steam power plant

By
DEPARTMENY OF MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
THE KAVERY ENGINEERING COLLEGE
.

Essentials of Steam Power Plant Equipment

A steam power plant must have following equipment :

(a) A furnace to burn the fuel.

(b) Steam generator or boiler containing water.
Heat generated in the furnace is utilized to
convert water into steam.
(c) Main power unit such as an engine or
turbine to use the heat energy of steam and
perform work.
(d) Piping system to convey steam and water.

The flow sheet of a thermal power plant

consists of the following four main circuits :

(a) Feed water and steam flow circuit.

(b) Coal and ash circuit.
(c) Air and gas circuit.
(d) Cooling water circuit.

A steam power plant using steam as working

substance works basically on Rankine cycle.
Steam is generated in a boiler, expanded in the
prime mover and condensed in the condenser
and fed into the boiler again.

The different types of components used in steam

power plant
(a) High pressure boiler.
(b) Prime mover .
(c) Condensers and cooling towers .
(d) Coal handling system .
(e) Ash and dust handling system .
(f) Draught system .
(g) Feed water purification plant .
(h) Pumping system .
(i) Air preheater, economizer, super heater, feed
heaters.

Types of steam Generators

Horizontal vertical or inclined.
Fire tube or water tube.
Externally fired or internally fired.
Forced circulation and natural circulation.
High pressure or low pressure boiler.

Daltons law
The partial
constituent is
would exert if
occupied by
temperature.

pressure pressure of each

that pressure which the gas
it occupied alone that volume
the mixture at the same

Factors that should be considered while selecting the

boiler
Working pressure and quality of steam
required.
Steam generation rate.
Floor area available.
The portable load factor.
Erection facilities.

Properties of good steam generators

It should be absolutely reliable.
It should occupy minimum space.
It should be light in weight.
Capable of quick starting.
Erection of boiler should be simple.

CLASSIFICATION OF STEAM
POWER PLANTS
Steam Power Plants are Classified as

1. By fuel.
2. By prime mover.
3. By cooling tower.

CLASSIFICATION OF STEAM
POWER PLANTS
Steam Power Plants are also Classified as;

Central stations; the electrical energy available from

these stations is meant for sale to the consumers who
wish to purchase it.

Industrial/ captive power stations; this type of

power station is run by the manufacturing company for
its own use and its output is not available for general
sale.

Comparison between jet and surface

condenser

Jet condenser;

low manufacturing cost. Low

upkeeps, requires small floor space and more
auxiliary power required.

surface condenser;

high manufacturing
cost. high upkeeps, requires large floor space
and less auxiliary power required.

Advantages of feed water heaters

Feed water heating improves overall plant
efficiency.
Quantity of steam produced by the boiler is
increase.
Thermal stress due to cold water entering the
boiler drum are avoided.
Chance of boiler corrosion are decrease.

classification of dust collectors

Dust collectors are Classified as;

Mechanical dust collectors;

(a) Wet type(scrubbers).

Spray type, packed type and impingement type.

(b) Dry type.
Gravitational separators, cyclone separators,

electrical dust collectors;

Rod type and plate type.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BOILERS USED IN

STEAM POWER PLANTS
horizontal, vertical or inclined.
fire tube and water tube .
Externally or internally fired.
Forced or natural circulation.
High pressure or low pressure.
Stationary or portable.
Single-tube and multi-tube.

Working diagram Thermal power station.

Steam Turbine Power Plant

hot gases
compressed Steam Generator
(Boiler / Furnace)
water

superheated
steam

Steam
Turbine

Pump
C

Gen
saturated
water

Condenser

cooling water

saturated
steam

Schematic arrangement of equipment of a

steam power station.
Coal received in coal storage yard of power

station is transferred in the furnace by coal

handling unit. Heat produced due to burning
of coal is utilized in converting water contained
in boiler drum into steam at suitable pressure
and temperature. The steam generated is
passed through the superheater.

Superheated steam then flows through the

turbine. After doing work in the turbine the

pressure of steam is reduced. Steam leaving
the turbine passes through the condenser
which is maintained the low pressure of
steam at the exhaust of turbine.

Steam pressure in the condenser depends upon flow rate

and temperature of cooling water and on effectiveness of

air removal equipment.
Water circulating through the condenser may be taken
from the various sources such as river, lake or sea. If
sufficient quantity of water is not available the hot water
coming out of the condenser may be cooled in cooling
towers and circulated again through the condenser.
Bled steam taken from the turbine at suitable extraction
points is sent to low pressure and high pressure water
heaters.

