V R Siddhartha Engineering

College
EEE Department
Thermal Power Plant

Introduction

In India 65% of total power is generated by the Thermal

Power Stations .
In thermal generating stations coal, oil, natural gas etc.
are employed as primary sources of energy .
A thermal power station basically work on the Rankine
cycle.
Thermal power plant convert the heat energy of coal into
electrical energy.
Coal is burnt in a boiler which converts water into steam.
The expansion of steam in turbine produces mechanical
power which drives the alternator coupled to the turbine.

Definition

A generating station which converts heat energy of coal

combustion into electrical energy is known as thermal power
station.
Thermal power plant basically works on Rankine cycle
RANKINE CYCLE:In thermal power station, water is heated, turns 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 & recycled to where it was
heated; this is known as Rankine cycle

Advantage
The
fuel used is quite cheap.
s
Less initial cost as compared to other generating

plants.
It can be installed at any place irrespective of the
existence of coal.
The coal can be easily transported to the site
It require less space as compared to Hydro power
plants.
Cost of generation is less than that of diesel power
plants.

Disadvantages
It pollutes the atmosphere due to
production of large amount of smoke and
fumes.
It is costlier in running cost as compared to
Hydro electric plants.
Maintenance cost is more

Selection of site
Nearness to load center
Supply of water
Availability of coal
Land requirement
Type of land
Labour supplies
Ash disposal
Distance from populated area

Main and auxiliary equipments

Coal handling plant

Pulverizing plant
Draft fans
Boiler
Ash handling plant
Turbine
Alternator
Condenser
Cooling towers and
ponds
Feed water heater
Economizer
Super heater and
Reheater
Air preheater

Schematic arrangement of steam power station

Coal Handling Plant

The function of coal handling
plant is automatic feeding of
coal to the boiler furnace.
A 200MW plant may require
around 2000 tons of coal daily

Pulverizing Plant
In Thermal power plant , coal is pulverized
(crushed into small pieces)
this helps for rapid combustion of coal
Without using large quantity of air
The size of the coal particles is in the range of
75 microns. This means every particle comes
into contact with the air. The loss due to
unburned carbon is only in the range of 0.5 %
or less making the boiler very efficient.

Coal Handling plant

Draft System
The circulation of air
is caused by a
difference in
pressure, known as
Draft.
Draft is a differential
pressure b/w
atmosphere and
inside the boiler.
It is necessary to
cause the flow of
gases through boiler

Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in
which water is converted into
steam using the heat of the
coal combustion. Hence, boiler
is called steam generator
It is one of the major
components of a thermal
power plant Always designed
to absorb maximum amount of
heat released in the process of
combustion
Boilers are of two types1. Fire tube boiler

Ash Handling Plant

The percentage of ash in coal varies
from 5% in good quality coal to about
40% in poor quality coal, Power plants
generally use poor quality of coal .
A modern 2000MW plant produces
about 5000 tons of ash daily.
The stations use some conveyor
arrangement to carry ash to dump sites
directly or for carrying and loading it to
trucks and wagons which transport it to
the site of disposal

Steam Turbine
The dry and superheated steam from the
superheater is fed to the steam turbine through
main valve
The heat energy of steam when passing over the
blades of turbine is converted into mechanical
energy
After giving heat energy to the turbine, the steam
is exhausted to the condenser which condenses the
exhausted steam by means of cold water
circulation
These are of two types :1. Impulse turbine
2. Reaction turbine

Multi stage Steam Turbine Generator

The steam is exhausted from the high-pressure turbine, and
reduced in both pressure and temperature, is returned to the
boiler Reheater.
The reheated steam is then passed to the Intermediate
pressure turbine, and from there passed directly to the low
pressure turbine set

Reheater
Some of the heat of superheated steam is used to
rotate the turbine where it loses some of its energy.
Reheater is also steam boiler component in which
heat is added to this intermediate-pressure steam,
which has given up some of its energy in expansion
through the high-pressure turbine.
The steam after reheating is used to rotate the
second steam turbine where the heat is converted to
mechanical energy.
This mechanical energy is used to run the alternator,
which is coupled to turbine , there by generating
electrical energy.

Alternator
Turbine and alternator are
mechanical coupled with
each other.
Alternator convert
mechanical energy of turbine
into electrical energy.
The electrical output from
the alternator is delivered to
the bus bar through
transformer.

Condenser
Steam after rotating steam turbine comes to
Condenser refers here to the shell and tube heat
exchanger installed at the outlet of every steam
turbine in Thermal power stations of utility companies
generally.
These condensers are heat exchangers which convert
steam from its gaseous to its liquid state, also known
as phase transition.
An air cooled condenser is however significantly more
expensive and cannot achieve as low a steam turbine
backpressure (and therefore less efficient) as a surface
condenser.
The purpose is to condense the outlet (or exhaust)
steam from steam turbine to obtain maximum
efficiency and also to get the condensed steam in the
form of pure water, otherwise known as condensate,
back to steam generator or (boiler) as boiler feed water

Cooling Towers And Ponds

A condenser needs huge quantity of water to

condense the steam .
Most plants use a closed cooling system where
warm water coming from condenser is cooled
and reused
Small plants use spray ponds and medium and
large plants use cooling towers.
Cooling tower is a steel or concrete hyperbolic
structure having a reservoir at the base
For storage of cooled water Height of the
cooling tower may be 150 m or so and diameter
at the base is 150 m

Feed Water Heater

Advantages of heating water before
feeding back to the boiler: Feed water heating improves overall
plant efficiency.
The dissolved oxygen and carbon
dioxide which would otherwise cause
boiler corrosion are removed in feed
water heater
Thermal quantity of steam produced
by the boiler is increased.
Some other impurities carried by the
steam and condensate, due to
corrosion of boiler and condenser are
precipitated outside the boiler.

Economizer
Flue gases coming out of the boiler
carry lot of heat.
An economizer extracts a part of
this heat from flue gases and uses it
for heating feed water.
This use of economizer results in
saving coal consumption and higher
boiler efficiency

Super heater
Super heater is a component of a steam-generating
unit in which steam, after it has left the boiler drum, is
heated above its saturation temperature.
The super heater may consist of one or more stages of
tube banks arranged to effectively transfer heat from
the products of combustion.
The steam produced in the boiler is wet and is passed
through a superheater where it is dried and
superheated by the flue gases on their way to chimney
Superheating provides two principal benefits. Firstly,
the overall efficiency is increased. Secondly, too
much condensation in the last stages of turbine (which
would cause blade corrosion) is avoided

Air Preheater

An air pre heater increases the

temperature of air supplied for
coal burning
And it driven from the flue gases.
Air is drown from the atmosphere
by the force of draft fan.
Air preheaters may be of three
types
1. Plate type
2. Tubular type
3. Regenerative type

L.P

S.HEATER

I.P

BOILER

H.P

STEAM FLOW

R.H.

condenser

WATER FLOW
STEAM

B
O
I
L
E
R

D.M.

PLANT

C
O
N
D
E
N
S
E
R

ECONOMIZER

B.F.P

HOT WATER

COOLING

COOL WATER

TOWER

Flue gasses path