Introduction

Introduction

PRINCIPLE OF THE TRANSFORMER:-

Two coils are wound over a Core such that they are magnetically coupled. The

two coils are known as the primary and secondary windings.

In a Transformer, an iron core is used. The coupling between the coils is source

of making a path for the magnetic flux to link both the coils. A core as in fig.2 is used and

the coils are wound on the limbs of the core. Because of high permeability of iron, the

flux path for the flux is only in the iron and hence the flux links both windings. Hence

there is very little ‘leakage flux’. This term leakage flux denotes the part of the flux,

which does not link both the coils, i.e., when coupling is not perfect. In the high

frequency transformers, ferrite core is used. The transformers may be step-up, step-down,

frequency matching, sound output, amplifier driver etc. The basic principles of all the

transformers are same.

 MINIATURE TRANSFORMER

CONVENTIONAL POWER TRANSFORMER

A power transformer is most costly and essential equipment of an electrical

transformer. So for getting high performance and long functional life of the

transformer, it is desired to perform various maintenance activities. Not only that,

a power transformer also requires various maintenance actions including

measurement and testing of different parameters of the transformer. There are

mainly two types of maintenance of transformer. We perform one group is in

routine basis, and second group is as when required. That means for getting

smooth performance from a transformer we have to perform some maintenance

actions in regular basis.

Some other type of maintenance of transformer we perform as when they are

required. But if one performs regular maintenance properly, he may not have any

provision of performing emergency maintenance. The regular checking and

maintenance of transformer is also known as condition maintenance. Hence by

proper condition maintenance one can avoid emergency and breakdown

maintenance. That is why one technical personnel should mainly concentrate on

condition maintenance. As 100% condition maintenance causes 0% breakdown of

an equipment. There are many different maintenance action, to be performed on a

power transformer. Some of them in yearly basis, some of them are monthly basis,

some other are quarterly, some are half-yearly basis. These are mainly transformer

maintenance action, which to be performed in 3 to 4 years interval.

Monthly Basis Maintenance of Transformer

Let us first discuss about the action to be taken on power transformer in monthly

basis.

1. The oil level in oil cap under silica gel breather must be checked in one

month interval. If it is found the transformer oil inside the cup comes below

the specified level, oil to be top up as per specified level.

2. Breathing holes in silica gel breather should also be checked monthly and

properly cleaned if required, for proper breathing action.

3. If the transformer has oil filled bushing the oil level of transformer oil inside

the bushing must be vidually checked in the oil gage attached to those

bushing. This action also to be done monthly basis.

If it is required, the oil to be filled in the bushing upto correct level. Oil filling to

be done under shutdown condition.

Daily Basis Maintenance and Checking

There are three main things which to be checked on a power transformer in daily

basis and they are :

1. Reading of MOG (Magnetic Oil Gage) of main tank and conservator tank.

2. Color of silica gel in breather.

3. Leakage of oil from any point of a transformer.

In case of unsatisfactory oil level in the MOG, oil to be filled in transformer and

also the transformer tank to be checked for oil leakage. If oil leakage is found take
required action to plug the leakage. If silica gel becomes pinkish, it should be

replaced.

Yearly Basis Transformer Maintenance Schedule

1. The auto, remote, manual function of cooling system that means, oil pumps,

air fans, and other items engaged in cooling system of transformer, along

with their control circuit to be checked in the interval of one year. In the case

of trouble, investigate control circuit and physical condition of pumps and

fans.

2. All the bushings of the transformer to be cleaned by soft cotton cloths yearly.

During cleaning the bushing should be checked for cracking.

3. Oil condition of OLTC to be examined in every year. For that, oil sample to

be taken from drain valve of divertor tank, and this collected oil sample to be

tested for dielectric strength (BDV) and moisture content (PPM). If BDV is

low and PPM for moisture is found high compared to recommended values,

the oil inside the OLTC to be replaced or filtered.

4. Mechanical inspection of Buchholz relays to be carried out on yearly basis.

5. All marshalling boxes to be cleaned from inside at least once in a year. All

illumination, space heaters, to be checked whether they are functioning

properly or not. If not, required maintenance action to be taken. All the

terminal connections of control and relay wiring to be checked an tighten at

least once in a year.

