ABOUT PPCL

* The Puducherry Power Corporation was incorporated with the objective of generating 32.5 MW of
Electricity (22.9 MW from Gas Turbine and 9.6 MW from Steam Turbine) at Karaikal which is one of the
outlying regions of Puducherry .The required gas is obtained from the Gas wells at Narimanam in the
Cauvery basin under an agreement with the Gas Authority of India. The Corporation had received the
entire cost of Rs. 133.04 crores as Share Capital from the Govt. of Puducherry till 1999-2000 and the same
has been utilized for the execution of the Project.

* The first and prestigious gas based power plant was set up at T.R. Pattinam, Karaikal to cater to the power
demand of Karaikal region. The plant on Open Cycle (22.9 MW Gas Turbine) was synchronized during
October 1999. The plant was dedicated to the nation by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on
25.05.1999.

* The plant was put into commercial operation w.e.f 3rd January 2000. The entire power generated from the
Karaikal Gas Power Plant is supplied to the Electricity Department, Karaikal. The plant is performing
extremely well till date.

* The power generated by both the gas and steam turbines are distributed at 11 KV legal and distributed to
local industries and consumers. Some of the power is exported to 110 KV level to nearby 110 KV
substation.

* In consideration with the requirement of power in the Union Territory of Puducherry more so at Karaikal,
expansion plans are in the anvil depending on firm allocation of gas of 4.85 lakhs cu.m per day for
additional 100 MW, by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
 FUNCTONS & OBJECTIVES (In Points and Specific)

The main objectives besides others of forming the corporation are given below;

a) To carry on the business of electric power generation and to construct, lay down, establish,
operate and maintain generating stations and tie lines, sub-stations and main transmission lines
connected therewith; to operate and maintain such generating stations, tie lines, sub-stations and main
transmission lines as are assigned to it by the competent government and to fix and carry out all
necessary power stations, cables, wires, lines, accumulators, lamps, works and to generate, accumulate,
distribute and supply electricity and to light cities, towns, street docks, markets, theatres, buildings and
places both public and private

b) to construct, carry out, maintain, improve, manage, work and control and superintend any
reservoirs, water works, tanks, dams, weirs, bridges and works in connection therewith, hydraulic works,
electrical works and factories and other works and conveniences which may directly or indirectly
contribute to subsidize or otherwise aid or take part in such operations.

c) To carry on the business of mechanical engineers, manufacturer of all types of combustion engines,
including oil and petrol engines, gas turbines, steam turbines, boilers, locomotives, road rollers,
automobiles, trucks, tractors, agricultural implements and pumps.

d) To carry on any consultancy works including planning, designing, erection, testing commissioning
and maintenance in respect of the works relating to energy and power sector.
 COMMITTEES

i) Audit Committee

An Audit Committee comprising of 4 members of the Board of Directors of the Corporation

as required u/s 292 A of the Companies Act, 1956 has been constituted. This committee goes
into the details of the Corporation in regard to the Financial reports, Audit Reports of the
Statutory Auditors, AG and such other matters as the Board may authorize the Audit Committee
to decide.

ii) Safety Committee

Safety Committee takes the responsibility to identify any safety defects that might be present
in the Plant and explore their remedial measures to create a safe environment for the plant
personnel.
 ACHIEVEMENTS (SCHEMEWISE / ITEMWISE, YEARWISE)

A. Physical Achievements :

The Corporation is on the top in respect of Capacity Utilization of the plant in the country from the
year 2000-01 as per the "Review of Thermal Power Station" brought out by CEA.

PLF+ Target
Generation
fixed by
Target
Generation the
Sl.No. Year fixed by PLF (%)
(MU) Ministry
Ministry of
of Power
Power
(%)
1. 2000-01 234.13 230.00 80.79 82.23
2. 2001-02 249.35 235.00 82.54 87.73
3. 2002-03 264.00 235.00 82.54 92.48
4. 2003-04 275.42 255.00 82.32 96.74
5. 2004-05 275.41 255 89.87 96.74
6. 2005-06 258.38 250 87.81 90.74
7. 2006-07 270.60 260 91.32 95.05
8. 2007-08 273.62 260 91.07 95.85
9. 2008-09 257.45 250 87.81 90.43
 • The Operational Efficiency of the Plant.
• The Plant has surpassed the generation target by the Ministry of Power, Government of
India consistently since commercial production. The target fixed for the current year
2008-09 is 250. MU.

