Report On

Steam Power Plant

Introduction:
A steam power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is
steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine
which either drives an electrical generator or does some other work, like
ship propulsion. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is
condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this is
known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in the design of steam
power stations is due to the different fuel sources. Some prefer to use the
term energy center because such facilities convert forms of heat energy
into electrical energy.

History
The harnessing of steam power ushered in the industrial revolution. It
began with Thomas Newcomen (Dartmouth)in the early 1700's. Early
developments were very slow and Newcomen's design was used in
England for nearly 100years.Newcomen's engine could be better
described as a 'vacuum' engine. The vacuum was created by condensing
steam. The engine however, was extremely inefficient, and where coal
had to be brought from a distance it was expensive to run. James Watt
(1769) brought about a major increase in power and efficiency with his
developments. Watt redesigned the engine so that condensation occurred
outside of the cylinder. This meant that the cylinder did not lose heat
during each stroke. It also allowed the use of pressurized boilers thus
obtaining power on the upstroke as well as the down stroke. The beam
engine gave way to the reciprocating steam engine which was refined to
a high degree. Double and triple expansion steam engines were common
and there was scarcely a demand for mechanical energy which steam
could not meet. However, reciprocating
steam engines were complicated, and hence not always reliable.
In 1884 Charles Parsons produced the first steam turbine With Michael
Faraday's earlier discovery of electromagnetic induction (1831) the
widespread use of electricity had begun. The two technologies came
together and with the National grid, progressively eliminated the need
for factories to have their own steam plant.
Today, mechanical power production using steam is almost
wholly confined to electricity generation.

Objectives:
Know boiler, steam turbine, and
Describe cooling towers and condensers.
Calculate the power output of a steam turbine power
plant.

Description of Steam Power Plant:

Basic Steam Plant consists of a:

a. Boiler
b. Steam Turbine
c. Condenser
d. Feed pump
e. Economizer
f. Pre heater
Components used:

Boiler
Heater
Inlet valve
Pressure check valve
Safety valve
Steam output nozzle
Turbine
Inverter

Essentials of Steam Power Plant Equipment:

A steam power plant must have following equipment:

(a) A furnace to burn the fuel.

(b) Boiler or boiler containing water. Heat generated in the furnace is
utilized to convert water into steam.
c) Main power unit such as a turbine to use the heat energy of steam and
perform work.
(d) Piping system to convey steam and water.

In addition to the above equipment the plant requires various auxiliaries

and accessories depending upon the availability of water, fuel and the
service for which the plant is intended.

The flow sheet of a thermal power plant consists of the

following four main circuits:

(a) Feed water and steam flow circuit.

(b) Coal and ash circuit.
(c) Air and gas circuit.
(d) Cooling water circuit.

A steam power plant using steam as working substance works basically

on Rankine cycle. Steam is generated in a boiler, expanded in the prime
mover and condensed in the condenser and fed into the boiler again.
The different types of systems and components used in steam power
plant are as follows:
(a) High pressure boiler
(b) Prime mover
(c) Condensers and cooling towers
(d) Coal handling system
(e) Ash and dust handling system
(f) Draught system
(g) Feed water purification plant
(h) Pumping system
(i)Air pre heater, economizer, super heater, feed heaters.

Recommendation:
At present, thermal power generation accounts for approximately 70%
of the total amount of electricity produced around the world. However,
thermal power generation, which uses fossil fuels, causes more CO2
emissions than other power generation methods. In order to reduce CO2
emissions per unit power produced, Toshiba Group is developing next
generation thermal power technologies aimed at improving plant
efficiency and commercializing the CO2 capture and storage system.

To improve the efficiency of thermal power generation, it is of vital

importance that the temperature of the steam or gas used to rotate the
turbines is raised. Toshiba Group is working on the development of
ultra-high-temperature materials and cooling technologies in order to
commercialize an A-USC system (Advanced Ultra-Super Critical steam
turbine system) more efficient than previous models, which is designed
to increase steam temperature from 600C to above the 700C mark.

Conclusions:
Coal fired thermal power plants meet the growing energy demand, and
hence special attention must be given to define a strategy for the
optimization of these systems. Energy analysis presented for a coal fired
thermal power plant has provided information on the irreversibilities of
each process.
Condenser pressure has little influence on the energy efficiency.
However, a reduction in condenser pressure results in an increase of the
energy efficiency. With Barapukuria (BM)coal, the energy loss in the
combustor was about 35%. In the case of steam generator, the energy
loss reduced to 12% from about 18% as the steam parameters were
increased from sub-critical to supercritical conditions using this (BM)
coal. Due to condenser pressure limitation,the maximum possible overall
energy efficiency was found to be about 36.7% with the ultra-
supercritical power plant. Decreasing the condenser pressure by 100
mbar will increase the power output by 2.5%.Thus, installing coal-based
thermal power plants based on advanced steam parameters in
Bangladesh will be a prospective option aiding energy self-sufficiency.

Reference

Google.com
Wikipedia