Summer Training Course

FTR 231
North Cairo power station

Submitted by:
Karim Mohamed Gamil
ID No:2017055
Mechanical Eng. Dept.
Higher technological institute

Submitted to:
Dr: Hesham Mustafa
Dr: Amr Hassan

Aug. 2021
 Abstract

This report illustrates different types of thermal power plants and, their principle
of work, components, advantages and disadvantages.

I
 Acknowledgement

First of all, I remember almighty Allah for giving me the opportunity and
strength to carry on this assignment over the evaluation & interpretation of
various financial tools and techniques of North Cairo power station.

I express my heartfelt gratitude deepest regard to my supervisor Dr. Hesham

Mustafa and Dr. Amr Hassan, lecturers in mechanical engineering department,
for their constant guidance, helpful advice, and continuous encouragement
throughout the progress of this work, without which the work couldn’t have
completed.

I’m also grateful to all the personnel of the whole staff of North Cairo power
station and the librarian and all the staff of my university, for their necessary
help in the collection of the relevant subject or topic.

I would also like to convey my appreciation and thanks to those who have guide
me generously with the right knowledge for this report. Shower of thanks to
these entire respondents to each and every time in collecting the necessary data.

Thanks everybody.

II
Table of Contents
Chapter (1): Thermal power plant......................................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 1
1.2 Principle of working ............................................................................. 2
1.2.1 First law of thermodynamics .......................................................... 2
1.2.2 Power cycles ................................................................................... 2
1.2.2.1 Vapor power cycle ...................................................................... 2
➢ Simple Rankine cycle: ................................................................. 2
1.2.2.2 Gas power cycle .......................................................................... 3
➢ Simple Brayton cycle (ideal gas power cycle): ........................... 3
➢ Combined cycle.................................................................................. 4
1.3 Advantages ............................................................................................ 5
1.4 Disadvantages ....................................................................................... 5
Chapter (2): Steam power plant ............................................................................ 6
2.1 Structure of steam plant power plant .................................................... 6
2.1.1 Boiler............................................................................................... 6
 Types of boilers: ............................................................................. 6
➢ Fire tube boiler ................................................................................... 6
➢ Water tube boiler ................................................................................ 7
Major component of boiler: ...................................................................... 8
➢ Drum ............................................................................................ 8
➢ Superheater .................................................................................. 9
➢ Burner .......................................................................................... 9
➢ Economizer ................................................................................ 10
➢ Reheater ..................................................................................... 10
2.2 Steam Turbine .................................................................................. 11
2.2.1 Classification of turbines ........................................................... 11
- Impulse turbine: ............................................................................ 11
- Reaction turbine: ........................................................................... 12
Accessories of turbine: ............................................................................ 13
Turbine support systems: ........................................................................ 13
III
 ➢ Steam turbine governor.............................................................. 13
➢ Turning gear ............................................................................... 14
2.3 Condenser ......................................................................................... 16
2.3.1 Types of condensers .................................................................. 16
2.4 Cooling tower ................................................................................... 17
2.5 Feedwater heaters ............................................................................. 18
Types of feedwater heaters ..................................................................... 19
Advantages .............................................................................................. 19
2.5.1 Deaerator ....................................................................................... 19
2.6 Generator .......................................................................................... 21
2.6.1 Principle of working .................................................................. 21
2.6.2 Generator structure .................................................................... 21
2.6.3 Types of generators.................................................................... 21
2.6.4 Exciter ........................................................................................ 22
Chapter (3): Gas power plant .............................................................................. 23
3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 23
3.2 Structure of gas power plant ............................................................... 23
3.2.1 Air filtration system ...................................................................... 23
3.2.2 Air Compressor ............................................................................. 24
3.2.3 Combustion chamber (Combustor)............................................... 24
3.2.4 Gas turbine .................................................................................... 25
Chapter (4): Combine power plant ..................................................................... 26
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 26
4.2 Principle of work................................................................................. 26
Chapter (5): North Cairo power plant ................................................................. 28
5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 28
5.2 Section 1: Water treatment.................................................................. 30
5.3 Station specs........................................................................................ 31
Module 1: Mitsubishi .................................................................................. 31
Gas unit ................................................................................................... 31
Steam unit ............................................................................................... 31

IV
 Module 2: General Electric ......................................................................... 32
Gas unit ................................................................................................... 32
steam unit ................................................................................................ 32
Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 33
References ........................................................................................................... 34
Glossary............................................................................................................... 35

