VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROJECT REPORT 15/05/2012 - 09/06/2012

DEEPAK KUSHWAHA BTech Mechanical Engineering Motilal Nehru National Institute Of Technology, Allahabad.

CONTENTS
1. Introduction to the company a. About the company b. Vision c. Strategies d. Evolution 2. Introduction to the project 3. Project report a. Introduction b. Steam boiler c. Steam turbine d. Turbine generator

INTRODUCTION TO

THE COMPANY
About the Company Vision Strategies Evolution
ABOUT THE COMPANY
NTPC, the largest power Company in India, was setup in 1975 to accelerate power development in the country. It is among the worlds largest and most efficient power generation companies. In Forbes list of Worlds 2000 Largest Companies fo r the year 2007, NTPC occupies 411th place.

NTPC has installed capacity of 29,394 MW. It has 15 coal based power stations (23,395 MW), 7 gas based power stations (3,955 MW) and 4 power stations in Joint Ventures (1,794 MW). The company has power generating facilities in all major regions of the country. It plans to be a 75,000 MW company by 2017. NTPC has gone beyond the thermal power generation. It has diversified into hydro power, coal mining,power equipment manufacturing, oil & gas exploration, power trading & distribution.

NTPC is now in the entire power value chain and is poised to become an Integrated Power Major. NTPC's share on 31 Mar 2008 in the total installed capacity of the country was 19.1% and it contributed 28.50% of the total power generation of the country during 2007-08. NTPC has set new benchmarks for the power industry both in the area of power plant construction and operations. With its experience and expertise in the power sector, NTPC is extending consultancy services to various organizations in the power business. It provides consultancy in the area of power plant constructions and power generation to companies in India and abroad. In November 2004, NTPC came out with its Initial Public Offering (IPO) consisting of 5.25% as fresh issue and 5.25% as offer for sale by Government of India. NTPC thus became a listed company with Government holding 89.5% of the equity share capital and rest held by Institutional Investors and Public. The issue was a resounding success. NTPC is among the largest five companies in India in terms of market capitalization. Recognizing its excellent performance and vast potential, Government of the India has identified NTPC as one of the jewels of Public Sector 'Navratnas'- a potential global giant. Inspired by its glorious past and vibrant present, NTPC is well on its way to realize its vision of being "A world class integrated power major, powering India's growth, with increasing global presence".

VISION

A world class integrated power major, powering India's growth with increasing global presence. Develop and provide reliable power related products and services at competitive prices, integrating multiple energy resources with innovative & Eco-friendly technologies and contribution to the society

Core Values - BCOMIT

Business ethics Customer Focus Organizational & Professional Pride Mutual Respect & Trust Innovation & Speed Total Quality for Excellence

STRATEGIES
1. Sustainable development . 2. Maintain sector leadership position through expansion 3. Further enhance fuel security 4. Exploit new business opportunities.

5. Technology initiatives. 6. Nurturing human resources.

INTRODUCTION TO THERMAL POWER PLANT

Introduction Classification Functioning
INTRODUCTION
Power Station (also referred to as generating station or power plant) is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power plant is also used to refer to the engine in ships, aircraft and other large vehicles. Some prefer to use the term energy center because it more accurately describes what the plants do, which is the conversion of other forms of energy, like chemical energy, gravitational potential energy or heat energy into electrical energy. However, power plant is the most common term in the U.S., while elsewhere power station and power plant are both widely used, power station prevailing in many Commonwealth countries and especially in the United Kingdom.

At the center of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. It depends chiefly on what fuels are easily available and the types of technology that the power company has access to. In thermal power stations, mechanical power is produced by a heat engine, which transforms thermal energy, often from combustion of a fuel, into rotational energy. Most thermal power stations produce steam, and these are sometimes called steam power stations. About 80% of all electric power is generated by use of steam turbines. Not all thermal energy can be transformed to mechanical power, according to the second law of thermodynamics. Therefore, there is always heat lost to the environment. If this loss is employed as useful heat, for industrial processes or district heating, the power plant is referred to as a cogeneration power plant or CHP (combined heat-and-power) plant. In countries where district heating is common, there are dedicated heat plants called heat-only boiler stations. An important class of power stations in the Middle East uses byproduct heat for desalination of water.

