ANNAMACHARYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES

( AUTONOMOUS) TIRUPATI -517520

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Estd: 2007

UNIT-V
Power from Non-Conventional Sources

Non-Conventional Sources of energy: The sources of energy that are continuously

replenished in nature and are widely available. They are called non-conventional
because till now they are not used extensively in our daily life. These sources of
energy also do not cause pollution.
Example: Solar energy from the sun, wind energy from the winds, tidal energy, Bio-
gas, and so on.
Non-Conventional Sources of Energy
 The Sun is the ultimate source of energy on our planet and all other examples that
are mentioned above are obtained either directly or indirectly from the sun.
Example: The wind energy that we obtain from the winds and the winds are
produced by the unequal heating of two different regions of the surface of the earth.
Thus, we can use these sources of energy till our earth receives light from the sun,
which is there for the next millions of years. This is also the reason why non-
conventional sources of energy are also called renewable sources of energy as
every day these energies are getting renewed in nature.
Non-conventional sources of energy, often known as renewable sources of energy,
are energy sources that are continually renewed by natural processes. Non-
conventional energy sources are not quickly depleted and may be created at a
consistent pace for repeated usage.
 Tidal, Wind, Solar, Nuclear, Biomass, and other natural resources geothermal
energy, are referred to as “non-conventional resources.” Because they are
pollution-free, we can use them to generate clean energy with minimal waste.
 Furthermore, these energy sources are less expensive and do not contaminate the
environment or natural surroundings.
 They are also known as renewable energy sources since they may be created or
created through natural processes at a rate greater than or equal to the rate at
which they are used.
 Tidal Energy: Tides is the periodic movement of the ocean waters due to the
gravitational force of the moon and the sun.

 Tides are of two types – high tides i.e the rise of water and low tides i.e the fall in
the level of water. Since it is caused due to the sun and the moon’s gravitational
effect, tidal energy is called renewable energy.
 Tidal energy is the energy possessed by the rise and fall of water during high and
low tides.
 The tidal energy can be processed to electricity by building dams across the narrow
openings of the sea.
 The tidal energy from tides are obtained and used to generate electricity using a
machine called Tidal Energy Generator.
 Tidal barrages or dams are built over a limited sea entrance. When the sea level
rises, water pours into the dam. This causes the turbine blades, which are
connected at the dam’s entrance, to shift. As a consequence, power is generated.

Advantages of Tidal Energy

1. Tidal energy is a renewable energy source, which implies that it does not
deteriorate as it is consumed.
 2. Tidal power plants, in addition to being a sustainable energy source, do not
release greenhouse gases during electricity generation.
3. The tidal currents are quite predictable. Low and high tides follow predictable
patterns, making it easy to predict when electricity will be generated throughout
the day.
4. Tidal power plants are capable of producing large amounts of electricity. One of
the key reasons for this is because water is extremely dense – over 800 times
denser than air.
Disadvantages of Tidal Energy
1. The possible installation location must fulfill extremely precise conditions in
order for a tidal power plant to be developed. Because they must be positioned on
a coastline, possible station locations are limited to coastal states.
2. Because of the high density of water, tidal energy turbines must be substantially
more robust than wind turbines. The cost of building a tidal power producing
facility varies based on the technology used.
3. The fact that tidal energy is renewable does not imply that it is fully ecologically
benign. The development of tidal energy power plants can have a significant
influence on the surrounding ecology.
4. While tidal power generates predictable power, it does not produce steady power.
We can predict when the tidal power plant will create electricity, but that output
may not match the demand for energy.
Wind Energy
 The energy obtained from the wind is called wind energy.
 The wind contains kinetic energy which can used to harness energy by converting it
to mechanical energy by the use of windmill.
 Although, wind energy has been used by us for a long time, it was used in
propelling the sails of the ship in the ancient times.
Advantages :
1. Like solar energy , it is also a renewable form of energy.
2. It does not cause any air pollution and global warming by releasing harmful
gases.
3. It is space efficient and requires very little space on the land surface and the
land between two windmills can be used for agriculture and other different
purposes.
Disadvantages:
1. It is very location specific as wind mills cannot be setup in all places. It can
only be installed at places where there is strong winds
2. It is very costly to setup and difficult for repair.
3. Storms and cyclones cause great damage to windmills.
Solar Energy
The sun is the biggest source of energy that we have, it’s radiating very high energy
constantly for very long time and will continue to do so. The energy we obtain from
the sun is called solar energy.
Solar energy can be harnessed using several devices like solar cooker and solar
panel.
Solar Cooker
 This principle used by solar cooker and solar water heaters. In addition to it, some
solar cooker use heater to focus the sun rays at a particular point for more heating.
Also the cookers are covered with a glass plate, can you guess why? It’s because
of the green-house effect as the glass plates traps the sun’s heat inside the cooker.
Disadvantage of solar cooker: The solar cooker can only function when there is
sun’ heat , it cannot store the solar energy for reuse.
Solar Panel
The disadvantage of solar cooker is overcome by the use of solar panel. A solar
panel is a collection of solar cells. A single cell can produce a voltage of about 0.5-
0.9 V and can produce a energy of 1.5 W.
Advantages:
1. They need no maintenance and last for about 25 years.
2. They can store solar energy in the form of electricity and can be reused in
several ways.
3. They are very important source of energy for space missions as all the or
biters , satellites use solar energy.
Disadvantages:
1. The solar cells are made up of silicon. Though , it is available in abundant
quantity but high-grade silicon is very expensive, therefore the cost on setting
up becomes very expensive.
Advantages of solar energy:

