QA

Combustion of Solid Fuels

 COMBUSTION PROCESS
1. As the coal particles are heated, moisture is driven off
from the coal particles.
2. The coal particles undergo devolatilization and release

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volatile organic matters.
3. The volatile matters are ignited in the gas phase.
4. Coal combustion is slow process.
5. The combustion of the Coal is reaction of Coal with
oxygen or air. The products of combustion will be
oxides of carbon, Sulphur and nitrogen, mainly
carbon dioxide CO2 and water vapours
COAL COMBUSTION PROCESS
The combustion of coal involves at least four carbon–oxygen
reactions

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Along with the oxidation of non-carbon atoms

Which may be followed by

 WAYS OF COMBUSTION

Coal is burned in two ways:

As large pieces or lumps in a fixed bed or on a grate

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1.

2. As smaller or crushed pieces in a fluidized bed in

suspension

 Particle size is found to be the most important parameter with

respect to the dominant reaction mechanism and other thermal
behavior (i.e., rate of heating)
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY AIR
Primary Air Secondary Air

 Air admitted through the  Secondary air helps in

lump fuel bed and
required to burn the fixed
carbon of the coal.
 It effect the preliminary
part of the operation of
burning fuels.
completing the
combustion of the volatile
matter expelled from the
solid fuel during
preliminary stage of
combustion.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY AIR
Primary Air Secondary Air

 In fixed bed combustion  It is introduced over the

it is introduced under the bed or grate to burn the
grate to burn the fixed volatile matter.
carbon of the coal.

Complete combustion of solid fuels is done by the use of

both primary and secondary air.
Sometimes, at the higher altitude over the grate, tertiary
air is introduced to burn the left out volatile matter and
smoke which could not be burnt out completely by
secondary air.
 FIXED-BED COMBUSTION
 Fresh coal is spread on to the surface of burning coal bed.
 From the grate to the bed surface, the bed is divided into
several zones based on combustion reactions that take place.
 The fresh coal on bed surface is heated rapidly by hot
combustion gas which is advantageous to the ignition of coal.
 The burning coal then descends in turn through reducing
region and oxidizing region, becoming ash on grate and is
finally removed.
 FIXED-BED COMBUSTION
 The combustion air is generally supplied from grate,
flowing upwards.
 Air passes through the gaps of grate

 The air is heated by the coal ash and then reacts with
high temperature coal.
 Coal is heated rapidly and decomposes with evolution of
volatile matters and formation of coke.
 Coke burns on fire bed and volatile matters burn in the
space above fire bed.
 The combustion reaction produces CO2 and releases a

large amount of heat, resulting in rapid rise in the bed

temperature.
 FIXED-BED COMBUSTION
 The combustion of coal on fire bed supported on a grate
thus involves these mechanisms:
1. Decomposition (pyrolysis, cracking) of fresh coal

2. Combustion of coke

3. Combustion of volatile matter

 As soon as primary air passes up between the bars of
grate, contact the bed of coke, oxygen reacts with coke
to produce CO2
 When oxygen in the fire bed is almost exhausted, coke
react with CO2 to form CO.
 Further water vapours present to some extent in air react
with hot coke to form CO and hydrogen.
FIXED-BED COMBUSTION

a) Overfeed

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b) Underfeed

c) Crossfeed

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 FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION

 A very high proportion of Coal mined now a days is used

for steam raising in conventional power stations (using
coal or oil as fuels).
 In majority of these steam generation plants, coal is
supplied as finely ground powder, known as pulverized
fuel, which is blown into large combustion chamber.
 The fine coal particles then burn while suspended in air,
in much the same manner as atomized oil droplets.
 This is called fluidized bed combustion.
 FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION

 In fluidized bed combustion, it is possible to obtain complete

combustion with only a small excess air, thus reducing the
heat loss in the flue gases.
 Coal is pulverized to obtain a very high specific surface area
(area per unit volume). This promotes a fast reaction
between air and volatile matters.
 Because of higher specific area of pulverized coal, it is
possible to burn a wide range of coal in this way.
 Shape and size of combustion chamber depends very much
upon the applications.
 FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION
 Shape of the chamber is governed by entry of air to burn
pulverized coal and secondary air stream
 Combustion process is accelerated when air supply is
made to form vortex (rotating), in which there is intense
agitation of the particles of burning coal.
 Primary air which carries pulverized coal into furnace, is
used to establish this vortex.
 Secondary air is provided to provide more oxygen for
combustion and to stabilize flame. Some times tertiary
air is also introduced.
SALIENT FEATURES OF FLUIDIZED BED
COMBUSTION
 Combustion chamber is a vertical cylinder or squared
shell, crushed coal is supported on perforated distributor
and fluidized by combustion air pumped through plate.
 Fuel is continuously admitted through inlet above
distributor plate.
 Combustion provides heat for steam generation.

