Report on Industrial Training

Taken at

NTPC Limited
Badarpur Thermal Power Station
Badarpur, New Delhi-110044

From 5th June’ 2018 to 28th July’ 2018

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Name: Kshitij shekhar Department of
Class: ME Mechanical Engineering
Univ. Roll No:927/ME/15 NSIT, Dwarka Mor
Trainee Number: - VT-0321

Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology

Dwarka, New Delhi India
 Department of Mechanical Engineering

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Kshitij shekhar, of B.E. Mechanical

Engineering, Class- BMD,TMD; Roll. No. 927/ME/15 has
completed his Industrial Training during the academic year 2018-
2019 from 4th June’2018 to 30th June’2018 at Badarpur Thermal
Power Station- NTPC, Badarpur, New Delhi-110044.

Training Coordinator Head of the Department

 Acknowledgment

The author is highly grateful Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Dwarka for providing
this opportunity to carry out the eight weeks industrial training at National Thermal Power
Corporation, New Delhi.

The author would like to express a deep sense of gratitude and thanks to Mr. Asheesh
kumar (BMD) and Mr. S K Singh (TMD) of BTPS. Without his wise counsel and able
guidance, it would have been impossible to complete the training in such a convenient
manner.

The help rendered by Mr. S.K. Verma (EDC-HR), National Thermal Power Corporation
for experimentation is greatly acknowledged.

Finally, the author is indebted to Mr. Man Mohan Singh, Mr. H.C. Ahuja and all whosoever
have contributed in this training, report work and friendly stay at Badarpur Thermal Power
Station, New Delhi.
 Contents

i. Certificate
ii. Acknowledgment

1. Training Schedule 1
2. Training at BTPS 1
3. About the Company 2
3.1. Vision 4
3.2. Strategies 5
3.3. Environment policy 7
3.4. Evolution 8
4. About BTPS 9
5. Functioning 11
6. Parts of Power Plant 16
7. Major Elements of Thermal Power Plant 24
7.1. Boiler 24
7.2. Steam Turbine 25
7.3. Generator 26
7.4. Monitoring and Annunciation 27
8. Plant Auxiliary Maintenance Department 28
8.1. CS pump house 28
8.2. Water Treatment Plant 29
8.3. Dry Ash Handling Plant 30
8.4. Compressor House 31
8.5. Central Repair Shop 32
8.6. Cooling Towers 32
9. Bibliography 33
 Training at BTPS

I was appointed to do four-week training at this esteemed organization from 5th June to 28th
July 2018. In these eight weeks I was assigned to visit a division of the plant which was

Boiler Maintenance Department (BMD)

Turbine Maintenance Department (TMD)

This eight-week training was a very educational adventure for me. It was amazing to see
the plant by yourself and learn how electricity works, which is one of our daily requirement.

This report has been made by self-experience at BTPS. The material in this report has been
gathered from my textbooks, senior student report, and trainer manual provided by training
department. The specification & principles are at learned by me from the employee.

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 About the Company
NTPC, the largest Power Company in India, was set up in 1975 to accelerate power
development in the country. It is among the world’s largest and most efficient power
generation companies. In Forbes list of World’s 2000 Largest Companies for the year 2018,
NTPC occupies 512th place.

A View of Badarpur Thermal Power Station, New Delhi

NTPC has installed capacity of 51,671 MW as of now. It has 21 coal-based power stations
(40,355 MW), 7 gas-based power stations (4,017 MW) and 9 power stations in Joint
Ventures (7,551 MW). The company has power generating facilities in all major regions
of the country. It plans to be a 1, 28,000 MW company by 2032.

NTPC has gone beyond thermal power generation. It has diversified into hydro power, coal
mining, power equipment manufacturing, oil & gas exploration and power trading &
distribution. NTPC is now in the entire power value chain and is poised to become an
Integrated Power Major. NTPC's share on 31 Mar 2008 in the total installed capacity of the
country was 19.1% and it contributed 28.50% of the total power generation of the country
during 2016-17. NTP C has set new benchmarks for the power industry both in the area of
power plant construction and operations.
With its experience and expertise in the power sector, NTPC is extending consultancy
services to various organizations in the power business. It provides consultancy in the area
of power plant constructions and power generation to companies in India and abroad.
In November 2004, NTPC came out with its Initial Public Offering (IPO) consisting of
5.25% as fresh issue and 5.25% as offer for sale by Government of India. NTPC thus
became a listed company with Government holding 89.5% of the equity share capital and
rest held by Institutional Investors and Public. The issue was a resounding success. NTPC
is among the largest five companies in India in terms of market capitalization.