1. Solar energy is available to us in infinite amount. Since, sun will be there and
will continuously emit energy for the next few hundred million years.
2. Solar energy can protect the nature and reduce global warming. Solar energy
is a green form of energy which can be converted to electricity and used in
different energy and this process of creating electricity is much cleaner than
from burning coal which emits harmful gases into our atmosphere.
3. Solar devices (like solar panels and solar cookers) though expensive now are
one time investment and saves a good amount money in long term.
4. Proper harnessing of solar energy is also a very crucial aspect of our space
exploration as the artificial satellites and other orbiters that we sent on outer
space and different planets operate using solar energy.
Geo-thermal Energy
 Geo-thermal energy is the heat energy possessed by the rocks inside the earth.
The places where the rocks inside the hot is very hot are called hotspot.
 Now, the heat of these rocks heats up the underground water and turns it into
steam.
 This steam is extracted by drilling hole into the ground and connecting
pipeline to rotate the turbine with the help of the steam and produce electricity
for use.
 In India, only one place is Madhya Pradesh has a hotspot . But in US there are
a no. of geo-thermal power plants. The Pacific ring of fire is also a suitable
spot for geo-thermal energy sites.
Advantages:
1. They are renewable and completely environment friendly.
2. They are also energy of future and new research to harness geothermal energy
more efficiently is going on in different parts of the world.
Solar collector: solar collector is an object that is used to collect energy from the
sun, which it does by absorbing solar radiation and converting it into heat or
electricity. The material type and coating on a solar collector are used to maximize
solar energy absorption.
 The use of these solar collectors provides an alternative for traditional domestic
water heating using a water heater, potentially reducing energy costs over time. As
well as in domestic settings, a large number of these collectors can be combined in
an array and used to generate electricity in solar thermal power plants.

Types of Solar Collectors

There are many different types of solar collectors, but all of them are constructed
with the same basic premise in mind. In general, there is some material that is used
to collect and focus energy from the Sun and use it to heat water. The simplest of
these devices uses a black material surrounding pipes that water flows through. The
black material absorbs the solar radiation very well, and as the material heats up the
water it surrounds. This is a very simple design, but collectors can get very complex.
Absorber plates can be used if a high temperature increase isn't necessary, but
generally devices that use reflective materials to focus sunlight result in a
greater temperature increase.

Flat Plate Collectors

Figure 2. A diagram of a flat plate solar collector.[3]

These collectors are simply metal boxes that have some sort of transparent glazing as
a cover on top of a dark- coloured absorber plate. The sides and bottom of the
collector are usually covered with insulation to minimize heat losses to other parts of
the collector. Solar radiation passes through the transparent glazing material and hits
the absorber plate. This plate heats up, transferring the heat to either water or air that
is held between the glazing and absorber plate. Sometimes these absorber plates are
painted with special coatings designed to absorb and retain heat better than traditional
black paint. These plates are usually made out of metal that is a good conductor -
usually copper or aluminum.
Evacuated Tube Collectors

Figure 3. A diagram of an evacuated tube solar collector. [5]

This type of solar collector uses a series of evacuated tubes to heat water for use.
These tubes utilize a vacuum, or evacuated space, to capture the suns energy while
minimizing the loss of heat to the surroundings. They have an inner metal tube which
acts as the absorber plate, which is connected to a heat pipe to carry the heat collected
from the Sun to the water. This heat pipe is essentially a pipe where the fluid contents
are under a very particular pressure. At this pressure, the "hot" end of the pipe has
boiling liquid in it while the "cold" end has condensing vapour. This allows for
thermal energy to move more efficiently from one end of the pipe to the other. Once
the heat from the Sun moves from the hot end of the heat pipe to the condensing end,
the thermal energy is transported into the water being heated for use.
Line Focus Collectors

Figure 4. A diagram of a line focus solar collector.

These collectors, sometimes known as parabolic troughs, use highly reflective
materials to collect and concentrate the heat energy from solar radiation. These
collectors are composed of parabolically shaped reflective sections connected into a
long trough. A pipe that carries water is placed in the center of this trough so that
sunlight collected by the reflective material is focused onto the pipe, heating the
contents. These are very high powered collectors and are thus generally used to
generate steam for Solar thermal power plants and are not used in residential
applications. These troughs can be extremely effective in generating heat from the
Sun, particularly those that can pivot, tracking the Sun in the sky to ensure maximum
sunlight collection.
Point Focus Collectors

Figure 5. A point focus solar collector.

These collectors are large parabolic dishes composed of some reflective material that
focus the Sun's energy onto a single point. The heat from these collectors is generally
used for driving Stirling engines. Although very effective at collecting sunlight, they
must actively track the Sun across the sky to be of any value. These dishes can work
alone or be combined into an array to gather even more energy from the Sun
Point focus collectors and similar apparatuses can also be utilized to concentrate solar
energy for use with Concentrated photovoltaics. In this case, instead of producing
heat, the Sun's energy is converted directly into electricity with high
efficiency photovoltaic cells designed specifically to harness concentrated solar
energy.
Turbine: A turbine is a mechanical device which extracts energy from a moving fluid
and converts it into useful work. The turbines are basically used to produce electricity.

Main Parts of a Turbine

The main parts of a turbine are
1. Nozzle: It guides the steam to flow in designed direction and velocity.
2. Runner: it is the rotating part of the turbine and blades are attached to the
runner.
3. Blades: It is that part of the turbine on which the fast moving fluid strikes and
rotates the runner.
4. Casing: It is the outer air tight covering of the turbine which contains the runner
and blades. It protects the internal parts of the turbine.
Working Principle of a Turbine

1. A fast moving fluid (it may be water, gas, steam or wind) is made to strike on
the blades of the turbine.
2. As the fluid strikes the blades, it rotates the runner. Here the energy of the
moving fluid is converted into rotational energy.
3. A generator is coupled with the shaft of the turbine. With the rotation of the
runner of the turbine, the shaft of the generator also rotates. The generator
converts the mechanical energy of the runner into electrical energy.
Types of Turbines:

Basically turbines are classified into four types

1. Water turbine
2. Steam turbine
3. Gas turbine
4. Wind turbine
Water Turbine: A turbine that extracts energy from moving water and converts it
into electrical energy, is called water turbine or hydraulic turbine.

Types of Hydraulic Turbine: The hydraulic turbines are classified on the following
basis

1. According to the Type of Energy Available at Inlet.

(i). Impulse Turbine: If the energy available at the inlet of the turbine is only kinetic
energy, the turbine is known as impulse turbine.

(ii). Reaction Turbine: If the energy available at the inlet of the turbine is kinetic
energy as well as pressure energy, the turbine is known as reaction turbine
2. According to the Direction of Flow:

(i). Tangential Flow Turbine: If the water flows along the tangent of the runner, the
Turbine is known as tangential flow turbine.
Example : Pelton turbine.