 6. All the relays, alarms and control switches along with their circuit, in R&C

panel (Relay and Control Panel) and RTCC (Remote Tap Changer Control

Panel) to be cleaned by appropriate cleaning agent.

7. The pockets for OTI, WTI (Oil Temperature Indicator & Winding

Temperature Indicator) on the transformer top cover to be checked and if

required oil to be replenished.

8. The proper function of Pressure Release Device and Buchholz relay must be

checked annually. For that, trip contacts and alarm contacts of the said

devices are shorted by a small piece of wire, and observe whether the

concerned relays in remote panel are properly working or not.

9. Insulation resistance and polarization index of transformer must be checked

with battery operated megger of 5 KV range.

10. Resistive value of earth connection and rizer must be measured annually with

clamp on earth resistance meter.

11. DGA or Dissolve Gas Analysis of transformer Oil should be performed,

annually for 132 KV transformer, once in 2 years for the transformer below

132 KV transformer and in 2 years interval for the transformer above 132

KV transformer.

The Action to be taken once in 2 years :

1. The calibration of OTI and WTI must be carried once in two years.
 2. Tan & delta; measurement of bushings of transformer also to be done once in

two years.

Maintenance of Transformer on Half Yearly Basis

The transformer oil must be checked half yearly basis that means once in 6

months, for dielectric strength, water content, acidity, sludge content, flash point,

DDA, IFT, resistivity for transformer oil. In case of distribution transformer, as

they are operating light load condition all the time of day remaining peak hours ,

so there are no maintenance required.

Maintenance of Current Transformer

A Current Transformer or CT is very essential equipment installed in an electrical

substation for electrical measurement and protection purpose. If a current

transformer does not perform properly, there may be huge disturbance in the

system due to malfunctioning of protection relays. So far accurate measurement

and smooth operation of electrical power system, CTs must be properly

maintained. A schedule of such maintenance of Current Transformer is preferred

below for ready reference. Let us first discuss about the maintenance of CT which

to be performed in one year interval.

1. Insulation resistance of the CT must be checked in yearly basis. During

insulation resistance measurement, it must be remembered that, in current

transformer there are two level of insulation. The insulation level of primary

of CT is quite high as it has to withstand full system voltage. But the

 secondary of the CT has low insulation level generally 1.1 KV. So primary to

secondary and primary to earth of a current transformer are measured with

2.5 or 5 KV megger. But this high voltage megger can not be used for

secondary measurement, as here insulation level is quite low in the view of

economy of the design. So secondary insulation is measured with 500 V

megger. Hence, primary terminals to earth, primary terminals to secondary

measuring core, primary terminals to secondary protection cores are

measured by 2.5 or 5 KV megger. In between secondary cores and secondary

to earth resistances are measured by 500V megger.

2. Thermo vision scanning of primary terminals and top dome of a live CT

should be performed at least once in a year. This scanning can be done with

help of infra-red Thermo-vision Camera.

3. All the CT secondary connections in CT secondary box and CT junction box

must be checked, cleaned and tighten every year to ensure maximum

possible low resistance path for CT secondary currents. It should also be

ensured that CT junction box is properly cleaned.

There are some other maintenance of Current Transformer which to be performed

in half yearly basis, such as,

1. The porcelain housing of CTs should be checked for hire crack if any crack

is observed on insulator, necessary advice to be obtained from manufacturer.

 2. The porcelain insulator housing of current transformer, to be cleaned

properly by cotton clothes.

Now we will discuss about monthly basis maintenance of current transformer.

1. Oil leakage from any joint should be visually inspected if leakage found, it

must be plugged by taking shutdown.

2. The secondary terminals are also checked for oil leakage, if leakage found,

immediate action to be taken to plug the leakage.

In addition to these, tans or loss factor measurement to be performed on a current

transformer, preferably above 66 KV class, once in two years. Dissolve Gas

Analysis of oil also to be done preferably once in 4 years. If the results are found

unsatisfactory as per standard, the insulating oil must be replaced.