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Recognizing its excellent performance and vast potential, Government of the India has
identified NTPC as one of the jewels of Public Sector 'Navaratnas'- a potential global giant.
Inspired by its glorious past and vibrant present, NTPC is well on its way to realize its
vision of being “A world class integrated power major, powering India's growth, with
increasing global presence".

3
 Vision
“To be the world’s Leading Power Company, Energizing India’s Growth”

Mission

“Provide Reliable Power and Related Solutions in an Economical, Efficient

and Environment Friendly Manner, Driven by Innovation and Agility”

View of a Well Flourished Power Plant

Strategies
4
Technological Initiatives

 Introduction of steam generators (boilers) of the size of 800 MW.

 Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Technology.
 Launch of Energy Technology Centre -A new initiative for development of
technologies with focus on fundamental R&D.
 The company sets aside up to 0.5% of the profits for R&D.
 Roadmap developed for adopting ‘Clean Development’.
 Mechanism’ to help get / earn ‘Certified Emission Reduction.

Corporate Social Responsibility

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  As a responsible corporate citizen NTPC has taken up number of CSR initiatives.
 NTPC Foundation formed to address Social issues at national level.
 NTPC has framed Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines committing up to
0.5% of net profit annually for Community Welfare Measures on perennial basis.
 The welfare of project affected persons and the local population around NTPC
projects are taken care of through well drawn Rehabilitation and Resettlement
policies.
 The company has also taken up distributed generation for remote rural areas.

Environment Management
 All stations of NTPC are ISO 14001 certified.
 Various groups to care environmental issues.
 The Environment Management Group.
 Ash Utilisation Division.
 Afforestation Group.
 Centre for Power Efficiency and Environment Protection.
 Group on Clean Development Mechanism.

Partnering government in various initiatives

 Consultant role to modernize and improvise several plants across the country.
 Disseminate technologies to other players in sector.
 Consultant role “Partnership in Excellence” Program for improvement of PLF of
15 power station in SEBs.
 Rural electrification work under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
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NTPC is committed to the environment, generating power at minimal environmental cost
and preserving the ecology in the vicinity of the plants. NTPC has undertaken massive
afforestation in the vicinity of its plants. Plantations have increased forest area and reduced
barren land. The massive afforestation by NTPC in and around its Ramagundam Power
station (2600 MW) has contributed to reducing the temperature in the areas by about 3°c.
NTPC has also taken proactive steps for ash utilization. In 1991, it set up Ash Utilization
Division.

A "Centre for Power Efficiency and Environment Protection- CENPEEP" has been
established in NTPC with the assistance of United States Agency for International
Development- USAID. CENPEEP is efficiency oriented, eco-friendly and eco-nurturing
initiative - a symbol of NTPC's concern towards environmental protection and continued
commitment to sustainable power development in India.
As a responsible corporate citizen, NTPC is making constant efforts to improve the socio-
economic status of the people affected by its projects. Through its Rehabilitation and
Resettlement programmes, the company endeavors to improve the overall socio economic
status of Project Affected Persons.

NTPC was among the first Public Sector Enterprises to enter into a Memorandum of
Understanding- MOU with the Government in 1987-88. NTPC has been placed under the
'Excellent category' (the best category) every year since the MOU system became
operative.
Harmony between man and environment is the essence of healthy life and growth.
Therefore, maintenance of ecological balance and a pristine environment has been of
utmost importance to NTPC. It has been taking various measures discussed below for
mitigation of environment pollution due to power generation.

NTPC is the second largest owner of trees in the country after the Forest department.

Evolution
7
About BTPS
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Badarpur thermal power station started working in 1973 with a single 95 MW unit. There
were 2 more units (95 MW each) installed in next 2 consecutive years. Now it has threshold
capacity of 705 MW. It has 5operational units, 2 of which generate 210 MW of power
while the rest of 3 units generate 95 MW of power. A unit of 210 MW of power requires
110 tons coal while a unit of 95 MW requires around 60 tons of coal. Ownership of BTPS
was transferred to NTPC with effect from 01.06.2006 through GOI’s Gazette Notification.
Given below are the details with the year they are installed.