(ii).
Radial Flow Turbine: If the water flows in the radial direction through the
runner, the turbine is called radial flow turbine.
(iii). Axial Flow Turbine: If the water flows through the runner along the direction
parallel to the axis of rotation of the runner the turbine is called axial flow turbine.

(iv) Mixed Flow Turbine: If the water flows through the runner in the radial
direction but leaves in the direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the runner, the
turbine is called mixed flow turbine.
Example: Kaplan Turbine
3. According to the Head at the Inlet of Turbine

(i) High Head Turbine: The net head varies in this turbine is from 150 m to 2000 m or
even more. It requires small quantity of water.
Eg: Pelton turbine.
(ii)Medium Head Turbine: In this turbine, the net head varies from 30 m to 150 m. It
requires moderate quantity of water.
Eg: Francis turbine.
(iii)Low Head Turbine: In low head turbines, the net head is less than 30 m. it
requires large quantity of water.
Eg: Kaplan turbine.

4. According to the Specific Speed of the Turbine

(i) Low Specific Speed Turbine: it has specific speed less than 50.
Eg: Pelton turbine.
(ii) Medium Specific Speed Turbine: The specific speed varies from 50 to
250.
Eg:Francis turbine.
(iii) High Specific Speed Turbine: The specific speed is more than 250.
Eg: Kaplan turbine.

Steam Turbine: A Turbine which extracts energy form the moving steam and
converts it into electrical energy, is called steam turbine.

Types of Steam Turbine

1. According to the Mode of Steam Action

(i) Impulse Turbine: If the steam available at the inlet has only kinetic energy, the
turbine is called impulse turbine.

(ii) Reaction Turbine: If the steam available at the inlet has kinetic energy as well
pressure energy, the turbine is called reaction turbine.

2. According to the Direction of Steam Flow

(i) Axial Flow Turbine: If the steam flows through the runner in the direction parallel
to the axis of rotation of the runner, the turbine is called axial flow turbine
(ii). Radial Flow Turbine: If the steam flows through the runner in the radial direction,
the turbine is called radial flow turbine.
3. According to the Exhaust Condition of Steam

(i) Condensing Turbine: A turbine in which the steam is condensed, when it comes out
of the turbine is called condensing turbine. It produces large output with single unit.
(ii) Non-Condensing Turbine: In non-condensing turbine, the exhaust steam leaves
the turbine at atmospheric pressure or low pressure. There is no condensation of steam
takes place in this turbine.
4. According to the Pressure of Steam
(i). High Pressure Turbine
(ii). Medium Pressure Turbine
(iii). Low Pressure Turbine

5. According to the Number of Stages

(i) Single Stage Steam Turbine: In single stage steam turbine, the steam after leaving
the nozzle, impinges on one end of the blade, glides over the inner surface, leaves the
blades and exhaust into the condenser.
(ii) Multi Stage Steam Turbine:
In multi stages turbine, sometimes the steam after leaving the moving blade is again
made to flow through a fixed blade ring and again impinges on second moving blade.
Here the fixed blade ring is used to make the steam to flow at a desired angle. In
multistage steam turbine more than one set of rotor blades are used.

Gas Turbine: A turbine which extracts energy from the hot moving gas and converts
it into electricity, is called gas turbine.

Types of Gas Turbine

1. According to the Path of Working Substance

(i). Closed Cycle Gas Turbine: In closed cycle gas turbine the, the air (gas) is
continuously circulates within the turbine.
(ii). Open Cycle Gas Turbine: In this type of turbine, the air is not circulated
continuously within the turbine. The air after flowing over the blades of the turbine
exhausted in the atmosphere.
(iii). Semi-Closed Gas Turbine: As the name indicates, the semi-closed gas turbine is
the combination of both the turbines, one working on the open cycle and the other on
the closed cycle
2. According to the Process of Heat Absorption
(i). Constant Pressure Gas Turbine: A turbine in which the air is heated at constant
pressure in the combustion chamber is called constant pressure gas turbine.
(ii). Constant Volume Gas Turbine: A turbine in which the air is heated at constant
volume in the combustion chamber is called constant volume gas turbine .
 Wind Turbine: Wind turbines work on a simple principle: instead of using electricity
to make wind—like a fan—wind turbines use wind to make electricity. Wind turns the
propeller-like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which
creates electricity.
Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events:
1. The sun unevenly heating the atmosphere
2. Irregularities of the earth's surface
3. The rotation of the earth.

Types of Wind Turbines: HAWT

 One of the important types of wind turbines is the HAWT, which is the most
widely used wind turbine out there.
 These types of wind turbines are probably what you would think of when you hear
“wind turbine.” The design of these turbines follows pretty much the same idea
already implemented in windmills; rotor blades that are connected to a shaft and
rotate it as the wind strikes them, only this time the shaft is connected to a
generator that produces the promised electrical energy.
 They look something like a large aircraft propeller mounted on top of a mast or
tower.
 Horizontal axis wind turbines are one of the types of wind turbines that require
being aligned with the wind direction.
 Therefore, they require a wind sensor that detects the direction of wind and
some yawing mechanism that turns the device in order to be properly aligned against
the wind.
 The reason for necessity of facing the wind is both a more effective distribution
of force on the rotors, and prevention of structural damage to the turbine due to
improper loading on the turbine structure.
 Speaking of structural considerations, the structure of horizontal axis wind
turbines needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the rotor blades, gearbox,
generator, and other components of the turbine.
 Additionally, the base of the mast shall be able to withstand strong winds that
are blown where the turbine is installed.
Up-wind Turbines:
 These types of wind turbines are the ones most commonly used. Up-wind HAWTs
face the wind, which means the wind reaches the rotors before the mast. Therefore,
rotors do not suffer from the wind shade behind the tower, which means a more
efficient operation as well as less susceptibility to wear and tear of the rotors.
 Nonetheless, the necessity for the yawing mechanism adds to the weight of the
structure.
 Another point about up-wind types of wind turbines is that their rotors should
not be flexible, so that they would not bend and collide with the mast when the speed
of wind is high.
 To further avoid such incidences, the rotor is placed at some distance from the
tower. This adds to the manufacturing difficulties of these types of wind turbines, and
the rather inflexibility of the rotor blades equals requiring heavier material for blade
construction.
Down-wind Turbines:

 Down-wind horizontal axis wind turbines are the less commonly seen types of
wind turbines. Their design looks pretty much the same as up-wind HAWTs except
for the location of rotor, which is downstream of the tower; the wind strikes the
mast before it reaches the blades.
 This configuration allows for more flexibility of the rotor blades, and therefore,
lighter material can be used. Hence, this design serves two purposes of lighter
structural weight and better structural dynamics of the tower by taking some of the
load off the tower to the blades during their bending.
  Down-wind horizontal axis types of wind turbines theoretically do not require
any yawing mechanism as long as the rotors and the casing are designed in a way
the casing would passively follow the wind direction.
 The passive yawing of these wind turbines would not be an advantage for large
wind turbines that have earthling cables attached to the casing.

