MODULE 5

Prepared by:
JIBIN JOSE
ASST. PROFESSOR
MECH DEPT.
JBCMET

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2.
3.
4.
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6.
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8.
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11.

Selection of site.
Estimation of capacity of power station.
Selection of turbines and their auxiliaries.
Selection of boilers, and their auxiliaries.
Design of fuel handling system.
Selection of condensers.
Design of cooling system.
Design of piping system to carry steam and water.
Selection of electrical generator.
Design and control of instruments.
Design of layout of power station.

Essential Equipments of Steam Power Plant

(i) High pressure boiler

(ii) Prime mover
(iii) Condensers and cooling towers
(iv) Coal handling system
(u) Ash and dust handling system
(vi) Draught system
(vii) Feed water purification plant
(viii) Pumping system
(ix) Air preheater, econorniser; super heater, feed heaters.

Higher efficiency
Lower cost.
Ability to burn coal especially of high ash content
Reduced environmental impact in terms of air
pollution.
Reduced water requirement.
Higher reliability and availability.

Quality of coal used in steam power station plays an

important role in the design of power plant.
The various factors to be considered while designing the
boilers and coal handling units are as follows
(i) Slagging and erosion properties of ash.
(ii) Moisture in the coal. Excessive moisture creates
additional problems particularly in case of
pulverized fuel power
(iii) Burning characteristic of coal.

The coal from supply points is delivered by

ships or boats to power stations situated near
to sea or river
whereas coal is supplied by rail or trucks to
the power stations which are situated away
from sea or river.
The transportation of coal by trucks is used if
the railway facilities are not available.

depends on how coal is received at the power station

If coal is delivered by trucks, there is no need of unloading
device as the trucks may dump the coal to the outdoor
storage
In case the-coal is brought by railway wagons, ships or
boats, the unloading may be done by car shakes, rotary car
dumpers, cranes, grab buckets, etc.

When the coal delivered is in the form of big

lumps and it is not of proper size,
the preparation (sizing) of coal can be
achieved by crushers, breakers, sizers driers
and magnetic separators.
This process is also known as pulverizing.

After preparation coal is transferred to the

dead storage by means of the following
systems:
1. Belt conveyors.
2. Screw conveyors.
3. Bucket elevators.
4. Grab bucket elevators.
5. Skip hoists.
6. Flight conveyor.

Its operation is smooth and clean.

It requires less power as compared
to other types of systems.
Large quantities of coal can be
discharged
quickly
and
continuously.
Material can be transported on
moderates inclines (20 deg)

Used where coal is to be transferred over

shorter distance and space limitations exist.
The initial cost of the system is low.
power consumption is high and there is
considerable wear of screw.
Rotation of screw varies between 75125
r.p.m.

Consists of a vertical or
inclined hoist way a bucket
or a car d by a frame and a
cable for hoisting the bucket.
The bucket is held in upright
position.
It is simple and compact
method of elevating coal or
ash

It consists of one or two strands of chain to which steel

scraper or flights are attached which scrap the coal
through a trough having identical shape.
This coal is discharged in the bottom of trough.
It is low in first cost but has large energy consumption.
There is considerable wear

Skip hoist and bucket elevators lift the coal vertically

while Belts and flight conveyors move the coal
horizontally or on inclines.

The coal stored has the tendency to whether (to

combine with oxygen of air) and during this process
coal loss some of its heating value and ignition quality.
this is avoided by storing coal in the form of piles which
consist of thick and compact layers of coal so that air
cannot pass through the coal piles.
In case the coal is to be stored for longer periods the
outer surface of piles may be sealed with asphalt or fine
coal

From the dead storage the coal is brought to

covered storage (Live storage)
In plant handling may include the equipment
such as belt conveyors, screw conveyors,
bucket elevators etc. to transfer the coal

Excessive surface moisture of coal reduces and heating

value of coal and creates handling problems. The coal
should therefore be dewatered to produce clean coal.
Cleaning of coal has the following advantages:
1. Improved heating value.
2. Easier crushing and pulverizing.
3. Improved boiler performance.
4. Less ash to handle.
5. Easier handling.
6. Reduced transportation cost.

1. Hand firing.
2. Mechanical firing.
Used with medium and large size power plants.
large quantities of fuel can be fed into the furnace. Thus

greater combustion capacity is achieved.

Poor grades of fuel can be burnt easily.
Stoker save labor of handling ash and are self-cleaning.
furnace conditions can be maintained by feeding coal at a
uniform rate.
Stokers save coal and increase the efficiency of coal firing.