Maintenance of Voltage Transformer and Capacitor Voltage

Transformer

Construction wise a voltage transformer and a capacitor voltage transformer are

same. Hence basis scheme of maintenance of both voltage transformer and

capacitor voltage transformer are more or less same. As heavy current does not

flow through PT and CVT, the defect and fault generally very low.

That is why monthly maintenance of voltage transformer and maintenance of

capacitor voltage transformer may not be required. Moreover very frequent

maintenance of bus PT or CVT may not also be possible as far taking shutdown of
such PT or CVT total bus section would be out of protection and metering. Only

yearly maintenance of such equipments are sufficient.

Yearly Maintenance of Voltage Transformer or Capacitor Voltage Transformer

1. The porcelain housing must be cleaned with cotton clothes.

2. The spark gap assembly to be checked on yearly basis. Remove the

moveable part of spark gap as assembly, clean the braes electrode with emery

paper and fix it back in position.

3. The high frequency earthing point should be visually checked yearly in the

case, the point is not used for PLCC.

4. Thermo vision camera to be used for checking any hot spots in the capacitor

stacks to ensure pro action of rectification.

5. The terminal connections PT junction box including earth connections to be

checked for tightness once in a year. In addition to that, the PT junction box

also to be cleaned properly once in a year.

6. The health of all gasket joint also to be visually checked and replaced if any

damaged gasket found.

Maintenance
 Maintenance

Inspection Schedule

Careful maintenance and inspection allow any faults to be detected and corrected

at any early stage before they are able to develop into serious damage. Therefore,

they help to preserve the value of the machine, prevent costly outages and increase

its reliability and availability. Since the conditions under which the machines are

required to operate can vary widely, it is only possible in maintenance and

inspection schedules to recommend maximum intervals between inspections for

normal conditions. Experience gained at the actual place of installation must be

used subsequently to adjust the inspection intervals when necessary to take

account of factors such as contamination, frequency of startup, load, etc. It is

recommended, therefore, that the accessible parts of the machine are inspected

visually about 500 hours after commissioning. Furthermore, the inspection

intervals given in the maintenance schedules presuppose no operating

disturbances. If any disturbances or unusual operating conditions occur (e.g. over

load, short-circuit, machine runaway, etc.) which cause electrical or mechanical

overstressing of the machine, the appropriate inspections must be carried out

immediately. If BHEL engineers are not called upon to carry out the inspection

work it should only be entrusted to trained personnel who have had adequate

experience on large electrical machines. We suggest that such personnel should be

instructed by a BHEL engineer during his presence for installation, commissioning

or inspections. Repair work which goes beyond normal maintenance or inspection

procedures, and any subsequent modification, etc. should always be carried out by

BHEL engineers. Your local BHEL representative will be pleased to make the

necessary arrangements.

The relevant safety and protection measures demanded by local regulations must

be implemented when carrying out inspection and maintenance work. The first

inspection of machine should be made after 4000 operating hours or 1000

operations, but not later than 1 year (after 16000 operating hours in case of

continuous operation, but not later than 2 years). Subsequent inspections every

8000 operating hours (16000 operating hours in the case of continuous operation),

but at least every two years.

The following checks should be carried out :

 Running smoothness of machine satisfactory.

 Rotor alignment within tolerances, also compare with initial reading.

 No cracks in the foundation.

 All fixing bolts of mechanical and electrical joints tight.

 Coupling, refer instructions of coupling manufacturer.

 Cleanliness of filters and coolers. Set intervals according to degree of

contamination.

 Proper earthing of motor body and terminal boxes to be ensured.

Maintenance
Before starting any work on the machine, make sure that it has been isolated from

the supply and that a safeguard has been provided to prevent unintentional

starting. Free Passages, which transfer cooling air from the ambient atmosphere,

should be cleaned with dry, oil-free compressed air at regular intervals in

accordance with the degree of pollution. If dust or moisture has penetrated into the

terminal compartment carefully clean and dry the component, in particular the

surfaces of the insulating parts. Check the seals and eliminate the leakage.