V
List of Figure
Figure 1:sample of steam power plant .................................................................. 1
Figure 2: schematic diagram for Rankine cycle. .................................................. 2
Figure 3: T-S diagram for Rankine cycle ............................................................. 3
Figure 4: Schematic diagram for Brayton cycle. .................................................. 4
Figure 5: P-V diagram of Brayton cycle. .............................................................. 4
Figure 6: combined cycle processes. .................................................................... 5
Figure 7: fire tube boiler. ...................................................................................... 6
Figure 8: water tube boiler. ................................................................................... 7
Figure 9: boiler. ..................................................................................................... 7
Figure 10: Burner. ................................................................................................. 9
Figure 11: turbine components. .......................................................................... 11
Figure 12: Impulse turbine vs Reaction turbine.................................................. 12
Figure 13: schematic diagram of turbine governor............................................. 14
Figure 14: Turning gear. ..................................................................................... 15
Figure 15: condenser components. ..................................................................... 16
Figure 16:Cooling towers. .................................................................................. 18
Figure 17: Deaerator structure. ........................................................................... 20
Figure 18: Generator. .......................................................................................... 22
Figure 19: Schematic diagram of gas power plant. ............................................ 23
Figure 20: Air filters. .......................................................................................... 24
Figure 21: Combustor. ........................................................................................ 24
Figure 22: Gas turbine......................................................................................... 25
Figure 23: Structure of HRSG. ........................................................................... 26
Figure 24: Combined cycle vs Simple cycle. ..................................................... 27
Figure 25: Schematic diagram of North Cairo power plant. .............................. 29

VI
List of Tables
Table 1:Advantages and Disadvantages of fire tube boiler. ................................. 6
Table 2: Advantages and Disadvantages of fire tube boiler. ................................ 7
Table 3:Comparison between open and closed condenser. ................................ 17

VII
 Nomenclature

MW Megawatt (MW)

W Watt (W)

V Voltage (V)

A Ambeer (A)

◦C Celsius (◦C)

Pa Pascal (Pa)

KPa Kilo Pascal (KPa)

RPM revolution per minute (RPM)

VIII
 Abbreviation

GT Gas turbine

ST Steam turbine

C.C Combustion chamber

CCGT Combined cycle gas turbine

HRSG Heat recovery steam generator

D.S.S Dry saturated steam

HP High pressure turbine

LP Low pressure turbine

IX
 Introduction

It is well known that electrical power generation is the key factor for advances
in the industry, agriculture, technology, and the standard of living.

In general, electrical energy can be generated from: (1) nonrenewable energy

sources such as coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear; and (2) renewable energy
sources such as hydro, biomass, wind, geothermal, solar, and marine power.
Today, the main sources for electrical energy generation are (1) thermal power
plants; (2) hydroelectric power plants; and (3) nuclear power plants.

A power plant may be defined as a machine or assembly of equipment that

generates and delivers a flow of mechanical or electrical energy. The main
equipment for the generation of electric power is a generator. When coupling it
to a prime mover runs the generator, the electricity is generated

X
 Chapter (1): Thermal power plant

1.1 Introduction
Thermal Power Plants are also called Thermal Power Generation Plant or
Thermal Power stations. A thermal power Plant / Station is used to convert heat
energy of fuel to electric power / Energy for household and commercial
applications. In the process of electric power generation, steam-operated
turbines convert heat into mechanical power and then finally electric power.

And that is done by using the heat energy obtained from the combustion of fuel
is used to convert water into steam, this steam is at high pressure and
temperature.

This steam is used to rotate the turbine blade turbine shaft is connected to the
generator. The generator converts the kinetic energy of the turbine impeller into
electric energy. (4)

Figure 1:sample of steam power plant

1
1.2 Principle of working
1.2.1 First law of thermodynamics
In simple terms, the first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be
created nor destroyed but can be converted from one form of energy to another
form of energy.

and that shows clearly in the generator while converting the mechanical energy
from the turbine shaft into electrical energy. Most power plants rely on these
conversions to create usable electric power. (7)

1.2.2 Power cycles

In general, the vast majority of thermal power plants are based on the following
thermodynamic cycles:

1.2.2.1 Vapor power cycle

Steam power plants are commonly used for power generation. They follow a
closed cycle that’s called vapor power cycle. Which steam is the working
fluid in these plants.

➢ Simple Rankine cycle:

Is the ideal cycle of vapor power cycle. The Rankine cycle doesn’t involve any
internal irreversibility’s.

