Hydro-electric power

plant
• Hydro-electric power plant is a power
plant which converts hydraulic
energy(potential energy of water) into
electrical energy
• In a Hydro-electric power plant water head
is created by constructing a dam across a
river
• From the dam water is led to a water
turbine
• The water turbine converts the hydraulic
energy(product of head and flow of
water) into mechanical energy at the
turbine shaft
• The turbine drives the alternator which
• Hydro-electric power plants are generally
located in hilly areas where dams can be
built conveniently and large reservoirs can
be obtained.
• They have the added importance of storage
of water for irrigation and drinking purposes,
flood control etc.
• The schematic arrangement of a modern
Hydro-electric power plant is shown in the
fig.
• The dam is constructed across a river to
form a reservoir
• A pressure tunnel is taken off from the
reservoir and water brought to the
valve house at the start of the
penstock
• The valve house contains main valves
and automatic isolating valves
• The main valves controls the water flow to
the power house and the isolating valves
cuts off supply of water when the penstock
bursts
• From the valve house water is taken to
water turbine through a huge steel pipe
known as penstock
• The water turbine converts hydraulic
energy into mechanical energy
• The turbine drives the alternator which
converts mechanical energy into
electrical energy
 Main
1)
components
Reservoir:The main function of the reservoir
is to store water during rainy season and use
it during dry season
2) Dam:A dam is a barrier constructed in
the normal path of the river which
serves two functions
• It develops a reservoir which has a capacity
to store water
• It help to create working head of the power
plant
• The type and arrangement of the dam
depends upon the topography of the site
3) Spill ways:The spill ways acts as a
safety valves for a dam
• During heavy rain fall the river flow
exceeds the storage capacity of the
reservoir
• Then the spill way discharges the surplus
water from the reservoir to the river on
the down stream side of the dam
• Thus the spill ways keeps the reservoir
level below the predetermined maximum
level
4) Intake:The intake allows the water to
flow into the penstock under controlled
conditions
• Racks or screens are used to prevent
debris passing into the water passage
otherwise debris may damage the turbine
blades or nozzle
5) Penstock:Penstocks are huge pipes or
conduits which carry water to the
turbines
• It is a pipe between surge tank and
turbine
• They are generally made of
reinforced concrete or steel
• Various devices such as automatic butterfly
valve,air valve and surge tank are provided
for the protection of penstocks
• Automatic butterfly valve shuts off water
flow through the penstock promptly if it
ruptures
• Air valve maintains the air pressure inside
the penstock equal to the outside
atmospheric pressure
6) Surge tank: A surge tank is a small reservoir
or tank open at the top in which water level
rises or falls to reduce the pressure swings
in the penstock
 Advantage
s
• For hydro-electric power plant the running
charges are very less because it requires no
fuel as water is used for the generation of
electrical energy which is available free of
cost
• It is quite neat and clean as no smoke or ash
is produced
• It is comparatively simple in construction
and requires less maintenance
• It does not require a long starting time
like thermal power plant
• It is robust and has a longer life
• In addition to the generation they also help
in storage of water for irrigation and drinking
purposes,flood control etc.
 Disadvantage
•
s
It involves high capital cost due to construction
of dam
• Skilled and experienced hands are required
to build the plant
• It requires high cost of transmission lines as
the plant is located in hilly areas which are
quite away from the consumers
• There is uncertainty about the availability of
huge amount of water due to dependence on
weather conditions
Choice of site for hydro-electric
power plant
1) Availability of water:Since the primary
requirement of hydro-electric power plant is
the availability of huge quantity of water,such
plants should be built at a place where
adequate water is available(river,canal etc) at a
good head
2) Storage of water:The site selected for a
Hydro- electric power plant should provide
adequate facilities for erecting a dam and
reservoir
3) Cost and type of land:The land for the
construction of plant should be available at
a reasonable price
• Further the bearing capacity of the ground
should be adequate to withstand the
weight of heavy equipment to be installed
4) Transportation facilities: The site selected
for a Hydro-electric power plant should be
accessible by rail and road so that
necessary equipment and machinery could
be easily transported
• From these ideal choice of site for Hydro-
electric power plant is near a river in hilly
areas where dam can be conveniently
built and large reservoirs can be
obtained.
Thermal Power Plant(Steam
Power Plant)

Schematic arrangement of Thermal power

• Thermal power plant is a power plant which
converts heat energy of coal combustion
into electrical energy
• Here steam is produced in the boiler
by utilizing the heat of coal
combustion
• The steam is then expanded in the steam
turbine and is condensed in a condenser to
be fed into the boiler again
• Thus the steam turbine converts the heat
energy into mechanical energy and drives
the alternator
• The alternator converts the mechanical
energy into electrical energy
• This type of power plant is suitable where
coal and water are available in plenty and a
large amount of electric power is to be
generated
• The schematic arrangement of a
modern thermal power station is
shown in fig.