Machines of vertical type of construction may be dismantled in a horizontal

position. Refer to "Transport, storage" for the safety measures required to set

down, lift and transport them. Before performing any work on the locating bearing

with the machine in a vertical position, first brace the rotor.

ROLLING CONTACT BEARINGS

Instructions

Electrical machines fitted with rolling contact bearings are subject to the following

instructions supplementing and modifying the operation instructions of the

machines.

Installation

The locating bearings are deep groove ball bearings for horizontally mounted

machines. These bearings may also be in pair with cylindrical roller bearings. In
the case of bearings in pair, the outer ring of the deep groove ball bearings is not

guided radically and is prevented from rotating by compression springs. The

locating bearings for vertically mounted machines are angular contact ball

bearings of type range 72 or 73 (angular contact ball bearings with increased axial

fixation (see supplementary operating instructions ) The floating bearings are deep

groove ball bearings or cylindrical roller bearings. In case of deep groove ball

bearings as floating bearings, the axial play is compensated by means of

compression springs. The type of bearing is selected for direction and size of load

(type of construction, forces acting on the shaft) and therefore it should not be

changed. The permissible values of axial and radial forces may be taken from the

list of machines or may be inquired. The machines should operate in only one type

of construction as shown in the rating plate, because another type of construction

required perhaps further measures in addition to a modification of the model of

bearing. Always in this case an inquiry in necessary. The bearings should be re-

lubricated if the time between delivery and commissioning of the machines is

more than 4 years, assuming that they have been stored in favourable conditions

(i.e. in a dry, dust and vibration free room) or more than 2 years if they have been

stored in unfavourable conditions.

Maintenance

For the initial lubrication of bearings, a lubricating grease IOC Servogem-3 or

equivalent, with lithium soap as thickener and with mineral oil as basic oil as
usually used. Besides the definition of grease, the re-greasing interval and the

necessary quantity are given on the data plate. Normally regular interval is 4000

hours. It is recommended that the re-greasing instructions be followed strictly.

Greases of different thickeners and basic oils reduces the quality and is therefore

to be avoided. Only in special cases should deviations be made from the usual

greasing, data. The re-greasing, intervals should be shortened, for instance, if the

machines are operated at coolant temperatures higher than originally allowed for if

corrosive vapours occur or extremely heavy contamination is present.

Clean the grease nipple and press in the grease stipulated on the data plate using a

grease gun. At the same time shaft should be rotated in order to distribute the new

grease uniformly in the bearing. After re-greasing, the bearing, temperature will

rise by a few degrees and will drop to the normal value when the grease has
reached its normal service viscosity and the excess grease has been forced out of

the bearing. The old grease from several re-greasing, operations gathers in the

space inside the outer bearing caps. Remove the old grease when overhauling the

machines. For working on the locating bearing in the vertical position of the

machine, support the rotor. It is recommended that new rolling bearings be

installed as follow: heat the ball bearings or the inner ring of the roller bearings in

oil or air to a temperature 0 of approx. 80 C and slip them onto the shaft. Heavy

blows may damages the bearings and must be avoided. When installing single

angular contact balls make sure that the broad shoulder of the inner ring (and the

narrow shoulder of the outer ring) in operation position points upwards, i.e. in a

direction opposite to that of the axial thrust. Care must be taken during assembly

to see that the sealing rings are fitted properly. When fitting shaft seal rings (V-

rings), the correct axial position or the V-rings is attained when the bearing cap

end face and outside edge of the V-ring are flush. It is recommended using an

appropriate assembly aid for this. Before new felt sealing rings are fitted in to the

bearing caps, they must first be 0 impregnated in not so high viscosity oil

(lubricating oil 51517-C100) at 80 C they should be dimensioned so that the shaft

slides easily in, yet is also well enclosed by them. The table given at Appendix-I

helps to trace and remove the causes of faults. It is difficult to find the damages of

bearings. In the case of doubt it is recommended to renew the bearings.