CLASSIFICATION
By fuel

generator. il fuelled power plants may also use a steam turbine generator or in the case of natural gas fired plants may use a combustion turbine. waste from sugar cane, municipal solid waste, landfill methane, or other forms of biomass. -cost, although low-energy density,fuel. trated enough to use for power generation, usually in a steam boiler and turbine.

By prime mover
by expanding steam to turn the blades of a turbine. Almost all large non-hydro plants use this system. operate the turbine. Natural-gas fuelled turbine plants can start rapidly and so are used to supply "peak" energy during periods of high demand, though at higher cost than baseloaded plants. These may be comparatively small units, and sometimes completely unmanned, being remotely operated. This type was pioneered by the UK, Prince town being the world's first, commissioned in 1959. ne fired by natural gas, and a steam boiler and steam turbine which use the exhaust gas from the gas turbine to produce electricity. This greatly increases the overall efficiency of the plant, and many new base load power plants are combined cycle plants fired by natural gas. isolated communities and are frequently used for small cogeneration plants. Hospitals, office

buildings, industrial plants, and other critical facilities also use them to provide backup power in case of a power outage. These are usually fuelled by diesel oil, heavy oil, natural gas and landfill gas. engines are low cost solutions for using opportunity fuels, such as landfill gas, digester gas from water treatment plants and waste gas from oil production.

FUNCTIONING
Functioning of thermal power plant:

In a thermal power plant, one of coal, oil or natural gas is used to heat the boiler to convert the water into steam. The steam is used to turn a turbine, which is connected to a generator. When the turbine turns, electricity is generated and given as output by the generator, which is then supplied to the consumers through high-voltage power lines.

Detailed process of power generation in a thermal power plant:

1)Water intake: Firstly, water is taken into the boiler through a water source. If water is

available in a plenty in the region, then the source is an open pond or river. If water is scarce, then it is recycled and the same water is used over and over again. 2) Boiler heating: The boiler is heated with the help of oil, coal or natural gas. A furnace is used to heat the fuel and supply the heat produced to the boiler. The increase in temperature helps in the transformation of water into steam. 3) Steam Turbine: The steam generated in the boiler is sent through a steam turbine. The turbine has blades that rotate when high velocity steam flows across them. This rotation of turbine blades is used to generate electricity. 4) Generator: A generator is connected to the steam turbine. When the turbine rotates, the generator produces electricity which is then passed on to the power distribution systems. 5) Special mountings: There is some other equipment like the economizer and air pre-heater.An economizer uses the heat from the exhaust gases to heat the feed water. An air pre-heater heats the air sent into the combustion chamber to improve the efficiency of the combustion process. 6) Ash collection system: There is a separate residue and ash collection system in place to collect all the waste materials from the combustion process and to prevent them from escaping into the atmosphere. Apart from this, there are various other monitoring systems and instruments in place to keep track of the functioning of all the devices. This prevents any hazards from taking place in the plant.

PROJECT REPORT
Introduction Steam Generator or Boiler Steam Turbine Electric Generator

Introduction
The operating performance of NTPC has been considerably above the national average. The availability factor for coal stations has increased from 85.03 % in 1997-98 to 90.09 % in 2006-07, which compares favourably with international standards. The PLF has increased from 75.2% in 1997-98 to 89.4% during the year 2006-07 which is the highest since the inception of NTPC. steam is produced and used to spin a turbine that operates a generator. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser; this is known as a Rankine cycle. Shown here is a diagram of a conventional thermal power plant, which uses coal, oil, or natural gas as fuel to boil water to produce the steam. The electricity generated at the plant is sent to consumers through high-voltage power lines.