• The whole arrangement can be divided
into the following components
1) Coal and ash handling arrangement
2) Steam generating plant
3) Steam turbine(Prime mover)
4) Electrical equipments
(alternators,transformers,switch gears
etc)
5) Feed water circuit
6) Cooling arrangement
 1)Coal and ash handling
arrangement
• The coal is transported to the power station
by road or rail and is stored in the coal
storage plant
• From the coal storage plant coal is delivered
to the coal handling plant where it is
pulverized ie;crushed into small pieces in
order to increase its surface exposure, thus
promoting rapid combustion without using
large quantity of excess air
• The pulverized coal is fed to the boiler by
belt conveyers
• The coal is burnt in the boiler and the ash
produced after the complete combustion of
coal is removed to the ash handling plant
and then delivered to the ash storage plant
for disposal
 2)Steam generating
• The
plant
steam generating plant consists of a
boiler for the production of steam and other
auxiliary equipments for the utilization of
flue gases
i)Boiler: The heat of combustion of coal in the
boiler is utilized to convert water into steam at
high temperature and pressure
• The flue gases from the boiler make their
journey through superheater ,economiser,air
preheater and are finally exhausted to the
atmosphere through the chimney
ii)Superheater:The steam produced in the boiler is
wet and is passed through a superheater where
it is dried and superheated ie;steam
temperature is increased above that of boiling
point of water by the flue gases
• Super heating provides two main benefits
 The overall efficiency is increased
 Too much condensation in the last stages of
turbine which would cause blade corrosion
is avoided
• The superheated steam from the superheater
is fed to the steam turbine through the main
valve
iii)Economiser:An economiser is essentially
a feed water heater
• The feed water is fed to the
economiser before supplying to the
boiler
• The economiser extracts a part of heat of
flue gases to increase the feed water
temperature
• iV)Air preheater:An air preheater increases
the temp.of air supplied for coal
combustion by deriving heat from the flue
gases
• Air is drawn from the atmosphere by a
forced draught fan and is passed through
• The air pre heater extracts heat from flue
gases and increases the temp.of air used
for coal combustion
• The pre heating will increase the
thermal efficiency
3)Steam turbine:The dry and super heated
steam from the super heater 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
4)Electrical equipments: The steam turbine
is coupled to an alternator which converts
mechanical energy of turbine into
electrical energy
• The electrical output from the alternator
is delivered to the bus bars through
transformers and switchgears
5)Feed water circuit:The condensate from the
condenser is used as feed water to the
boiler
• Some water may be lost in the cycle which
is suitably made up from external source
• The feed water on its way to the boiler
is heated by water heaters and
economiser
• This increases the overall efficiency of
the plant
6)Cooling arrangement :In order to improve
the efficiency of the plant,the steam
exhausted from the turbine is condensed by
means of a condenser
• Water is drawn from a natural source such
as river or lake and is circulated through
the condenser
• The circulating water takes up the heat of
the exhausted steam and itself becomes
hot
• This hot water coming out from the
condenser is discharged at a suitable location
down the river
• In case the availability of water is not
assured throughout the year cooling towers
are used
• During the scarcity of water in the river hot
water from the condenser is passed on to
the cooling towers where it is cooled
• The cold water from the cooling tower
is reused in the condenser
 Advantage
• The fuel ie;coal used is quite cheap
s
• Less initial cost as compared to other
generating stations
• It requires less space as compared to the
hydro- electric power plant
• It can be installed at any place irrespective of
the existence of coal.The coal can be
transported to the site of the plant by rail or
road
• The cost of generation is less than that of
diesel power station
 Disadvantage
s
• It pollutes the atmosphere due to the
production of large amount of smokes
and fumes
• The running cost is high compared to
hydro- electric power plant
Choice of site for Thermal power
plant
1) Supply of fuel:The thermal power plant
should be located near the coal mines so
that transportation cost of fuel is minimum.
• However if such a plant is to be installed at
a place where coal is not available then
there must be facilities for the
transportation of coal by rail or road
2)Availability of water:Huge amount of water
is required for the condenser,therefore such
a plant should be located at the bank of a
river or lake to ensure the continuous
supply of water
3)Trasportation facilities:A modern power plant
requires the transportation of materials and
machinery.Therefore adequate transportation
facilities must exist by rail,road etc.
4)Cost and type of land:The land for the
construction of plant should be available at
a reasonable price
• Further the bearing capacity of the ground
should be adequate to withstand the
weight of heavy equipments to be
installed
5)Distance from populated area:Huge amount
of coal is burnt in a steam power plant
which will pollute the surrounding area
• So the plant should be located at a
considerable distance from the
populated area
6)Nearness to load centres:in order to
reduce the transmission cost the plant
should be located near the load centres
Nuclear Power
Plant
• Nuclear power plant is a power plant in
which nuclear energy is converted into
electrical energy
• In nuclear power station,heavy elements
such as Uranium(U235) or Thorium(Th232) are
subjected to nuclear fission in a special
apparatus known as Nuclear reactor
• Nuclear fission is the breaking up of nuclei
of heavy atoms into two nearly equal parts
with release of huge amount of energy.