Electrical Test and Maintenance of Transformers, Relays and
Circuit Breakers
 Electrical Test and Maintenance of Transformers, Relays and
Circuit Breakers
The cornerstones of BHEL preventive program are oil sampling, electrical test and

visual inspection. Together, these three methods provide the information to

analyze the condition of your transformer and switchgear and to determine the

steps needed to assure reliability and top performance.

Electrical Testing

Electrical tests accurately measure these important values:

 Insulating value of insulation (DC Megger)

 Resistive and Capacitive loss (DC Hipot)

 Power Factor (tests of transformers & bushings)

 Relationship of primary and secondary voltages (TTR)

 Trip levels and accuracy of relays and low, medium and high voltage circuit

breakers

Test results are compared to manufacturers specifications and/or performance

standards set by NETA, IEEE and NEMA, and establish a baseline for comparison

with future tests. Repairs or calibration needed to bring equipment into

specification can be easily identified, and post repair testing assures that proper

corrective action has been taken.

In many cases, testing identifies the need for simple repairs and adjustments that

preclude costly repairs and downtime in the future.

Tests Performed

The suite of tests includes the following:

 Dielectric Absorption

 Insulation resistance test, winding-to-winding and winding-to-ground.

 Turn to Turn Ratio Test: to determine actual vs. calculated voltage

 Power Factor Test: to assess condition of electrical insulation in high

voltage apparatus

 Breaker and relay tests of contact resistance, conductivity, insulation

resistance, current and /or voltage trip levels

Equipment Used

 Microprocessor based circuit breaker test sets for high current injection

 5KV Insulation Resistance testers

 Automated Insulation Power Factor Test Set

 Protective Relay Test Set

 Digital Low Resistance Ohmmeters

 10KV automated power factor test set

 Turn to Turn Ratio Test Set

Repairs

Our breaker and relay test process compares the performance of your equipment to

manufacturer’s maintenance specifications. In addition to testing, our technicians

perform on-the-spot repairs such as:

 Cleaning cubicles

 Burnishing and adjusting contacts

 Lubricating moving parts

 Retrofitting trip units

 Repairing faulty subassemblies

More extensive repairs are performed by returning the faulty item to BHEL or on a

subsequent site visit.

Test Report and Analysis

After the test program is completed, a test report is compiled and submitted to our

customer. The test report presents the actual data taken at the customer’s site and

the results of any calculated values. Out of specification conditions are highlighted

and maintenance recommendations are presented.

FAULT DIAGNOSTIC CHART

 COMPANY PROFILE OF

BHARAT HEAVY ELECTRICAL

 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) owned by the Government of India,

is an engineering and manufacturing company based in New Delhi, India.

Established in 1964, BHEL is India's largest power plant equipment manufacturer.

The company has been earning profits continuously since 1971-72 and paying

dividends uninterruptedly since 1976-77.

It has been granted the prestigious Maharatna (big gem) status in 2013 by Govt

of India for its outstanding performance.The elite list of maharatna contains

another 6 behemoth PSU companies of India.

History

BHEL was established in 1964 Heavy Electricals (India) Limited was merged with

BHEL in 1974. In 1982, it entered into power equipment, to reduce its dependence

on the power sector. It developed the capability to produce a variety of electrical,

electronic and mechanical equipments for all sectors, including transmission,

transportation, oil and gas and other allied industries. In 1991, it was converted

into a public limited company. By the end of 1996, the company had handed over

100 Electric Locomotives to Indian Railway and installed 250 Hydro-sets across

India.
Operations

BHEL is engaged in the design, engineering, manufacturing, construction, testing,

commissioning and servicing of a wide range of products, systems and services for

the core sectors of the economy, viz. power, transmission, industry, transportation,

renewable energy, oil & gas and defence.

It has a network of 17 manufacturing units, 2 repair units, 4 regional offices, 8

service centres, 8 overseas offices, 15 regional centres, 7 joint ventures, and

infrastructure allowing it to execute more than 150 projects at sites across India

and abroad. The company has established the capability to deliver 20,000 MW p.a.

of power equipment to address the growing demand for power generation

equipment.

