A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is driven by a steam engine or steam turbine.

Water is heated in a boiler that turns into steam and drives an electrical generator. In steam engines, the spent steam is discharged to atmosphere. In case of steam turbines, after steam passes through the turbine, it is usually condensed in a condenser. However in smaller units < 10 MW, steam is usually discharged into atmosphere, or, sometimes, utilized in process plants. This process is known as cogeneration. The operation of a steam engine or turbine is based on Rankine cycle. The variation in the design of thermal power stations is due to the use of different kinds of fuel sources. Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities convert forms of heat energy into electrical energy. Almost all coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermal-electric and waste incineration plants as well as many natural gas power plants are thermal. Natural gas is frequently combusted in gas turbine as well as in boiler. The waste heat from a gas turbine can be used to raise steam, in a combined cycle plant that improves overall efficiency. Power stations are constructed on a very large scale and designed for continuous operation. History Reciprocating steam engines have been used as mechanical power sources since the 18th Century, with notable improvements being made by Sir James Watt. The very first commercial central electrical generating stations in New York and London, in 1882 used reciprocating steam engines. As generator sizes increased, eventually turbines took over due to higher efficiency, uniform torque and lower cost of construction. By 1920s any central station larger than a few thousand kilowatts started using a turbineprime mover. Efficiency Huge amount of heat losses occur in a thermal power plant. The approximate figures are as follows: Boiler house losses: Dry flue gas : Moisture in gas: Ash and unburnt carbon: Radiation and leakage: Stray losses: Overall Turbine/Generator losses: Heat rejected to condenser 54% Losses in alternator 1% It is thus seen that the most of the losses in the plant occur at the condenser. This loss is unavoidable and can not be converted into mechanical form. The thermal efficiency of the turbine and the power plant mainly depends upon the temperature and pressure of the steam at the inlet of the turbine, and 5% 5% 1% 2.5% 2.5% 16%

the back pressure at the condenser. It increases with increase in operating pressure and temperature, reduction of back pressure at the condenser, which is typically about 0.04 kg/mm2 (0.041 kg/cm2) The thermal efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered as the ratio of heat equivalent of the mechanical power transmitted to the turbine shaft to the heat combustion, is low, typically in the range 30 to 48%. No heat engines, by the laws of thermodynamics can be more efficient than the ideal heat engine operating on Carnot cycle. The overall efficiency is obtained by multiplying the thermal efficiency with generator efficiency and is in the range 29% to 46%. The rest of the energy must leave the plant in the form of heat. This waste heat can be disposed of with cooling water or in cooling towers. If the waste heat is instead utilized for e.g. district heating, it is called cogeneration. An important class of thermal power station is associated with de-salination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater production and electricity are equally important coproducts. Since the efficiency of the plant is fundamentally limited by the ratio of the absolute temperatures of the steam at turbine input and output, efficiency improvements require use of higher temperature, and higher pressure steam. Historically, mercury has been experimentally used in a mercury vapour turbine power plant, since these can attain higher temperatures than water at lower working pressures. However, the obvious hazards of toxicity, and poor heat transfer properties, have ruled out mercury as a working fluid. Lot of developments has taken place in the design of boiler, turbine and generator. The modern trend is to use high pressure and high temperature steam at the turbine input. Increase of operating temperature has more influence on efficiency than pressure. The present practice is to employ operating temperature of 480 K and pressure of 6.5 - 10 N/mm2 are typical values. Different units for measurement of pressure 1 atm. (1 bar) = 76 cm of Hg = 13.6 x 76 =1034 gm/cm2= 1.034 kg/cm2 = 101400 Pascal ( N/m2) 1 N/mm 2 = 1 MPa 10 bar, 1kg/mm2 10 N/mm2 Typical Boiler pressure: 10N/mm2 =10 Mpa 100 (bar) atm. Supercritical steam generators (also known as Benson boilers), now a- days are being used for the production of electric power. They operate at "supercritical pressure". In contrast to a "subcritical boiler", a supercritical steam generator operates at such a high temperature and pressure (about 700oC, 2000 PSI, 30 MPa, 300 bar) that actual boiling ceases to occur, and the boiler has no water - steam separation. There is no generation of steam bubbles within the water, because the pressure is above the "critical pressure" at which steam bubbles can form. It passes below the critical point as it is expanded to dry steam at subcritical pressure. A throttle valve located downstream of the evaporator is used for this purpose. This is more efficient, resulting in slightly less fuel use. The term "boiler" is misnomer for a supercritical pressure steam generator, in the sense that no "boiling" actually occurs in this device. One of the distinguishing technical characteristics of supercritical boilers is that the drum can be completely eliminated if the evaporation process is avoided altogether. This happens when water is heated at a pressure above the critical pressure. Other advantages are reduced emission, reduced cost of processing flue gas, reduction in cooling water requirement, etc.

