
Working pressure
.............
11 bar (max.)
Efficiency
.............
60 to 70%
the drum through a copper tube through the pressure gauge valve. The super heated steam
coming out of the super heater is supplied through steam pipe to the steam turbine.
At the lower portion of the boiler a drain nut is provided to remove the mud or water
when the boiler is not in use.
The entire boiler is hung by means of metallic straps of mild steel supported on pillars. The
various mountings used in the boiler are pressure gauge, safety valve, main stop valve, super
heater, and economiser.
............
Speed
............
Rotational direction
............
Anti-Clockwise
Number of blades
............
Blade material
............
Aluminium
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12 volt
Current
0.13 amp
Fig.8.4 Alternator.
The alternator is coupled to the shaft of the turbine. As the shaft of the turbine rotates
the alternator also rotates and cuts magnetic lines of forces due to which an emf is induced in
the conductor. The magnitude of this induced emf is directly proportional to the rate of
change of flux. This emf will cause a direct current (D.C.) to flow in the conductor circuit.
In the project 12 V D.C. is generated. This 12 V D.C. is supplied to a storage device
which is known as battery. The type of battery used here in this project is rechargeable type
battery. Battery stores the energy generated from the generator (Alternator).
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12.5 volt
Current
7.2 AH
An inverter circuit is connected to the battery which converts the D.C. (Direct
Current) stored in the battery to A.C. (Alternating Current). This current is used supplied for
use.
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120 120 25 mm
Fan speed
2000 RPM
Fan weight
116 g
Blade diameter
120 mm
SUBMERSIBLE PUMP:
Operating voltage
165 - 250 V
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Frequency
50 Hz
Input power
18 watt
Delivery head
1.65 m
Output
1800 Litre/hr
165 - 250 V
Frequency
50 Hz
Input power
18 watt
Delivery head
1.8 m
Output
1100 Litre/hr
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9.1 Calculation
Condition of steam inlet to turbine is 5 bar and 143C.
Outlet from turbine and inlet to condenser is 0.08 bar and 39C.
Outlet from condenser and inlet to pump is 0.07 bar and 32C.
From steam table,
At 5 bar,
h1 = 2748.7 kJ/kg
S1 = 6.8213 kJ/kg.K
At 0.08 bar,
hf2 = 173.88 kJ/kg
hfg2 = 2403.1 kJ/kg
In turbine entropy remains constant
S1 = S2
S1 = Sf2 + x2.Sfg2
6.8213 = 0.6079 + x2.7.5994
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2000MW
Korba Chhattisgarh
2100MW
2600MW
3260MW
2310MW
Talcher Orissa
3000MW
1250MW
1720MW
600MW
Vedanta Orissa
2400MW
CTPS Maharashtra
2340MW
Jindal Chhattisgarh
1000MW
58
59
Due to practical limitations in heat transfer, all the heat produced by combustion is
not transferred to the water; some is lost to the atmosphere as hot gases.
The coal contains moisture. Also coal contains a small percent of Hydrogen, which
also gets converted to moisture during combustion. In the furnace, moisture vaporizes
taking Latent heat from the combustion heat and exits the boiler along with the hot
gases.
Improper combustion of coal, hot ash discharged from the boiler and radiation are
some of the other losses.
The second stage of conversion is the thermodynamic stage. The heat from combustion is
transferred to the water to produce steam. The energy of the steam is converted to mechanical
rotation of the turbine. The steam is then condensed to water and pumped back into the boiler
for re-use. This stage works on the principle of the Rankine cycle. For plants operating with
steam at subcritical pressures (less than 221 bar) and steam temperatures of 570 C, the
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Rankine cycle efficiency is around 43 %. For the state of the art plants running at greater than
supercritical pressure and steam temperatures near to 600 C, the efficiency is around 47 %.
Why is it so low?
The steam is condensed for re-use. During this process the latent heat of condensation
is lost to the cooling water. This is the major loss and is almost 40 % of the energy
input.
Losses in the turbine blades and exit losses at turbine end are some of the other losses.
The Rankine cycle efficiency is dictated by the maximum temperature of steam that
can be admitted into the turbine. Due to metallurgical constraints steam temperatures
are at present limited to slightly more than 600 C.
The third stage converts the mechanical rotation to electricity in a generator. Copper,
magnetic and mechanical losses account for 5 % loss in the Generator. Another 3 % is lost in
the step-up transformer which makes the power ready for transmission to the consumer.
To operate the power plant it is required to run various auxiliary equipment like
pulverizes fans, pumps and precipitators. The power to operate these auxiliaries has to come
from the power plant itself. For large power plants around 6 % of the generator output is used
for internal consumption. This brings the overall efficiency of the power plant to around 33.5
%. This means we get only 1.9 kwhr of electrical energy from one kg of coal instead of the
5.56 kwhr that is theoretically available in the coal.
The efficiency or inefficiency of power plants is something that we have to live with for
the present till technology finds a way out.
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9.6 CONCLUSION
Though Thermal power energy has so many advantages, the main disadvantage is
thermla pollution. Water mainly gets polluted using thermal energy. The automobile industry,
textile industry, thermal power plant, nuclear power plant release hot water to the water
bodies.
Thermal power plants are goods that produce electricity. Morever, these plants are
important to customers and are presumed to have a service life of greater then twenty years.
Accordingly, the reliability of a power plants is considered most important, followed by aftersales service and then economic efficiency.
As demand for electrical power increases throught the world, various plants intend to
continue to strive to supply power plants that provide reliability, high performance and low
price in accordance with the need of customers.
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REFERENCES
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_power_station
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_India#Thermal_power
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankine_cycle
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_station
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-tube_boiler
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_condenser
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower_system
9. http://www.brighthubengineering.com/marine-engines-machinery/42651-marinealternators-protection-systems-used-on-board-ships/
10. http://indianpowersector.com/home/power-station/thermal-power-plant/
11. Babcock & Wilcox Co. (2005). Steam: Its Generation and Use (41st edition
ed.).ISBN 0-9634570-0-4.
12. Dr. R.K. Rajput, Power Plant Engineering
Laxmi publication (P) Ltd, 2007.
13. Arora, Domkundwar, A course in Power Plant Engineering
Dhanpat Rai & Co., 2008.
14. Domkundwar, Kothandaraman, A course in Thermal Engineering
Dhanpat Rai & Co., 2010.
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