Antoni Carlo M.

Reyes
BSME 4-1
Coal Fired Thermal Power Plant

What is a Thermal Power Plant?

Thermal power plants use water as working fluid. Nuclear and coal based power
plants fall under this category. The way energy from fuel gets transformed into
electricity forms the working of a power plant. In a thermal power plant a steam turbine
is rotated with help of high pressure and high temperature steam and this rotation is
transferred to a generator to produce electricity.

How a Thermal Power Plant Works?

All thermal power plants convert heat energy into mechanical energy, and then
into electricity. This is done by using heat to turn water into steam and then directing
the steam at a turbine. The steam turns the turbine blades, converting heat into
mechanical power. This in turn runs the generator, which creates electricity.

What is a Coal Fired Thermal Power Plant?

The function of the coal fired thermal power plant is to convert the energy
available in the coal to Electricity.
Coal power plants work by using several steps to convert stored energy in coal to
usable electricity that we find in our home that powers our lights, computers, and
sometimes, back into heat for our homes.
How do Coal Fired Power Plants work?
1. Heat is created
Before the coal is burned, it is pulverized to the fineness of talcum powder. It is
then mixed with hot air and blown into the firebox of the boiler. Burning in suspension,
the coal/air mixture provides the most complete combustion and maximum heat
possible.
2. Water turns to steam
Highly purified water, pumped through pipes inside the boiler, is turned into
steam by the heat. The steam reaches temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit
and pressures up to 3,500 pounds per square inch, and is piped to the turbine.
3. Steam turns the turbine
The enormous pressure of the steam pushing against a series of
giant turbine blades turns the turbine shaft. The turbine shaft is connected to the shaft
of the generator, where magnets spin within wire coils to produce electricity.
4. Steam turns back into water
After doing its work in the turbine, the steam is drawn into a condenser, a large
chamber in the basement of the power plant. In this important step, millions of gallons
of cool water from a nearby source (such as a river or lake) are pumped through a
network of tubes running through the condenser. The cool water in the tubes converts
the steam back into water that can be used over and over again in the plant.
The cooling water is returned to its source without any contamination, and the steam
water is returned to the boiler to repeat the cycle.

How Coal Power Plants Produce Electricity?

The conversion from coal to electricity takes place in three stages.
Stage 1
The first conversion of energy takes place in the boiler. Coal is burnt in the boiler
furnace to produce heat. Carbon in the coal and Oxygen in the air combine to produce
Carbon Dioxide and heat.
Stage 2
The second stage is the thermodynamic process.
1. The heat from combustion of the coal boils water in the boiler to produce steam. In
modern power plant, boilers produce steam at a high pressure and temperature.
2. The steam is then piped to a turbine.
3. The high pressure steam impinges and expands across a number of sets of blades in
the turbine.
4. The impulse and the thrust created rotates the turbine.
5. The steam is then condensed and pumped back into the boiler to repeat the cycle.

Stage 3
In the third stage, rotation of the turbine rotates the generator rotor to produce
electricity based of Faradays Principle of electromagnetic induction.

General Layout of the Plant

Though each plant is unique in itself in terms of specific features and functionalities, still
there is a broad outline to which all thermal power plants confirm to and in this article
we will study about the general layout of a typical power plant.
There are four main circuits in any thermal power plant and these are
1. Coal & Ash Circuit this circuit deals mainly with feeding the boiler with coal for
combustion purposes and taking care of the ash that is generated during the
 combustion process and includes equipment and paraphernalia that is used to
handle the transfer and storage of coal and ash.
2. Air & Gas Circuit we know that air is one of the main components of the fire
triangle and hence necessary for combustion. Since lots of coal is burnt inside the
boiler it needs a sufficient quantity of air which is supplied using either forced
draught or induced draught fans. The exhaust gases from the combustion are in turn
used to heat the ingoing air through a heat exchanger before being let off in the
atmosphere. The equipment which handles all these processes fall under this circuit.
3. Feed Water & Steam Circuit this section deals with supplying of steam generated
from the boiler to the turbines and to handle the outgoing steam from the turbine
by cooling it to form water in the condenser so that it can be reused in the boiler
plus making good any losses due to evaporation etc.
4. Cooling Water Circuit this part of the thermal power plant deals with handling of
the cooling water required in the system. Since the amount of water required to
cool the outgoing steam from the boiler is substantial, it is either taken from a
nearby water source such as a river, or it is done through evaporation if the quantity
of cooling water available is limited.

General layout of Coal Fired Thermal Power Plant

Key Facts About Coal-Fired Electricity Production

In practice to effect these three stages of conversion, many systems and sub
systems have to be in service. Also involved are different technologies, like combustion,
aerodynamics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, pollution control, and logistics.
 As an example consider these facts for typical coal fired power plant of capacity 500
MW.