Types of Wind Turbines: VAWT

 Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) are one of the types of wind turbines for
which rotors rotate a shaft that is installed vertically.
 Such way of design allows for less sensitivity regarding wind direction, making
them the perfect choice for places where the wind direction frequently changes.
 No matter what direction the wind blows, the blades would still move and rotate
the shaft to produce power.
 The generator of these types of wind turbines is located near the ground. This is
because taking it to a height would not be so plausible given the design of rotors
and their height.
 This configuration makes the maintenance of the vertical axis wind turbines easier
compared to horizontal axis wind turbines, which has all the components installed
at some height.
 However, vertical axis wind turbines have less efficiencies than HAWTs due to
significant amount of air drag on the rotors for some designs, as well as less power
output due to the fact that wind speed and its flow at a distance from the ground is
higher and smoother than ground level.
Savonius Turbines

 The force that makes Savonius turbines turn is drag, which makes them of drag-
type VAWTs.
 The idea of their design is pretty much similar to cup anemometers. In cup
anemometers, such as the one below, there is always a cup facing the wind
experiencing the most drag exerted on its surface, while other cups have their
other round-shaped and hence drag-lowering surfaces facing the wind.
Darrieus Turbines:

 Darrieus wind turbines in contrary to the Savonius wind turbines are of the lift-
type VAWTs, in which the idea of lift production of airfoils has been
implemented.
 These types of wind turbines are the most widely used type of vertical axis
wind turbines for power generation with curved blades, C-shaped, that go from
the top of tower to the bottom where it is connected to the generator shaft.
  They have good efficiency because they rotate at higher speeds that c ould
generate more power.
Giromill Turbines

 Giromill wind turbines are inspired by Darrieus turbines.

 These types of wind turbines, therefore, are of the lift-type VAWTs with
straight vertical blades instead of curved ones.
 Giromill turbines are not self-starting same as Darrieus wind turbines, and
might not have a steady speed of rotation.
 Therefore, they are not as efficient as the Darrieus turbines are. Nonetheless,
they are cheaper, easier to manufacture, and can work well in turbulent winds.
Cycloturbines

 Cycloturbines are very much similar to Giromill wind turbines, and are actually a
variant of Giromill wind turbines that are in a way a hybrid-type of vertical axis
wind turbines.
 The reason is that for their airfoil blades are of the variable-pitch type. When the
wind is not fast enough, which is mostly the case during the start up of the turbine,
the blades are pitched against the wind in a manner similar to the idea of Savonius
wind turbines to produce the most drag and torque to make a self-starting wind
turbine.
 When the turbine reaches a specific RPM, the blades change their pitch in order to
produce more lift rather than drag to take the RPM to even higher levels, similar to
how it is for Darrieus wind turbines.
 As interesting as it sounds to have such an efficient and flexible VAWT, it is clear
that their design and manufacturing is more complicated than the other designs
making them expensive, and will have more components, and therefore, are heavier
with more maintenance requirement.

MHD Generation or Magneto Hydro Dynamic Power Generation(MHD)

The MHD generation or, also known as magneto hydrodynamic power generation is a
direct energy conversion system which converts the heat energy directly into electrical
energy, without any intermediate mechanical energy conversion, as opposed to the
case in all other power generating plants. Therefore, in this process, substantial fuel
economy can be achieved due to the elimination of the link process of producing
mechanical energy and then again converting it to electrical energy .
Principle of MHD Generation
 The principal of MHD power generation is very simple and is based on
Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, which states that when a conductor
and a magnetic field moves relative to each other, then voltage is induced in the
conductor, which results in flow of current across the terminals.
  As the name implies, the magneto hydro dynamics generator shown in the
figure below, is concerned with the flow of a conducting fluid in the presence of
magnetic and electric fields.
 In conventional generator or alternator, the conductor consists of copper
windings or strips while in an MHD generator the hot ionized gas or conducting
fluid replaces the solid conductor.
 A pressurized, electrically conducting fluid flows through a transverse magnetic
field in a channel or duct.
 Pair of electrodes are located on the channel walls at right angle to the
magnetic field and connected through an external circuit to deliver power to a
load connected to it.
 Electrodes in the MHD generator perform the same function as brushes in a
conventional DC generator. The MHD generator develops DC power and the
conversion to AC is done using an inverter.
The power generated per unit length by MHD generator is approximately given
by,

Where, u is the fluid velocity, B is the magnetic flux density, σ is the electrical
conductivity of conducting fluid and P is the density of the fluid.

MHD Cycles and Working Fluids

The MHD cycles can be of two types, namely
1. Open Cycle MHD.
2. Closed Cycle MHD.
The detailed account of the types of MHD cycles and the working fluids used, are
given below.
Open Cycle MHD System

 In open cycle MHD system, atmospheric air at very high temperature and
pressure is passed through the strong magnetic field. Coal is first processed and
burnet in the combustor at a high temperature of about 2700 oC and pressure about 12
ATP with pre-heated air from the plasma.
 Then a seeding material such as potassium carbonate is injected to the plasma to
increase the electrical conductivity.
 The resulting mixture having an electrical conductivity of about 10 Siemens/m
is expanded through a nozzle, so as to have a high velocity and then passed through
the magnetic field of MHD generator.
 During the expansion of the gas at high temperature, the positive and negative
ions move to the electrodes and thus constitute an electric current.
 The gas is then made to exhaust through the generator. Since the same air
cannot be reused again hence it forms an open cycle and thus is named as open cycle
MHD.

