30-May-2016
Today, was my first day of internship at National
thermal power corporation (NTPC). I was very
excited though nervous. I was excited as I already
had little knowledge about working of powerplant
as I had already completed my powerplant
engineering course and I wanted to learn more
about it and wanted to know things practically. On
the first day trainees were asked to go to
Employee development Centre (EDC) building. At
EDC many trainees were there. Training
coordinator came and asked us to sit in a room and
gave us a form for one month entry inside NTPC
and told us to visit very next day after collecting
entry paas.31-May-2016
Today, I went to EDC building along with many
trainee. We were asked to sit in a room and after
few minutes a sir came who was from operation
and research department was allotted to us by our
training incharge. He taught the basic working of
powerplant. He told us about rankine cycle and
reheat rankine cycle which I already knew as I
learnt these cycles in my powerplant engineering
course. He gave us basic idea about what we have
to learn as a trainee and told us about various
department like BMD, PAM , TMD , PAM which we
have to visit.1—July—2016
On day 3, We were again summoned at the EDC
building. Sir, told us about how they meet the
demand and how electricity is supplied at our
homes and cost of one unit production which was
Rs 4.60 which was way more than the hydro
powerplant as its unit cost was 40 paisa. He told
us briefly about transmission and distribution and
about electrical things.
On the same day, there was session on safety
measures to be taken at NTPC. Sir, told us about
what to do and what not to. He told us about how
small ignorance can lead to a bigger problem and
we were asked to our safety helmet and shoes
inside NTPC. On the same day our insurance was
done.2—-June—2016
Today, At EDC sir, allotted the department which
we have to visit during our internship. The details
are as follows:—
¢ Boiler Maintenance Department (BMD)
e Plant Auxiliary Maintenance (PAM)
e Turbine Maintenance Department (TMD)
¢ Coal Handling Plant (CHP)
Today sir, taught us about various cycles like
Primary Air Cycle
e Seconday Air Cycle
* Coal Cycle
e Electricity Cycle
e Flue Gas Cycle
e Condensate Cycle
e Feed Water Cycle
e Steam Cycle3-June—2016
Today, it was my first day on Boiler Maintenance
Department. All students were divided into the
groups. We had to report AGM (BMD). He told us
that they have 5 unit, 3 of them were 95 MW each
and 2 unit of 210 MW each. He gave description
about the boiler that the boiler is a rectangular
furnace about 15m on a side and 40 m tall and its
walls are made of a web of a high pressure steel
tubes about 60 mm in diameter.
He then told about difference between ideal
rankine cycle and actual rankine cycle and about
reheat and regenerative cycle and what effect does
it have on efficiency. He told that before coal
enters the furnace it is pulverized i.e. broken down
into very fine particle and with the help of primary
air fan it enters into the furnace and secondary air
fan which provides excess air for complete
combustion.4—June-—2016
Today, we again went to the AGM. He summoned
one worker and asked him to show us the primary
and secondary air fan. We went with him and he
showed us both fans. PA fan was having backward
curved bladed radial fan and had spiral casing.
After viewing fans we went again to sir and he told
that coal preheated below its ignition temperature
so as to increase efficiency. He also explained that
height of the boiler is divided into two parts. First
part in which heat is transferred through radiation
and by little amount of convection and in second
part heat is transfer takes place through
convection. He asked us to search on net about
how it is done and told that he will ask us about it
the very next day.6-June—2016
Today, sir asked about the question no one
answered correctly so he told that air after coming
from Air Preheater (APH) is divided into two parts
One part directly passes to the pulverized coal and
the other passes from Air Preheater (APH) which
has sensor which checks the amount of air needed
to be heated so as to keep the coal at a temperature
below its ignition point. The pulverized coal is
sprayed into furnace. He also told why it is
pulverized and what its advantages are and told us
that air which passes through secondary fan is also
preheated in APH. And at last he explained the
working of Air Preheater.7-june-2016
Today, he had meeting so he asked someone to
take us to the site and told to show us furnace. We
went there he showed us furnace through a
manhole.
Then after coming back we meet sir he told that
coal is not directly fired but first oil and LPG gas
is burned after reaching a particular temperature
the coal from pulverizer is sprayed using PA fan
and in this way process is carried out. He then told
that the firing type is tangential. It is done by four
burners which are located at the corners of the
boilers. They fires in such a way that four flames
are tangential to the imaginary circle and because
of turbulence rapid mixing of pulverized coal is
done and after combustion fly ash and bottom ash
is formed. He also told why tangential firing
method is better than other firing methods. He told
a little about it and Plant auxiliary department will
tell us more about it.8—june-2016
Today, sir told us about water walls and boiler
drum. Water from bottom ring header is
transferred to water walls. Water walls are
basically tubes in the Boiler where water is
evaporated to steam and are also called Steam
Generating Tubes. These Tubes also form the
Walls of the Boiler and are hence called Water
Walls. He also told that heat is transferred by
radiation as these tubes are very close to furnace.