View of Turbine Deck

Hydrogen Regulating System, one p

Stator Cooling Water System, one per unit

Seal Oil System, one per unit

Full Flow Filter System, one per unit

Alfa-Laval Turbine Lube Oil Centrifuge,

Bowser Tank, one per unit

EHC Hydraulic System, one pre

Turbine Lube Oil Reservoir, one pre unit c

Layout diagram of a typical coal-fired thermal power station

1. Cooling tower 2. Cooling water pump 3. Three-phase transmission line 4. Step-up transformer 5. Electrical generator 6. Low pressure steam turbine 7. Boiler feed-water pump 8. Surface condenser 9. Intermediate pressure turbine

10. Steam control valve 11. High pressure turbine 12. De-aerator 13. Feed-water heater 14. Coal conveyor 15. Coal hopper 16. Coal pulverizer 17. Boiler steam drum 18. Bottom ash hopper

19. Superheater 20. Forced draught (draft) fan 21. Reheater 22. Combustion air intake 23. Economiser 24. Air preheater 25. Precipitator 26. Induced draught (draft) fan 27. Flue gas stack

Layout of a Modern Steam Power Plant:

The layout of a modern steam power plant comprises of the following four important circuits Coal and ash circuit: Coal arrives at the storage yard and after necessary processing passes into the furnace through fuel feeding devices. Ash formed after combustion collects in the bottom ash collector hopper and removed to ash storage yard using ash-handling equipment.

Air and gas circuit: Air is drawn from the atmosphere through forced draught (FD) fan and passes through the air pre-heater. A part of this hot air passes through the coal mill and carries pulverized coal into the furnace through coal burners and the other part enters the furnace directly to support combustion of coal. The resulting hot gases heat the water tubes, superheater tubes, the reheater tubes, economizer, air preheater and finally to the chimney after passing over dust collecting devices. An induced draught (ID) fan, installed between the dust collector and the chimney maintains a negative pressure within the furnace. Feed-water and steam flow circuit: The condensate leaving the condenser is first heated by bled steam in a closed feed-water heaters. The de-aerator maintains a negative pressure to extract any dissolved gas from the condensate. The condensate then passes through a few more water heaters and the temperature gradually rises before being pumped into the boiler-drum by a boiler-feed pump through the economizer, where the feed water attains temperature nearly as high as that of the boiler. In the boiler drum and tubes water circulates due to convection current. Wet steam passes through separators in the boiler drum to separate water droplets from steam. The steam is further heated up in the super-heater before being supplied to the high-pressure turbine. After expansion the spent steam is taken to the reheat zone of the furnace, where further heat is imparted to the steam at constant pressure, before being passed over to IP stages of the turbine. The steam from the IP turbine passes over the LP turbine blades to deliver further kinetic energy to the prime mover. From there, it is exhausted to the condenser. Some part of the steam is utilised in heating feed-water. The part of the steam lost due to leakage and other reasons, is made up by additional water from a deminaralising plant which receives raw water from river or tube wells and purifies it before injecting into the feed water circuit. Cooling water circuit: The cooling water supply to the condenser is needed to maintain a low back pressure by condensing all the steam that enters there. The water may be taken from a nearby natural source such as river, lake etc and the water from the condenser is discharged into the river. The flow of water through the condenser should be at such a rate that the hot water at the outlet is not unsafe for the aquatic

creatures. In case of scarcity of natural sources, the heated water is cooled in a spray pond or cooling tower and re-circulated into the condenser.