The missions and aims of BTPS are given below

Plant availability 95% By 2014

Plant load factor 95% By 2014
Heat rate improvement (base value 08-08) 50 Kcal/KWhr By 2014
Ash utilization 100% By 2013
Environment (stack emission) 50 mg/NM3 By 2013
E-procurement 90% By 2012
Skill development 200/year From 2010
Service cost reduction after offsetting Min wages 2%/year From 2010

By

 Optimization of planned outages.

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  Reduction in forced outage, partial loading.
 Stakeholder satisfaction, learning, innovation etc.
 Energy conservation.
 Installation of “dry ash evacuation system” and ash evacuation tie-ups from
prospective users.
 Up gradation & upkeep of ESP.
 Adoption and improving functioning of ITI, malviya nagar, training of unskilled
youths from nearby areas.
 Awareness drives and vendor meet emphasizing benefit of procurement to vendors.
 Optimization of outsourcing and maintenance.

Functioning
In a thermal power plant, one of coal, oil or natural gas is used to heat the boiler to convert
the water into steam. The steam is used to turn a turbine, which is connected to a generator.

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When the turbine turns, electricity is generated and given as output by the generator, which
is then supplied to the consumers through high-voltage power lines.

Process of Thermal Power Plant

Water Intake
First of all water is taken into the boiler through a water source. If water is available in a
plenty in the region, then the source is an open pond or river. If water is scare then it is
recycled and the same water is used over and over again.

Boiler Heating
The boiler is heated with the help of oil, coal or natural gas. A furnace is used to heat the
fuel and supply the heat produced to the boiler. The increase in temperature helps in the
transformation of water into steam.

Steam Turbine
The steam generated in the boiler is sent through a steam turbine. The turbine has blades
that rotate when high velocity steam flows across them. This rotation of turbine blades is
used to generate electricity.

Generator
A generator is connected to the steam turbine. When the turbine rotates, the generator
produces electricity which is then passed on to the power distribution systems.

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Energy Conversion
Thermal energy to mechanical energy and mechanical energy to electrical energy. Out of
the 705 MW of power produced 65 MW is used in the plant itself and the rest 640 MW is
evacuated from BTPS by means of 10 feeders.

Fuels used in Power Generation

The two main fuels used to generate electricity in a thermal power plant are:-

1. Coal
2. Water
Coal: - coal comes from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh
and Orissa. No coal mines are found in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Water: - water comes from the river Yamuna.
Transportation: - coal is transported to NTPC by railway wagons while a canal connects
river Yamuna to NTPC to meet the water requirements.

Raw Material Handling and Treatment

The process of power generation requires extreme levels of accuracy and efficiency and
this is possible only if the raw materials used in the power generation are of superfine
quality and standard. In its most basic form, coal contains impurities in the form of
moisture, unwanted metallic elements, stones and dust. Similarly the second raw material-
water contains impurities in the form of minerals, bacteria and other organic form of
impurities. These raw materials therefore require proper treatment before used in the power
generation process.

Coal Handling Unit

By means of railways, coal is taken from mines in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and
Madhya Pradesh. The purpose of coal handling unit is to produce super fine powdered form
of coal free from all the major impurities.

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 Coal Handling Plant layout

The coal handling unit manifests its operation into two major stages:-

Stage 1:- The coal from railway wagons is thrown in a hopper which is 22m down the
ground with the help of wagon tippler. The wagon tippler picks the whole wagon and
rotates it by 180 degrees to throw the coal in the hopper.
This raw coal is then taken with the help of conveyer belt to coal purification wizard (to
remove the major impurities). The coal purification wizard consists of magnetic chamber
and metal detecting chamber, both of which remove the metallic impurities from the raw
coal.
Now the same conveyer belt takes the coal to crusher house which is 30m up from the
bottom of the hopper i.e.8m from the ground. There the coal is crushed to the size of 50mm
in diameter by means of pneumatic crusher.

Stage 2:- Here the coal from crusher house is thrown in a bunker which opens into a mill.
The two types of mills used for handling the coal are:-

1. Ball type mill.

2. Bowl type mill.

In Ball type mills, the outer periphery of the mill contains balls which crush the coal
particles to the size of 20mm. the mill is rotated by means of motor which rotates the shaft
of the mill supported by bearings.
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In Bowl type mills, a mill is there whose bottom is round in shape like a bowl containing
three rollers 120 degrees apart at the center of which when the coal taken out from the ball
type mills is fed, the rollers start rotating and crush the coal particles to a size of 200 mesh.
200 mesh means that the coal particles are able to pass through the 200 holes made in 1inch
x 1inch plate. This process is called pulverization of the coal.