Air taken from the atmosphere is first passed

through the air pre-heater, where it is heated

by flue gases. The hot air then passes through
the furnace.
The flue gases after passing over boiler and
superheater tubes, flow through the dust
collector and then through economiser, air preheater and finally they are exhausted to the
atmosphere through the chimney.

Disadvantage of steam power plant

Maintenance and operating cost are high.
Long time required for erection and putting into

action .
Large quantity of water is required.
Great difficulty experienced in coal handling .
Efficiency decreases rapidly below about 75
percent load.

Mechanical equipment in Thermal power station.

BOILER

SUPER HEATER

ECONOMISER

AIR PREHEATER

TURBINE

CONDENSER

Superheater
The superheater consists of a superheater
header and superheater elements. Steam from
the main steam pipe arrives at the saturated
steam chamber of the superheater header and is
fed into the superheater elements.
Superheated steam arrives back at the
superheated steam chamber of the superheater
header and is fed into the steam pipe to the
cylinders. Superheated steam is more expansive.

Advantages of superheated steam

Capacity to do work is increased without

increasing its pressure.

High temperature of super heated steam
results in an increase in thermal efficiency.
Heat losses due to condensation of stem on
cylinder walls are avoided to a great extent.
Does not produce corrosion effect on
turbine.

Superheater
It is a heating device.
It is used to raise temp of steam at const

pressure.
It removes even last traces of moisture.

Classification of super heater

Convection.
Radiation.
Combination of convection and radiation.

Reheater
The function of reheater is similar to the

superheater in that it serves to elevate the

steam temperature. Primary steam is supplied
to the high pressure turbine.
After passing through the high pressure
turbine, the steam is returned to the steam
generator for reheating (in a reheater) after
which it is sent to the low pressure turbine. A
second reheat cycle may also be provided.

The fuel used in thermal power plants causes

Soot Blowers

soot and this is deposited on the boiler tubes,

economizer tubes, air pre heaters, etc.
This drastically reduces the amount of heat
transfer of the heat exchangers. Soot blowers
control the formation of soot and reduce its
corrosive effects.
The types of soot blowers are fixed type, which
may be further classified into lane type and
mass type depending upon the type of spray
and nozzle used.

Condenser
The use of a condenser in a power plant is to

improve the efficiency of the power plant by

decreasing the exhaust pressure of the steam
below atmosphere.
Another advantage of the condenser is that the
steam condensed may be recovered to provide a
source of good pure feed water to the boiler and
reduce the water softening capacity to a
considerable extent. A condenser is one of the
essential components of a power plant.

Functions of Condensers
The main purposes of the condenser are to

condense the exhaust steam from the turbine

for reuse in the cycle and to maximize turbine
efficiency by maintaining proper vacuum.
As the operating pressure of the condenser is
lowered (vacuum is increased), the enthalpy
drop of the expanding steam in the turbine
will also increase. This will increase the
amount of available work from the turbine
(electrical output).

Cooling Tower
The importance of the cooling tower is felt

when the cooling water from the condenser

has to be cooled.
The cooling water after condensing the steam
becomes hot and it has to be cooled as it
belongs to a closed system. The Cooling towers
do the job of decreasing the temperature of the
cooling water after condensing the steam in
the condenser.

Cooling Towers have one function :

Remove heat from the water discharged
from the condenser so that the water can be
discharged to the river or re-circulated and
reused.

A cooling tower extracts heat from water by

evaporation. In an evaporative cooling

tower, a small portion of the water being
cooled is allowed to evaporate into a moving
air stream to provide significant cooling to
the rest of that water stream.

Cooling Towers

are commonly used to

provide
lower
than
ambient
water
temperatures and are more cost effective and
energy efficient than most other alternatives.
The smallest cooling towers are structured for
only a few litres of water per minute while the
largest cooling towers may handle upwards of
thousands of litres per minute. The pipes are
obviously much larger to accommodate this
much water in the larger towers and can range
up to 12 inches in diameter.

Advantages of regenerative cycle

Improve overall plant efficiency.
Protect boiler corrosion.
Avoid the thermal stresses due to cold

water entering the boiler .

Increased the quantity of steam produced
by boiler.

Function of economizer
To extract

a part of heat from the fuel gas

coming out of the boiler.
To use heat for heating feed water to the
boiler.
To increases the efficiency of boiler.

The economizer is a feed water heater,

deriving heat from the flue gases. The

justifiable cost of the economizer depends on
the total gain in efficiency. In turn this
depends on the flue gas temperature leaving
the boiler and the feed water inlet
temperature.