Components of a thermal power Plant Steam generating system

Schematic diagram of typical coal-fired power plant steam generator

The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. The typical boiler pressure is in the range 80-160 bar, steam temperature of the order of 540 oC and superheated steam temperature ranges from 600-900 oC The steam-generator includes, the chemical dosing equipment, the condenser, economizer and the furnace with its steam generating tubes, the steam drum, the super-heater and re-heater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid excessive boiler pressure. For units of over about 200 MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by installing duplicates of the FD fan, APH, fly ash collectors and ID fan with isolating dampers. On some units of above 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead be provided. Once water is inside the boiler or steam generator, the process of adding the latent heat of vaporization or enthalpy is underway. The boiler

transfers heat energy to the water. This heat is generated by the chemical reaction of burning some type of fuel. 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 the downcomers to the lower inlet water-wall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises through the waterwalls and is eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners located on the front and rear waterwalls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the waterwalls, 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 the water droplets from the steam and the cycle through the waterwalls is repeated. This process is known as natural circulation. The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers, water lancing and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after a trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before reigniting the coal. The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) has air vents and drains needed for initial startup. The steam drum has internal devices that remove moisture from the wet steam entering the drum from the steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils. Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. Nuclear plants also boil water to raise steam, either directly passing the working steam through the reactor or else using an intermediate heat exchanger. 2)Fuel preparation system

In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is first crushed into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boiler house. The coal is next pulverized into a very fine powder state. The pulverizers may be ball mills, rotating drum grinders, or other types of grinders. Heavy diesel oil is used in place of coal at light loads. Some power stations burn oil as fuel, instead of coal. The oil must be kept warm (above its pour point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100C before being pumped through the furnace fuel oil spray nozzles. Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Other power stations may use processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel supply (coal or oil multi-fuel option) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas burners are provided on the boiler furnaces. 3)Air path The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan, air pre-heater (APH), coal-mill, boiler furnace, fly ash collectors (electrostatic precipitator or bag-house) induced draft (ID) fan, and the flue gas stack. External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced draft (FD) fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warming it in the air pre-heater for better combustion. A part of the air passes through the ball mills carrying pulverized coal into the furnace through suitable fuel feeding nozzles and the rest via the air nozzles into the furnace in calculated amount.

The induced draft (ID) fan assists the FD fan by drawing out the gaseous products of combustion from the furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure inside it. This avoids backfiring through any opening on the furnace wall. At the furnace outlet, and before the furnace gases are handled by the ID fan, fine dust carried by the outlet gases is removed by fabric bags /electrostatic precipitators or both to avoid atmospheric pollution. This is an environmental limitation prescribed by law, and additionally minimizes erosion of the ID fan blades.
An electrostatic precipitator (ESP), or electrostatic air cleaner is a particulate collection device that removes particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using the force of an induced electrostatic charge. Electrostatic precipitators are highly efficient filtration devices that minimally impede the flow of gases through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the air stream.

4) Auxiliary systems Fly ash collection

Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters. Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to storage ponds for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad cars.

Bottom ash collection and disposal At the bottom of every boiler, a hopper is provided for collection of the bottom ash from the bottom of the furnace. This hopper is always filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers falling down from the furnace. Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying the crushed clinkers and bottom ash (cinder) to a storage site. Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return of condensate to the boiler, losses due to blow-down and leakages have to be made up so as to maintain the desired water level in the boiler steam drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler water

system. The impurities in the raw water input to the plant generally consist of suspended particles, clay and dissolved calcium and magnesium salts, which impart hardness to the water. Suspended particles and clay are removed in filter beds. Hardness in the make-up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water surfaces, which will lead to overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water and that is done by a water demineralising plant (DM). A DM plant generally consists of cat-ion, an-ion and mixed bed exchangers. The final water from this process consists essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxyl ions which is the chemical constituent of pure water. The DM water, though very pure, absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its high affinity for oxygen and becomes highly corrosive. The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the capacity of the plant, type and quantity of salts in the raw water input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM water is continuously withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water is usually made from PVC, a material which is not affected by corrosive water. The piping and valves are generally made of stainless steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the tank to avoid contact with atmospheric air. DM water make-up is generally added at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arrangement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the dissolved gases being removed by the ejector of the condenser itself.

5) Steam turbine-driven electric generator

Rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power station The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work satisfactorily and safely. It is a rotating piece of equipment and generally has a heavy, large diameter shaft supporting the turbine blades, rotor of the generator, exciter and pilot exciter. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also has to be kept in position while running. To minimise the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft is supported on a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in which the shaft rotates, are lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication under pressure is provided for further reduction of the friction between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat generated.