Figure 2: schematic diagram for Rankine cycle.

2
 ▪ Firstly, the water is taken into the boiler from a water source. The water is
heated with the help of fuel.
▪ The increase in pressure and temperature led to converting water into
steam. The steam generated in the boiler is sent to the steam turbine.
▪ The turbine blades have to rotate due to high-velocity steam flow. This
▪ rotation is used to generate electricity at the generator.

and it’s consisting of four processes:

▪ Process 1-2: Isentropic compression (in pump)

▪ Process 2-3: Heating at constant pressure (in boiler)
▪ Process 3-4: Adiabatic expansion of steam (in turbine)
▪ process 4-1: Constant pressure heat rejection (in condenser)

Figure 3: T-S diagram for Rankine cycle

1.2.2.2 Gas power cycle

➢ Simple Brayton cycle (ideal gas power cycle):
The Brayton cycle represents the operation of a gas turbine engine, consists
of three main components: a compressor, a combustion chamber, and
a turbine. First air is compressed at compressor then heated in combustion
chamber by burning fuel, then air is expanding at turbine and produce power.

3
 Figure 4: Schematic diagram for Brayton cycle.

The cycle consists of four main processes:

▪ process 1-2: Isentropic compression in the compressor

▪ process 2-3: Constant pressure heat addition
▪ process 3-4: Isentropic expansion in the turbine
▪ process 4-1: Constant pressure heat rejection

Figure 5: P-V diagram of Brayton cycle.

➢ Combined cycle.
The most common type of combined cycle power plant. Because gas turbines
have low efficiency in simple cycle operation, the output produced by the steam
turbine accounts for about half of the CCGT plant output. There are many
different configurations for CCGT power plants, but typically each Gas turbine
has its own associated HRSG, and multiple HRSGs supply steam to one or more
steam turbines.

4
 Figure 6: combined cycle processes.

1.3 Advantages
✓ Low installation and maintenance cost.
✓ It is not directly related to climate condition like hydro power plant.
✓ Easy maintenance.
✓ Less land area required.
✓ It can be installed near load center which minimize transmission losses.

1.4 Disadvantages
 Low cyclic efficiency around 35 to 45 percent.
 It continuously generates smoke which contributes in increase air
pollution.
 It uses consumable fuel.
 Operation cost is high compare to hydro and nuclear power plant.
 It creates large amount of ash per hour so ash handling is quite difficult.
 Sometimes heated water directly drawn into river which can harm life
cycle of water living.

5
 Chapter (2): Steam power plant

2.1 Structure of steam plant power plant

2.1.1 Boiler
A boiler or steam generator is a closed vessel in which water, under pressure, is
converted into steam. The heat is transferred to the boiler by all three modes of
heat transfer i.e., conduction, convection, and radiation.

 Types of boilers:
➢ Fire tube boiler
The boiler is named so because the production of combustion passes through the
tubes which are surrounded by water.

Figure 7: fire tube boiler.

Advantages Disadvantages
Low initial cost. Generates dry saturated steam (D.S.S).
Low capacity.
Low pressure.
Table 1:Advantages and Disadvantages of fire tube boiler.

6
 ➢ Water tube boiler
In this boiler, the water flows inside the tubes and hot gases flow outside the
tube. The circulation of water in the boiler is may be natural or forced.

Figure 8: water tube boiler.

Advantages Disadvantages
High capacity. High maintenance cost.
High pressure.
Generates super-heated steam.
Table 2: Advantages and Disadvantages of fire tube boiler.

Figure 9: boiler.

7
Major component of boiler:
▪ Drum.
▪ Down comers.
▪ Risers.
▪ Combustion chamber.
▪ Burner.
▪ Chimney or stack.
▪ Draft fans (Induced draft fan &forced draft fan).
▪ Economizer.
▪ Super heaters.
▪ Air heaters.
▪ Reheaters.
▪ Safety valves.

➢ Drum
It's a cylindrical shape that contains water and steam at high pressure which
produces a stream for the turbine. The drum receives the water which came
from the boiler feed pump which delivers the water.

Drum contains separators which are used to eliminate moisture and precipitates
from steam for purifying of steam and to obtain completely dry saturated steam
this is done as the separators are arranged in such a manner to form a vortex so
that the water droplets carried with the steam is removed due to centrifugal
effect.

8
 ➢ Superheater
The efficiency of the thermal power plant is directly connected to the steam.
The boiler creates low-temperature steam (D.S.S) which is not so satisfactory
for any power plant.