BHEL has retained its market leadership position during 2015-16 with 74%

market share in the Power Sector. An improved focus on project execution

enabled BHEL record its highest ever commissioning/synchronization of 15059

MW of power plants in domestic and international markets in 2015-16, marking a

59% increase over 2014-15. With the all-time high commissioning of 15000 MW

in a single year FY2015-16, BHEL has exceeded 170 GW installed base of power

generating equipments.

It also has been exporting its power and industry segment products and services

for over 40 years. BHEL's global references are spread across over 76 countries

across all the six continents of the world. The cumulative overseas installed
capacity of BHEL manufactured power plants exceeds 9,000 MW across 21

countries including Malaysia, Oman, Iraq, UAE, Bhutan, Egypt and New Zealand.

Their physical exports range from turnkey projects to after sales services.[5]

Main manufacturing facilities

 Centralised Stamping Unit & Fabrication Plant (CSU & FP), Jagdishpur

 Insulator Plant (IP), Jagdishpur

 Electronics Division (EDN), Bangalore

 Electronic System Division (ESD), Bangalore

 Electro-Porcelains Division (EPD), Bangalore

 Heavy Electrical Plant (HEP), Bhopal

 Industrial Valves Plant (IVP), Goindwal

 Heavy Electrical Equipment Plant (HEEP), Ranipur (Haridwar)

 Central Foundry Forge Plant (CFFP), Ranipur (Haridwar)

 Heavy Power Equipment Plant (HPEP), Hyderabad

 Transformer Plant (TP), Jhansi

 Boiler Auxiliaries Plant (BAP), Ranipet

 Component Fabrication Plant (CFP), Rudrapur

 High Pressure Boiler Plant (HPBP), Tiruchirappalli

 Seamless Steel Tube Plant (SSTP), Tiruchirappalli

 Power Plant Piping Unit (PPPU), Thirumayam

 Heavy Plates & Vessels Plant (HPVP), Visakhapatnam

The company is also setting up a new Greenfield Power Equipment Fabrication

Plant (GPEFP) at Bhandara, Maharashtra, the foundation stone for which was laid

on 14 May 2013. Further, BHEL is planning to enter solar manufacturing in a big

scale, as it has announced its plans for a 600 MW Solar Module Factory.[6]

Products and services

 Thermal power Plants

 Nuclear power Plants

 Gas based power Plants

 Hydro power Plants

 DG power Plants

 Boilers (steam generator)

 Boiler Auxiliaries

 Gas generator

 Hydro generator

 Steam turbine

 Gas turbine

 Hydro turbine

 Transformer

 Switchgear
 Oil field equipment

 Boiler drum

 Piping System

 Soot Blowers

 Valves

 Seamless Steel Tubes

 Condenser s and Heat exchangers

 Pumps

 Desalination and Water treatment plants

 Automation and Control systems

 Power electronics

 Transmission system control

 Semiconductor devices

 Solar photo voltaics

 Software system solutions

 Bus ducts

 Insulators

 Control panels

 Capacitors

 Bushings

 Electrical machines
 DC, AC heavy duty Motors

 Compressors

 Control gears

 Traction motors

 Research and development products

Awards and recognitions

 Appreciation shield (June 2016) by the External Affairs Minister Sushma

Swaraj and the Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and

Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharati for successful commissioning of Salma Dam

project in Afghanistan.

 BHEL wins India Pride Award 2015-16 for Excellence in Heavy Industries.

 It is the 7th largest power equipment manufacturer in the world.

 BHEL was adjudged the Best Power Equipment Manufacturing Organisation

by CBIP

 The company bagged PSE Excellence Award 2014 for R&D & Technology

Development

 BHEL received the National Intellectual Property Award 2014 and WIPO

Award for Innovative Enterprises

 In 2014, BHEL won ICAI National Award for Excellence in Cost

Management for the ninth consecutive year.

 BHEL received two awards in CII-ITC Sustainability Awards 2012 from the

President of India.

 In the year 2011, it was ranked ninth most innovative company in the world by

US business magazine Forbes.

 The company won the prestigious ‘Golden Peacock Award for Occupational

Health & Safety 2011’ for significant achievements in the field of

Occupational Health & Safety.