He then explained working of boiler drum and how
natural circulation takes place. He told that boiler
drum is used to separate water and steam. Water
from the drum comes down into the furnace by
downcomer and steam is superheated before
entering the turbine.9—-june-—2016
Today, we again had to report to same sir. They told
us how they use thermal energy of flue gas. Then
he told us about the devices which uses flue gas
energy to operate and they are:—
» Reheater
>» Economizer
> Superheater
» Air preheater
Economi — it absorbs heat from the flue gas and
add a sensible heat to the feed water before the
water enters the evaporation circuit of the boiler.
Superheater:—steam from boiler drum passes
through superheater so that it absorb heat from flue
gas so that it gets converted into superheated
steam.
Reheater:— that the steam from hp turbine comes to
reheater and it absorbs heat from flue gas and then
it is passed to lp turbine. It is used to raise the
temperature of steam from which a part of energy
has been extracted in high-pressure turbine.
Then he asked us to read about air preheater.10—june-2016
Today, sir told us about air preheater and
Electrostatic precipitator. Air preheater is a heat
exchanger device that preheat the air coming
from primary and secondary air fan. He then
explained its working and then he told about
ESP.
Fly ash along with flue gas is passed through
ESP so that this fly ash and dust particle are
ionized and gets collected on the collector
electrode and then hammering is done on plates
so that fly ash comes down and collect at the
bottom.11—june-2016
Today, sir told us about the pulverizer. the
pulverizer they use are bowl mill. As pulverized
coal enters from the feeder it gets crushed by the
pulverizer they use are bowl mill. As pulverized
coal enters from the feeder it gets crushed by the
three grinders present inside the mill at an angle
of 120 deg each. The bowl or the table rotate due
to which these grinder rotate. There is also
provision to change the angle of the grinders. Coal
enters through the centre feed pipe .warm air
enters the mill through the airport assembly.
As the air enters it is rotated and a cyclone is
formed but it is tried to maintain a steady air. then
he told the advantages which are
>» Lower power consumption
» Reliability
> Minimum maintenance
> Wide capacity12—june—2016
Today, it was my first day in Plant Auxiliary
maintenance (PAM). We were asked to report PAM
AGM.
He told us many things comes under PAM like
e¢ Water Circulation System
Ash Handling Plant
« Water Treatment Plant
e Draught System
¢ Compressor house
He told us that he will teach us all the things one by
one. Today, he taught us about water circulation
system. He told water must flow through the heat
absorption surface of the boiler in order that it is
evaporated into steam. Basically there he told us
about two types of circulating system
e Natural circulating system
* Forced circulating system
Natural circulation system: —
In this water delivered to the boiler from feed water
is at a temperature well below the saturation valuecorresponding to that pressure. First water enters
into economizer which heat it 30-40 below the
saturation temp and then it enters the drum. water
entering the drum flows through downcomer and
enters a ring header at the bottom where it is
converted into steam and again water and steam
mixture is sent to drum where steam is separated
from water.
It occurs naturally as there is difference in density
between incoming water from downcomer and rising
water and steam mixture which is less dense. So it
happens naturally
Forced circulating system: —
Forced circulation in which a pump in the downcomer
provides additional driving force for the circulating
flow. The assistance of a pump is usually provided
when generating steam at above about 170 bar
because, at pressures above 170 bar, the density
difference between the downcomer liquid and the
liquid—steam mixture in the furnace wall tubes is
reduced sufficiently to limit the circulating flow rate.13—june—2016
Today, he taught us about ash handling system.
He told that two types of ash is generated in the
process
¢ Bottom ash
e Fly ash
Bottom ash is generated at the bottom of the boiler,
a hopper collects this ash. This hopper is always
filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers
falling down from the furnace. Some arrangement
is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying
the crushed clinkers and bottom ash to a storage
site.
Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas
by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters
(or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the
furnace and before the induced draft fan. The fly
ash is periodically removed from the collection
hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters.
Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically
transported to storage silos for subsequent
transport by trucks or railroad cars.14—june-2016
Today was my third day in PAM department.
today, he told us about draught system. He told
there are 4 types of draught system
He explained them one by one.
e Natural draft: When air or flue gases flow due
to the difference in density of the hot flue
gases and cooler ambient gases. The
difference in density creates a pressure
differential that moves the hotter flue gases
into the cooler surroundings.
e Forced draft: When air or flue gases are
maintained above atmospheric — pressure.
Normally it is done with the help of a forced
draft fan.
e Induced draft: When air or flue gases flow
under the effect of a gradually decreasing
pressure below atmospheric pressure. In this
case, the system is said to operate under
induced draft. The chimneys provide sufficient
natural draft to meet the low draft loss needs.In order to meet higher pressure differentials,
the stacks must simultaneously operate with
draft fans.
