Reg. No.

SCAD GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS

B.E.,/ B.Tech., DEGREE EXAMINATION, COMMON INTERNAL ASSESSMENT TEST III
Fifth Semester

Mechanical Engineering
ME6701-POWER PLANT ENGINEERING
(Regulation 2013)
Time: 3 Hours

Maximum marks: 100 marks

Answer All The Questions

PART A ( 10 x 2 =20)
1
2

3
4

Name few types of reactors.

Fast reactors, Thermal reactors, natural fuel reactors, Enriched Uranium reactors, water moderated reactors,
heavy water moderated reactor, graphite moderated reactor, gas cooled reactors and Sodium cooled reactors.
What are the advantages using CO2 as coolant?
Gases do not react chemically with the structural materials, Gas can attain any temperature for a particular
pressure, they do not absorb neutron, the leakage of gas will not affect the reactivity, the gas coolant provides best
neutron economy
What are the advantages of breeder reactors?
It gives high power density than any other reactor, High breeding is possible, High burn-up of fuel is
achievable, The operation of the reactor is not limited by Xe poisoning
What is the use of surge tank?
The surge tank is used to provide better regulation of water pressure in the system. The surge tank controls the
water when the load on the turbine decreases and supplies water when the load on the turbine increases. Thus, surge
tank controls the pressure variations resulting from the rapid changes in water flow in penstock and hence prevents
water hammer

What are the essential elements of hydro power plant?

1. Catchment area
2. Reservation
3. Dam
4. Surge tanks
5. Draft tubes
6. Power house
7. Switched for transmission of power

List the various types of solar energy collectors.

1. Stationary collectors (or) Non- concentrating
(a) Flat plate collectors
(b) Compound parabolic collectors
(c) Evaculated tube collectors

Define load curve?

9
10

11

Load curve is a graphical representation between load in kW and time in hours. It. shows variati6n of load at the
power station. The area under the load curve -represents the energy generated in a particular period.
Define demand factor?
Demand factor is defined as the ratio of maximum demand to connected load. Connected load is the sum of
ratings in kW of equipment installed in the consumer's premises. Maximum demand is the maximum load, which a
consumer uses at any time.
Define load factor? (May/June 2013)
Load factor is defined as the ratio of average load to the peak load (or) maximum demand.
What includes fixed cost?
Fixed cost includes the following cost.
1. Cost of land ,2. Cost of building, 3. Cost of equipment, 4. Cost of installati6n, 5. Interest, 6. Depreciation cost 7.
Insurance, 8. Management cost
PART C ( 5 x 16 =80)
A
With neat sketch explain the boiling water reactor power plant? What are the advantages
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and disadvantages of nuclear power plant?
Light water, which acts as the coolant and moderator, passes through the core where
boiling takes place in the upper part of the core. The wet steam then passes through a bank of
moisture separators and steam dryers in the upper part of the pressure vessel. The water that is
not vaporized to steam is reticulated through the core with the entering feed water using two
recirculation pumps coupled to jet pumps (usually 10 to 12 per recirculation pump). The steam
leaving the top of the pressure vessel is at saturated conditions of 7.2 MPa and 278K.
The steam then expands through a turbine coupled to an electrical generator. After condensing
to liquid in the condenser, the liquid is returned to the reactors as feed water. Prior to entering
the reactor, the feed water is preheated in several stages of feed water heaters. The balance of
plant systems (Example: Turbine generator, feed water heaters) are similar for both PWR and
BWRs.

In boiling water reactor enriched fuel is used.