Air Pre-heater
The flue gases coming out of the
economizer is used to preheat the air before
supplying it to the combustion chamber. An
increase in air temperature of 20 degrees
can be achieved by this method. The pre
heated air is used for combustion and also to
dry the crushed coal before pulverizing.

Advantages of mechanical handling

Higher reliability.
Less labour required.
Operation is easy and smooth.
Economical for large capacity plant.
Losses in transport are minimised.
Easily started.

Disadvantages of mechanical handling

Need continuous maintenance and repair.
Capital cost of plant is increased.

Working diagram Thermal power station.

Side view Thermal power station.

Total
Heatin

Steam Turbine Power Plant

hot gases
compressed Steam Generator
water
Pump
C

Loss???
Where???

Work in

saturated
water

superheated
steam
Total

Work out

Steam
Turbine

Gen

Condenser

cooling water

saturated
steam

According to the
2nd Law of Thermodynamics
when heat is converted into work,
part of the heat energy must be wasted
Power generation
type

Unit size
(MW)

Energy wasted
(MW)

Diesel engine

10 - 30

7 22

Gas Turbine

50 - 100

36 78

Steam Turbine

200 - 800

120 560

Combined (ST & GT)

300 - 600

150 380

Nuclear (BWR & PWR)

500 - 1100

330 760

R. Shanthini
15 Aug 2010

9-1

The Simple Ideal Rankine Cycle

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,1998

How can We Increase the Efficiency of the

Rankine cycle?
Rankine cycle efficiency can be increased

by increasing average temperature at which

heat is transferred to the working fluid in
the boiler or decreasing the average
temperature at which heat is rejected from
the working fluid in the condenser. That is,
the average fluid temperature should be as
high as possible during heat addition and as
low as possible during heat rejection.

The three ways by which efficiency of the

Rankine cycle can be increased are :
(a) Lowering the condenser pressure.
(b) Superheating the steam to high
temperatures.
(c) Increasing the boiler pressure.

 The thermal efficiency of the Rankine cycle

can be increased by increasing the average

temperature at which heat is added to the
working fluid and/or by decreasing the
average temperature at which heat is
rejected to the cooling medium. The average
temperature during heat rejection can be
decreased by lowering the turbine exit
pressure.

Consequently, the condenser pressure of most

vapor power plants is well below the

atmospheric
pressure.
The
average
temperature during heat addition can be
increased by raising the boiler pressure or by
superheating the fluid to high temperatures.
There is a limit to the degree of superheating,
however, since the fluid temperature is not
allowed to exceed a metallurgically safe value.

 Superheating has the added advantage of

decreasing the moisture content of the steam at

the turbine exit. Lowering the exhaust pressure
or raising the boiler pressure, however, increases
the moisture content. To take advantage of the
improved efficiencies at higher boiler pressures
and lower condenser pressures, steam is usually
reheated after expanding partially in the highpressure turbine.

This is done by extracting the steam after

partial extraction in the high-pressure

turbine, sending it back to the boiler where
it is reheated at constant pressure, and
returning it to the low-pressure turbine for
complete expansion to the condenser
pressure.

The average temperature during the reheat

process, and thus the thermal efficiency of the

cycle, can be increased by increasing the
number of expansion and reheat stages. As
the number of stages is increased, the
expansion and reheat processes approach an
isothermal process at maximum temperature.
Reheating also decreases the moisture content
at the turbine exit.

 Another way of increasing the thermal

efficiency of the Rankine cycle is by

regeneration. During a regeneration process,
liquid water (feed water) leaving the pump is
heated by some steam bled off the turbine at
some intermediate pressure in devices called
feed water heaters.

The two streams are mixed in open

feed water heaters, and the mixture

leaves as a saturated liquid at the
heater pressure. In closed feed water
heaters, heat is transferred from the
steam to the feed water without mixing.

 The production of more than one useful

form of energy (such as process heat and

electric power) from the same energy source
is called cogeneration. Cogeneration plants
produce electric power while meeting the
process heat requirements of certain
industrial processes.

This way, more of the energy

transferred to the fluid in the boiler
is utilized for a useful purpose. The
faction of energy that is used for
either process heat or power
generation is called the utilization
factor of the cogeneration plant.

 The overall thermal efficiency of a power

plant can be increased by using binary

cycles or combined cycles. A binary cycle
is composed of two separate cycles, one at
high temperatures (topping cycle) and the
other at relatively low temperatures.