Balanced draft: When the static pressure is
equal to the atmospheric pressure, the system
is referred to as balanced draft. Draft is said to
be zero in this system.15—-june-2016
Today he told us about the compressor and their
types and advantages. He told control air
compressors have been installed for supplying
moisture free dry air required for instrument used.
instrument air is required for operating various
dampers, burner tilting, diaphragm valves. Air
drying unit consists of dual absorption towers
which are filled specially with silica gel and
activated alumina for absorbing moisture from air.
service air compressor is a slow speed horizontal
double acting double stage type and is arranged for
belt drive. Air from L.P. cylinder enters at one end
of the intercooler and goes to opposite end
wherefrom it is discharged to high pressure
cylinder. He also told that demineralized water is
used for steam generation. He told that deposition
of dissolved salts and suspended impurities will
form a scale on the inside wall of different heat—
exchangers and thus there will create excessive
pressure and thermal stress and The harmful
dissolved salts may react thereby can corrode the
surfaces. Corrosion damage may occur to turbine
blades.16—june—2016
Today we were asked to report at TMD
department. TMD (AGM) sir asked what is turbine
I told it is a mechanical device that extracts
thermal energy from pressurized steam and
converts it into useful mechanical work and then
he told about the different types of turbine and
difference between them. The 210 MW turbine is
a cylinder tandem compounded type machine
comprising of H.P., I.P. and L.P. cylinders. The
H.P. turbine comprises of 12 stages the I.P. turbine
has of 11 stages and L.P. has four stages. The main
superheated steam branches off into two streams
from the boiler and passes through the emergency
stop valve and control valve before entering the
governing wheel chamber of the H.P. Turbine.
After expanding in the 12 stages in the H.P. turbine
then steam is returned in the boiler for reheating.
The reheated steam from boiler enters I.P. turbine
via the interceptor valves and control valves and
after expanding enters the L.P stage.Then he told about the blades he told that blades
are the most costly element of the turbine. Blades
have three main parts:—
> Aerofoil—working part
> Root
> shrouds17—june-2016
Today sir had meeting so he asked one worker to
take us on site and tell us about the turbine. So we
went there and asked a lot question to him though
he didnt had very good knowledge but he explained
satisfactorily.18—june—2016
Today sir told us about condenser. He told that the
condenser is surface— type condensers Water
enters the inlet chamber of the front water box,
passes horizontally through brass tubes to the
water tubes to the water box at the other end,
takes a turn, passes through the upper cluster of
tubes and reaches the outlet chamber in the front
water box. From these, cooling water leaves the
condenser through the outlet pipe and discharge
into the discharge duct. Steam exhausted from the
LP turbine washes the outside of the condenser
tubes, losing its latent heat to the cooling water
and is connected with water in the steam side
of the condenser. This condensate collects in the
hot well, welded to the bottom of the condensers.
Then we went to see how condenser looks like.20—-june—2016
Today sir told what is cooling tower and explained
how cooling tower works. He then told that air can
be circulated in the cooling tower by natural draft
and mechanical draft. Then we went to visit the
cooling towers.21—june-—2016
Today sir asked us to visit deaerator. We went
there and asked question to the worker who was
there. Then we again went to the sir cabin and he
told us that deaerator is a device which is used to
remove air (oxygen) entrapped in the water
molecule. He told that oxygen containing water at
higher temperature becomes corrosive and it may
damage boiler and can lead to hazardous situation.
So oxygen is removed from the water which is then
send to the furnace in order to generate steam then
he explained the working of the deaerator.22-june—2016
Today was our last day at TMD. Sir asked whether
we understood everything he told or not. Some of
the students then asked their doubts. Today sir
told us about the pumps used in powerplant. He
told that the pump is horizontal and barrel design
driven by electric motor through a hydraulic
coupling. The function of the pump is that the water
with the given operating temperature should flow
continuously to the pump under a certain minimum
pressure. Booster pump is also provided in the
suction line which is driven by the main motor of
the boiler feed pump. One of the major damage may
occur to a boiler feed pump is from cavitation due
to suction failure. Then we went to see pump.23—-june—2016
Today, We reported asked to report at Coal
Handling Plant(CHP).the official there told that
they gets coal from jharia coal fields. Then he told
us about the coal cycle. The coal is supplied to
NTPC from field mines is loaded by rail car. Then
it is unloaded by wagon tippler.he told that the
bulky coal particle is broken by hammering then
these broken particle are send to the crusher.
These particles are crushed from 200mm _ to
20mm. He explained the mechanism of wagon
tippler and asked one worker to show us unloading.
I was amazed when I saw how the coal is unloaded.24—june—2016
It was my second last day of internship. Today sir
told us about various components of CHP like
Conveyer belt which is used to transport coal.
Scraper are used to clean the carrying side of belt
built up material on idler rolls
Idlers support the belt and enable it to travel freely
without much frictional losses.
Magnetic separator is an electromagnet placed
above the conveyor to attract magnetic materials.
Then we went to visit all the above components.25—-june—2016
Today was my last day of internship at NTPC and
we were asked to report G.D. Sharma Sir at EDC.
We went there and sat in a room. On that day we
had to submit the report and collect our certificate.
Finally, Sir came they gave certificate and asked
us to do entry in their notebook which they kept as
a record. He wished us good luck for our future.
While giving certificate sir asked how the
experience was.
Overall the internship was very good experience
for me I learnt a lot and during my powerplant
course I always had a thought how these
component work in real and how they look. I
thanked all the officials who helped me during my
internship.