An External View of a Coal Pulverizer

Water Treatment Unit/ Water Treatment Plant

The water treatment unit eliminates various forms of impurities and minerals from water
to finally produce demineralized water of matching predefined standards.

The raw water is taken from river Yamuna which is connected to control structure pump
house by a canal. The control structure pump house has many pumps inside it which pumps
the water out of it to be used for various different purposes like for water treatment plant,
bearing cooling, to stop the fire caused due to coal pressure in stack yard etc.
Basically, water is treated by undergoing through the following series of elements:-

1. Clariflocculator.

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 2. Clarified Water Tank.
3. Sediment Filter.
4. Activated Carbon Filter.
5. Cation Exchanger.
6. Degasser.
7. Anion Exchanger.
8. Mixed Bed.
In Clariflocculator, water is treated with chemicals such as chlorine, potash alum and
phosphate to remove the basic form of organic impurities. The output of Clariflocculator
is connected to Clarified Water Tank and then to the Sediment Filter. The Sediment Filter
consists of an assembly of coal particle layers of different sizes to filter the water. The
output of Sediment Filter is connected to Activated Carbon Filter where excess of chlorine
and odor from the water is removed. After this the water navigates to Cation Exchanger.
The Cation Exchanger is charged with hydrochloric acid. In this exchanger OH‾ ions
absorb positively charged cation like Na+. The Degasser is used to remove the gases
produced as a result of undergoing chemical reaction in the exchanger.
Finally in the mixed bed, high density impurities are removed. Furthermore it is ensured
that water coming out of this unit is essentially deminerlized water.

Parts of a Power Plant

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Cooling Tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the
atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process
heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed
circuit dry cooling towers rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb
air temperature. Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil
refineries, chemical plants, power stations and building cooling. The towers vary in size
from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures (as in Image 1) that can be
up to 200 metres tall and 100 metres in diameter, or rectangular structures (as in Image 2)
that can be over 40 metres tall and 80 metres long. Smaller towers are normally factory-
built, while larger ones are constructed on site.
Cooling Water Pump

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It pumps the water from the cooling tower which goes to the condenser.

Three phase transmission line

Three phase electric power is a common method of electric power transmission. It is a type
of polyphase system mainly used to power motors and many other devices. A three phase
system uses less conductive material to transmit electric power than equivalent single
phase, two phase, or direct current system at the same voltage. In a three phase system,
three circuits reach their instantaneous peak values at different times.
Taking current in one conductor as the reference, the currents in the other two are delayed
in time by one-third and two-third of one cycle .This delay between “phases” has the effect
of giving constant power transfer over each cycle of the current and also makes it possible
to produce a rotating magnetic field in an electric motor. At the power station, an electric
generator converts mechanical power into a set of electric currents, one from each
electromagnetic coil or winding of the generator. The current are sinusoidal functions of
time, all at the same frequency but offset in time to give different phases. In a three phase
system the phases are spaced equally, giving a phase separation of one-third of one cycle.
Generators output at a voltage that ranges from hundreds of volts to 30,000 volts.

Unit transformer (3-phase)

At the power station, transformers step-up this voltage to one more suitable for
transmission. After numerous further conversions in the transmission and distribution
network the power is finally transformed to the standard mains voltage (i.e. the
“household” voltage). The power may already have been split into single phase at this point
or it may still be three phase. Where the step-down is 3 phase, the output of this transformer
is usually star connected with the standard mains voltage being the phase-neutral voltage.
Another system commonly seen in North America is to have a delta connected secondary
with a center tap on one of the windings supplying the ground and neutral. This allows for
240 V three phase as well as three different single phase voltages( 120 V between two of
the phases and neutral , 208 V between the third phase ( or wild leg) and neutral and 240
V between any two phase) to be available from the same supply.