Closed Cycle MHD System

 The working fluid in a closed cycle MHD is circulated in a closed loop. Hence,
in this case inert gas or liquid metal is used as the working fluid to transfer the heat.
 The liquid metal has typically the advantage of high electrical conductivity;
hence the heat provided by the combustion material need not be too high.
 Contrary to the open loop system there is no inlet and outlet for the
atmospheric air. Hence, the process is simplified to a great extent, as the same fluid
is circulated time and again for effective heat transfer

Advantages of MHD Generation: The advantages of MHD generation over the other
conventional methods of generation are given below.
1. Here only working fluid is circulated, and there are no moving mechanical
parts. This reduces the mechanical losses to nil and makes the operation more
dependable.
2. The temperature of working fluid is maintained by the walls of MHD.
3. It has the ability to reach full power level almost directly.
4. The price of MHD generators is much lower than conventional generators.
5. MHD has very high efficiency, which is higher than most of the other
conventional or non-conventional method of generation.
Nuclear Energy
 Nuclear energy is the energy produce when one heavy nucleus splits into two
light nuclei or two light nuclei fuses to one heavy nucleus producing
enormous amount energy in form of heat and light.
Nuclear fuel: Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat
to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission.
Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable
of undergoing and sustaining nuclear fission. The three most relevant fissile isotopes
are uranium-233, uranium-235 and plutonium-239.
Nuclear reaction are of two types :
i. Nuclear Fission
ii. Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fission- The process in which one heavy nucleus (e.g uranium , polonium)
splits into two light nuclei producing large amount of energy and neutrons along
with it.
Nuclear Fusion- The process in which two light nuclei fuses into one heavy nucleus
at a very high temperature and pressure, producing large amount of energy.
 In both the reaction, the origin of energy is loss in mass, the sum of the products is
less than the sum of the products. The loss in mass in converted into energy
according to Einstein’s mass-energy equation, E=mc2.
 Though, nuclear reactions produces large amount of energy, but they are
uncontrolled and can cause explosions.
Nuclear Fission Reaction
The definition of nuclear fission which says that in fission reaction, one heavy
nucleus splits into two light nuclei and produces high amount energy and neutrons
along with it. These neutrons goes and hit the other atoms of Uranium (or
plutonium) and thus the chain reaction continues and each of this reaction emits a
huge amount of energy in form of heat and light. This is the reason why nuclear
reactions are uncontrollable.

Chain Reaction: A chain reaction refers to a process in which neutrons released in

fission produce an additional fission in at least one further nucleus. This nucleus in
turn produces neutrons, and the process repeats. The process may be controlled
(nuclear power) or uncontrolled (nuclear weapons).
Chain Reaction Steps: A typical chain reaction follows a sequence of steps:

1. Initiation: Active particles form that serve as the basis for the reaction.
2. Propagation: Active particles react with each other and may serve as catalysts
to perpetuate the cycle.
3. Termination: The active particles lose their activity, slowing and ending the
reaction.

Fertile Material
 In nuclear engineering, fertile material (nuclide) can be converted to fissile
material by neutron transmutation and subsequent nuclear decay.
 The process of the transmutation of fertile materials to fissile materials is
referred to as fuel breeding.
 Fertile materials are not capable of undergoing fission reaction after absorbing
thermal (slow or low energy) neutrons, and these materials are not capable of
sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction. There are two basic fertile
materials: 238U and 232Th.
 239Pu and 241Pu are products of the transmutation of the fertile isotope 238U,
while 233U is the product of the transmutation of the fertile isotope 232Th. These
two transmutations and decay chains are shown below:
 233U breeding:
 239
Pu breeding:

Neutron capture may also be used to create fissile 239Pu from 238U, the dominant
constituent of naturally occurring uranium (99.28%). Absorption of a neutron in
the 238U nucleus yields 239U. The half-life of 239U is approximately 23.5
minutes. 239U decays (negative beta decay) to 239Np (neptunium), whose half-life
is 2.36 days. 239Np decays (negative beta decay) to 239Pu.

Breeding Fuel: All commercial light water reactors contain both fissile and fertile
materials. For example, most PWRs use low enriched uranium fuel with enrichment
of 235U up to 5%. Therefore more than 95% of the content of fresh fuel is fertile
isotope 238U. During fuel burnup, the fertile materials (conversion of 238U to
fissile 239Pu known as fuel breeding) partially replace fissile 235U, thus permitting the
power reactor to operate longer before the amount of fissile material decreases to the
point where reactor criticality is no longer manageable.

The fuel breeding in the fuel cycle of all commercial light water reactors plays a
significant role. In recent years, the commercial power industry has been
emphasizing high-burnup fuels (up to 60 – 70 GWd/tU), typically enriched to higher
percentages of 235U (up to 5%). As burnup increases, a higher percentage of the total
power produced in a reactor is due to the fuel bred inside the reactor.

Nuclear Reactor –Reactor Operation:

 A nuclear reactor produces and controls the release of energy from splitting the
atoms of certain elements. In a nuclear power reactor, the energy released is used as
heat to make steam to generate electricity. (In a research reactor the main purpose is to
utilise the actual neutrons produced in the core. In most naval reactors, steam drives a
turbine directly for propulsion.)
 The principles for using nuclear power to produce electricity are the same for
most types of reactor. The energy released from continuous fission of the atoms of the
fuel is harnessed as heat in either a gas or water, and is used to produce steam. The
steam is used to drive the turbines which produce electricity (as in most fossil fuel
plants).
Components of a nuclear reactor: There are several components common to most
types of reactor:
Fuel:
Uranium is the basic fuel. Usually pellets of uranium oxide (UO 2) are arranged in
tubes to form fuel rods. The rods are arranged into fuel assemblies in the reactor
core.* In a 1000 MWe class PWR there might be 51,000 fuel rods with over 18
million pellets.
* In a new reactor with new fuel a neutron source is needed to get the reaction going.
Usually this is beryllium mixed with polonium, radium or other alpha-emitter. Alpha
particles from the decay cause a release of neutrons from the beryllium as it turns to
carbon-12. Restarting a reactor with some used fuel may not require this, as there may
be enough neutrons to achieve criticality when control rods are removed.
Moderator
Material in the core which slows down the neutrons released from fission so that they
cause more fission. It is usually water, but may be heavy water or graphite.
Control rods or blades
These are made with neutron-absorbing material such as cadmium, hafnium or boron,
and are inserted or withdrawn from the core to control the rate of reaction, or to halt
it.* In some PWR reactors, special control rods are used to enable the core to sustain a
low level of power efficiently. (Secondary control systems involve other neutron
absorbers, usually boron in the coolant – its concentration can be adjusted over time as
the fuel burns up.) PWR control rods are inserted from the top, BWR cruciform blades
from the bottom of the core.
* In fission, most of the neutrons are released promptly, but some are delayed. These
are crucial in enabling a chain reacting system (or reactor) to be controllable and to be
able to be held precisely critical.
Coolant
A fluid circulating through the core so as to transfer the heat from it. In light water
reactors the water moderator functions also as primary coolant. Except in BWRs, there
is secondary coolant circuit where the water becomes steam. (See also later section on
primary coolant characteristics.) A PWR has two to four primary coolant loops with
pumps, driven either by steam or electricity – China’s Hualong One design has three,
each driven by a 6.6 MW electric motor, with each pump set weighing 110 tonnes.
Pressure vessel or pressure tubes
Usually a robust steel vessel containing the reactor core and moderator/coolant, but it
may be a series of tubes holding the fuel and conveying the coolant through the
surrounding moderator.
Steam generator
Part of the cooling system of pressurised water reactors (PWR & PHWR) where the
high-pressure primary coolant bringing heat from the reactor is used to make steam
for the turbine, in a secondary circuit. Essentially a heat exchanger like a motor car
radiator.* Reactors have up to six 'loops', each with a steam generator. Since 1980
over 110 PWR reactors have had their steam generators replaced after 20-30 years
service, over half of these in the USA.
* These are large heat exchangers for transferring heat from one fluid to another –
here from high-pressure primary circuit in PWR to secondary circuit where water
turns to steam. Each structure weighs up to 800 tonnes and contains from 300 to
16,000 tubes about 2 cm diameter for the primary coolant, which is radioactive due to
nitrogen-16 (N-16, formed by neutron bombardment of oxygen, with half-life of 7
seconds). The secondary water must flow through the support structures for the tubes.
The whole thing needs to be designed so that the tubes don't vibrate and fret, operated
so that deposits do not build up to impede the flow, and maintained chemically to
avoid corrosion. Tubes which fail and leak are plugged, and surplus capacity is
designed to allow for this. Leaks can be detected by monitoring N-16 levels in the
steam as it leaves the steam generator.
Containment
The structure around the reactor and associated steam generators which is designed to
protect it from outside intrusion and to protect those outside from the effects of
radiation in case of any serious malfunction inside. It is typically a metre-thick
concrete and steel structure.

Fuelling a nuclear reactor

Most reactors need to be shut down for refuelling, so that the reactor vessel can be
opened up. In this case refuelling is at intervals of 12, 18 or 24 months, when a quarter
to a third of the fuel assemblies are replaced with fresh ones. The CANDU and
RBMK types have pressure tubes (rather than a pressure vessel enclosing the reactor
core) and can be refuelled under load by disconnecting individual pressure tubes. The
AGR is also designed for refuelling on-load.
If graphite or heavy water is used as moderator, it is possible to run a power reactor on
natural instead of enriched uranium. Natural uranium has the same elemental
composition as when it was mined (0.7% U-235, over 99.2% U-238), enriched
uranium has had the proportion of the fissile isotope (U-235) increased by a process
called enrichment, commonly to 3.5-5.0%. In this case the moderator can be ordinary
water, and such reactors are collectively called light water reactors. Because the light
water absorbs neutrons as well as slowing them, it is less efficient as a moderator than
heavy water or graphite. Some new small reactor designs require high-assay low-
enriched uranium fuel, enriched to near 20% U-235.
 Main types of nuclear reactor:
1. Pressurised water reactor (PWR)
This is the most common type, with about 300 operable reactors for power generation
and several hundred more employed for naval propulsion. The design of PWRs
originated as a submarine power plant. PWRs use ordinary water as both coolant and
moderator. The design is distinguished by having a primary cooling circuit which
flows through the core of the reactor under very high pressure, and a secondary circuit
in which steam is generated to drive the turbine. In Russia these are known as VVER
types – water-moderated and -cooled.

 A PWR has fuel assemblies of 200-300 rods each, arranged vertically in the core,
and a large reactor would have about 150-250 fuel assemblies with 80-100 tonnes of
uranium.
 Water in the reactor core reaches about 325°C, hence it must be kept under about
150 times atmospheric pressure to prevent it boiling. Pressure is maintained by
steam in a pressuriser (see diagram).
 In the primary cooling circuit the water is also the moderator, and if any of it turned
to steam the fission reaction would slow down. This negative feedback effect is one
of the safety features of the type. The secondary shutdown system involves adding
boron to the primary circuit.
 The secondary circuit is under less pressure and the water here boils in the heat
exchangers which are thus steam generators.
 The steam drives the turbine to produce electricity, and is then condensed and
returned to the heat exchangers in contact with the primary circuit.
2. Boiling water reactor (BWR)
This type of reactor has many similarities to the PWR, except that there is only a
single circuit in which the water is at lower pressure (about 75 times atmospheric
pressure) so that it boils in the core at about 285°C. The reactor is designed to operate
with 12-15% of the water in the top part of the core as steam, and hence with less
moderating effect and thus efficiency there. BWR units can operate in load-following
mode more readily than PWRs.
The steam passes through drier plates (steam separators) above the core and then
directly to the turbines, which are thus part of the reactor circuit. Since the water
around the core of a reactor is always contaminated with traces of radionuclides, it
means that the turbine must be shielded and radiological protection provided during
maintenance. The cost of this tends to balance the savings due to the simpler design.
Most of the radioactivity in the water is very short-lived*, so the turbine hall can be
entered soon after the reactor is shut down.
A BWR fuel assembly comprises 90-100 fuel rods, and there are up to 750 assemblies
in a reactor core, holding up to 140 tonnes of uranium. The secondary control system
involves restricting water flow through the core so that more steam in the top part
reduces moderation.
 3. Pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR):
The PHWR reactor has been developed since the 1950s in Canada as the CANDU,
and from 1980s also in India. PHWRs generally use natural uranium (0.7% U-235)
oxide as fuel, hence needs a more efficient moderator, in this case heavy water
(D2O).** The PHWR produces more energy per kilogram of mined uranium than
other designs, but also produces a much larger amount of used fuel per unit output.
The moderator is in a large tank called a calandria, penetrated by several hundred
horizontal pressure tubes which form channels for the fuel, cooled by a flow of heavy
water under high pressure (about 100 times atmospheric pressure) in the primary
cooling circuit, typically reaching 290°C. As in the PWR, the primary coolant
generates steam in a secondary circuit to drive the turbines. The pressure tube design
means that the reactor can be refuelled progressively without shutting down, by
isolating individual pressure tubes from the cooling circuit. It is also less costly to
build than designs with a large pressure vessel, but the tubes have not proved as
durable.