Superheaters are a system of coils located in the path of the flue gases, these
coils receive the saturated steam from the boiler drum and add the heat from the
combustion product to it to change it from dry saturated steam to superheated
steam.

➢ Burner
Is a mechanical device that burns the fuel into a flame in a controlled manner.

Burning method:

Cold state: In cold state, burning starts using light fuel oil (diesel), as it has the
ability to diffuse rapidly and work on regular heat distribution in the combustion
chamber.

Hot state: In hot state and after reaching Operating temperature turbine natural
gas is used. After the operation of the boiler and reaching the turbine to the
temperature provided by the manufacturer and after connecting the unit to the
network, burning can be done completely by Mazut or Natural gas.

Figure 10: Burner.

9
 ➢ Economizer
Is a heat exchanger that is located at the pass of flue gases before rejecting it
from the chimney. These flue gases transfer heat to the feedwater before
entering the drum.

Boilers are provided with an economizer and air pre-heaters to recover heat
from the flue gases.

An increase of about 20% in boiler efficiency is achieved by providing both

economizer and air pre-heaters.

➢ Reheater
When the steam expands into a high-pressure turbine, both its temperature and
pressure decreased. If this low-temperature steam directly sends to the IP
turbine, it creates less power and lower efficiency. so, steam is returned back to
the boiler to reheat and return again to a medium-pressure turbine.

Reheaters are a form of superheaters where the steam is reheated using flue
gases and exists at the same temperature at the outlet of the superheater.

10
2.2 Steam Turbine
A turbine is a mechanical device that converts the kinetic and pressure energy of
steam into useful work. From the superheater steam goes to the turbine where it
expands and loses its kinetic and pressure energy and rotates the turbine blade
which in turn rotates the turbine shaft connected to its blades. The shaft then
rotates the generator which converts this kinetic energy into electrical energy.

Figure 11: turbine components.

2.2.1 Classification of turbines

According to principle of operation. (Impulse or reaction)

- Impulse turbine: Impulse turbines have this assembly of the fixed nozzle
and moving blades; where the steam flows through the system with little
to no pressure change between the inlet and outlet of moving blades.
Thus, rotor blades are subjected only to kinetic energy. Since the drop in
steam pressure took place across nozzles and not the rotor blades.
In the Impulse turbine, since there is no effect of rotors on the
acceleration of steam flow. These are generally multistage turbines with
higher operating speed and better efficiency than a reaction turbine and
often require less maintenance.

11
 - Reaction turbine: in reaction turbine, there is a pressure drop across both
nozzle and rotor blades. the pressure drops as it passes through the
moving blades adding more kinetic energy to the subsequent blades in
front. Here the blades are subjected to both pressure and kinetic energy.
This is achieved by having a varying cross-section area for the blade
passage.
Used mainly for electrical production these are a little less efficient but
silent. In a Reaction turbine, there is a gradual drop in pressure across the
turbine blades. Thus, resulting in a large or longer turbine size for the
same power.

Figure 12: Impulse turbine vs Reaction turbine

According to the pressure of the steam. (Low or medium or high)

According to the number of stages. (Single or multi)

According to the number of shafts. (Single or multi)

According to flow direction. (Axial or radial)

12
Accessories of turbine:
▪ Governing systems
▪ Bearing lubrication system
▪ Piping systems for steam supply and exhaust
▪ Steam condensing system

Turbine support systems:

▪ Turning gear.
▪ Turbine lube oil system.
▪ Turbine steam seal system.

➢ Steam turbine governor

The variation in load during the operation of a steam turbine can have a
significant impact on its performance. Therefore turbine governing system is a
method that used to maintain a constant steady speed of turbine.

Advantages:
✓ Controls the turbine speed during start-up or in no-load condition to
permit the unit to be synchronized with the grid.
✓ Controls the turbine load when running in parallel with the
grid/generating sets.
✓ All protective functions to ensure the safe operation of the unit.

13
 Figure 13: schematic diagram of turbine governor.

Types of governing:
a) Throttle governing
b) Nozzle governing
c) By-pass governing

➢ Turning gear
A turning gear is a device placed on the main shaft of an engine or the rotor of a
turbine. The turning gear rotates the shaft or rotor and associated machinery, to
ensure uniform cool-down. Without turning, hogging or sagging can occur.
Additionally, the turning gear's assistance in rotation can be used when
inspecting the shaft, reduction gears, bearings, and turbines. As an auxiliary
function, the jacking gear also helps to maintain a protective oil membrane at all
shaft journal bearings. (6)

14
Purposes

The major purposes of turning gear operation during turbine startup are:
• To rollout shaft hogging or sagging before runup is begun
• To enable uniform prewarming of the turbine generator.

