PPE NOTES

*NOTE: Quiz on Steam Power Plant (PART I - Objectives) on APRIL 5, THURSDAY covering this notes
given and the additional notes from your book**. True or False taken from these notes ONLY; Definition of
terms from this notes AND the book.

**In addition, READ 9-4 (Thermal Level), 10-2 (Design Criteria) pg. 292-293, 296, 10-3 (Boiler Types), 10-
10 (Boiler Accessories) pg. 326-330, 11-13 & 11-14 (Condensers) from your Power Plant Engineering book
by Morse.

Steam is an important medium of producing mechanical energy. Steam has the advantage that it can
be raised from water which is available in abundance, it does not react much with the materials of the
equipment of power plant, and is stable at the temperature required in the plant. Steam is used to drive steam
engines, steam turbines etc. Steam power station is most suitable where coal is available in abundance.
A steam power plant must have following equipment:
1. A furnace to burn the fuel.
2. Steam generator or boiler containing water. Heat generated in the furnace is utilized to convert water in to
steam.
3. Main power unit such as an engine or turbine to use the heat energy of steam and perform work.
4. Piping system to convey steam and water.

A steam power plant using steam as working substance works basically on Rankine cycle. Steam is generated
in a boiler, expanded in the prime mover and condensed in the condenser and fed into the boiler again. In
addition to the above equipment the plant requires various auxiliaries and accessories depending upon the
availability of water, fuel and the service for which the plant is intended.

The desirable characteristic for a steam power plant are as follows:

(i) Higher efficiency.
(ii) Lower cost.
(iii) Ability to burn coal especially of high ash content, and inferior coals.
(iv) Reduced environmental impact in terms of air pollution.
(v) Reduced water requirement.
(vi) Higher reliability and availability.
The different types of systems and components used in steam power plant are as follows:
(i) High pressure boiler
(ii) Prime mover
(iii) Condensers and cooling towers
(iv) Coal handling system
(v) Ash and dust handling system
(vi) Draught system
(vii) Feed water purification plant
(viii) Pumping system
(ix) Air preheater, economizer, super heater, feed heaters.
Coal received in the coal storage yard of power station is transferred in the furnace by coal handling
unit. Heat produced due to burning of coal is utilized in converting water contained in boiler drum into steam
at suitable pressure and temperature. The steam generated is passed through the superheater. Superheated
steam then flows through the turbine. After doing work in the turbine die pressure of steam is reduced. Steam
leaving the turbine passes through the condenser which maintain the low pressure of steam at the exhaust of
turbine.
Excessive surface moisture of coal reduces and heating value of coal and creates handling problems.
The coal should therefore be dewatered to produce clean coal.
 Coal is pulverized (powdered) to increase its surface exposure thus permitting rapid combustion.
Efficient use of coal depends greatly on the combustion process employed. For large scale generation of
energy the efficient method of burning coal is confined still to pulverized coal combustion. The pulverized coal
is obtained by grinding the raw coal in pulverizing mills.

Steam pressure in the condenser depends upon flow rate and temperature of cooling water and on
effectiveness of air removal equipment. Water circulating through the condenser may be taken from the
various sources such as river, lake or sea. If sufficient quantity of water is not available the hot water coming
out of the condenser may be cooled in cooling towers and circulated again through the condenser. Bled steam
taken from the turbine at suitable extraction points is sent to low pressure and high pressure water heaters.
Air taken from the atmosphere is first passed through the air pre-heater, where it is heated by flue gases. The
hot air then passes through the furnace. The flue gases after passing over boiler and superheater tubes, flow
through the dust collector and then through economizer, air pre-heater and finally they are exhausted to the
atmosphere through the chimney.

Fuel is burnt in a confined space called furnace. The furnace provides supports and enclosure for
burning equipment. Solid fuels such as coal, coke, wood etc. are burnt by means of stokers where as burners
are used to burn powdered (Pulverized) coal and liquid fuels. Solid fuels require a grate in the furnace to hold
the bed of fuel.

According to the method of firing fuel, furnaces are classified into two categories :
(i) Grate fired furnaces (ii) Chamber fired furnaces.
Grate fired furnaces. They are used to burn solid fuels. They may have a stationary or a movable bed of fuel.
These furnaces are classified as under depending upon the method used to fire the fuel and remove ash and
slag.
(i) Hand fired (ii) Semi-mechanized (iii) Stoker fired.
Hand fired and semi-mechanized furnaces are designed with stationary fire grates and stoker furnaces with
traveling grates or stokers. Charging of fuel into the furnace is mechanized by means of stokers of various
types. They are installed above the fire doors underneath the bunkers which supply the fuel. The bunkers
receive the fuel from a conveyor.

Burners are used to burn the pulverised coal. The main difference between the various burners lies in
the rapidity of air-coal mixing i.e., turbulence. For bituminous coals the turbulent type of burner is used
whereas for low volatile coals the burners with long flame should be used.