Electrical generator
An Electrical generator is a device that converts kinetic energy to electrical energy,
generally using electromagnetic induction. The task of converting the electrical energy into
mechanical energy is accomplished by using a motor. The source of mechanical energy
maybe water falling through the turbine or steam turning a turbine (as is the case with
thermal power plants).
There are several classifications for modern steam turbines. Steam turbines are used in all
of our major coal fired power stations to drive the generators or alternators, which produce
electricity. The turbines themselves are driven by steam generated in "boilers “or "steam
generators" as they are sometimes called. Electrical power stations use large steam turbines
driving electric generators to produce most (about 86%) of the world’s electricity. These
centralized stations are of two types: fossil fuel power plants and nuclear power plants. The
turbines used for electric power generation are most often directly coupled to their-

17
generators .As the generators must rotate at constant synchronous speeds according to the
frequency of the electric power system, the most common speeds are 3000 r/min for 50 Hz
systems, and 3600 r/min for 60 Hz systems. Most large nuclear sets rotate at half those
speeds, and have a 4-pole generator rather than the more common 2-pole one.

Low Pressure Turbine

Energy in the steam after it leaves the boiler is converted into rotational energy as it passes
through the turbine. The turbine normally consists of several stages with each stages
consisting of a stationary blade (or nozzle) and a rotating blade. Stationary blades convert
the potential energy of the steam into kinetic energy and direct the flow onto the rotating
blades. The rotating blades convert the kinetic energy into impulse and reaction forces,
caused by pressure drop, which results in the rotation of the turbine shaft. The turbine shaft
is connected to a generator, which produces the electrical energy.
Low Pressure Turbine (LPT) consists of 4x2 stages. After passing through Intermediate
Pressure Turbine steam is passed through LPT which is made up of two parts- LPC REAR
& LPC FRONT. As water gets cooler here it gathers into a HOTWELL placed in lower
parts of turbine.

Condensation Extraction Pump

A Boiler feed water pump is a specific type of pump used to pump water into a steam
boiler. The water may be freshly supplied or returning condensation of the steam produced
by the boiler. These pumps are normally high pressure units that use suction from a
condensate return system and can be of the centrifugal pump type or positive displacement
type.
Construction and operation:
Feed water pumps range in size up to many horsepower and the electric motor is usually
separated from the pump body by some form of mechanical coupling. Large industrial
condensate pumps may also serve as the feed water pump. In either case, to force the water
into the boiler, the pump must generate sufficient pressure to overcome the steam pressure
developed by the boiler. This is usually accomplished through the use of a centrifugal
pump. Feed water pumps usually run intermittently and are controlled by a float switch or
other similar level-sensing device energizing the pump when it detects a lowered liquid
level in the boiler. Some pumps contain a two-stage switch. As liquid lowers to the trigger
point of the first stage, the pump is activated. If the liquid continues to drop, (perhaps
because the pump has failed, its supply has been cut off or exhausted, or its discharge is
blocked) the second stage will be triggered. This stage may switch off the boiler equipment
(preventing the boiler from running dry and overheating), trigger an alarm, or both.

Condenser
The steam coming out from the Low Pressure Turbine (a little above its boiling pump) is
brought into thermal contact with cold water (pumped in from the cooling tower) in the

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condenser, where it condenses rapidly back into water, creating near Vacuum-like
conditions inside the condenser chest.

Intermediate Pressure Turbine

Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) consists of 11 stages. When the steam has been passed
through HPT it enters into IPT. IPT has two ends named as FRONT & REAR. Steam enters
through front end and leaves from Rear end.

Steam Governor Valve

Steam locomotives and the steam engines used on ships and stationary applications such
as power plants also required feed water pumps. In this situation, though, the pump was
often powered using a small steam engine that ran using the steam produced by the boiler
a means had to be provided, of course, to put the initial charge of water into the
boiler(before steam power was available to operate the steam-powered feed water
pump).The pump was often a positive displacement pump that had steam valves and
cylinders at one end and feed water cylinders at the other end; no crankshaft was required.
In thermal plants, the primary purpose of surface condenser is to condense the exhaust
steam from a steam turbine to obtain maximum efficiency and also to convert the turbine
exhaust steam into pure water so that it may be reused in the steam generator or boiler as
boiler feed water. By condensing the exhaust steam of a turbine at a pressure below
atmospheric pressure, the steam pressure drop between the inlet and exhaust of the turbine
is increased, which increases the amount heat available for conversion to mechanical
power. Most of the heat liberated due to condensation of the exhaust steam is carried away
by the cooling medium (water or air) used by the surface condenser. Control valves are
valves used within industrial plants and elsewhere to control operating conditions such as
temperature, pressure, flow and liquid level by fully or partially opening or closing in
response to signals received from controllers that compares a “set point” to a “process
variable” whose value is provided by sensors that monitor changes in such conditions. The
opening or closing of control valves is done by means of electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic
systems.