Figure 14: Turning gear.

15
2.3 Condenser
Is a vacuum-tight heat exchanger. It causes the steam to condense by letting it
flow over cooling pipes. Pipes carry away the heat with the help of cold water
which comes from outside sources. The temperature of cooling water increases
by 5 ⁰c to 10 ⁰c as it flows through the condenser tubes. The condensed steam
has a temperature of between 27 Celsius and 33 Celsius. It is condensing steam
that creates -vacuum pressure near about 5 kPa.
A condensate pump removes the lukewarm condensed steam and drives it
through the reheater toward a feedwater pump.

Figure 15: condenser components.

2.3.1 Types of condensers

- Closed condenser.
- Open condenser.
- Evaporative condenser.

Open condenser Closed condenser

Definition In an open circulating water system, water
from a large water body like the sea, or a river,
or a lake is pumped to the condenser and is
returned back to the same source. Since the sea
is a free and large open-source of water, we see
many power plants located on the seacoast.
the closed cooling system where
Circulating water is in a closed circuit.
The Circulating water removes the heat
from the condenser and flows to cooling
towers. In the cooling towers an airflow,
natural or forced, cools the water, and the

16
 water returns to the condenser. Power
plants located away from large sources of
water utilize this type. The large concrete
hyperbolic towers that you see near
thermal power plants are used for cooling
the circulating water.
advantages ✓ Large quantity water is freely ✓ The raw water requirement is
available. considerably less. It requires
✓ The water temperature is almost only about 5% of the water
constant. Ambient temperatures do requirement of the open cycle
not affect the cooling capacity. system. This is to make up for
losses due to evaporation and
blowdown.
disadvantages  That plants can be located only near  high cost of cooling towers.
the source of water.
 Organic and aquatic growth can plug
the condenser tubes reducing the
efficiency.
 The large quantity of water used can
destroy aquatic life sucked into the
system. Higher temperature water
discharge also destroys many smaller
species and fish eggs.
 Seawater is corrosive. This requires
special materials like Titanium tubes
in the condenser, rubber lining for the
piping, and corrosion-resistant
impellers for the pumps.
Table 3:Comparison between open and closed condenser.

2.4 Cooling tower

The cooling tower is one of the important parts especially in power stations and
large industries. The cooling tower is a kind of heat exchanger that removes
heat from the water, rejects waste of heat to the atmosphere with the help of
cooling of water stream at lower temperatures. (1)

17
Principle of work
The evaporative cooling is the process in which the warm water is pumped up to
the top of the cooling tower where the water distribution system, the water will
be distributed by cooling tower nozzles to the wet deck.
At the same time, the air will be drawn through the air-inlet louvers by fan or
buoyancy effects and water comes in contact with air & start to evaporate.

Figure 16:Cooling towers.

2.5 Feedwater heaters

Feedwater heaters use extraction steam from the turbine to raise the temperature
of water destined for the boiler. Water first passes through low-pressure heaters
and into the deaerator where excess oxygen is removed. The feedwater then
passes into the high-pressure heaters where it is further heated and pressurized.

Low-pressure feedwater heaters are used in the condensate system between

the condensate pump discharge and boiler feed pumps, by using the bleeding
steam line for heating the condensate. to raise the temperature of condensate
from condensate pump discharge temperature to the de-aerator inlet
temperature.

18
High-pressure feedwater heaters are used in the feedwater system between
the boiler feed pump discharge and the boiler, by using the bleeding steam line
for heating the feed water. to raise the temperature of feed water from de-aerator
outlet temperature to the required boiler economizer inlet temperature.

Types of feedwater heaters

- Open feedwater heater.
- Closed feed water heater.

Advantages
✓ Fuel economy.
✓ Longer life of the boiler.
✓ Increase in steaming capacity.

2.5.1 Deaerator
Deaerator is an open feed water heater which is used to raise the temperature of
the feed water by direct heat transfer, where feed water is sprayed against steam
flow which is extracted from the medium pressure Turbine for the purpose of:

❖ Increasing the temperature of feed water from 144°C to 164 °C

❖ Removing the dissolved gases in water that cannot be condensed such as
Oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) where some of the steam take
these gases and rejected to the outer atmosphere while the remaining
steam is condensed and join the feed water its cycle.

