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American International University-Bangladesh

(AIUB)

Steam Turbine Power


Station
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Introduction
A steam power plant continuously converts the energy
stored in fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) or fissile fuels
(uranium, thorium) into shaft work and ultimately into
electricity. The working fluid is water which is sometimes
in the liquid phase and sometimes in the vapour phase
during its cycle of operations. In this type of plant, the
products of combustion do not form the working medium
for driving the turbine. These are utilized to produce steam
which is expanded in the turbines.

Advantages of Steam Power Plants


The advantages of steam power plants are as follows:

Operating costs are low in comparison to the gas


turbine power plants.
Efficiency is better.
Low graded fuel can be used.
Capacity of such plants is high.
Initial capital cost is low in comparison to the hydroelectric power plants and nuclear power plants.
It can be used efficiently as base load power plant.

Disadvantages of Steam Power Plants


The followings are disadvantages of steam power plants:

Handling and storage of fuels and disposal of ash create a


big problem in steam plants.
It requires a huge area (about 250 acres of land is needed
for a 2000 MW coal fired steam plant).
The time required to start a steam plant from idle is high
causing a higher standby losses.
It is difficult to maintain the cleanliness of the plant
mainly because of the fuel and ash handling problem.

Disadvantages of Steam Power Plants


Electrostatic precipitator (which removes dust particles
from gases) is needed to reduce the stack emissions to an
acceptable level.
In case of coal fired steam plant, the cost of the pulverized
plant may be introduced.
A large amount of fresh water will be required.
Sometimes water treatment plant is used for the
purification of water which introduces an extra investment.

Site Selection of Steam Power Plants


For steam stations, the choice of plant location is
governed by the following considerations:
Transmission of energy:
Fuel delivery:
Water supply:
Realty value and taxes:
Disposal of ash:
Pollution and noise

Water, Steam and Flue Gas Flow Diagram of a Steam


Power Plant
REHEATER

STEAM

GRATE

AIR FROM
ATMOSPHERE

BLEEDING
OF STEAM

ECONOMISER

FUEL

FLUE
GAS

CONDENSER

FLUE
GAS

FURNACE

AIR
PREHEATER

STEAM
TURBINE

FEED
WATER

BOILER

SUPERHEATER

STEAM
TURBINE

ALTERNATOR

FLUE
GAS

MAKEUP
WATER TANK

FEED
WATER

FEED WATER
HEATER

FEED WATER
PUMP

COOLING
TOWER OR
RIVER

CONDENSATE

FEED
WATER
CONDENSATE
PUMP

Main and Auxiliary Equipments in a Steam Power


Plant
The main equipments in a thermal (steam) power plant consist of Boiler

Steam turbine

Alternator

To achieve efficient conversion of heat energy into electrical energy, a variety


of auxiliary equipments are needed. So, the main and auxiliary equipments in
a thermal plant are:
Coal handling plant
Pulverizing plant
Draft fans
Boiler
Ash handling plant
Turbine
Condenser Cooling towers and ponds Feed water heater
Economizer
Superheater and reheater
Air preheater
Alternator with exciter Protection and control equipments
Instrumentation

Coal Handling Plant:


A thermal plant burns enormous amount of coal. The
function of coal handling plant is automatic feeding of
coal to the boiler furnace. A grate (A frame of iron bars to
hold a fire) at the bottom of the furnace holds the fuel bed.

Pulverizing Plant:
In modern steam power plant, coal is pulverized i.e.
ground to dust like size. Pulverization is a means of
exposing large surface area to the action of oxygen and
consequently helping the combustion.

Pulverization: The act of grinding to a powder or dust.


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Coal handling plant in Belchatow


Power Station

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Advantages of using pulverised coal:


The rate of combustion can be controlled and
changed quickly to meet the varying load.
The percentage of excess air required is low.
Automatic combustion control can be used.
Preheated air can be used successfully.
Low graded coals can be used.
The boiler can be started from the cold condition
very rapidly.
The pulverising equipment is outside the furnace.
Therefore, it can be repaired without cooling down
the unit.

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Disadvantages of using pulverised coal:


Investment cost of plant is increased.
Explosion hazards exist. Therefore, skilled
personnel are required.
Auxiliary power consumption of the plant is
increased.
A lot of extra equipments, mills, burners etc.
are needed.
The lower rows of boiler tubes get deposited
with slag. Removal of this slag requires special
extra equipment.

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Draft System:
The circulation of air is caused by a difference in pressure
known as draft. Thus draft is the differential in pressure
between two points i.e. atmosphere and inside the boiler.
A differential in draft is needed to cause flow of gases
through the boiler setting. A draft may be natural or
mechanical.
A natural draft is provided by the chimney or stack.
In a mechanical draft system, the movement of air is
due to the fan. A mechanical draft system may consist
of forced draft or induced draft or both.

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Draft System:
BOILER

INDUCED DRAFT

PRECIPITATOR

FURNACE

AIR PREHEATER

FORCED
DRAFT FAN

ECONOMISER

CHIMNEY

GRATE

Figure: Flue Gas Flow Diagram of a Thermal Power Plant

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Boiler:
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water, under pressure, is
converted into steam. It is one of the major components of a
thermal power plant. The heat is transferred to the boiler by
all the three modes of heat transfer i.e. conduction,
convection (The transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or
gas) caused by molecular motion) and radiation (Energy
that is radiated or transmitted in the form of rays or waves
or particles). Boilers are generally classified as fire tube
boiler and water tube boiler.