6) Barring gear Barring gear (or "turning gear") is the mechanism provided to rotate the turbine generator shaft at a very low speed after unit stoppages. Once the unit is "tripped" (i.e., the steam inlet valve is closed), the turbine coasts down towards standstill. When it stops completely, there is a tendency for the turbine shaft to deflect or bend if allowed to remain in one position too long. This is because the heat inside the turbine casing tends to concentrate in the top half of the casing, making the top half portion of the shaft hotter than the bottom half. The shaft therefore could warp or bend (by millionths of inches). This small shaft deflection, only detectable by eccentricity meters, would be enough to cause damaging vibrations to the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted. The shaft is therefore automatically turned at low speed (about one revolution per minute) by the barring gear until it has cooled sufficiently to permit a complete stop. 7) Condenser

Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser.

The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes. The exhaust steam from the lowpressure turbine enters the shell where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor-driven exhausters for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum. 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 oC where the vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum. Thus leakage of air into the closed loop must be prevented. Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer. 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.

8) Feed water heater

A Rankine cycle with a two-stage steam turbine and a single feed-water heater. In the case of a conventional steam-electric power plant utilizing a drum boiler, the surface condenser removes the latent heat of vaporization from the steam as it changes states from vapour to liquid. The heat content (btu) in the steam is referred to as Enthalpy. The condensate pump then pumps the condensate water through a feedwater heater. The feedwater heating equipment then raises the temperature of the water by utilizing extraction steam from various stages of the turbine. The feed water next passes through the economizer section in the furnace and attains a temperature close to that of the boiler drum before entering the drum.

Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system. This reduces plant-operating costs and also helps to avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the steam cycle. 9) Superheater As the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into an elaborate set up of tubing in different areas of the boiler. This area is known as super-heater. The steam vapor picks up energy and it is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves of the high pressure turbine.

10) Deaerator

feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section and horizontal water storage section) A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed water should be devoid of air and other dissolved gases, particularly corrosive ones, in order to avoid corrosion of the boiler tubes. Generally, power stations use a deaerator to provide for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the boiler feedwater. A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration section mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel, which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank. There are many different designs for a deaerator and the designs will vary from one manufacturer to another. The above diagram depicts a typical conventional trayed deaerator. If operated properly, most deaerator manufacturers will guarantee that oxygen in the deaerated water will not exceed 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm/L).

11) Auxiliary systems

Oil system An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam turbine generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbine's main inlet steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and seal oil systems, the relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms. At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine main shaft takes over the functions of the auxiliary system. Generator heat dissipation The generator requires cooling to dissipate the heat produced due to different losses within it. While small units may be cooled by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units generally require special cooling arrangements. Hydrogen gas cooling, in an oil-sealed casing, is used because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas. Its low viscosity reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during start-up, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly flammable hydrogen does not mix with oxygen in the air. The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmospheric pressure to avoid outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward leakage where the shaft emerges from the casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are installed with a very small annular gap to avoid rubbing between the shaft and the seals. Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to atmosphere. The generator also uses water cooling for its stator winding. Since the generator coils work at a very high potential of about 22 kV and water is conducting, an insulating barrier such as Teflon is used to interconnect the water line and the generator windings. Demineralized water of low conductivity is used.

Generator high voltage system The generator voltage ranges from 11 kV in smaller units to 22 kV-33 kV in larger units. The generator high voltage leads are normally large aluminum channels because of their high current as compared to the cables used in smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminum bus ducts and are supported on suitable insulators. The generator high voltage channels are connected to step-up transformers for connecting to a high voltage electrical substation (of the order of 110 kV .. 400 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid. The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high voltage leads. Thus, the steam turbine generator and the transformer form one unit. In smaller units, generating at 11 kV, a breaker is provided to connect it to a common 11 kV bus system.

