Beaker Boys

1911

Steam Power Plants

by

Muhammad Arif

1
 Thermal Generating Stations

 Steam power plants produce electricity from heat released by

combustion of coal, oil, or natural gas.
 Usually located near a river or lake because large quantities of
cooling water are needed to condense the stream as it exhausts
from turbines.
 Efficiency is always low because of the inherent low efficiency
of the turbines.
 Thermal Generating Stations
 Efficiency

 In order to get high efficiency, T2/T1 should be as low as

possible. However, T2 cannot be lower than the ambient
temperature, which is usually 20o C. As a result T2 cannot be
less than
 Thermal Generating Stations

 T1 should be as high as possible to get high efficiency.

 The material could withstand Max T1 of 550o C. As a result

 The maximum possible efficiency would therefore be 64.4%.

 Due to other losses, some of the most efficient turbines have

efficiencies of 45%.

 Around 65% of energy is lost during thermal to mechanical

conversion.
Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations

Principal Components of a Thermal Power Plant

Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems (Fifth Edition) by Theodore Wildi
 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations
 The principal components of a thermal power plant are shown in
previous slide.
 Boiler (1)
 A huge boiler acts as a furnace transferring heat from the burning fuel to row
upon row of water tubes which entirely surround the flames.
 Water is kept flowing through the tubes by a pump P 1
 Drum (2)
 It contains water and steam at high pressure and produces stream for turbine.
 It also receives water delivered by boiler-feed pumpP 2
 Steam races towards high-pressure (HP) turbine after having passed through
super-heater S2. The super-heater composed of series of tubes surrounding the
flames raises the steam temperature about 200 o C which makes the steam
absolutely dry and raises the overall efficiency of the station.
 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations
 High-pressure (HP) Turbine (3)
 Converts thermal energy into mechanical energy by letting the steam expand
as it moves through turbine blades.
 Temperature and pressure at the output of turbine are less than at the input.
 The steam is then passed through a reheater S3 in order to raise the thermal
efficiency and to prevent premature condensation.
 Medium-pressure(MP) turbine (4)
 It is similar to HP turbine, except that it is bigger so that the steam ma expand
still more. contains water and steam at high pressure and produces stream for
turbine.
 Low-pressure(LP) Turbine (5)
 It is composed to two identical sections and it removes the remaining available
energy from steam
 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations
 The steam is deflected by the blades produce a powerful torque. The blades
are made of special steel to withstand the high temperature and intense
centrifugal forces.
 The HP, MP, and LP turbines
are coupled together to drive a
common generator. In some
large installations, the HP
turbine drives one generator
and MP and LP turbines drive
another one having the same
rating.

Steam Turbine Units

 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations
Classification of Steam Turbines
 Impulse turbines
 Reaction turbines
 Combination of both

ROTOR

STEAM CHEST

Impulse Reaction Turbines

Turbines
Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations

Steam Turbine Units

Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations
 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations
Cooling Towers
 Evaporate of 1% water the temperature of remaining water will drop 5.8 o C.
 Break up the water into droplets and blow air through them.
 Warm cooling water from condenser is piped to the top of the cooling tower
where it is broken up into small droplets. As the they fall, evaporation takes
place and the droplets are chilled.
 Cool water is re-circulated through the condenser where it again removes
heat from the steam.
 Approximately 2% of the water is lost in evaporation.
 Types: Wet and Dry
 Wet Cooling Towers: Forced Draft and Natural Draft
 Dry Cooling Towers: Direct and Indirect
Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations

Forced draft wet cooling towers

(height: 34 meters) and natural draft
wet cooling tower (height: 122 meters
 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations

Boiler Feedwater Pump

 It drives the feedwater into the high-pressure drum.

 In modern steam stations, the pumping power represents about 1

% of the generator output.

 It appears to be a significant loss, but energy expended in pump

is later recovered with the high-pressure steam flows through the
turbines. The energy supplied to the feed pump motor is not
really lost, except for the small portion consumed by the losses
in the motor and pump.
 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations

Draft System and Stack

Draft system supplies adequate amount of air needed for fuel combustion


in furnace and removes continuously the gaseous combustion products.