There are basically three main units of a thermal power plant: 1. Steam Generator or Boiler 2. Steam Turbine 3. Electric Generator

Coal is conveyed (14) from an external stack and ground to a very fine powder by large metal spheres in the pulverised fuel mill (16). There it is mixed with preheated air (24) driven by the forced draught fan (20). The hot air-fuel mixture is forced at high pressure into the boiler where it rapidly ignites. Water of a high purity flows vertically up the tube-lined walls of the boiler, where it turns into steam, and is passed to the boiler drum, where steam is separated from any remaining water. The steam passes through a manifold in the roof of the drum into the pendant superheater (19) where its temperature and pressure increase rapidly to around 200 bar and 540C, sufficient to make the tube walls glow a dull red. The steam is piped to the high pressure turbine (11), the first of a three-stage turbine process. A steam governor valve (10) allows for both manual control of the turbine and automatic set-point following. The steam is exhausted from the high pressure turbine, and reduced in both pressure and temperature, is returned to the boiler reheater (21). The reheated steam is then passed to the intermediate pressure turbine (9), and from there passed directly to the low pressure turbine set (6). The exiting steam, now a little above its boiling point, is brought into thermal contact with cold water (pumped in from the cooling tower) in the condensor (8), where it condenses rapidly back into water, creating near vacuum-like conditions inside the condensor chest. The condensed water is then passed by a feed pump (7) through a deaerator (12), and pre-warmed, first in a feed heater (13) powered by steam drawn from the high pressure set, and then in the economiser (23), before being returned to the boiler drum. The cooling water from the condensor is sprayed inside a cooling tower (1), creating a highly visible plume of water vapor, before being pumped back to the condensor (8) in cooling water cycle. The three turbine sets are sometimes coupled on the same shaft as the threephase electrical generator (5) which generates an intermediate level voltage (typically 20-25 kV). This is stepped up by the unit transformer (4) to a voltage more suitable for transmission (typically 250-500 kV) and is sent out onto the three-phase transmission system (3). Exhaust gas from the boiler is drawn by the induced draft fan (26) through an electrostatic precipitator (25) and is then vented through the chimney stack (27).

Steam Generator or Boiler

The boiler is a rectangular furnace about 50 ft (15 m) on a side and 130 ft (40 m) tall. Its walls are made of a web of high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches (60 mm) in diameter. Pulverized coal is air-blown into the furnace from fuel nozzles at the four corners and it rapidly burns, forming a large fireball at the center. The thermal radiation of the fireball heats the water that circulates through the boiler tubes near the boiler perimeter. The water circulation rate in the boiler is three to four times the throughput and is typically driven by pumps. As the water in the boiler circulates it absorbs heat and changes into steam at 700 F (370 C) and 3,200 psi (22.1 MPa). It is separated from the water inside a drum at the top of the furnace. The saturated steam is introduced into superheat pendant tubes that hang in the hottest part of the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Here the steam is superheated to 1,000 F (540 C) to prepare it for the turbine. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. The generator includes the economizer, the steam drum, the chemical dosing equipment, and the furnace with its steam generating tubes and the superheater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to avoid excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan, air preheater (APH), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash collectors (electrostatic precipitator or baghouse) and the flue gas stack. For units over about 210 MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by installing duplicates of the FD fan, APH, fly ash collectors and ID

fan with isolating dampers. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead be provided.

Boiler Furnace and Steam Drum

Once water inside the boiler or steam generator, the process of adding the latent heat of vaporization or enthalpy is underway. The boiler transfers energy to the water by the chemical reaction of burning some type of fuel. The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer. From the economizer it passes to the steam drum. Once the water enters the steam drum it goes down the down comers to the lower inlet water wall headers. From the inlet headers the water rises through the water walls and is eventually turned into steam due to the heat being generated by the burners located on the front and rear water walls (typically). As the water is turned into steam/vapor in the water walls, the steam/vapor once again enters the steam drum.

The steam/vapor is passed through a series of steam and water separators and then dryers inside the steam drum. The steam separators and dryers remove the water droplets from the steam and the cycle through the water walls is repeated. This process is known as natural circulation. The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot

blowers, water lancing and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after a tripout are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting the coal. The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial startup. The steam drum has an internal device that removes moisture from the wet steam entering the drum from the steam generating tubes. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils. Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. Nuclear plants also boil water to raise steam, either directly passing the working steam through the reactor or else using an intermediate heat exchanger.