A CANDU fuel assembly consists of a bundle of 37 half metre long fuel rods (ceramic
fuel pellets in zircaloy tubes) plus a support structure, with 12 bundles lying end to
end in a fuel channel. Control rods penetrate the calandria vertically, and a secondary
 shutdown system involves adding gadolinium to the moderator. The heavy water
moderator circulating through the body of the calandria vessel also yields some heat
(though this circuit is not shown on the diagram above).

Sodium Graphite Reactor:

1. Sodium graphite reactor is a typical liquid metal reactor. The arrangement of a sodium
graphite reactor power plant is shown in Figure.
2. It uses graphite as the moderator and liquid sodium as coolant which can reach
temperature of about 850°C at low pressure of only 7 bar. In the primary circuit the
heat is absorbed by liquid sodium in the reactor.
3. The sodium becomes radioactive while it passes through the core and reacts
chemically with water. Therefore, the heat absorbed by sodium is transferred to
secondary coolant sodiun potassium (Nak) in the primary heat exchanger which in
turn transfers the heat in the secondary heat exchanger called steam generator.
4. Water leaving the steam generator is converted into superheated steam upto
temperature of 540°C. This steam is used for power generation in the steam plant
circuit in the usual manner.
5. The reactor vessel, primary circuit and the primary heat exchanger have to be shielded
from radiations. The liquid metal is required to be handled under the cover of an inert
gas like helium to prevent contact with air while charging or draining in the primary
and secondary heat exchangers.

Advantages of Sodium Graphite Reactor :

1. High temperatures of steam can be obtained due to use of liquid sodium as coolant.
2. System need not be pressurized.
3. Thermal efficiency is high.
4. Cost of pressure vessel and piping system is reduced due to use of low pressures
sodium in primary circuit.
Disadvantages of Sodium Graphite Reactor :
1. Sodium reacts violently with air and water.
2. Intermediate heat exchanger is required to separate radioactive sodium with water and
steam.
3. Primary and secondary heat exchanger are needed to be shielded with concrete blocks
against radiations.
4. Any leakage of sodium coolant is highly dangerous.

Fast breeder Reactor:

A Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) is a nuclear reactor that uses fast neutron to generate
more nuclear fuels than they consume while generating power, dramatically
enhancing the efficiency of the use of resources. Nuclear fission by fast neutron
causes the increase in neutrons generated.

Fast breeder reactor (FBR) which use fast (i.e.: unmoderated) neutrons to breed
fissile plutonium and possibly higher transuranics from fertile uranium-238. The fast
spectrum is flexible enough that it can also breed fissile uranium-233 from thorium, if
desired.

Homogeneous Reactor: A nuclear reactor in which the fuel is distributed (as by

being dissolved in a liquid) uniformly or approximately uniformly throughout the
moderator material.

Gas Cooled Reactor: A gas cooled reactor (in short, GCR) is a nuclear reactor that
works with graphite as a neutron moderator and a gas including carbon dioxide or
helium in available designs as coolant. Although there are different types of reactor
cooled by gas, the terms GCR and, to a lesser extent, gas cooled reactor is used
specifically to refer to this reactor type.

The GCR could utilize natural uranium as fuel, and the countries that have developed
them were able to produce their fuel without any dependence on other countries to
supply enriched uranium. It was available at the time of their development in the
1950s only in the United States or the Soviet Union.
At present, gas cooled reactors account for about three percent of all reactors in
commercial operations around the world. All of them are advanced carbon-dioxide gas
cooled reactors in the UK that will be phased out by the mid-2020s.
The many Member States are interested in working on advanced High-Temperature
Gas Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) that employ helium as a coolant. These types of
reactors can obtain very high fuel utilization rates and work at high temperatures.
They also generate process heat used in hydrogen production and low-temperature
applications, including seawater desalination and district heating.

Gas Cooled Reactor Basics

 Gas cooled reactors utilize graphite as a neutron moderator and carbon dioxide
as the coolant. With the three percent market share, all are installed in the
United Kingdom. These reactors apply natural or somewhat enriched uranium
as fuel.
 As shown in the following figure, carbon dioxide circulates inside the core,
absorbs the heat from the fuel parts, and reaches 650 °C.
 It then flows to the heat exchangers located outside of the pressure vessel of the
reactor concrete.
 These are of the gas-to-water heat exchanger types that use the once-through
fundamental to boil the flowing water.
 The water is then applied in the conventional steam cycle.
 The once-through boiler operates based on the critical point of water. With an
increase in pressure in the Rankine cycle, the saturation temperature
corresponding to that pressure increases.
 Thus, as the pressure increases, the quantity of latent heat needed decreases. At
a critical point, no latent heat is required, and therefore, the water directly
evaporates into steam.
 The once-through boiler works at pressures above the critical water point
pressure. Therefore, they are also called “supercritical boilers”
  In this design, to penetrate the moderator and control the reaction, boron control
rods are utilized. In addition, there may be a secondary shutdown system that
involves the injection of nitrogen into the coolant.
 However, in the second generation of the gas cooled reactors, the steam
generators are installed inside the concrete pressure vessel, which needs a much
larger structure and, therefore, more capital costs.
Advantages of Gas Cooled Reactors over Water Cooled Reactors

1. Gas cooled reactors present potential operational and safety advantages over
water cooled reactors.
2. A principal operational motivation for working on this technology is enhanced
energy conversion efficiency provided by a higher reactor operating
temperature. For example, water cooled reactors have a possible maximum
temperature limit of around 350°C, which allows a conversion efficiency (the
ratio of output electricity to heat) of about 32–34%.
3. In comparison, a GCR can run at temperatures up to 800–850°C and yield a
heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of more than 40% using conventional
steam turbine facilities or as high as 50% using a more advanced gas turbine
apparatus.