19
There are three types of DA heaters for industrial and utility use:

- Spray-Type deaerators.
- Tray-Type deaerators
- Combination spray-tray deaerator

Figure 17: Deaerator structure.

20
2.6 Generator
A device which converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy.

2.6.1 Principle of working

Generator works on Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction. When coil
rotated in a magnetic field by some mechanical means magnetic flux is changed
through the coil and consequently EMF is induced in the coil.

2.6.2 Generator structure

➢ Rotor: is the rotating part of the generator which is connected to the
turbine shaft.
➢ Stator: is the fixed part of the generator.

2.6.3 Types of generators

The generators are categorized according to the type of magnetic field:

- Permeant magnet. (Constant flux)

- Electromagnet. (Controlled flux)

And also categorized according to the principle of work:

- First: In this type of generators the rotor rotates in a magnetic field

generated from the stator by passing DC electric current in its coils, and
then the AC electric current is taken from the rotor using carbon brushes
connected to copper rings.
 This type of generators is used for small loads as carbon brushes can not
support high loads.

- Second: In this type of generators the magnetic field is generated from

the rotor by passing DC electric current in its coils, this magnetic field
cuts the stator coils where AC electric is generated.

21
  In this type of Generators, no carbon brushes or cupper rings are used, so
they are used for generating high electric current loads as the generated
current is taken directly from the stator.

Figure 18: Generator.

2.6.4 Exciter
This device is used to provide field current to the rotor winding of a generator.
Well-designed excitation systems provide the reliability of operation, stability,
and fast transient response.

22
 Chapter (3): Gas power plant

3.1 Introduction
In gas power plant, air is compressed to high pressure by a compressor. Then
fuel and compressed air are mixed in a combustion chamber and ignited. Then
hot gases are given off, which rotates the turbine shaft. (3)

Figure 19: Schematic diagram of gas power plant.

3.2 Structure of gas power plant

3.2.1 Air filtration system
Air filter systems are designed to protect the gas turbine, generator, and
equipment compartments from the effects of air-borne dirt, contamination and
foreign objects. A number of inlet conditioning options are also available to
maximize gas turbine performance.

23
 Figure 20: Air filters.

3.2.2 Air Compressor

The compressor is a mechanical device that takes in atmospheric air,
and compress it to the pressure desired.

At gas power plant, its main function is to supply combustion

champers with compressed air required for combustion process and
preventing oil leakage from turbine lubricated parts.

3.2.3 Combustion chamber (Combustor)

Is the place where combustion process takes place after compressed air and fuel
are mixed together, then spark takes place by spark plug. then hot gases results
from combustion process exit.

Figure 21: Combustor.

24
3.2.4 Gas turbine
The gas turbine is the engine at the heart of the power plant that produces an
electric current. The gas turbine is mainly used in the gas power plant. First the
air is taken from the atmosphere and then compressed into the compressor. The
compressed air is then passed into the combustion chamber, where it is heated.
The hot compressed air is then made to flow over the blades of the turbine
which imparts the rotational motion to the turbine. The major portion of the
energy that is developed by the turbine is used to derive the compressor and the
remaining is utilized for doing useful work.

Figure 22: Gas turbine.

25
 Chapter (4): Combine power plant

4.1 Introduction
Combined cycle power plant, it combines existing gas and steam technologies
into one unit, yielding significant improvements in thermal efficiency over
conventional steam plant. In a combined power plant the thermal efficiency is
extended to approximately 50-60 %, by piping the exhaust gas from the gas
turbine into a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG).

In HRSG highly purified water flows in tubes and the hot gases passes a around
that and thus producing steam. The steam then rotates the steam turbine and
coupled generator to produce Electricity. The hot gases leave the HRSG at
around 140 degrees centigrade and are discharged into the atmosphere. (2)

4.2 Principle of work

The HRSG is basically a heat exchanger, or rather a series of heat exchangers. it
creates steam for the steam turbine by passing the hot exhaust gas flow from a
gas turbine or combustion engine through banks of heat exchanger tubes. The
HRSG can rely on natural circulation or utilize forced circulation using pumps.

Figure 23: Structure of HRSG.

26
As the hot exhaust gases flow past the heat exchanger tubes in which hot water
circulates, heat is absorbed causing the creation of steam in the tubes. The tubes
are arranged in sections, or modules, each serving a different function in the
production of dry superheated steam. These modules are referred to as
economizers, evaporators, superheaters/reheaters and preheaters.