Two Methods: Natural draft and mechanical draft.



Natural draft is caused by the difference in density between atmospheric



air and hot gases in the stack

 When natural draft is not advisable, draft is produced mechanically by
large fans in order to push air in, pull air out, or both.
 Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations

 In practice, a steam station has hundreds of other components and

accessories to ensure high efficiency, safety, and economy. For
instance:
 Control valves regulate the amount of steam flowing to the turbines
 Complex water purifiers maintain the required cleanliness and chemical
composition of the feedwater
 Oil pumps keep bearings properly lubricated

 However, the basic components just described above enable us to

understand the operation and some of the basic problems of thermal
stations.
Emission Control Systems and Feedwater Treatment

Emission Control systems

 CO2, NOx, SOx, particulate matter, mercury, etc.
 Washing removes 40% of sulphur and50 % fly ash. Loss energy as well.
 99% of Fly ash by ESP and Baghouses (Fabric Filters).
 Removal of 90 % SO2 by injecting lime or lime stone in path of flue gases.
 Flue Gas Desulphurization (FDG) removes 99% SO2.
 NOx is removed 90% (Selective Catalytic Reduction technique).
 CO2 goes into environment. Future: Integration of Carbon Capture and
Sequestering.
 CO2 emissions can also be reduced by co-firing.
Feedwater Treatment: Removal of solid, liquid and gaseous impurities using filters and
chemicals.
Makeup of Thermal Generating Stations
 Energy Flow Diagram for a Steam Plant

 Modern boilers furnish steam at a temperature of 550o C and

pressure of 16.5 MPa. The overall efficiency (Electrical
output/thermal input) is then about 40 %.
 The relative amounts of energy, steam flow, losses, and so forth,
do not change very much provided the temperature and pressure
have the approximate values indicated above.
 A diagram can be drawn showing energy flow, steam flow, water
flow, and so on, in a reduced scale model of a typical thermal
generating station of 12 MW of electrical power as shown in the
next slide.
Energy Flow Diagram for a Steam Plant

Scaled model of a typical thermal generating power plant

 Energy Flow Diagram for a Steam Plant
 Using previous model, we can estimate the characteristics of a 480 MW plant (40 times more powerful than the model can be estimated.

 The cooling tower would have to evaporate q = 2% X 14400 = 288Kg/s of cooling water. This loss of evaporation has to be made up by a local source of water.
Advanced Coal-fired Power Plants

Supercritical (SC)
Ultra-supercritical (USC)
Advanced ultra-supercritical (A-USC): Yet to be developed
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plants
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plants
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plants
 Geothermal Power
 Hot springs and geysers have been used for at least 10,000 years.
 Heat is tapped through wells drilled as much as two miles into the
earth.
 Environmentally clean and requires less space compared to hydro and
solar power
Geothermal Power
Geothermal Power

Geothermal Gradients USA

Geothermal Power
Geothermal Power

Source: GREEN ELECTRIC ENERGY (ECE 333) by A. D. Dominguez-Garcia

Geothermal Power

A W Hoch Geothermal Plant in California Steam is brought from

several thousand feet below with temperature of 400-500 Degree
Fahrenheit
Geothermal Power

Herber Geothermal Power Station

52kW electrical generating capacity
 Ocean Thermal energy Conversion (OTEC)

 Still in the developmental stage

 It exploits the temperature difference between warm surface water and the
cold water at depth to run a “heat engine”
 Power from Waste

