Types of Power Plant
Types of Power Plant
Types of Power Plant
In hydro power plant we use gravitational force of fluid water to run the turbine which is
coupled with electric generator to produce electricity. This power plant plays an important
role to protect our fossil fuel which is limited, because the generated electricity in hydro
power station is the use of water which is renewable source of energy and available in lots of
amount without any cost. The big advantage of hydro power is the water which the main stuff
to produce electricity in hydro power plant is free, it not contain any type of pollution and
after generated electricity the price of electricity is average not too much high.
Construction and Working of Hydro Power Plant
Fundamental parts of hydro power plant are
a)Area
b)Dam
c)Reservoir
d)Penstock
e)Storage tank
f)Turbines and generator
g) Switchgear and protection
For construction of hydro power plant first we choose the area where the water is
sufficient to reserve and no any crisis of water and suitable to build a dam, then we construct
the dam. The main function of dam is to stop the flow of water and reserve the water in
reservoir. Mainly dam is situated at a good height to increase the force of water. Reservoir
stocks up lots of water which is employed to generate power by means of turbines. After that
Penstock, the pipe which is connected between dam and turbine blades and most important
purpose of the penstock is to enlarge the kinetic energy of water thats why this pipe is made
up of extremely well-built material which carry on the pressure of water. To control the
pressure of water means increase or decrease water pressure whenever required, we use a
valve. Storage tank comes in picture when the some reason the pressure of water in
reservoir is decreases then we use storage tank it is directly connected to penstock and use
only in emergency condition. After that we employ turbine and generator. Turbine is the main
stuff, when water comes through the penstock with high kinetic energy and falls on turbine
blades, turbine rotates at high speed. As we know that the turbine is an engine that transfers
energy of fluid into mechanical energy which is coupled with generator and generator
converts mechanical energy into electrical energy which we utilize at the end. In hydro power
plant we also add switchgears and protections which control and protect the whole process
inside the plant. The control equipments consists control circuits, control devices, warning,
instrumentation etc and connect to main control board. After generating electricity at low
voltage, we use step up transformer to enlarge the level of voltage (generally 132KV, 220KV,
400KV and above) as per our requirement. After that we transmit the electric power to the
load centre, and then we step down the voltage for industrial and large consumer and then
again we step down the voltage to distribute electricity at domestic level which we used
at home.
Nuclear Reactor
In nuclear reactor, Uranium 235 is subjected to nuclear fission. It controls the chain
reaction that starts when the fission is done. The chain reaction must be controlled otherwise
rate of energy release will be fast, there may be a high chance of explosion. In nuclear
fission, the nuclei of nuclear fuel, such as U235 are bombarded by slow flow of neutrons. Due
to this bombarding, the nuclei of Uranium is broken, which causes release of huge heat
energy and during breaking of nuclei, number of neutrons are also emitted.
These emitted neutrons are called fission neutrons. These fission neutrons cause further
fission. Further fission creates more fission neutrons which again accelerate the speed of
fission. This is cumulative process. If the process is not controlled, in very short time the rate
of fission becomes so high, it will release so huge amount of energy, there may be
dangerous explosion. This cumulative reaction is called chain reaction. This chain reaction
can only be controlled by removing fission neutrons from nuclear reactor. The speed of the
fission can be controlled by changing the rate of removing fission neutrons from reactors.
A nuclear reactor is a cylindrical shaped stunt pressure vessel. The fuel rods are made of
nuclear fuel i.e. Uranium moderates, which is generally made of graphite cover the fuel rods.
The moderates slow down the neutrons before collision with uranium nuclei. The controls
rods are made of cadmium because cadmium is a strong absorber of neutrons.
The control rods are inserted in the fission chamber. These cadmium controls rods can be
pushed down and pull up as per requirement. When these rods are pushed down enough,
most of the fission neutrons are absorbed by these rods, hence the chain reaction stops.
Again, while the controls rods are pulled up, the availability of fission neutrons becomes
more which increases the rates of chain reaction. Hence, it is clear that by adjusting the
position of the control rods, the rate of nuclear reaction can be controlled and consequently
the generation of electric power plant can be controlled as per load demand. In actual
practice, the pushing and pulling of control rods are controlled by automatic feedback
system as per requirement of the load. It is not controlled manually. The heat released
during nuclear reaction, are carried to the heat exchanger by means of coolant consist of
sodium metal.
Heat Exchanger
In heat exchanger, the heat carried by sodium metal, is dissipated in water and water
is converted to high pressure steam here. After releasing heat in water the sodium metal
coolant comes back to the reactor by means of coolant circulating pump.
Steam Turbine
In nuclear power plant, the steam turbine plays the same role as coal power plant.
The steam drives the turbine in same way. After doing its job, the exhaust steam comes into
steam condenser where it is condensed to provide space to the steam behind it.
Alternator
An alternator, coupled with turbine, rotates and generates electrical power, for utilization.
Geothermal power
It is also a thermal power plant, but the steam required for power generation is
available naturally in some part of the earth below the earth surface. According to
various theories earth has a molten core. The fact that volcanic action takes place in
many places on the surface of earth supports these theories.