Larger central station type boilers have water cooled furnaces. The combustion space of a furnace is
shielded wholly or partially by small diameter tubes placed side by side. Water from the boiler is made to
circulate through these tubes which connect lower and upper headers of boiler. The provision of water walls is
advantageous due to following reasons:
(1) These walls provide a protection to the furnace against high temperatures.
(2) They avoid the erosion of the refractory material and insulation.
(3) The evaporation capacity of the boiler is increased.

A large quantity of ash is, produced in steam power plants using coal. Ash produced in about 10 to
20% of the total coal burnt in the furnace. Handling of ash is a problem because ash coming out of the furnace
is too hot, it is dusty and irritating to handle and is accompanied by some poisonous gases. It is desirable to
quench the ash before handling due to following reasons:
1. Quenching reduces the temperature of ash.
2. It reduces the corrosive action of ash.
3. Ash forms clinkers by fusing in large lumps and by quenching clinkers will disintegrate.
4. Quenching reduces the dust accompanying the ash.
Handling of ash includes its removal from the furnace, loading on the conveyors and delivered to the fill from
where it can be disposed off.
 Boiler is an apparatus to produce steam. Thermal energy released by combustion of fuel is transferred
to water, which vaporizes and gets converted into steam at the desired temperature and pressure. The
performance of a boiler may be measured in terms of its evaporative capacity also called power of a boiler. It is
defined as the amount of water evaporated or steam produced in kg per hour. It may also be expressed in kg
per kg of fuel burnt or kg/hr/m2 of heating surface The boilers can be classified according to the following
criteria.
According to flow of water and hot gases.
1. Water tube.
2. Fire tube.

Steam turbine is one of the most important prime mover for generating electricity. This falls under the
category of power producing turbo-machines. In the turbine, the energy level of the working fluid goes on
decreasing along the flow stream. The purpose of turbine technology is to extract the maximum quantity of
energy from the working fluid, to convert it into useful work with maximum efficiency, by means of a plant
having maximum reliability, minimum cost, minimum supervision and minimum starting time.
The principle of operation of steam turbine is entirely different from the steam engine. In
reciprocating steam engine, the pressure energy of steam is used to overcome external resistance and the
dynamic action of steam is negligibly small. But the steam turbine depends completely upon the dynamic
action of the steam. The steam from the boiler is expanded in a passage or nozzle where due to fall in pressure
of steam, thermal energy of steam is converted into kinetic energy of steam, resulting in the emission of a high
velocity jet of steam which, Principle of working impinges on the moving vanes or blades of turbine

It should be realized that the blade obtains no motive force from the static pressure of the steam or from any
impact of the jet, because the blade in designed such that the steam jet will glide on and off the blade without
any tendency to strike it.

Steam turbine may be classified as follows: -

(A) On the Basis of Principle of Operation :
(i) Impulse turbine
(a) Simple, (b) Velocity stage, (c) Pressure stage, (d) combination of (b) and (c).
(ii) Impulse-reaction turbine
(a) 50% (Parson’s) reaction, (b) Combination of impulse and reaction.

(i) Impulse Turbine: If the flow of steam through the nozzles and moving blades of a turbine takes place in
such a manner that the steam is expanded only in nozzles and pressure at the outlet sides of the blades is equal
to that at inlet side; such a turbine is termed as impulse turbine because it works on the principle of impulse. In
other words, in impulse turbine, the drop in pressure of steam takes place only in nozzles and not in moving
blades. This is obtained by making the blade passage of constant cross- section area

(ii) Impulse-Reaction Turbine: In this turbine, the drop in pressure of steam takes place in fixed (nozzles) as
well as moving blades. The pressure drop suffered by steam while passing through the moving blades causes a
further generation of kinetic energy within the moving blades, giving rise to reaction and adds to the propelling
force which is applied through the rotor to the turbine shaft. Since this turbine works on the principle of
impulse and reaction both, so it is called impulse-reaction turbine This is achieved by making the blade
passage of varying cross-sectional area (converging type).
 (B) On the basis of “Direction of Flow’’:
(i) Axial flow turbine, (ii) Radial flow turbine, (iii) Tangential flow turbine.

(i) Axial Flow Turbine. In axial flow turbine, the steam flows along the axis of the shaft. It is the most
suitable turbine for large turbo-generators and that is why it is used in all modem steam power plants.
(ii) Radial Flow Turbine. In this turbine, the steam flows in the radial direction. It incorporates two shafts end
to end, each driving a separate generator. A disc is fixed to each shaft. Rings of 50% reaction radial-flow
bladings are fixed to each disk. The two sets of bladings rotate counter to each other. In this way, a relative
speed of twice the running speed is achieved and every blade row is made to work. The final stages may be of
axial flow design in order to achieve a larger area of flow. Since this type of turbine can be warmed and started
quickly, so it is very suitable for use at times of peak load.
(iii) Tangential Flow Turbine. In this type, the steam flows in the tangential direction. This turbine is very
robust but not particularly efficient machine, sometimes used for driving power station auxiliaries. In this
turbine, nozzle directs steam tangentially into buckets milled in the periphery of a single wheel, and on exit the
steam turns through a reversing chamber, reentering bucket further round the periphery. This process is
repeated several times, the steam flowing a helical path. Several nozzles with reversing chambers may be used
around the wheel periphery.