 Boiler tubes can be directly submerged in the fuel bed.

COMPLETE COMBUSTION
 The conditions for complete combustions are
1. To have enough air to burn all combustible matters.
2. To mix the combustible matter and air completely
3. To keep the air/combustible matter sufficiently hot to
allow ignition to continue.
4. To allow secondary and even tertiary air to have a
contact of air with combustible
ADVANTAGES OF FLUIDIZED BED
COMBUSTION
 Lower capital and operating cost.
 High heat transfer to boiler tubes.

 Reduced NOX formation due to low flame temperature

(800-900 C)
 Less space is required.

 Excess air requirement is less.

 Reduction of oxides of Sulphur in flue gases

COAL TO
ELECTRICITY
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Power plant layout
3. Main and Auxiliary Equipments
 INTRODUCTION

1-A Thermal Power Plant converts the heat energy of

coal into electrical energy
2-Coal is burnt in a boiler which converts water into
steam.
3-The expansion of steam in turbine produces
mechanical power which drives the alternator coupled
to the turbine.
4-Thermal Power Plants contribute maximum to the
generation of Power for any country .
5-In thermal generating stations coal, oil, natural gas etc.
are employed as primary sources of energy.
GENERAL LAYOUT OF THERMAL
POWER STATION
a typical coal-fired thermal power
station
Diagram of a typical coal-fired
thermal power station

1. Cooling tower 10. Steam Control valve 19. Superheater

2. Cooling water pump 11. High pressure steam turbine 20. Forced draught (draft) fan
3. transmission line (3-phase) 12. Deaerator 21. Reheater
4. Step-up transformer (3-phase) 13. Feed water heater 22. Combustion air intake
5. Electrical generator (3-phase) 14. Coal conveyor 23. Economiser
6. Low pressure steam turbine 15. Coal hopper 24. Air preheater
7. Condensate pump 16. Coal pulveriser 25. Precipitator
8. Surface condenser 17. Boiler steam drum 26. Induced draught (draft) fan
9. Intermediate pressure steam
18. Bottom ash hopper 27. Flue gas stack
turbine
 MAIN AND AUXILIARY
EQUIPMENTS
1. Coal handling plant
2. Pulverizing plant
3. Draft fans
4. Boiler
5. Ash handling plant
6. Turbine
7. Condenser
8. Cooling towers and ponds
9. Feed water heater
10. Economizer
11. Super heater and Reheater
12. Air preheater
COAL HANDLING PLANT

• The function of coal handling plant is automatic feeding of coal to the

boiler furnace.
• A thermal power plant burns enormous amounts of coal.
• A 200MW plant may require around 2000 tons of coal daily
PULVERISING PLANT

A - In modern thermal power plant , coal is pulverised

i.e. ground to dust like size and carried to the furnace in a
stream of hot air. B-
Pulverizing is a means of exposing a large surface area
to the action of oxygen and consequently helping
combustion.
C - Pulverising mills are further classified as:
1. Contact mill
2. Ball mill
3. Impact mill
DRAFT SYSTEM
• The circulation of air is
caused by a difference in
pressure, known as Draft.
• Draft is a differential
pressure b/w atmosphere and
inside the boiler.
• It is necessary to cause the
flow of gases through boiler
setting
• It may be –
1. Natural draft
2. Mechanical draft
BOILER
 BOILER

• A boiler or steam generator is a closed vessel in which water

under pressure, is converted into steam.
• It is one of the major components of a thermal power plant
• Always designed to absorb maximum amount of heat released
in the process of combustion
Boilers are of two types-
1. Fire tube boiler
2. Water tube boiler
  SUPERHEATER AND REHEATER
Most of the modern boilers are having super heater and reheater arrangement.