The economizer is a heat exchanger that preheats the water to approach the
saturation temperature (boiling point), which is supplied to a thick-walled steam
drum. The drum is located adjacent to finned evaporator tubes that circulate
heated water.

Saturated steam from the steam drums or once-through system is sent to the
superheater to produce dry steam which is required for the steam turbine.
Preheaters are located at the coolest end of the HRSG gas path and absorb
energy to preheat heat exchanger liquids, such as water/glycol mixtures, thus
extracting the most economically viable amount of heat from exhaust gases.

The superheated steam produced by the HRSG is supply to the steam turbine
where it expands through the turbine blades, imparting rotation to the turbine
shaft. The energy delivered to the generator drive shaft is converted into
electricity. After exiting the steam turbine, the steam is sent to a condenser
which routes the condensed water back to the HRSG.

Figure 24: Combined cycle vs Simple cycle.

27
 Chapter (5): North Cairo power plant

5.1 Introduction
The objective of establishing the station is to support the unified electric grid
with a capacity of 1500 MW, the station consists of two modules each module
includes two 250 MW combustion turbine generators. Each one feeds one 250
MW, reheat, condensing steam turbine generator.

The plant's use of natural gas as a primary fuel and diesel as an alternative fuel
for gas turbines to produce combustion gases.

The gas turbine exhaust is used to generate steam in the two HRSG to operate
the steam turbine and generate electric power from it without using additional
fuel.

The North Cairo Combined Cycle Plant is considered one of the most efficient
generation plants (efficiency could reach 60%) for its use of exhaust gas units to
generate steam and generate additional power from the steam turbine.

➢ Overview of north Cairo power station

- power plant name: North Cairo power station.
- location: Alzaawia alhamra, Cairo.
- Number of units: six units each one 250 MW.
- Number of modules: 2 modules each one consists of 3 units.
- Construction date: Module 1, July ,2003.
Module 2, May,2005.
- Operation date: Module 1, January,2006.
Module 2, July,2007.
- Suppliers: Module 1, Mitsubishi
Module 2, General Electric
- Fuel: natural gas and diesel.

28
 North cairo
power station
(1500 MW)

Module 1 Module 2
mitsubishi General
(750 MW) Electric

Two Gas units One Steam Two Gas units One Steam
(each unit 250 unit (each unit 250 unit
MW) (250 MW) MW) (250 MW)

Figure 25: Schematic diagram of North Cairo power plant.

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5.2 Section 1: Water treatment

The water Cycle starts from the water source as it’s pumped from it to the
condensate storage tanks by Raw water pump then it’s pumped into the hot well
(tank below the condenser) with the help of a makeup pump then it’s moved to
demineralization station by the help of condensate pump.

Then it’s moved into low-pressure heaters to raise its temperature gradually.
Then it’s moved into the Deaerator to remove the oxygen and other gases from
the liquid water to convert the condensate water into feed water that can be used
in the steam cycle.

Then the water is pumped to the economizer (heat exchanger) with the help of a
Feedwater Pump to increase water’s temperature by the exhaust gases from the
combustion process, then the water reaches the Drum (Tank at the highest point
of the powerplant to separate the liquid water from the vapor). The liquid water
then is moved to the Boiler by the downcomers and start moving through the
boiler in very thin tubes called Water walls and it’s then converted into steam,
then it passes by the superheaters to raise its temperature to make sure that all
the water is at gaseous phase then it enters the HP turbine at very high
temperature and pressure then the steam is returned back to the reheater to raise
its temperature again (to increase the efficiency of the power plant) then it goes
to the IP Turbine then to the LP Turbine and then to the condenser which has
vacuum pressure and then the steam inside the condenser is cooled by
circulating water to return the steam into liquid phase again to be easier to be
pumped again instead of using compressors which consume more power.

30
5.3 Station specs
Module 1: Mitsubishi
Gas unit
 Compressor: Atlas Copco
- 17 stages compressor
 Gas turbine: Mitsubishi M701 F
- 250 watts
- 4 stages turbine
- Gas inlet: 1350 ◦c
- Gas outlet: 590 ◦c
 Combustion chamber:

Consists of 20 combustion chambers:

- combustion chamber: where the air and fuel are mixed.