12) Other systems Monitoring and alarm system Most of the power plant operational controls are automatic. However, at times, manual intervention may be required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems that alert the plant operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating from their normal range. Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plant's control systems, communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, circuit breaker trip coil and emergency lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the units in an emergency situation. 13) Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage

Most thermal stations use coal as the main fuel. Raw coal is transported from coal mines to a power station site by trucks, barges, bulk cargo ships or railway cars. Generally, when shipped by railways, the coal cars are sent as a full train of cars. The coal received at site may be of different sizes. The railway cars are unloaded at site by rotary dumpers (wagon tippler) or side tilt dumpers to tip over onto conveyor belts below. The coal is generally conveyed to crushers where the coal is crushed to about inch (6 mm) size. The crushed coal is then sent by belt conveyors to a storage pile. Normally, the crushed coal is compacted by bulldozers, as compacting of highly volatile coal avoids spontaneous ignition. The crushed coal is conveyed from the storage pile to silos or hoppers at the boilers by another belt conveyor system to the ball mills which pulverize crushed coal into a very fine powder state, ready to be fed into the furnace. Electrical Equipment The major electrical equipments used in a power plant are as follows. Alternator: The alternator is driven by the prime mover, a steam, water or gas turbine, and runs at synchronous speed ( Ns=120 f/P). Turbo alternators have 2 pole cylindrical rotors, and run at 3000 rpm. The alternators in a hydro power plants run at lower speed (1500,1000, 100 rpm) and the rotors generally have salient pole structure. The rotor produces the magnetic flux. It is supplied with dc excitation from exciter which is mounted on the same turbine shaft. The stator carries the armature winding where the emf ( 11 / 18/ 33 kV) is induced. The alternator is connected to the unit transformer through bus-ducts. Circuit breakers and isolators are provided on the H.T. side of the transformer to connect the alternator to the power station bus bars.
i)

Smaller alternators are air-cooled, but as the size increases, more elaborate cooling arrangement becomes a necessity. Sealed type units, with circulating hydrogen gas is employed for the purpose of cooling. Still larger units employ both hydrogen and water cooling. Stator conductors are built with hollow strands, through which purified water is circulated to keep the temperature low. Exciter: DC excitation system is needed to feed the necessary field current to the rotor winding of the alternator. Modern power plants require smart excitation system that has fast response and capable of varying excitation over a wide range. The reliability of the excitation system is of utmost importance as the loss of excitation would lead to serious disturbance in the power system. It has a strong impact on generator dynamic performance, like availability, quality of generated voltage, active and reactive power. Following types are common: Conventional Excitation system: The alternator rotor is fed from a dc compound generator, called exciter, mounted on the same shaft, through brushes and slip rings. The field of the exciter is supplied from a pilot exciter, again mounted on the same shaft, through automatic field regulator. Static excitation systems (SES), feeding rotor through brushes and slip rings directly from thyristor bridges energised from station bus bars. Brushless excitation systems, in which, the field winding of the main alternator is supplied directly, from the exciter, which is an inverted alternator, via rotating rectifier bridge, all mounted on the same shaft. This eliminates the need for separate slip rings and brush system. The exciter has a static field winding and fed from a permanent magnet alternator, called pilot exciter, again mounted on the same shaft, through a thyristor bridge. The output of the bridge is controlled by an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR).

Main functions of excitation system are (i) to provide variable dc current for controlling the terminal voltage with suitable accuracy, (ii) to ensure stable operation with network and / or other machines, (iii) to enhance transient stability subsequent to a fault, (iv) to communicate with the power plant control system and (v) to keep the machine within permissible operating range. Voltage Regulator: The voltage regulator controls the current delivered by the excitation system so as to maintain the terminal voltage of the alternator within specified limits.
ii)

Reactor: Reactors are some-times connected in series with an alternator to limit the short circuit current for preventing damage to the equipments due to large short circuit currents. The reactors should be designed to withstand strong mechanical forces and not to get saturated when carrying high fault currents. It must have small resistance to minimize copper losses since it may have to carry continuously the normal load currents. To minimize the size, some times iron core with air gap is utilized.
iii)

Transformer: The unit transformer steps up the generator voltage to transmission level ( 132 / 220 / 400 kV). For transmission at or above 400 kV,the phases are housed in individual tanks as in single phase transformer. There are other auxiliary transformers to supply power to the station auxiliaries.
iv)

Circuit breaker and isolator: For switching the alternator in or out of the system a circuit breaker (CB) with an isolator on its either side is employed. The CB is capable of making and breaking an electrical network during normal operation. It can switch off a circuit automatically in the event of a fault. It is a very costly piece of apparatus. Different types of breakers are in use, but in the present day EHV system, SF6 circuit breakers have become more popular.
v)