B. FINANCIAL AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS:

Profit after
Tax Dividend Declared
Year % of Dividend
(Rupees in (Rupees in Crores)
Crores)
2000-01 6.40 0 0
2001-02 7.32 1.46 20%
2002-03 8.34 0.83 10%
2003-04 14.34 1.72 12%
2004-05 10.74 0.86 8%
2005-06 8.89 2.04 25%
2006-07 11.52 2.30 25%
2007-08 11.52 5.02 50%
11.66(un
2008-09 - -
audited)

* The Plant was dedicated to the Nation by Shri Atal Bhihari Vajpayee, the then Hon'ble Prime
Minister of India on 25.05.1999.

* The Plant achieved the highest Plant Load Factor of 103.58% during January 2003 and the yearly
Plant Load Factor of 96.74% in 2004-05.

* The Corporation received the National Safety Award for 2003 for outstanding performance in
industrial safety as runner-up during the year 2003 in achieving lowest average frequency rate
from Labour Minister, Govt. of India on September 21st 2004.

* The Corporation has contributed to Puducherry Chief Minister Relief Fund (viz) Tsunami Relief
Fund- Rs.2.00 Crore in the year 2004-05 and Flood Relief Fund Rs. 5.00 Lacs in the year 2005-
06. Contribution to Karaikal Carnival 2006- Rs. 4.00 Lakhs.
 FINANCIAL EXPENDITURE

The Corporation had not received plan funds from the year 2000-01 and the entire
expenditure is met from the revenue received from the sale of power.

Year Plan Expenditure (Rs. Lakhs)

1999-2000 190.00
2000-2001 to Till date Nil

DAILY GENERATION REPORT

DATE GENERATION MAX. CUMULATIVE CUMULATIVE

DURING GENERATI GENERATI GENERATI
THE DAY ON ON FOR ON FROM
IN KWH DURING THE FIRST
THE DAY MONTH IN APRIL IN
IN MW MKWH MKWH
26/05/2010 612500 25.52 15016510 31413840
25/05/2010 626970 26.12 14404010 30801340
24/05/2010 621740 25.91 13777040 30174370
23/05/2010 621960 25.92 13155300 29552630
22/05/2010 600100 25.00 12533340 28930670
21/05/2010 576730 24.03 11933240 28330570
20/05/2010 575540 23.98 11356510 27753840
19/05/2010 591730 24.66 10780970 27178300
 GAS COMPRESSOR

An essential component in any gas plant or gas system, a gas compressor is a mechanical tool designed to
raise the pressure of gas or vapor. The increase in the pressure of the gas is done by lowering its volume. It
is very natural that compression of a gas increases its temperature. Gas compressors are widely used in
various industrial applications. It is one of the most essential as well as an expensive piece of equipment and
has a predominant influence on gas processing in gas plants.

Working Principle

The working of gas compressor is similar to pumps. Both pumps and compressors increase the pressure on a
fluid/gas and both are used to transport the fluid/gas through a pipe. However, as gases are compressible, the
gas compressor can also reduce the volume of a gas which is not the case with pumps. Since liquids are
relatively incompressible, the main purpose of a pump is simply to transport liquids and that brings out the
difference between compressors and pumps. A gas compressor reduces the volume of a gas and this is done
by pressing the gas molecules close together and storing them under pressure. The energy caused by this
action allows the temperature of the gas to rise.