Around 2 million tons of coal will be required each year to produce the continuous
power.
Coal combustion in the boiler requires air. Around 1.6 million cubic meter of air in an
hour is delivered by air fans into the furnace.
The ash produced from this combustion is around 200,000 tons per year.
Electrostatic precipitators capture almost all of this ash without dispersing this to
the atmosphere. Pollutants from coal power plants like carbon dioxide, sulphur
dioxide, and nitrogen oxide can also affect the environment. Thermal power plants
are the biggest producers of Carbon Dioxide.
The boiler for typical 500 MW units produces around 1600 tons per hour of steam at
a temperature of 540 to 600 degrees Centigrade. The steam pressures is in the range
of 200 bar. The boiler materials are designed to withstand these conditions with
special consideration for operational safety.
Heat transfer from the hot combustion gases to the water in the boiler takes place
due to Radiation and convection.
The Electrical generators carry very large electric currents that produce heat and are
be cooled by Hydrogen and water.
The steam leaving the turbine is condensed and the water is pumped back for reuse
in the boiler. To condense all the steam it will require around 50,000 cubic meter per
hour of cooling water to be circulated from lakes, rivers or the sea. The water is
returned to the source with only an increase of 3 to 4 degrees centigrade to prevent
any effect to the environment.
Apart from the cooling water the power plant also requires around 400 cubic meter
per day of fresh water for making up the losses in the water steam cycle.

Coal Blending in Power Plant

Coal blending in power stations is mainly adopted to reduce the cost of
generation and increase the availability of coal. The low-grade coals can be mixed with
better grade coal without deterioration in thermal performance of the boiler, thus
reducing the cost of generation.
In many nations, the blending of high grade imported coal with low grade high
ash coals has long been adopted. Many methods may be used. The blending can occur
at the coal mine, preparation plant, trans-shipment point, or at the power station. The
method selected depends upon the site conditions, the level of blending required, the
quantity to be stored and blended, the accuracy required, and the end use of the
blended coal. Normally in large power stations handling very large quantities of coal, the
stacking method with a fully mechanized system is followed.
To decide to blend or not, it is very important to understand the composition of
the coals that are to be blended. This means one will have to understand the origin of
coal, the organic and inorganic chemistry of coal, and the behavior of the coals in
questions. It has been established that coals produced by the drift theory of coal
formation and coals formed by the swamp theory of coal formation have to be blended
with caution. The main difference is that coal formed by drift theory exhibits
pronounced regional variation in thickness and quality of seams. They also have
enormously high ash content with varying inorganic chemistry. The organics of drift
origin coal also present problems mainly because the vegetation that lead to the
forming of the coal drifted from different places having different kind of vegetation. In
contrast, the coals formed by the swamp theory have much more uniform organic
properties and much lower ash content with consistent inorganic chemistry.
During combustion, it is necessary to understand the physical conditions and
coal properties during heating of the particles, devolatalisation, ignition and combustion
of the volatile matter, and ignition and combustion of the char. It is also equally
important to know the phase changes in mineral matter and other inorganics present in
coal. The combustion efficiency and carbon loss will have to be also addressed during
blending of coals. It is also necessary to look into the aspects of slagging, fouling, and
emission characteristics like NOx, Sox, and particulates.
Because of the complexity of the combustion process and the number of
variables involved (which are still not fully understood), it is difficult to extrapolate small
scale results to a full scale power plant. Thus, operational experience with a wide range
of plant configurations with a variety of coal feedstock is essential for determining the
practical significance of results from bench and pilot scale tests. More published
research about how the behavior of the coals and coal blends utilized in tests differ from
their actual performance in power station boilers is required.
Predicting the risk of spontaneous combustion of coal stocks is another aspect of
current fuel quality research. In addition to the inherent dangers, uncontrolled burning
can lead to the release of pollutants. The economic issues associated with the loss of a
valuable energy resource are also a concern.
The presence of trace elements in coal combustion has also received increased
attention throughout the world during the last few years, with elements such asmercury
of particular concern. One way to reduce trace element emissions is cleaning the coal
prior to combustion. The use of cleaner coals those with lower ash and sulfur content
can have the added advantage of substantially reducing operating costs. Again,
however, some effects may be detrimental (ash deposition may be exacerbated, and the
effects on corrosion and precipitator performance are uncertain), which makes testing
vital.
It has been found from field data that even if the blended coal closely resembles
the design coal for the boiler, the blend need not perform the same way. This is mainly
due to the transformation of inorganic particles during combustion and the way in
which the organics are dispersed in coal. A limitation to blending coals is the
compatibility of the coals themselves, and problems are more likely when blending
petrographically different coals or coals with different ash chemistry. Non-additive
properties make blend evaluation for power generation inherently complex. More work
is required on understanding how the inorganic components of coals in the blend
interact and how it affects ash behavior including its emissivity, reflectivity, and thermal
conductivity.
Blending decisions should be based on the knowledge of the specific behavior of
a given pair of coals, rather than an assumption of linear variation of properties with
blend traction. The ever more stringent constraints placed on coal-fired power stations
worldwide and the continuing development of new technologies means that the issue of
fuel quality improvement will remain a primary factor.