 Technologies
 Traditional Combustion Plants
 Gasification and pyrolysis

Municipal Solid Waste Composition of Typical Urban Garbage

Power from Waste

Waste to Energy Plant

Power from Waste

Poultry litter-fired power plant, Moerdijk, The Netherlands

 Pakistan: Electricity from Bagasse

 Pakistan is the fifth largest producer of sugarcane with the production of

50 million tones of sugarcane annually yielding 10 million tones of
bagasse
 The country has 87 sugar mills with the generation capacity 3000
megawatts from bagasse in the winter
 Currently 7 sugar mills sell surplus power to government
 Upfront tariff approved by PEMRA for power generation from bagasse:
10.50 per unit
 Power generation from bagasse will not only reduce the import of
furnace oil import but save 33billion to 49 billion worth of foreign
exchange annually
Source: The News, January 16, 2014
Power From Biomass

21 MW Tracy Biomass Plant

Source: GREEN ELECTRIC ENERGY (ECE 333) by A. D. Dominguez-Garcia

 Power From Biomass: Anaerobic Digestion

 On the average, a total of 590 million kilograms of dung per Day (2006).
 Assuming 50 per cent collectability, 9 million cubic meters of biogas per
day can be produced through bio-methanation which could meet the
cooking needs of 22.5 million peoples besides producing 42.77 million
kilograms of bio-fertilizer per day. Source: Pakistan Agriculture Research Council
Power From Biomass: Anaerobic Digestion
Anaerobic Digestion: Decompose biomass with microorganisms Closed
tanks known as anaerobic digesters Produces methane (natural gas) and CO 2
Methane-rich biogas can be used as fuel .
Power from Waste

Poultry litter-fired power plant, Moerdijk, The Netherlands

Power From Biomass

http://www.nrel.gov/biomass/photos.html
Power From Biomass
 Thermal Power Stations and Environment
 The products of combustion of thermal generating stations are an
increasing subject of concern, due to their impact on environment.
 Carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and water are the main products
of combustion when oil, coal, or gas are burned.
 CO2 and water produce no immediate environmental effects, but
SO2 creates substances that give rise to acid rain.
 Dust and fly ash are other pollutants that may reach atmosphere.
 Natural gas produces only water and carbon CO2. Gas is therefore
used when atmospheric pollution must be reduced to a minimum.
 Controls are in effect for each of these in new plants, however older
plants spew thousands of pounds of each of these into the
atmosphere every year.
Thermal Power Stations and Environment
Thermal Power Stations and Environment
Thermal Power Stations and Environment
Thermal Power Station Guddu (Pakistan)

1655 MW
Thermal Power Station Jamshoro (Pakistan)

850 MW
Pakistan’s Coal Reserves

 Sindh
 186.560 billion

tonnes
 Punjab
 235 million tonnes
 Balochistan
 217 million tonnes
 NWFP
 90 million tonnes
 Azad Kashmir Thar
 9 million tonnes Thar

Source: Thar Coal- A new horizon for investment in Pakistan, Slides by Ajaz Ali Khan, MD ,Thar Coal & Energy
Board.
CPEC Energy Priority Projects
 Thar Coal
 Amongst the biggest coal reserves in the world (9.75 billion tons)
 Too deep, low grade
 The underground gas is to be converted into coal gas by a process
known as Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)
 It can produce 50,000 MW of electricity for decades and 100
million barrels of oil for 500 years.
 Thar Coal

Combustion (Steam) Electricity (Steam Turbines)

Lignite
Ethanol
Coal
Gasification CH4 CO Crude Oil - Jet Fuel
Refinery Diesel
CO2 H2 Petrol
Paraffin
H2 Coal to Liquid Chemicals (Ethylene 
Ash H2S Polymers
Fisher Tropsch
Tar
Synthesis
Naphta NH3
Phenol
Catechols
Carbon Dioxide
Dephenolized Cresylic Acid Ammonia
Fertilizer
Explosives

Source: Thar Coal- A Game Changer for Pakistan, Slides by Ajaz Ali Khan, MD ,Thar Coal & Energy Board.
Thar Today

Source: Thar Coal- A Game Changer for Pakistan, Slides by Ajaz Ali Khan, MD ,Thar Coal & Energy Board.
Drill Rings in Operation
Thar Tomorrow

Source: Thar Coal- A Game Changer for Pakistan, Slides by Ajaz Ali Khan, MD ,Thar Coal & Energy Board.