High Pressure Turbine

Steam coming from Boiler directly feeds into HPT at a temperature of 540°C and at a
pressure of 136 kg/cm2. Here it passes through 12 different stages due to which its
temperature goes down to 329°C and pressure as 27 kg/cm2. This line is also called as CRH
– COLD REHEAT LINE. It is now passed to a REHEATER where its temperature rises to
540°C and called as HRH-HOT REHEATED LINE.

Deaerator
A Deaerator is a device for air removal and used to remove dissolved gases (an alternate
would be the use of water treatment chemicals) from boiler feed water to make it non-

19
corrosive. A deaerator typically includes a vertical domed deaeration section as the
deaeration boiler feed water tank. A Steam generating boiler requires that the circulating
steam, condensate, and feed water should be devoid of dissolved gases, particularly
corrosive ones and dissolved or suspended solids. The gases will give rise to corrosion of
the metal. The solids will deposit on the heating surfaces giving rise to localized heating
and tube ruptures due to overheating. Under some conditions it may give rise to stress
corrosion cracking. Deaerator level and pressure must be controlled by adjusting control
valves- the level by regulating condensate flow and the pressure by regulating steam flow.
If operated properly, most deaerator vendors will guarantee that oxygen in the deaerated
water will not exceed 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm3/L)

Feed water heater

A Feed water heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam
generating boiler. Preheating the feed water reduces the irreversibility 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 feed water is introduced back into the steam cycle. In a steam power (usually
modeled as a modified Rankin cycle), feed water heaters allow the feed water to be brought
up to the saturation temperature very gradually. This minimizes the inevitable
irreversibility associated with heat transfer to the working fluid (water).

Coal conveyor
Coal conveyors are belts which are used to transfer coal from its storage place to Coal
Hopper. A belt conveyor consists of two pulleys, with a continuous loop of material- the
conveyor Belt – that rotates about them. The pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the
material on the belt forward. Conveyor belts are extensively used to transport industrial
and agricultural material, such as grain, coal, ores etc.

Coal Hopper
Coal Hoppers are the places which are used to feed coal to Fuel Mill. It also has the
arrangement of entering Hot Air at 200°C inside it which solves our two purposes:-
1. If our Coal has moisture content then it dries it so that a proper combustion takes place.
2. It raises the temperature of coal so that its temperature is more near to its Ignite
Temperature so that combustion is easy.

Pulverized Fuel Mill

A pulverizer is a device for grinding coal for combustion in a furnace in a fossil fuel power
plant.

Boiler drum
Steam Drums are a regular feature of water tube boilers. It is reservoir of water/steam at
the top end of the water tubes in the water-tube boiler. They store the steam generated in

20
the water tubes and act as a phase separator for the steam/water mixture. The difference in
densities between hot and cold water helps in the accumulation of the “hotter”-water/and
saturated –steam into steam drum. Made from high-grade steel (probably stainless) and its
working involve temperature of 390°C and pressure well above 350psi (2.4MPa). The
separated steam is drawn out from the top section of the drum. Saturated steam is drawn
off the top of the drum. The steam will re-enter the furnace in through a super heater, while
the saturated water at the bottom of steam drum flows down to the mud-drum /feed water
drum by down comer tubes accessories include a safety valve, water level indicator and
fuse plug.

Ash Hopper
A steam drum is used in the company of a mud-drum/feed water drum which is located at
a lower level. So that it acts as a sump for the sludge or sediments which have a tendency
to accumulate at the bottom.

Super Heater
A Super heater is a device in a steam engine that heats the steam generated by the boiler
again increasing its thermal energy. Super heaters increase the efficiency of the steam
engine, and were widely adopted. Steam which has been superheated is logically known as
superheated steam; non-superheated steam is called saturated steam or wet steam. Super
heaters were applied to steam locomotives in quantity from the early 20th century, to most
steam vehicles, and also stationary steam engines including power stations.

Force Draught Fan

External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced draught fan
takes air from the atmosphere and, warms it in the air preheater for better combustion,
injects it via the air nozzles on the furnace wall.