• The release of huge amount of energy during
fission is due to mass defect ie;the mass of
the final product comes out to be less than
the initial product
• This mass defect is converted into heat
energy according to Einstein’s relation,E=mc2
• The heat energy thus released is utilized
in raising steam at high temperature and
pressure
• The steam runs the steam turbine which
converts steam energy into mechanical
energy
• The turbine drives the alternator which
converts mechanical energy into
electrical energy
• The most important feature of a nuclear
power plant is that huge amount of
electrical energy can be produced from a
relatively small amount of nuclear fuel as
compared to other conventional power
plants
• The schematic arrangement of a
nuclear power plant is shown in fig.
• The whole arrangement can be divided
into the following main stages
1) Nuclear reactor
2) Heat exchanger
3) Steam turbine
4) Alternator
1)Nuclear reactor:Nuclear reactor is an
apparatus in which nuclear fuel(U235)
is subjected to nuclear fission
• It controls the chain reaction that starts
once the fission is done
• If the chain reaction is not controlled,
the result will be an explosion due to
the fast increase in the energy released
• A nuclear reactor is a cylindrical stout
pressure vessel and houses fuel rods of
uranium,moderator and control rods
• The fuel rods constitute the fission
material and release huge amount of
energy when bombarded with slow
moving neutrons
• The moderator consists of graphite rods
which enclose the fuel rods
• The moderator slows down the
neutrons before they bombard the fuel
rods
• The control rods are of cadmium and
are inserted into the reactor
• Cadmium is strong neutron absorber and
thus regulates the supply of neutrons for
• When the control rods are pushed in deep
enough,they absorb most of fission neutrons
and hence few are available for chain
reaction which therefore stops.
• However as they are being
withdrawn,more and more of these fission
neutrons cause fission and hence the
intensity of chain reaction or heat
produced is increased
• Therefore by pulling out the control
rods,power of the nuclear reactor is
increased,whereas by pushing them in it
is reduced
• In actual practice,the lowering or raising
of control rods is accomplished
automatically according to the
requirement of load
• The heat produced in the reactor is
removed by the coolant,generally a sodium
metal
• The coolant carries the heat to the
heat exchanger
2)Heat exchanger:The coolant gives up heat to
the heat exchanger which is utilised in
raising the steam
• After giving up heat,the coolant is again fed
to the reactor
3)Steam turbine:The steam produced in the
heat exchanger is led to the steam
turbine through a valve
• The steam turbine converts the steam
energy into mechanical energy
• After doing a useful work in the
turbine,the steam is exhausted to
condenser
• The condenser condenses the steam which
is fed to the heat exchanger through feed
water pump
4)Alternator:The steam turbine drives the
alternator which converts mechanical
energy into electrical energy
• The output from the alternator is delivered
to the busbars through transformer and
switchgears
 Advantage
s
1) The amount of fuel required is quite small
and hence the fuel transportation cost is
less
2) A nuclear power plant requires less space
as compared to any other type of the same
size
3) It has low running charges as a small
amount of fuel is used for producing bulk
electrical energy
4) This type of plant is very economical
for producing bulk electric power
5)It can be located near the load centres
because it does not require large quantities
of water and need not be near coal
mines.Therefore the cost of primary
distribution is reduced
6)There are large deposits of nuclear fuels
available all over the world.Therefore
such plants can assure continued supply
of electrical energy for thousands of
years
7)It ensures reliability of operation
 Disadvantage
s
1) The fuel used is expensive and is difficult
to recover
2) The capital cost on a nuclear plant is
very high as compared to other types of
plants
3) The erection and commissioning of the
plant requires more technical knowledge
4) The fission by-products are generally
radioactive and may cause a
dangerous amount of radioactive
pollution
5) Maintenance charges are high due to lack
of standardisation.Moreover,high salaries
of specially trained personnel employed to
handle the plant further raise the cost
6) Nuclear power plants are not well suited for
varying loads as the reactor does not
respond to the load fluctuations efficiently
7) The disposal of the by-products,which are
radioactive is a big problem.They have either
to be disposed off in a deep trench or in a
sea away from sea-shore
 Selection of site for Nuclear
power plant
1) Availability of water:As sufficient water is
required for cooling purpose,the plant site
should be located where sufficient quantity
of water is available ie;near a river or sea
side
2) Disposal of waste:The waste produced by
fission is generally radioactive which must be
disposed off properly to avoid health hazards
• The waste should either be buried in a deep
trench or disposed off in sea quite away
from the sea shore
3) Distance from populated areas:The site
selected for a nuclear power plant should be
quite away from the populated areas as there
is a danger of presence of radioactivity in the
atmosphere near the plant
4) Transportation facilities:The site selected should
have adequate facilities in order to transport
the heavy equipments during erection and to
facilitate the movement of the workers
employed in the plant
 From the above mentioned factors it
becomes apparent that ideal choice for a
nuclear power plant would be near a river or
sea and away from thickly populated areas