The plant can be operated using natural convection within in the core or forced
circulation.
For the safe operation of the reactor the pressure in the forced circulation must be
maintained constant irrespective of the load.
In case of part load operation of the turbine some steam is by passed.
Advantages
* Space requirement is less
* No ash handling
* Space for fuel storage is not needed
* It does not require large quantity of water.
Disadvantages
* It is not suitable for variable load conditions,
* It requires high initial cost
*It requires well trained personnel.
Or
B

Construction and working principle of Heavy Water Cooled Reactor (HWR) (or) CANDU
Type Reactor (CANDU Caladium, Deuterium, Uranium).
These reactors are more economically to those nations which do not produce enriched
uranium as the enrichment of uranium is very costly. In this type of reactors, the natural
uranium (0.7% U235) is used as fuel and heavy water as moderator. This type of reactor was
first designed and developed in Canada. The first heavy water reactor in Canada using heavy
water as coolant and moderator of 200 MW capacity with 29.1% thermal efficiency was
established at Douglas (Ontario known as Douglas power station. The arrangement of the
different components of CANDU type reactor is shown in figure.

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12

The coolant heavy water is passed through the fuel pressure tubes and heat-exchanger.
The heavy water is circulated in the primary circuit in the same way as with a PWR and the
steam is raised in the secondary circuit transferring the heat in the heat exchanger to the
ordinary water. The control of the reactor is achieved by varying the moderator level in the
reactor and, therefore, control rods are not required. For rapid shutdown purpose, the moderator
can be dumped through a very large area into a tank provided below the reactor.
Advantages
1. The major advantage of this reactor is that the fuel need not be enriched.
2. The reactor vessel may be built to withstand low pressure; therefore, the cost of the vessel is
less.
3. No control rods are required; therefore, control is much easier than other types.
4. The moderator can be kept at low temperature which increases its effective
Disadvantages
1. The cost of heavy water is extremely high (Rs. 300/kg).
2. The leakage is a major problem as there are two mechanically sealed closures per fuel
channel. Canadian designs generally are based or recovering high proportion of heavy water
leakages as absolute leak-tightness cannot be assured.
3. Very high standard of design, manufacture inspection and maintenance are required.
4. The power density is considerably low (9.7 kW/litre) compared with PWR and BWR,
therefore, the reactor size is extremely large.
Construction and working principle of Pressurized Water Reactor
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR):
Working principle:
A nuclear power plant differs from a conventional steam power plant only in the steam
generating part. There is no change in the turbo-alternator and the condensing system. The
nuclear fuel which is at present in commercial use is Uranium. Heat energy evolved by the
fission reaction of one kg of U235 can produce as much energy as can be produced by burning
4500 tons of high grade coal. Uranium exists in the isotopic form of U235 which is unstable.
When a neutron enters the nucleus of U235, the nucleus splits into two equal fragments and
also releases 2.5 fast moving neutrons with a velocity of 1.5 107 metres / sec producing a
large amount of energy, nearly 200 million electron-volts. This is called nuclear fission.
Chain reaction

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Energy liberated in chain reaction, according to Einstein Law, is E = mc2, where E = energy
liberated, m = mass in grams, c = speed of light = 3 x1010 cm/sec. Out of 2.5 neutrons released
in fission of each nuclei of U235, one neutron is used to sustain the chain reaction, 0.9 neutron
is converted into fissionable material Pu239 and 0.6 neutron is absorbed by control rod and
coolant moderator. Function of the moderator is to reduce the energy of neutrons evolved
during fission in order to maintain the chain reaction. The moderators which are commonly
used are ordinary water and heavy water.

Advantages of nuclear power plant

1. It can be easily adopted where water and coal resources are not available.
2. The nuclear power plant requires very small quantity of fuel. Hence fuel transportation cost
is less.
3. Space requirement is less compared to other power plants of equal capacity.
4. It is not affected by adverse weather conditions.
5. Fuel storage facilities are not needed as in the case of the thermal power plant.
6. Nuclear power plants will converse the fossils fuels (coal, petroleum) for other energy needs.
7. Number of workmen required at nuclear plant is far less than thermal plant.
8. It does not require large quantity of water.
Disadvantages
1. Radioactive wastes, if not disposed of carefully, have adverse effect on the health of
workmen and the population surrounding the plant.
2. It is not suitable for varying load condition.