Reciprocating compressors:

A positive displacement compressor, reciprocating compressor takes successive volumes of air, which is
confined within a closed space, and raising this air to a higher pressure. This is done by using a piston. Air is
drawn into the cylinder through the piston's compressing and displacing element. This compressor is
considered single acting when the air compression is done by using one side of the piston and when both the
sides are used, the reciprocating compressor is considered double acting
THE THERMODYNAMIC CYCLE

An explanation of a few basic thermodynamic principles is necessary to understand the science of

reciprocating compressors. Compression occurs within the cylinder as a four-part cycle that occurs
with each advance and retreat of the piston (two strokes per cycle). The four parts of the cycle are
compression, discharge, expansion and intake. They are shown graphically with pressure vs. volume
plotted in what is known as a P-V diagram (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Intake

At the conclusion of a prior cycle, the piston is fully retreated within the cylinder at V1, the volume
of which is filled with process gas at suction conditions (pressure, P1 and temperature, T1), and the
suction and discharge valves are all closed. This is represented by point 1 (zero) in the P-V diagram.
As the piston advances, the volume within the cylinder is reduced. This causes the pressure and
temperature of the gas to rise until the pressure within the cylinder reaches the pressure of the
discharge header. At this time, the discharge valves begin to open, noted on the diagram by point 2.

With the discharge valves opening, pressure remains fixed at P2 for the remainder of the advancing
stroke as volume continues to decrease for the discharge portion of the cycle. The piston comes to a
momentary stop at V2 before reversing direction. Note that some minimal volume remains, known
as the clearance volume. It is the space remaining within the cylinder when the piston is at the most
advanced position in its travel. Some minimum clearance volume is necessary to prevent piston/head
contact, and the manipulation of this volume is a major compressor performance parameter. The
cycle is now at point 3.

Expansion occurs next as the small volume of gas in the clearance pocket is expanded to slightly
below suction pressure, facilitated by the closing of the discharge valves and the retreat of the piston.
This is point 4.

When P1 is reached, the intake valves open allowing fresh charge to enter the cylinder for the intake
and last stage of the cycle. Once again, pressure is held constant as the volume is changed. This
marks the return to point 1.
Comparison of Gas Compressors

Item Reciprocating Rotary Vane Rotary Screw Centrifugal

Efficiency at full High Medium-Low High High
load
Efficiency at part High due to Poor-Below 60% Poor-Below 60% Poor-Below 60%
load staging at full load at full load at full load
Efficiency at no High (10%-25%) Medium (30%- High-Poor (25%- High-Medium
load (power as % 40%) 60%) (20%-30%)
of full load)
Size Largetab Compact Compact Compact
Noise level Noisy Quiet Quiet (when Quiet
enclosed)
Vibration High None None None
Oil Carry Over Moderate Low-Medium Low Low
Pressure Medium-Very Low-Medium Medium-High Medium-High
high
Capacity Low-High Low-Medium Low-High Medium-High

Applications of Gas/Air compressors

 Fuel Gas / Power Generation

 Gas Boosting
 Gas Generation / PSA
 Gas Liquefication / Cryogenics
 Gas Transmission / Delivery
 Oil Refining / Chemical Processing
 Refrigeration / Gas Drying
 Semiconductor Processing

 Vessel / Cylinder Filling

 GAS TURBINE
A Little Background

There are many different kinds of turbines:

• You have probably heard of a steam turbine. Most power plants use coal, natural gas, oil or
a nuclear reactor to create steam. The steam runs through a huge and very carefully designed
multi-stage turbine to spin an output shaft that drives the plant's generator.
•
• Hydroelectric dams use water turbines in the same way to generate power. The turbines
used in a hydroelectric plant look completely different from a steam turbine because water is
so much denser (and slower moving) than steam, but it is the same principle.
•
• Wind turbines, also known as wind mills, use the wind as their motive force. A wind turbine
looks nothing like a steam turbine or a water turbine because wind is slow moving and very
light, but again the principle is the same.

A gas turbine is an extension on the same concept. In a gas turbine a pressurized gas spins the
turbine. In all modern gas turbine engines the engine produces its own pressurized gas, and it does
this by burning something like propane, natural gas, kerosene or jet fuel. The heat that comes from
burning the fuel expands air, and the high-speed rush of this hot air spins the turbine.

Gas Turbine Engines Working

Gas turbine engines are, theoretically, extremely simple. They have 3 parts:

• A compressor to compress the incoming air to high pressure.