 It is also placed at 4th place in Forbes Asia's Fabulous 50 List of 2010.

 BHEL wins MoU Excellence Award for the year 2006–07 for the highest

growth rate in Market Capitalization.

Initiatives

Research and development

BHEL's investment in R&D is amongst the largest in the corporate sector in India.

During the year 2012-13, the company invested about Rs. 1,252 Crore on R&D

efforts, which corresponds to nearly 2.50% of the turnover of the company,

focusing on new product and system developments and improvements in existing

products for cost competitiveness, higher reliability, efficiency, availability and

quality etc. To meet customer expectations, the company has upgraded its

products to contemporary levels through continuous in-house efforts as well as

through acquisition of new technologies from leading engineering organizations of

the world. The IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) capital of BHEL grew by 21.5%

in the year, taking the total to 2170.

The Corporate R&D division at Hyderabad leads BHEL’s research efforts in a

number of areas of importance to BHEL’s product range. Research & product

development (RPD) Groups for each product group at the manufacturing divisions

play a complementary role. BHEL has established Centres of Excellence for

Simulators, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Permanent Magnet Machines, Surface

Engineering, Machine Dynamics, Centre for Intelligent Machines and Robotics,

Compressors & Pumps, Centre for Nano Technology, Ultra High Voltage

Laboratory at Corporate R&D; Centre of Excellence for Hydro Machines at

Bhopal; Power Electronics and IGBT & Controller Technology at Electronics

Division, Bengaluru, and Advanced Fabrication Technology and Coal Research

Centre at Tiruchirappalli.

BHEL has established four specialized institutes, viz., Welding Research Institute

(WRI) at Tiruchirappalli, Ceramic Technological Institute (CTI) at Bangalore,

Centre for Electric Traction (CET) at Bhopal and Pollution Control Research

Institute (PCRI) at Haridwar. Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell plant

at Gurgaonpursues R&D in Photo Voltaic applications.

Significantly, BHEL is one of the only four Indian companies and the only Indian

Public Sector Enterprise figuring in 'The Global Innovation 1000' of Booz & Co.,
a list of 1,000 publicly traded companies which are the biggest spenders on R&D

in the world.

BHEL develops new boiler for power generation

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has developed a new kind of boiler . This is

one of the key equipment in power generation.

Known as ‘Fuel Flexible Supercritical Boilers', this new equipment can help in

producing electricity with 100 per cent domestic coal or 100 per cent imported

coal. Currently, the companies are required to mix both categories of coal in a

fixed ratio and also have to consider few characteristics before blending. Now,

with the help of this new boiler, there would not be any such requirements.

According to a company statement, the new equipment is meant for coal-based

power plant also known as thermal power plant. Latest data for power generation

states that 3,55,499 billion units of power were generated during April-July of the

current year, out of which 2,94,833 billion units were by the thermal power plant.

This is 82 per cent of the overall power generation.

Non-availability of coal

Due to non-availability of coal from domestic sources, most of the power plants

are facing tough time. This has resulted in a series of companies to either resort to

operating the plant on part load due to non-availability of domestic coal or make

up for the shortfall by blending indigenous coal with imported coal. Being

heterogeneous in nature, the properties of coal vary from source to source. The
performance of power equipment is dependent on the coal being fed to the power

plant.

According to the statement, the new development will enable “the boiler to work

over the entire range of blending ratios and would protect the project developer

against the vagaries in coal availability, thereby providing him with an opportunity

to operate the plant throughout the year.” The new equipment has been developed

in-house.

The company has an advanced coal research centre at its Tiruchi plant which will

be used to identify the unique combination of blended coal after carrying out the

analysis of imported and domestic coal samples supplied by the customers. The

associated boiler auxiliaries, also manufactured by BHEL, will be designed to

accommodate the variation during firing of different type of fuels,

 Contents

 Introduction
 Steam generator (component of prime mover)
 Boiler types
 Combustion
 Water treatment
 Boiler safety
 Essential boiler fittings
 Steam accessories
 Combustion accessories
 Application of steam boilers
 Testing steam generators