Re-heater
Re-heater is a heater which is used to raise the temperature of steam which has fallen from
the intermediate pressure turbine.

Air Intake
Air is taken from the environment by an air intake tower which is fed to the fuel.

Economizers
Economizer, or in the UK economizer, are mechanical devices intended to reduce energy
consumption, or to perform another useful function like preheating a fluid. The term
economizer is used for other purposes as well-Boiler, power plant, heating, ventilating and
air-conditioning. In boilers, economizer are heat exchange devices that heat fluids , usually
water, up to but not normally beyond the boiling point of the fluid. Economizers are so
named because they can make use of the enthalpy and improving the boiler’s efficiency.

21
They are devices fitted to a boiler which save energy by using the exhaust gases from the
boiler to preheat the cold water used to fill it (the feed water). Modern day boilers, such as
those in cold fired power stations, are still fitted with economizer which is decedents of
Green’s original design. In this context there are turbines before it is pumped to the boilers.
A common application of economizer in steam power plants is to capture the waste heat
from boiler stack gases (flue gas) and transfer thus it to the boiler feed water thus lowering
the needed energy input , in turn reducing the firing rates to accomplish the rated boiler
output . Economizer lower stack temperatures which may cause condensation of acidic
combustion gases and serious equipment corrosion damage if care is not taken in their
design and material selection.

Air Preheater
Air preheater is a general term to describe any device designed to heat air before another
process (for example, combustion in a boiler). The purpose of the air preheater is to recover
the heat from the boiler flue gas which increases the thermal efficiency of the boiler by
reducing the useful heat lost in the flue gas. As a consequence, the flue gases are also sent
to the flue gas stack (or chimney) at a lower temperature allowing simplified design of the
ducting and the flue gas stack. It also allows control over the temperature of gases leaving
the stack.

Precipitator
An Electrostatic precipitator (ESP) or electrostatic air cleaner is a particulate 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, and
can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the air steam. ESPs
continue to be excellent devices for control of many industrial particulate emissions,
including smoke from electricity-generating utilities (coal and oil fired), salt cake
collection from black liquor boilers in pump mills, and catalyst collection from fluidized
bed catalytic crackers from several hundred thousand ACFM in the largest coal-fired boiler
applications. The original parallel plate-Weighted wire design (described above) has
evolved as more efficient ( and robust) discharge electrode designs, today focus is on rigid
discharge electrodes to which many sharpened spikes are attached , maximizing corona
production. Transformer –rectifier systems apply voltages of 50-100 Kilovolts at relatively
high current densities. Modern controls minimize sparking and prevent arcing, avoiding
damage to the components. Automatic rapping systems and hopper evacuation systems
remove the collected particulate matter while on line allowing ESPs to stay in operation
for years at a time.

Induced Draught Fan

The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the
furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through
any opening. At the furnace outlet, and before the furnace gases are handled by the ID fan,

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fine dust carried by the outlet gases is removed to avoid atmospheric pollution. This is an
environmental limitation prescribed by law, which additionally minimizes erosion of the
ID fan.

Flue gas stack

A Flue gas stack is a type of chimney, a vertical pipe, channel or similar structure through
which combustion product gases called flue gases are exhausted to the outside air. Flue
gases are produced when coal, oil, natural gas, wood or any other large combustion device.
Flue gas is usually composed of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour as well as nitrogen
and excess oxygen remaining from the intake combustion air. It also contains a small
percentage of pollutants such as particulates matter, carbon mono oxide, nitrogen oxides
and sulphur oxides. The flue gas stacks are often quite tall, up to 400 meters (1300 feet) or
more, so as to disperse the exhaust pollutants over a greater area and thereby reduce the
concentration of the pollutants to the levels required by government's environmental
policies and regulations. The flue gases are exhausted from stoves, ovens, fireplaces or
other small sources within residential abodes, restaurants, hotels through other stacks
which are referred to as chimneys.

Major Elements of Thermal Power Plant

Boiler
Boiler is used to heat the deminerlised water to produce necessary superheated steam which
helps to run the turbine.