• A combustion area to burn the fuel and produce high pressure, high velocity gas.
• A turbine to extract the energy from the high pressure, high velocity gas flowing from the
combustion chamber.
The following figure shows the general layout of an axial-flow gas turbine - the sort of engine you
would find driving the rotor of a helicopter, for example:

In this engine air is sucked in from the right by the compressor. The compressor is basically a cone-
shaped cylinder with small fan blades attached in rows (8 rows of blades are represented here).
Assuming the light blue represents air at normal air pressure, then as the air is forced through the
compression stage its pressure and velocity rise significantly. In some engines the pressure of the air
can rise by a factor of 30. The high-pressure air produced by the compressor is shown in dark blue.

This high-pressure air then enters the combustion area, where a ring of fuel injectors injects a steady
stream of fuel. The fuel is generally kerosene, jet fuel, propane, or natural gas. If you think about
how easy it is to blow a candle out, then you can see the design problem in the combustion area -
entering this area is high-pressure air moving at hundreds of miles per hour. You want to keep a
flame burning continuously in that environment. The piece that solves this problem is called a
"flame holder", or sometimes a "can". The can is a hollow, perforated piece of heavy metal (shown
here is half of the can in cross-section):
The injectors are at the right. Compressed air enters through the perforations. Exhaust gases exit at
the left. You can see in the previous figure that a second set of cylinders wraps around the inside and
the outside of this perforated can, guiding the compressed intake air into the perforations.

At the left of the engine is the turbine section. In this figure there are two sets of turbines. The first
set directly drives the compressor. The turbines, the shaft and the compressor all turn as a single
unit:

At the far left is a final turbine stage, shown here with a single set of vanes. It drives the output shaft.
This final turbine stage and the output shaft are a completely stand-alone, freewheeling unit. They
spin freely without any connection to the rest of the engine. And that is the amazing part about a gas
turbine engine - there is enough energy in the hot gases blowing through the blades of that final
output turbine to generate 1,500 horsepower and drive a 63 ton M-1 Tank! A gas turbine engine
really is that simple.

In the case of the turbine used in a tank or a power plant, there really is nothing to do with the
exhaust gases but vent them through an exhaust pipe, as shown. Sometimes the exhaust will run
through some sort of heat exchanger either to extract the heat for some other purpose or to preheat
air before it enters the combustion chamber.
The discussion here is obviously simplified a bit. For example, we have not discussed the areas of
bearings, oiling systems, internal support structures of the engine, stator vanes and so on. All of
these areas become major engineering problems because of the tremendous temperatures, pressures
and spin rates inside the engine. But the basic principles described here govern all gas turbine
engines and help you to understand the basic layout and operation of the engine.

OTHER VARIATIONS

Large jetliners use what are known as turbofan engines, which are nothing more than gas turbines
combined with a large fan at the front of the engine. Here's the basic (highly simplified) layout of a
turbofan engine:

You can see that the core of a turbofan is a normal gas turbine engine like the one described in the
previous section. The difference is that the final turbine stage drives a shaft that makes it's way back
to the front of the engine to power the fan (shown in red in this picture). This multiple concentric
shaft approach, by the way, is extremely common in gas turbines. In many larger turbofans, in fact,
there may be two completely separate compression stages driven by separate turbines, along with the
fan turbine as shown above. All three shafts ride within one another concentrically.

The purpose of the fan is to dramatically increase the amount of air moving through the engine, and
therefore increase the engine's thrust. When you look into the engine of a commercial jet at the
airport, what you see is this fan at the front of the engine. It is huge (on the order of 10 feet in
diameter on big jets), so it can move a lot of air. The air that the fan moves is called "bypass air"
(shown in purple above) because it bypasses the turbine portion of the engine and moves straight
through to the back of the nacelle at high speed to provide thrust.
A turboprop engine is similar to a turbofan, but instead of a fan there is a conventional propeller at
the front of the engine. The output shaft connects to a gearbox to reduce the speed, and the output of
the gearbox turns the propeller.