Superheater :
Superheater is a component of a steam-generating unit in which steam, after it
has left the boiler drum, is heated above its saturation temperature (100 oC at .
1 Atmosphere). If steam introduced in the turbine, is not superheated then it
will be condensed to liquid immediately because of expansion of steam in
turbine, will cause corrosion to turbine. Heat of superheated steam will be
transferred to kinetic energy in turbine and the efficiency of turbine will
increase. The amount of superheat added to the steam is influenced by the
location, arrangement, and amount of super heater surface installed, as well as
the rating of the boiler. The super heater may consist of one or more stages of
tube banks arranged to effectively transfer heat from the products of
combustion to turbine. Super heaters are classified as convection , radiant or
combination of these.
Reheater : Some of the heat of superheated steam is used to rotate the
turbine where it loses some of its energy. Reheater is also steam boiler
component in which heat is added to this intermediate-pressure steam,
which has given up some of its energy in expansion through the high-
pressure turbine. The steam after reheating is used to rotate the second
steam turbine where the heat is converted to mechanical energy. This
mechanical energy is used to run the alternator, which is coupled to
turbine , there by generating electrical energy.
TURBINE
TURBINE – FULL VIEW
STEAM TURBINE

A steam turbine converts heat energy of steam into mechanical energy

and drives the generator. It uses the principle that steam when issuing
from a small opening attains a high velocity. This velocity attained
during expansion depends on the initial and final heat content of the
steam. This difference b/w initial and final heat content repesents the
heat energy converted into kinetic energy.
These are of two types :-
 Impulse turbine
 Reaction turbine
ASH HANDLING PLANT
The percentage of ash in coal varies from 5% in good quality
coal to about 40% in poor quality coal
Power plants generally use poor quality of coal , thus amount
of ash produced by it is pretty large
A modern 2000MW plant produces about 5000 tons of ash
daily
The stations use some conveyor arrangement to carry ash to
dump sites directly or for carrying and loading it to trucks and
wagons which transport it to the site of disposal
 CONDENSER
Steam after rotating steam turbine comes to condenser. Condenser
refers here to the shell and tube heat exchanger (or surface
condenser) installed at the outlet of every steam turbine in Thermal
power stations of utility companies generally.
These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its
gaseous to its liquid state, also known as phase transition.
In so doing, the latent heat of steam is given out inside the
condenser. Where water is in short supply an air cooled condenser is
often used.
The purpose is to condense the outlet (or exhaust) steam from steam
turbine to obtain maximum effi ciency and also to get the condensed
steam in the form of pure water, known as condensate, back to steam
generator or (boiler) as boiler feed water. Water used in condenser to
condense steam will be heated, then this heated water will be
transferred to cooling tower where it will be cooled and used again in
condenser to condense steam.
Condenser
COOLING TOWERS AND PONDS
o A condenser needs huge quantity of water to condense the steam .
o Typically a 2000MW plant needs about 1500MGallon of water.
o Most plants use a closed cooling system where warm water coming from
condenser is cooled and reused
o Small plants use spray ponds and medium and large plants use cooling towers.
o Cooling tower is a steel or concrete hyperbolic structure having a reservoir at the
base for storage of cooled water. Hot water coming from condenser will be
sprayed in cooling tower and will be cooled having contact with atmospheric air.
o Height of the cooling tower may be 150 m or so and diameter at the base is 150
m
FEED WATER HEATER

Advantages of heating water (condensed steam) before feeding back to

the boiler:-
a) Feed water heating improves overall plant efficiency.
b) The dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide which would otherwise
cause boiler corrosion are removed in feed water heater
c) Thermal stresses due to cold water entering the boiler drum are
avoided.
d) Quantity of steam produced by the boiler is increased.
e) Some other impurities carried by the steam and condensate, due to
corrosion of boiler and condenser are precipitated outside the
boiler.
ECONOMIZER
Flue gases coming out of the boiler carry
lot of heat. An economizer extracts a part
of this heat from flue gases and uses it for
heating feed water. This use of
economizer results in saving coal
consumption and higher boiler efficiency
ECONOMIZER
 AIR PREHEATER

After flue gases leave economiser, some further heat can

be extracted from them and used to heat incoming air.
Cooling of flue gases by 20 degree centigrade increases
the plant efficiency by 1%.
Air preheaters may be of three types
Plate type
Tubular type
Regenerative type
Coal Power Plant

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