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 Schematic diagram of a coal fired power plant steam generator

The boiler is a rectangular furnace about 15m on a side and 40m tall. Boiler walls are made
of a web of high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches in diameter. 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
circultaesnthrough the boiler tubes near the boiler perimeter.
As the water in the boiler circulates it absorbs heat and changes into steam at 370oC and
22.1MPa. It is separated from the water inside a drum at the top of the furnace. The
saturated steam is introduced into superheat pendant tubes that hang in the hottest part of
the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Here the steam is superheated to 540oC to
prepare it for the turbine. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high
purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical
generator.
The boiler used in the power plant is of inverted U shape. Each boiler consists of several
thin capillary shaped tubes running along its inner periphery through which deminerlized
water is made to run.

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 External view of an Industrial Boiler at Badarpur Thermal Power Station, New Delhi

To prevent the choking and rusting of this boiler tubes, a thin coating of hydrazine is
applied inside the boiler wall. Choking may occur due to the presence of silica in the water
whereas rusting may occur due to the presence of dissolved oxygen in the DM water.
How boiler works: - the crushed coal is lifted up in the air from the bowl type mills by the
heated air, heated up by the primary fans, to the furnace. The coal is carried to the furnace
through 4 pipes leading to 4 corners of the furnace. The temperature of the furnace is
maintained at 1500oC where the coal gets heated up. Moreover the FD fans provide heated
air which goes into the furnace and helps in the combustion of coal. The boiler tubes which
surround the furnace have water running through them, a part of which gets converted into
steam, the mixture of steam and water is then taken to the separator. The separator present
in the boiler drum separates out the water from the water-steam mixture.

Steam Turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized
steam, and converts it into rotatory motion. Because the turbine generates rotatory motion,
it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electric generator.
At NTPC, three types of steam turbines are being used:

1. High Pressure Turbine.

2. Intermediate Pressure Turbine.
3. Low Pressure Turbine.

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The 210 MW unit consists all of the three types of turbines, whereas the unit 95 MW
consists of only high pressure and low pressure turbine.
How Steam Turbine Works: - Steam turbines are equipped with fan blades mounted on
a rotor. The rising steam turns the blade, and thus the rotor. The rotatory motion is then
directly transferred for running a generator. This is how the heat energy of the steam is
turned into mechanical energy and then into electricity.
Generator
An electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Steam turbines provide the necessary mechanical energy to the generator.

A 95 MW Generator at Badarpur Thermal power Station, New Delhi

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An electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Steam turbines provide the necessary mechanical energy to the generator.
The steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally has a heavy, large diameter
shaft. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also has to keep in position while
running. To minimize the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft has number of
bearings.
The bearings shells, in which the shaft rotates, are lined with a low friction material like
Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provided to further reduce the friction between shaft and
bearing surface and to limit the heat generated.
How Generator works:- power generators work on the principle of electromagnetic
induction, that is whenever a conductor moves relative to the magnetic field, voltage is
induced in the conductor, particularly, if a coil is spinning in a magnetic field, then the two
sides of the coil move in the opposite directions, and the voltage induced in each side add.
If an external circuit is connected to the coil’s terminals, this voltage will create current
through this circuit, resulting in energy being delivered to the load. Thus, the mechanical
energy that rotates the coil is converted into electrical energy.

Monitoring and Annunciation Systems

The monitoring and annunciation system at BTPC manifests itself as a sophisticated and
fully auto controlled panel. All the important field parameters like feed water level, drum
level, temperature and pressure are monitored in a real time environment. Any small
deviation from the ideal range results in a prompt annunciation. The team sitting in the
control room then analyses the errors and perform subsequent rectification process.

Operation Room of Power Plant

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Operating cycle

Rankine cycle is the operating cycle for the turbine. It is a thermodynamic cycle that
converts heat into work. It is also known as power cycle, as it uses the vapour to run the
turbine and produce power. The heat required to produce this this steam is provided from
outside the Rankine cycle. The method used to provide this heat are by burning coal, oil
or natural gases in a closed furnace. It is basically conversion of chemical energy into
mechanical energy, which further converts into electrical energy by the help of dynamo.
It is derived from Carnot cycle which is the most efficient or the ideal thermodynamic
system and sometimes the Rankine cycle is also termed as practical Carnot cycle. It
basically says that power is dependent on the difference between the heat source and the
cold source. Hence higher the difference between the two more amounts of mechanical
energy can be extracted. It is the most commonly used method for generation of
electricity.

Bibliography

 www.google.com

 www.wikipedia.org

 www.scribed.com

 www.ntpc.co.in

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