Steam well:
Pipes are embedded at places of fresh volcanic action called steam wells, where
the molten internal mass of earth vents to the atmosphere with very high temperatures.
By sending water through embedded pipes, steam is raised from the underground steam
storage wells to the ground level.
Separator:
The steam is then passed through the separator where most of the dirt and sand
carried by steam are removed.
Turbine:
The steam from the separator is passed through steam drug and is used to run
the turbine which in turn drives the generator. The exhaust steam from the turbine is
condensed. The condensate is pumped into the earth to absorb the ground heat again
and to get converted into steam.
Location of plant, installation of equipment like control unit etc., within the source
of heat and the cost of drilling deep wells as deep as 15,000 meters are some of the
difficulties commonly encountered.
Wind flow patterns are modified by the earth's terrain, bodies of water, and vegetative cover.
This wind flow, or motion energy, when "harvested" by modern wind turbines, can be used to
generate electricity.
Wind Turbines
Wind turbines, like aircraft propeller blades, turn in the moving air and power an
electric generator that supplies an electric current. Simply stated, a wind turbine is the
opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind
to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a
generator and makes electricity.
Turbine Components
Horizontal turbine components include:
blade or rotor, which converts the energy in the wind to rotational shaft energy;
Turbine Configurations
Wind turbines are often grouped together into a single wind power plant, also known
as a wind farm, and generate bulk electrical power. Electricity from these turbines is fed into
a utility grid and distributed to customers, just as with conventional power plants.
Coal, oil and gas are used to make thermal electricity. They all work basically the same
way (with a few exceptions: for example, in an oil- or gas-fired plant, fuel is piped to the
boiler).
1.
Coal supply After haulers drop off the coal, a set of crushers and conveyors
prepare and deliver the coal to the power plant. When the plant needs coal, coal
hoppers crush coal to a few inches in size and conveyor belts bring the coal inside.
2.
Coal pulveriser The belts dump coal into a huge bin (pulveriser), which reduces
the coal to a fine powder. Hot air from nearby fans blows the powdered coal into huge
furnaces (boilers).
3.
Boiler The boiler walls are lined with many kilometres of pipe filled with water. As
soon as the coal enters the boiler, it instantly catches fire and burns with high intensity
(the temperatures inside the furnace may climb to 1,300 C). This heat quickly boils
the water inside the pipes, changing it into steam.
4.
5.
Turbine and generator Meanwhile, steam moves at high speed to the turbines,
massive drums with hundreds of blades turned at an angle, like the blades of a fan. As
jets of high-pressure steam emerge from the pipes, they propel the blades, causing
the turbine to spin rapidly. A metal shaft connects the turbine to a generator. As the
turbine turns, it causes an electro-magnet to turn inside coils of wire in the generator.
The spinning magnet puts electrons in motion inside the wires, creating electricity.
6.
Condensers and cooling water system Next, the steam exits the turbines and
passes over cool tubes in the condenser. The condensers capture the used steam and
transform it back to water. The cooled water is then pumped back to the boiler to
repeat the heating process. At the same time, water is piped from a reservoir or river
to keep the condensers constantly cool. This cooling water, now warm from the heat
exchange in the condensers, is released from the plant.
7.
Water purification To reduce corrosion, plants purify water for use in the boiler
tubes. Wastewater is also treated and pumped out to holding ponds.
8.
Ash systems Ash is removed from the plant and hauled to disposal sites or ash
lagoons. Ash is also sold for use in manufacturing cement.
9.
Diesel power plants is in the range of 2 to 50 MW capacity. They are used as central
station for small or medium power supplies.
2.
They can be used as stand-by plants to hydro-electric power plants and steam power
plants for emergency services.
3.
They can be used as peak load plants in combinations with thermal or hydro-plants.
4.
They are quite suitable for mobile power generation and are widely used in
transportation systems such as automobiles, railways, air planes and ships.
5.
Now-a-days power cut has become a regular feature for industries. The only solution
to tide over this difficulty is to install diesel generating sets.
Diesel engine:
Diesel engines or compression ignition engines as they are called are generally
classified as two stroke engine and four stroke engines. In diesel engine, air admitted into
the cylinder is compressed, the compression ratio being 12 to 20. At the end of compression
stroke, fuel is injected. It burns and the burning gases expand and do work on the position.
The engine is directly coupled to the generator. The gases are then exhausted from the
cylinder to atmosphere.
Fuel system:
Pump draws diesel from storage tank and supplies it to the small day tank through
the filter. Day tank supplies the daily fuel need of engine. The day tan is usually placed high
so that diesel flows to engine under gravity.
Diesel is again filtered before being injected into the engine by the fuel injection pump. The
fuel is supplied to the engine according to the load on the plant.
Air filters are used to remove dust from the incoming air. Air filters may be dry type,
which is made up of felt, wool or cloth. In oil bath type filters, the sir is swept over a bath of
oil so that dust particles get coated.
Exhaust system:
In the exhaust system, silencer (muffler) is provide to reduce the noise.