Radiation Hazards and Shielding

Shielding of Ionizing Radiation:

Shielding of ionizing radiation means having some material between the source of
radiation and you (or some device) that will absorb the radiation. Radiation
shielding usually consists of barriers of lead, concrete, or water. Many materials can
be used for radiation shielding, but there are many situations in radiation protection. It
highly depends on the type of radiation to be shielded, its energy, and many other
parameters. For example, even depleted uranium can be used as good protection from
gamma radiation, but on the other hand, uranium is inappropriate shielding of neutron
Radiation shielding means having some material between the source of radiation and
you (or some device) that will absorb the radiation. The amount of shielding required,
the type of material of shielding strongly depends on several factors. We are not
talking about any optimization.

In fact, in some cases, inappropriate shielding may even worsen the radiation situation
instead of protecting people from the ionizing radiation. Basic factors, which have to
be considered during the proposal of radiation shielding, are:

 Type of the ionizing radiation to be shielded

 The energy spectrum of the ionizing radiation
 Length of exposure
 Distance from the source of the ionizing radiation
 Requirements on the attenuation of the ionizing radiation – ALARA or ALARP
principles
 Design degree of freedom
 Other physical requirements (e.g.,, transparence in case of leaded glass screens)
 Calculation of Shielded Dose Rate in Sieverts from Contaminated Surface

Assume a surface in which 1.0 Ci of 137Cs contaminates. Assume that

this contaminant can be approximated by the point isotropic source, which
contains 1.0 Ci of 137Cs, with a half-life of 30.2 years. Note that the relationship
between half-life and the amount of a radionuclide required to give an activity of one
curie is shown below. This amount of material can be calculated using λ, which is
the decay constant of certain nuclide:

About 94.6 percent decays by beta emission to a metastable nuclear isomer of barium:
barium-137m. The main photon peak of Ba-137m is 662 keV. For this calculation,
assume that all decays go through this channel.

Radioactive Waste Disposal:

 Radioactive wastes are stored so as to avoid any chance of radiation exposure to

people, or any pollution.
 The radioactivity of the wastes decays with time, providing a strong incentive to
store high-level waste for about 50 years before disposal.
 Disposal of low-level waste is straightforward and can be undertaken safely
almost anywhere.
 Storage of used fuel is normally under water for at least five years and then
often in dry storage.
 Deep geological disposal is widely agreed to be the best solution for final
disposal of the most radioactive waste produced.

 Most low-level radioactive waste (LLW) is typically sent to land-based disposal

immediately following its packaging for long-term management. This means that for
the majority (~90% by volume) of all of the waste types produced by nuclear
technologies, a satisfactory disposal means has been developed and is being
implemented around the world.
 For used fuel designated as high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the first step is
storage to allow decay of radioactivity and heat, making handling much safer.
Storage of used fuel may be in ponds or dry casks, either at reactor sites or centrally.
Beyond storage, many options have been investigated which seek to provide publicly
acceptable, safe, and environmentally sound solutions to the final management of
radioactive waste. The most widely favoured solution is deep geological disposal.
 The focus is on how and where to construct such facilities .
 Used fuel that is not intended for direct disposal may instead be reprocessed in order
to recycle the uranium and plutonium it contains. Some separated liquid HLW arises
during reprocessing; this is vitrified in glass and stored pending final disposal.
Intermediate-level radioactive waste (ILW) that contains long-lived radioisotopes is
also stored pending disposal in a geological repository. In the USA, defence-related
transuranic (TRU) waste – which has similar levels of radioactivity to some ILW – is
disposed of in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) deep geological repository in
New Mexico. A number of countries dispose of ILW containing short-lived
radioisotopes in near-surface disposal facilities, as used for LLW disposal.

Storage ponds:
 Storage ponds at reactors, and those at centralized facilities such as CLAB in
Sweden, are 7-12 metres deep to allow the racked fuel assemblies to be covered
by several metres of water.
 The fuel assemblies are typically about 4 m long and standing on end. The
multiple racks are made of metal with neutron absorbers incorporated in it.
 The circulating water both shields and cools the fuel. These pools are robust
constructions made of thick reinforced concrete with steel liners.
 Ponds at reactors may be designed to hold all the used fuel for the life of the
reactor, but usually the design assumes some removal of cooled fuel for
reprocessing or to dry storage.

Dry storage
 Some storage of fuel assemblies which have been cooling in ponds for at least five
years is in dry casks or vaults, typically with air circulation inside concrete shielding.
 Dry storage has been used at US nuclear power plants since 1986, and at least one-
third of the total US used fuel is now in dry storage casks. Facilities are at most of the
nuclear power plant sites (including some closed ones).
 As of the end of 2019, 3203 casks had been loaded at 72 interim spent fuel storage
installations (ISFSIs) in the USA.
 Transfer from wet storage to dry casks at a power plant site may use special shielded
transfer casks, which are less robust than those used for transport beyond the site.
Advantages of nuclear energy

1. Low-cost energy. Although building nuclear power plants has a high initial
cost, it's relatively cheap to produce energy from them and they have low
operating costs
2. Reliable.
3. Zero carbon emissions.
4. Promising future energy supply.
5. High energy density.

Disadvantages:
1. Nuclear reactions are very hard to control, as they are chain reactions and even
a slight mistake can cause huge risks.
2. The elements used in the reaction are radioactive and the radiation can cause
severe health issues like cancer and other genetical deformation.
3. Unfortunately, this is also used in nuclear weapons. An atomic bomb is based
on nuclear fission reaction where the reaction is uncontrollable.
4. It was used two times in World War2 and causes the deaths of millions of
people.
Nuclear fusion occurs inside the sun where two hydrogen atoms are combined to
form one helium atom which in process produces huge amount of energy