The most common combined cycle is the gas-

steam combined cycle where a gas-turbine

cycle operates at the high-temperature range
and a steam-turbine cycle at the lowtemperature range. Steam is heated by the
high-temperature exhaust gases leaving the gas
turbine. Combined cycles have a higher
thermal efficiency than the steam- or gasturbine cycles operating alone.

Selection of plant site

The selection of plant site for thermal

power plant compared with hydro-power

plant is more difficult as it involves number
of factors to be considered for its economic
justification.
A few important factors to be considered
for the selection of thermal power plants.

Selection of plant site

AVAILABILITY OF COAL.
Huge quantity of coal is required for

large thermal plants.

ASH DISPOSAL FACILITIES.
SPACE REQUIREMENT.
NATURE OF LAND.
AVAILABILITY OF WATER.

Selection of plant site

TRANSPORT FACILITYIES.
AVAILABILITY OF LABOUR.
PUBLIC PROBLEMS.
SIZE OF THE PLANT.

ABOUT ELECTROSTATIC
PRECIPITATOR

Nowadays, the environment protection has

become a crucial problem and the
authorities are requested to set increasingly
more stringent limits , one of which is the
emissions from the industrial plants of solid
particulate and other gaseous pollutants.

ABOUT ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR

What is ESP

Electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a widely

used device in so many different domains
to remove the pollutant particulates,
especially in industrial plants.

HOW ESP WORKS

Main process of ESP

Generally, the processes of

electrostatic precipitator are known as
three main stages: particle charging,
transport and collection.

Schematic of wire-plate ESP

Schematic of wire-plate electrostatic

precipitator

Mechanism of ESP

Mechanism of electrostatic precipitator

PROCESS OF Particle charging

Particle charging is the first and
foremost beginning in processes.
As the voltage applied on precipitator
reach threshold value, the space inside
divided into ionization region and drift
region.

The electric field magnitude around the

negative electrode is so strong that the
electrons escape from molecule.
Under the influence of electric field, the positive
ions move towards the corona, while the
negative ions and electrons towards the
collecting plates.

Particle transport
In the moving way, under the influence of
electric field, negative ions cohere and charge the
particles, make the particles be forced towards
collecting-plate.

Particle collection
As soon as the particles reach the plate,
they will be neutralized and packed by
the succeeded ones subsequently. The
continuous process happens, as a result,
particles are collected on the collecting
plate.

Introduction
What is a Boiler?
Vessel that heats water to become hot water
or steam
At atmospheric pressure water volume
increases 1,600 times
Hot water or steam used to transfer heat to a
process
72

The boiler is a rectangular furnace

about 50 feet (15 m) on a side and 130 feet
(40 m) tall. Its walls are made of a web of
high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches
(58 mm) in diameter.

A boiler should fulfill the following requirements

(a)Safety : The boiler should be safe under
operating conditions.
(b) Accessibility : The various parts of the
boiler should be accessible for repair and
maintenance.
(c) Capacity : The boiler should be capable of
supplying steam according to the requirements.

(d) Efficiency : To permit efficient operation, the boiler

should be able to absorb a maximum amount of heat
produced due to burning of fuel in the furnace.
(e) It should be simple in construction and its
maintenance cost should be low.
(f) Its initial cost should be low.
(g) The boiler should have no joints exposed to flames.
(h) The boiler should be capable of quick starting and
loading.

Introduction
STEAM TO
PROCESS

EXHAUST GAS

STACK

VENT

DEAERATOR

PUMPS
ECONOMIZER

VENT

BOILER
BLOW DOWN
SEPARATOR

BURNER

WATER
SOURCE

FUEL
BRINE
CHEMICAL FEED
SOFTENERS

Figure: Schematic overview of a boiler room

Types of Boilers
What Type of Boilers Are There?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Fire Tube Boiler

Water Tube Boiler
Packaged Boiler
Fluidized Bed (FBC) Boiler
Stoker Fired Boiler
Pulverized Fuel Boiler
Waste Heat Boiler
Thermic Fluid Heater (not a boiler!)

The boilers can be classified according to the

following criteria.

According to flow of water and hot

gases :
(a) Water tube
(b) Fire tube.