Superheater:

The function of superheater is to remove the last traces of


moisture from the saturated steam leaving the boiler tube
and also raises the temperature of the steam. The heat of
combustion gases from the furnace is used for superheating.
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Reheater:
The function of reheater is to superheat the partly expanded steam
from the turbine. This ensures that steam remains dry
through the last stage of turbine and also increases the
thermal efficiency.

Steam Turbine:
A steam turbine converts the heat energy of steam into
mechanical energy and drives the generator. It uses the
principle that the steam when issuing from a small opening
attains a high velocity. The attained velocity during expansion
depends on the initial and final heat content of the steam. The
difference between initial and final heat content represents the
heat energy converted into kinetic energy. They are of two
types, impulse turbine and reaction turbine.
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Boiler

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Boiler

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Ash Handling Plant:


Ash is produced due to combustion of coal. Of this, about
25% is furnace bottom ash and remaining 75% is fly ash or
pulverised fuel ash (PFA) or dust ash.

A sluicing system is generally used for removal of furnace


bottom ash. The ash falls into a dry hopper which is fitted
with access doors and high pressure water jet.
A pneumatic (Of or relating to or using air) system is
usually employed for disposal of fly ash. In this system, a
high velocity air stream causes the ash to flow into
separators where the ash is collected in hoppers (Funnelshaped container that is used to put or keep things in). The
dust air is filtered and exhausted to atmosphere through the
exhaust fan.
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Condenser:
The condenser does the job of condensing the steam
exhausted from the turbine. Thus it helps in maintaining
low pressure at the exhaust, thereby permitting expansion
of steam in the turbine to a very low pressure. The exhaust
steam is condensed and used as feed water for the boiler.

Cooling Towers and Ponds:


A condenser needs huge quantity of water to condense the
steam. Cooling towers and ponds are required where river
is not available near the thermal power plant for cooling.

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Condenser

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Feed Water Heater:


It is necessary to heat water before feeding it to the boiler.
Normally steam is bleeded from the main turbine for
heating the feed water. It is necessary for the following
reasons:
It improves overall plant efficiency.
Removes dissolved oxygen and CO2 from feed water.
Thermal stresses due to cold water entering the boiler
drum are avoided.
Quantity of steam produced by the boiler is increased.

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Feed Water Heater

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Economiser:
FLUE GAS
FEED WATER
OUTLET

Flue gases coming out of the


boiler carry lot of heat. An
economizer extracts a part of this
heat from the flue gases and
uses it for heating feed water. In
an economizer, large numbers of
small diameter thin walled tubes are
placed between two headers. Feed
water enters the tubes through
one header and leaves through
other, thus transmits the heat to
the feed water.

FEED WATER
INLET

FLUE GAS

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Air Preheater:
After the flue gas leave the economiser, some further heat
can be extracted from them and used to heat the incoming
air for combustion. Cooling of flue gases by 20C raises the
plant efficiency by about 1%.

Auxiliary Supply:
The auxiliaries in a steam plant can be divided into two
categories: urgent auxiliaries and service auxiliaries. The urgent
auxiliaries are those which are associated with the running of
a unit and whose loss would cause an immediate reduction of
the unit output. The service auxiliaries are those whose loss
would not affect the output until after a considerable time.

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Typical properties of selected fuels


Contaminants %

CV as normally expressed
Fuel
Steam coal

Gross

Net

Sulphur

Water

Ash

30.6 MJ/kg

29.7 MJ/kg

1.2

10.0

8.0

Wood waste

15.8 MJ/kg

14.4 MJ/kg

0.4

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Trace

Heavy fuel oil

41.2 MJ/litre

2.0

0.3

0.04

0.15

0.05

0.01

Gas-oil

38.3 MJ/litre

38.9 MJ/litre
36.0 MJ/litre

Natural gas

38.0 MJ/cubic 34.2 MJ/cubic


metre
metre

Trace

Landfill gas

20.0 MJ/cubic 18.0 MJ/cubic


metre
metre

Trace

Trace

Mine gas

21.0 MJ/cubic 18.9 MJ/cubic


metre
metre

Trace

5.0

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Efficiencies in a Steam Power Plant


P
EXHAUST
GAS

4
FURNACE
(SOURCE)

Q1

B
1

FUEL

AIR

C
T

SINK

Q2

BRAKE OUTPUT

G
POWER CONSUMED
TO DRIVE
AUXILIARIES

GROSS POWER (MWe)

NET POWER (MWe)

Figure: A power plant converts energy of fuel into electricity


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Efficiencies in a Steam Power Plant

Note:
A. 1 kWh (kilowatt-hour) = 3.6 MJ = 860 kcal (kilogram calories)
B. 1 megajoule per second [MJ/s] = 1 MW
C. The SI unit of calorific value is J/kg.
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Efficiencies in a Steam Power Plant

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Efficiencies in a Steam Power Plant

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Efficiencies in a Steam Power Plant

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Automation

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