3. It requires well-trained personnel.

4. It requires high initial cost compared to hydro or thermal power plants.
Or
B

1. Explain the construction and working of Hydel power plant with a layout and discuss
the advantages and limitations of this plant. (Nov/Dec 2013)
A simplified flow sheet of a water power plant is shown in Fig. The essential features
of a water power plant are as below:
1. Catchment area.
2. Reservoir.
3. Dam and intake house.
4. Inlet water way.
5. Power house.
6. Tail race or outlet water way. Briefly explain the above in detail
Working: water stored in the dam is allowed to flow through the penstock to the turbine,
where the kinetic energy of water is converted into mechanical energy, later this mechanical
energy is converted into electrical energy in the generator which is coupled with the shaft of the
turbine.

Construction of Hydroelectric Power Plant:

Following are some of the main components of the hydroelectric power plant.
1. Reservoir: water harvested from the catchment area is stored in the reservoir which is
then used to generate the electricity.
2. Dam: it is made in the path of the river to make the reservoir to hold the rain water.
3. Spillways: Spillways are made to make the dam safe. When level of water is exceeds
some defined point, it will discharge through these spillways.
4. Forebay: when there is sudden change in the turbine load, in such cases there is need
of temporary storage of water. This temporary storage of water near turbine is called as
forebay.
5. Surge tank: surge tank is build in between dam and the valve house. It is used to take
care of the system load fluctuations.
6. Penstock: it is water pipeline carrying water from dam to turbine.
7. Prime mover or turbine: it is the main part of the power station. It is coupled with the
generator. Turbine is rotated by the flow of water. As it is coupled with the generator,
generator also rotates which produces electricity.
8. Powerhouse: it consists of turbine, alternator and electrical equipment.
9. Tail races: outlet water of the turbine is discharged to the river trough tail races.
10. Selection of site:
Following are some of the factors that should be considered for Hydropower Power Plant while
selecting a site.

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Availability of water
Location of the dam

Head of water

Storage of water

Transport facilities

13

Distance from the load centre

Explain the construction and working of Geo thermal power plant.
There are two ways of electric power production from geothermal energy
1. Heat energy is transferred to a working fluid which operates the power cycle. this may be
particularly useful at places of fresh volcanic activity where the molten interior mass of earth
vents to the surface through fissures and substantially high temperatures such as between 450
to 550 degree centigrade can be found.
2. The hot geothermal water and/or steam is used to operate the turbines directly from the
wellhead the steam is transmitted by pipelines up to 1 meter in diameter over distances up to
about 3 km to the power station. water separators are usually employed to separate moisture
and solid particles from steam.
Geothermal plants are of following types
1. Vapour dominated (or) dry steam fields

Steam extracted from the well is cleaned in centrifugal separator which removes solid matters.
The cleaned steam is then supplied directly into the steam turbine and the exhaust steam from
the steam turbine is wet steam (i.e a mixture of water and steam) which passes through the
condenser. The condenser condenses wet steam into water (through a cooling tower)
2. Liquid dominated high temperature systems
a) The flash steam open system
b) The binary cycle system
In flash steam open system hot brine from the reservoir reaches the wellhead at lower pressure
by throttling process. the flash chambers brine separators which improves the quality of
mixture. now steam is separated as a dry saturated steam and supplied to the steam turbine
which produces electric power through a generator.

In binary cycle system the steam turbine is isolated from corrosive or non corrosive material
and/or to accommodate higher concentration of non condensable gases. This is basically a
rankine cycle with an organic working fluid.

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3. Total flow concept system

The two phases at this point are not separated and the full flow is expanded in the mixed phase
expander which is coupled to the generator. the mixture from this expander/turbine is
discharged in to condenser, then the brine condensate is re injected in to the well.

Or
B

Explain with neat sketch working of a Distributed (Parabolic) trough Solar Power Plant.
(Nov/Dec2012)
Solar collectors are either non-concentrating or concentrating. In the non-concentrating
type, the collector area (i.e., the area that intercepts the solar radiation) is the same as the
absorber area (i.e., the area absorbing the radiation). In these types the whole solar panel
absorbs light. Concentrating collectors have a bigger interceptor than absorber.
Flat-plate and evacuated-tube solar collectors are used to collect heat for space heating,
domestic hot water or cooling with an absorption chiller.