Fuel Preparation System

In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is first crushed into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boilers. The coal is next pulverized into a very fine powder. The pulverizers may be ball mills, rotating drum grinders, or other types of grinders.

Some power stations burn fuel oil rather than coal. The oil must kept warm (above its pour point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and becoming unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100C before being pumped through the furnace fuel oil spray nozzles. Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Other power stations may use processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel supply (coal or oil) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas burners are provided on the boiler furnaces.

Fuel Firing System and Igniter System

From the pulverized coal bin, coal is blown by hot air through the furnace coal burners at an angle which imparts a swirling motion to the powdered coal to enhance mixing of the coal powder with the incoming preheated combustion air and thus to enhance the combustion. To provide sufficient combustion temperature in the furnace before igniting the powdered coal, the furnace temperature is raised by first burning some light fuel oil or processed natural gas (by using auxiliary burners and igniters provide for that purpose).

Air Path
External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The forced draft fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for better combustion, injects it via the air nozzles on the furnace wall. The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the furnace,maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through any opening. At the furnace outlet, and before the furnace gases are handled by the ID fan, fine dust carried by the outlet gases is removed to avoid atmospheric pollution. This is an environmental limitation prescribed by law, and additionally minimizes erosion of the ID fan.

Auxiliary Systems
Fly Ash Collection

Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric bag filters (or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from the collection hoppers below the precipitators or bag filters. Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to storage silos for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad cars.
Bottom Ash Collection and Disposal

At the bottom of every boiler, a hopper has been provided for collection of the bottom ash from the bottom of the furnace. This hopper is always filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers falling down from the furnace. Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying the crushed clinkers and bottom ash to a storage site.
Boiler Make-up Water Treatment Plant and Storage

Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return of condensate to the boiler,losses due to blow-down and leakages have to be made up for so as to maintain the desired water level in the boiler steam drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the boiler water system. The impurities in the raw water input to the plant generally consist of calcium and magnesium salts which impart hardness to the water. Hardness in the make-up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water surfaces which will lead to overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water and that is done by a water demineralising treatment plant

DM :A DM plant generally consists of cation, anion and mixed bed exchangers. The final water from this process consists essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions which is the chemical composition of pure water. The DM water, being very pure, becomes highly corrosive once it absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere because of its very high affinity for oxygen absorption. The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and quantity of salts in the raw water input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for maintenance. For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM water is continuously withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water is made from materials not affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The piping and valves are generally of stainless steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless steel doughnut float is provided on top of the water in the tank to avoid contact with atmospheric air. DM water make-up is generally added at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This arrangement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the dissolved gases being removed by the ejector of the condenser itself.

Steam Turbine

Steam turbines are used in all of our major coal fired power stations to drive the generators or alternators, which produce electricity. The turbines themselves are driven by steam generated in 'Boilers' or 'Steam Generators' as they are sometimes called. Energy in the steam after it leaves the boiler is converted into rotational energy as it passes through the turbine. The turbine normally consists of several stages with each stage consisting of a stationary blade (or nozzle) and a rotating blade. Stationary blades convert the potential energy of the steam (temperature and pressure) into kinetic energy (velocity) and direct the flow onto the rotating blades. The rotating blades convert the kinetic energy into forces, caused by pressure drop, which results in the rotation of the turbine shaft. The turbine shaft is connected to a generator, which produces the electrical energy. The rotational speed is 3000 rpm for Indian System (50 Hz) systems and 3600 for American (60 Hz) systems. In a typical larger power stations, the steam turbines are split into three separate stages, the first being the High Pressure (HP), the second the Intermediate Pressure (IP) and the third the Low Pressure (LP) stage, where high, intermediate and low describe the pressure of the steam. After the steam has passed through the HP stage, it is returned to the boiler to be re-heated to its original temperature although the pressure remains greatly

reduced. The reheated steam then passes through the IP stage and finally to the LP stage of the turbine. A distinction is made between "impulse" and "reaction" turbine designs based on the relative pressure drop across the stage. There are two measures for pressure drop, the pressure ratio and the percent reaction. Pressure ratio is the pressure at the stage exit divided by the pressure at the stage entrance. Reaction is the percentage isentropic enthalpy drop across the rotating blade or bucket compared to the total stage enthalpy drop. Some manufacturers utilise percent pressure drop across stage to define reaction.