- composter basket: where the mixture ignited.
- transition piece:
 Generator: NEM

Steam unit
 Steam turbine: Hitachi
- 259 watts
- 3000 rpm
- HP: 119 bar, 560 ◦c
- IT: 20 bar, 558 ◦c
- LT: 5 bar, 293 ◦c
 Condenser: DSD Ferrometalco
- tube and chill condenser (single pass)
- no of tubes=1800 tube of 2 cm diameter.
- 0.07 bar

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  Feedwater pump:
- Multi stage centrifugal pump (4 stages)

Module 2: General Electric

Gas unit
➢ Compressor:
- 17 stages compressor
➢ Gas turbine: MS9001FA GE
- 3 stages
- Gas outlet: 604 ◦c
➢ Combustion chamber:

Consists of 20 combustion chambers:

- Combustion chamber: where the air and fuel are mixed.

- Linear: where the mixture ignited.
- Flow sleeve:

steam unit
➢ steam turbine: ALSTOM
- 263 watts
- 3000 rpm
- HP: 122.7 bar, 565.8 ◦c
- IT: 22 bar, 556 ◦c
- LT: 4.7 bar, 329.6 ◦c
➢ Condenser
- Vertical exhaust one pass
- 0.7 bar
- 49000 m^3/h

32
 Conclusion

The Combined Cycle power plant or combined cycle gas turbine, a gas turbine
generator generates electricity and waste heat is used to make steam to generate
additional electricity via a steam turbine
The gas turbine is one of the most efficient ones for the conversion of gas fuels
to mechanical power or electricity. The use of distillate liquid fuels, usually
diesel.
More recently, as simple cycle efficiencies have improved and as natural gas
prices have fallen, gas turbines have been more widely adopted for baseload
power generation, especially in combined cycle mode, where waste heat is
recovered in waste heat boilers, and the steam used to produce additional
electricity.
Routing these gases through a water-cooled heat exchanger produces steam,
which can be turned into electric power with a coupled steam turbine and
generator.
This type of power plant is being installed in increasing numbers around the
world where there is access to substantial quantities of natural gas.
It is also possible to use the steam from the boiler for heating purposes so such
power plants can operate to deliver electricity alone or in combined heat and
power mode.

33
 References

1) Cooling towers - Types, PARTS, Diagrams, fans & uses. Mechstudies.

(2021, September 10). Retrieved September 12, 2021, from
https://www.mechstudies.com/cooling-towers-types-parts-fans-diagram/.
2) EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal. (2018, January 9). An overview of combined
cycle power plant. EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal. Retrieved September 12,
2021, from https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/an-overview-of-combined-cycle-
power-plant.
3) How a gas Turbine Works: Ge gas power. gepower-v2. (n.d.). Retrieved September
12, 2021, from https://www.ge.com/gas-power/resources/education/what-is-a-gas-
turbine
4) Generation of Electrical Energy by B. R. Gupta, S. Chand Publications

5) Raje, Ajinkya. “What Is Thermal Power Plant? Structure, Principle of Operation.”

Electrical Always, 30 May 2021, electricalalways.com/2021/04/12/what-is-thermal-
power/#Burner.
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7) Thermal power Plant components & working principles. Thermodin Boilers. (2021,
May 4). Retrieved September 12, 2021, from
https://www.thermodyneboilers.com/components-working-thermal-power-plant/.
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34
 Glossary

Boiler is basically a large heat exchanger where the heat originating from
combustion gases, nuclear reactors, or other sources is transferred to the water
essentially at constant pressure.

Condenser is a heat exchanger in which the working fluid condenses as it

rejects heat to the surroundings. For example, in the condenser of a steam power
plant steam leaving the turbine as a vapor condenses to the saturated liquid state
as the result of heat transfer to a cooling medium such as the atmosphere or
water from a lake or river.

Compressor is a device that increases the pressure of a gas to very high

pressures (typical pressure ratios are greater than 3).

Deaerator is a device that is used for the removal of oxygen and other
dissolved gases from the feed water to steam generators.

Feedwater heater a type of industrial equipment that acts as a heat exchanger

by increasing the temperature of a liquid via thermodynamic contact with an
external fluid of higher temperature.

Gas turbine an internal combustion engine in which expanding gases from

the combustion chamber drive the blades of a turbine.

HRSG is an energy recovery heat exchanger that recovers heat from a hot gas
stream, such as a combustion turbine or other waste gas stream. It produces
steam that can be used in a process (cogeneration) or used to drive a steam
turbine (combined cycle).

Steam turbine a turbine that is driven by the pressure of steam discharged at

high velocity against the turbine vanes.

35