Type of Boilers
1. Fire Tube Boiler
Relatively
small
steam
capacities (12,000 kg/hour)
Low to medium
pressures (18 kg/cm2)

steam

Operates with oil, gas or solid

fuels

Type of Boilers
2. Water Tube Boiler
Used for high steam demand
and pressure requirements
Capacity range of 4,500
120,000 kg/hour
Combustion efficiency
enhanced by induced draft
provisions
Lower tolerance for water
quality and needs water
treatment plant

3. Packaged Boiler
Comes in complete package
To
Chimney

Oil
Burner

Features
High heat transfer
Faster evaporation
Good convective heat
transfer
Good combustion efficiency
High thermal efficiency
Classified based on number of
passes

Working of power plant

Pulverized coal is air-blown into the

furnace from fuel nozzles at the four
corners and it rapidly burns, forming a
large fireball at the center. The
thermal radiation of the fireball heats
the water that circulates through the boiler
tubes near the boiler perimeter.

The water circulation rate in the boiler

is three to four times the throughput and
is typically driven by pumps. As the
water in the boiler circulates it absorbs
heat and changes into steam at 700 F
(371 C) and 3,200 psi

The water enters the boiler through a

section in the convection pass called the
economizer. From the economizer it
passes to the steam drum. Once the
water enters the steam drum it goes down
to the lower inlet water wall headers.

From the inlet headers the water rises

through the water walls and is eventually
turned into steam due to the heat being
generated by the burners located on the
front and rear water walls (typically). As
the water is turned into steam/vapor in the
water walls, the steam/vapor once again
enters the steam drum.

The steam/vapor is passed through a series of

steam and water separators and then dryers
inside the steam drum.
The steam separators and dryers remove
water droplets from the steam and the cycle
through the water walls is repeated. This process
is known as natural circulation.

super heater
power plants can have a
super heater and/or re-heater section in
the steam generating furnace. In a fossil fuel
plant, after the steam is conditioned by the
drying equipment inside the steam drum, it
is piped from the upper drum area into
tubes inside an area of the furnace known as
the super heater,

Fossil

fuel

which has an elaborate set up of tubing where

the steam vapor picks up more energy from
hot flue gases outside the tubing and its
temperature is now superheated above the
saturation temperature. The superheated
steam is then piped through the main steam
lines to the valves before the high pressure
turbine.

Condenser
The condenser condenses the steam from

the exhaust of the turbine into liquid to

allow it to be pumped. If the condenser can
be made cooler, the pressure of the exhaust
steam is reduced and efficiency of the cycle
increases.

For best efficiency, the temperature in the

condenser must be kept as low as
practical in order to achieve the lowest
possible pressure in the condensing
steam.

Since the condenser temperature can almost

always be kept significantly below 100 C
where the vapor pressure of water is much
less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser
generally works under vacuum. Thus leaks
of non-condensible air into the closed loop
must be prevented.

The condenser generally uses either

circulating cooling water from a
cooling tower to reject waste heat to the
atmosphere, or once-through water from a
river, lake or ocean.

The condenser tubes are made of

or stainless steel

brass

to resist corrosion
from either side. Nevertheless they may
become internally fouled during operation
by bacteria or algae in the cooling water or
by mineral scaling, all of which inhibit heat
transfer
and
reduce

thermodynamic efficiency.

Many plants include an automatic

cleaning system that circulates sponge
rubber balls through the tubes to scrub
them clean without the need to take the
system off-line.

Re heater
Power plant furnaces may have a re heater
section containing tubes heated by hot flue
gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from
the high pressure turbine is rerouted to go
inside the re heater tubes to pickup more
energy to go drive intermediate or lower
pressure turbines.

Main pollutants from a power system

Non toxic dust
Sulphurous anhydride
Carbon monoxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Soot (fly ash)
Hydrogen sulphide
Pollution can be define as the contamination of soil,

air and water with undesirable amount of material and

heat.

Acid rain; the rain which contain acid as its

constituents, brings all the acid down from high above
the environment.

Contaminant; it is the another name of

pollution. It is undesirable substances which
may be physical, chemical or biological.

Pollutant; these are undesirable substances

present in the environment these can be NO 2, SO2,
CO2,smoke,salt, bacteria.

Bad effects of thermal pollution

Lot of heat is injected into biosphere from

thermal power plant, through exhaust gases

and waste water. The major problem is the
effect of discharge of large quantity of
heated wasted water into natural water
basins. Hot water raises the temperature
and disturbs the natural ecological balance

Advantages of combined operation of plants

Greater reliability of supply to the

consumers.
Avoid complete shut down.
The overall cost of energy per unit of an
interconnected system is less.
There is a more effective use of transmission
line facilities.
Less capital investment required.
Less expenses on supervision, operation and
maintenance.

Due to limited generating capacity diesel

power stations is not suitable for base load

plants.
Nuclear power stations is not suitable for
peak load plants.

Incremental rate curve shows that as

output power increases, cost of plant

also increases.

THANK
YOU