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14

* Solar Constant
* Beam Radiation
* Diffuse Radiation
* Air Mass
* Zenith Angle
* Solar Altitude
* Solar radiation
* Long wave Radiation
* Declination
Explain in detail about the various types of Wind energy system.
Wind Turbines
Horizontal axis
Horizontal axis wind turbines are the most common type used (see figure 1). All of the
components (blades, shaft, generator) are on top of a tall tower, and the blades face into the
wind. The shaft is horizontal to the ground. The wind hits the blades of the turbine that are
connected to a shaft causing rotation. The shaft has a gear on the end which turns a generator.
The generator produces electricity and sends the electricity into the power grid. The wind
turbine also has some key elements that adds to efficiency. Inside the Nacelle (or head) is an
anemometer, wind vane, and controller that read the speed and direction of the wind. As the
wind changes direction, a motor (yaw motor) turns the nacelle so the blades are always facing
the wind. The power source also comes with a safety feature. In case of extreme winds the
turbine has a break that can slow the shaft speed. This is to inhibit any damage to the turbine in
extreme conditions.

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Figure 1: Horizontal axis wind turbine

Advantages
Blades are to the side of the turbines center of gravity, helping stability
Ability to wing warp, which gives the turbine blades the best angle of attack
Ability to pitch the rotor blades in a storm to minimize damage
Tall tower allows access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear
Tall tower allows placement on uneven land or in offshore locations
Can be sited in forest above tree-line
Most are self-starting
Disadvantages
Difficulty operating in near ground winds
Difficult to transport (20% of equipment costs)
Difficult to install (require tall cranes and skilled operators)
Effect radar in proximity
Local opposition to aesthetics
Difficult maintenance
Or
B

What are load curves and load duration curves? Discuss their utility in the
Economics of generation.

Types of Loads
Residential Load
This type of load includes domestic lights, power needed for domestic appliances such as
radios, television, water heaters, refrigerators, electric cookers and small motors for pumping water.
Commercial Load
It includes lighting for shops, advertisements and electrical appliances used in shops and
restaurants, etc.
Industrial Load
It consists of load demand of various industries.
Municipal Load
It consists of street lighting, power required for water supply and drainage purposes.
Irrigation Load
This type of load includes electrical power needed for pumps driven by electric motors to
supply water to fields.
Traction Load
It includes terms, cars, trolley, buses and railways.
The following points are worth noting :
(a) The area under the load duration curve and the corresponding chronological load curve is equal and
represents total energy delivered by the generating station.
(b) Load duration curve gives a clear analysis of generating power economically. Proper selection of

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base load power plants and peak load power plants becomes easier.

15

Explain the pollution control technologies including waste disposal options for
Nuclear power plant.
Or

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(a) Write short notes on site selection criteria.(8)

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Availability of resources Land availability

Water availability
Fuel availability
Skilled manpower availability
Economical impact Land acquisition cost
Investment cost
Operation and maintenance cost
Payback period
Future development limitations
Possibility of Site expansion
Environment concern Degradation of local air quality
Land Use Impacts
Dust
Noise
Effect on water bodies
Social concern Job creation
Public acceptance
Number of relocation
Distance from public area
Accessibility Road/Rail/Airport accessibility
Transmission grid accessibility
Electricity consumption point
Urban area accessibility
b)

Calculate the plant load factor and plant use factor.

Average load
Load factor
=
----------------------------Maximum load
Capacity factor

Use factor

Energy supplied per year

Demand factor

Delivery factor

Prepared by
(Name & Signature)

Average load
-------------------------------Plant capacity
In given time period
----------------------------Max possible energy
Average load x 24 365 hrs.
Maximum demand
---------------------------Connecting load
Sum of the individual maximum demand
-------------------------------------------------------Annual peak load of the system

Verified by
(Name & Signature)

HOD/Mech