The isolator operates under no-load condition only, i.e., it has to be closed before the associated CB is closed and opened only after the CB has opened the circuit. This requires proper interlocking to prevent wrong operations. Isolators physically show the status of the circuit, whether connected or disconnected, and is meant for isolating a circuit during the period of maintenance. Switch yard: Switch yard is the place adjacent to the power house where the transformers, circuit breakers, isolators, bus bars, CT & PTs, lightning arrestors, current limiting reactors and other equipments are installed. At a thermal power plant, out door type switch yard is employed. Some times, in hydel power plants, all these equipments may be of indoor type.
vi)

Optimum Site Burning of huge amount of coal in a steam power station produces large quantum of harmful gases ( COX, NOx, SOx etc) and ashes. All these are responsible for creating atmospheric pollution. Employment of electrostatic precipitators (ESP) to remove suspended particles from the flue gases and chemical treatment for reducing harmful effects of the oxides in the flue gas and also the increase in chimney height are the major steps that are adopted to reduce the level of pollution. Considering the huge expenses involved in keeping the pollution at a lower level, high cost of land in urban area and the requirement of huge volume of coal and cooling water for running the power station, etc. dictates that such plants should be located at a remote place, near a river and preferably at the pit -head to cut down the cost of transportation of coal.

Steps for Cold Starting aTurbo-Generator Cooling Water pump started Lubricating oil pump is switched on Lubricating oil purifier is started Jacking oil pump is started Turbine is put on barring gear Starting of oil pump for power oil Set emergency stop valve in fully closed position Set governor regulator at the lowest position Set emergency trip plunger Check operation of emergency trip gear Reset trip plunger and open governor valve Charge up the main steam line and raise vacuum in the condenser Check that steam temperature and pressure are within limits Open the emergency stop valve Exciter circuit switched on, adjust terminal voltage Adjust governor, regulate frequency to be same as that of the bus bar. Synchronise Start loading the machine at the recommended rate Steps for Shutting Down aTurbo-Generator

Start unloading the generator at the recommended rate When load falls to 20%, condensate recirculating valve opens to provide adequate cooling water. Steam drain valves open when bled steam temperature reaches 107o Lub. oil temperature controller opens up cooling water supply to lower the oil temperature. Steam supply to air ejector is shut off after closing the air suction valves. The jacking oil pump is started when speed falls to 400 rpm. Before the turbine stalls, the barring gear is turned on. Auxiliary oil pumps are shut down Steam supply to auxiliary steam system is shut down Circulating water should be kept on the auxiliaries for at least 1 hr. after the machine has been shut down

Ex-7 A steam power plant spends Rs. 106.0 Lakh per anum for coal. The coal has a calorific value of 5000 kCal/kg and a cost of Rs. 500 per tonne. If overall efficiency of the plant be 30 %, find average load of the plant. Soln-7 Coal consumption per anum = 106.0 x 105 /500 = 21200 tonne = 21.2 x 106 kg Heat of combustion = 5000 x 21.2 x 106 = 10.6 x 1010 kCal Energy produced = 0.30 x 10.6 x 1010 x 4.18 /3600 = 36.9 x 106 kWh Average load on the plant = 36.9 x 106/ (365 x 24) = 4215 kW Ex-8 A steam power plant of 100 MW capacity coal of calorific value 6400 kCal/kg. The thermal and electrical efficiency of the plant are respectively 30 % and 92 %. Determine the annual consumption of coal assuming the annual load factor of the plant is 60 %. Soln-8 Electrical energy delivered annually = 100 x 0.60 x 365 x 24 =525.6 x 103 MWh = 525.6 x 106 kWh Overall efficiency of the plant = 0.30 x 0.92 = 0.276 Heat generated = 525.6 x 106 x 3600/(4.18 x.276 ) =164.0124 x 1010 kCal Annual coal consumption = 164.01 x 1010/ 6400 = 256.3 x 106 kg = 256.3 x 103 tonne Ex-9 In a steam power plant the efficiencies of the generator, turbine, boiler and the steam cycle are respectively 0.97, 0.95, 0.90 and 0.42. The overall efficiency of the plant is 0.33. What percentage of electrical power produced by the plant is used up by the station auxiliaries ? Soln-9
Gross Electrical power produced per unit of energy spent = 0.97 x 0.95 x 0.90 x 0.42

Net output power Energy spent in station auxiliaries Reqd. Percentage of energy used up by auxiliaries

= 0.3560 unit = 0.33 unit = (0.3560-0.3300) unit = 0.0256 unit = 0.0256 x 100/0.3560 = 7.19