MPE-412

THERMAL
POWER PLANTS
Lecture 2
Chapter 1
Variable Load on Power Plants and Power Plants
Economics

1.1 : Introduction
1.2 : Load Curves
1.3 : Important Terms and Factors
1.4 : Plant Location ( Site Selection Criteria )
1.5 : Equipment Cost
1.6 : Steam and Fuel Consumption Load Curves
1.7 : Selection of Number of units to fit load curve
1.8 : Operating Schedule
 1.2 : Load Curves
Previous lecture • Load curves are useful in :
• Types of load curves :

1.2.2 Load Duration Curve

1.2.3 Consumers Loads Examples

• Domestic Consumers :
• Commercial Consumers :
• Industrial Consumers :
• Traction Loads:
• Municipal Loads:
• Irrigation Loads:
Load curve example 𝑬 = 𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆 = 𝟐 ∗ 𝟓 − 𝟎 + 𝟔 ∗ 𝟔 − 𝟓 + 𝟎 ∗ 𝟗 − 𝟔 …….

Time (hr) 0-5 5-6 6-9 9-15 15-20 20-24

Load (kW) 2 6 0 20 12 8

Load curve Load Duration curve

Area under Curve

!!!
 Load curve example 𝑬 = 𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆 =
𝟏
𝟐
𝟐𝟎 + 𝟐𝟓 ∗ 𝟒 + 𝟐𝟓 + 𝟑𝟎 ∗ 𝟐 + 𝟑𝟎 + 𝟒𝟐 ∗ 𝟐 … …

Time (hr) 12 AM 4 6 8 9 11 12 PM 3 4 6 8 11
Load (kW) 20 25 30 42 45 48 45 40 35 30 40 35

Load curve Load Duration curve

Area under Curve

!!!
1.3 : Important Terms and Factors:
The Reserve Capacity
This ability of power system to generate power over and above the
current demand is expressed as reserve capacity

Cold Hot Spinning Firm

Reserve Reserve Reserve Power
in service but not in operation but connected to the used for meeting
in operation not in service bus and is ready to emergency
take the load. conditions

𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 = 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 − 𝑴𝒂𝒙. 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅

Load Fluctuation and plant Factors

1. Connected Load ( Lcon )

It is the sum of continuous rating in KW or MW of all the equipment's
installed in the consumer’s premises.

2. Maximum Load or demand ( Lmax ) (Peak Load)

It is the greatest load ( demand ) on the power station which the
consumer user during a given period (i.e the highest point of the load).
It can be less than or equal to connected load . ( Lmax ≤ Lcon. ) .
The maximum demand of a consumer depends upon the time of day as
well as his habits .

The Knowledge of on maximum demand is very important as it helps in

determining the installed capacity of the plant .
3. Average Load ( Lave. ) :
Average Load=(Area under load curve)/duration of load curve )

Lave. = E/ kW of MW
4. Base Load ( Lbase ) :
It is the unvarying load which occurs almost whole duration of load curve
on the station
4. Demand Factor ( Fdem.)
The actual maximum demand of a consumer is always less than his connected
load since all the appliances in his residence will not be in operation at the same
time or to their fullest extent. This ratio of' the maximum demand of a system to
its connected load is termed as demand factor. It is always less than unity.
Type of consumer Type of load Demand factor
¼ kW 1.00
Residential ( lighting) ½ kW 0.6
> 1 kW 0.5
Restaurants 0.7
𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 Theaters 0.6
𝐹𝑑𝑒𝑚 = = ≤1
𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑛 Commercial
( lighting )
Hotels
Schools
0.5
0.55
Small industry 0.6
Store 0.7
0-10 HP 0.75
10-20 HP 0.65
General Power service
20-100 HP 0.55
> 100 HP 0.5
 5. load Factor
Is defined as the ratio of the average load (Lave.) to the peak load (Lmax) during a
certain prescribed period.

Mainly affect the production cost of the plant

Higher load factor means that Lave is near to Lmax and the plant will operate near its
full capacity. This led to higher efficiency and simplified controls

𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐿𝑎𝑣𝑒 Consumer A Consumer B

𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 = = ≤1
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 = 10 𝑡𝑜 15%
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝐹𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 = 60 𝑡𝑜 80%
6. Capacity Factor ( FCap)
The extent of use of the generating units in power plant.
it can be defined as the ratio of the actual energy produced ( E ) to the
maximum energy that could have been produced during a given period (𝜏)

𝐸 𝐿𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝐹𝐶𝑎𝑝 =
𝜏σ𝐶
= σ𝐶
= 𝐹
σ 𝐶 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
σ 𝐶 is the sum of the related capacities of the units in the plant.
25
Higher 𝐹𝐶𝑎𝑝 means the maximum use of 20

plant capacities, means produce power at

Cost
15

cheaper rate. 10

When Capacity factor 5

and load factor become 0

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.9
identical ??
Fcap