Coal is pulverised (powdered) to increase its surface

exposure thus permitting rapid combustion.
Efficient use of coal depends greatly on the
combustion process employed.
For large scale generation of energy the efficient
method of burning coal is confined still to pulverised
coal combustion.
The pulverised coal is obtained by grinding the raw
coal in pulverising mills

The coal pulverising mills reduce coal to

powder form by three actions as follows
Impact
Attrition (abrasion)
Crushing.

(i) Unit System or Direct System.

(i)

Unit System or Direct System.

Advantages
1. The system is simple and cheaper than the central
system.
2. There is direct control of combustion from the
pulverising mill.
3. Coal transportation system is simple.

2. Bin or Central System

2. Bin or Central System

Advantages
1. The pulverising mill grinds the coal at a steady rate irrespective
of boiler feed.
2. There is always some coal in reserve. Thus any occasional
breakdown in the coal supply will not effect the coal feed to the
burner.
3. For a given boiler capacity pulverising mill of small capacity will
be required as compared to unit system.
Disadvantages
1. The initial cost of the system is high.
2. Coal transportation system is quite complicated.
3. The system requires more space.

The handling equipment should perform the following

functions:
(1) Capital investment, operating and maintenance charges
of the equipment should be low.
(2) It should be able to handle large quantities of ash.
(3) Clinkers, soot, dust etc. create troubles, the equipment
should be able to handle them smoothly.
(4) The equipment used should remove the ash from the
furnace, load it to the conveying system to deliver the ash
to a storage and it should have means to dispose of the
stored ash.
(5) The equipment should be corrosion and wear resistant.

1.
2.
3.

Hydraulic system
Pneumatic system
Mechanical system.

The disposal smoke to the atmosphere is not desirable due

to the following reasons:
A smoky atmosphere is harmful.
Smoke is produced due to incomplete combustion of coal.
This will create a big economic loss due to loss of heating
value of coal.
In a smoky atmosphere lower standards of cleanliness are
prevalent. Buildings, clothing, furniture etc. becomes dirty
due to smoke. Smoke corrodes the metals and darkens the
paints.

1.

Mechanical dust collectors

a. Wet type
b. Dry type
a. gravity separators
b. inertial separators
c. cyclone collectors

2.

Electrical dust collectors

Advantages:
Very simple to construct and operate
Negligible operation and maintenance problems
No temperature, pressure and moisture content limitations
Handles all kinds of dusts with any inlet dust concentrations
Low capital investment, operation and maintenance costs
Dry dust collection and disposal
Disadvantages
Occupies very large floor area
Not suitable for particles less than 60 microns
Not economical for very large gas volumes

10% to 15% of the heat input is rejected to the

atmosphere through boiler chimneys.
48% to 52% of the heat input is rejected to a cooling
water system through the steam condensers
enormous amount of water is required for cooling
purposes in steam condensers.
approximately 190 liters of water per kWh is
required for condenser cooling
Therefore the power plant can be located near a
source of natural water

The supply of ocean water is practically unlimited,

but ocean sites are accessible only in few cases.
Lakes and reservoirs are attractive because of
natural stratification, but the ecological factors may
restrict their use
Few rivers have sufficient flow to supply the
quantities desired ie., about 2 to 3 times the rate of
water consumption

huge transmission costs

Presence of free acid, sewage contamination
and other foreign materials
As the number and size of power plants
increases, the availability of natural water
sources suitable as a heat sink will not be
sufficient.

The heat from the hot water will be transferred to

the air by two processes, convection and
evaporation
To increase the rate of cooling the area of the pond
will have to be increased
Some additional processes such as spraying may be
employed to increase the contact of the water with
atmosphere

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9.

Initial temperature of water entering the pond.

Atmospheric temperature.
Relative humidity
Air velocity.
Solar radiation.
Earth temperature.
Atmospheric pressure.
Area of pond
Depth of the pond.

considerable quantity of water may be carried away

in suspension in air when its velocity is high
loss due to evaporation
also space consideration.

This system is used only in low capacity electric

power stations e.g. diesel engine power stations

Cooling lower is a wooden or metallic rectangular structure,

inside of which is packed with baffling devices.
The hot water is delivered to the top of tower and falls down
through the tower and is broken into small particles while
passing over the baffling devices.
Air enters the tower at the bottom and flows upward and
cools the water.
The air vaporizes a small percentage of water. Thereby cooling
the remaining water.
The air gets heated and leaves the towers at the top.
The cooled water falls down into a tank below the tower from
where it can be aging circulated to the condenser

According to the nature of air draught:

1. Atmospheric.
2. Natural draught cooling towers
3. Mechanical draught cooling towers
1. Induced draught cooling towers.
2. Forced draught cooling towers.
3. Combined induced and forced draught cooling towers.

INDUCED DRAUGHT COOLING TOWER

FORCED DRAUGHT COOLING TOWER