Steam turbines can be configured in many different ways. Several IP or LP stages can be incorporated into the one steam turbine. A single shaft or several shafts coupled together may be used. Either way, the principles are the same for all steam turbines. The configuration is decided by the use to which the steam turbine is put, co-generation or pure electricity production. For cogeneration, the steam pressure is highest when used as process steam and at a lower pressure when used for the secondary function of electricity production.

Nozzles and Blades

Steam enthalpy is converted into rotational energy as it passes through a turbine stage. A turbine stage consists of a stationary blade (or nozzle) and a rotating blade (or bucket). Stationary blades convert the potential energy of the steam (temperature and pressure) into kinetic energy (velocity) and direct the flow onto the rotating blades. The rotating blades convert the kinetic energy into impulse and reaction forces caused by pressure drop, which results in the rotation of the turbine shaft or rotor.

Steam turbines are machines which must be designed, manufactured and maintained to high tolerances so that the design power output and availability is obtained. They are subject to a number of damage mechanisms, with two of the most important being:
Erosion due to Moisture: - The presence of water droplets in the last stages of a

turbine causes erosion to the blades. This has led to the imposition of an allowable limit of about 12% wetness in the exhaust steam;
Solid Particle Erosion: - The entrainment of erosive materials from the boiler in

the steam causes wear to the turbine blades.

Cogeneration Cycles

In cogeneration cycles, steam is typically generated at a higher temperature and pressure than required for a particular industrial process. The steam is expanded through a turbine to produce electricity and the resulting extractions at the discharge are at the temperature and pressure required by the process. Turbines can be condensing or non-condensing design typically with large mass flows and comparably low output. Traditionally, pressures were 6.21 MPa and below with temperatures 441o C or lower, although the trend towards higher levels of each continues.There are now a considerable number of co-generation steam turbines with initial steam pressures in the 8.63 to 10 MPa range and steam temperatures of 482 to 510o C.

Bearings and Lubrication

Two types of bearings are used to support and locate the rotors of steam turbines: rbine rotors. A journal bearing consists of two half-cylinders that enclose the shaft and are internally lined with Babbitt, a metal alloy usually consisting of tin, copper and antimony; and aring is made up of a series of Babbitt lined pads that run against a locating disk attached to the turbine rotor. High-pressure oil is injected into the bearings to provide lubrication. The oil is carefully filtered to remove solid particles. Specially designed centrifuges remove any water from the oil.

Shaft Seals
The shaft seal on a turbine rotor consist of a series of ridges and groves around the rotor and its housing which present a long, tortuous path for any steam leaking through the seal. The seal therefore does not prevent the steam from leaking, merely reduces the leakage to a minimum. The leaking steam is collected and returned to a low-pressure part of the steam circuit.

Turning Gear
Large steam turbines are equipped with "turning gear" to slowly rotate the turbines after they have been shut down and while they are cooling. This evens out the temperature distribution around the turbines and prevents bowing of the rotors.

Vibration
The balancing of the large rotating steam turbines is a critical component in ensuring the reliable operation of the plant. Most large steam turbines have sensors installed to measure the movement of the shafts in their bearings. This condition monitoring can identify many potential problems and allows the repair of the turbine to be planned before the problems become serious.

Electric Generator

The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work satisfactorily and safely. The steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally has a heavy, large diameter shaft. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also has to be kept in position while running. To minimize the frictional resistance to the rotation, the shaft has a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in which the shaft rotates, are lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provided to further reduce the friction between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat generated.

Barring Gear (or Turning Gear)

Barring gear is the term used for the mechanism provided for rotation of the turbine generator shaft at a very low speed (about one revolution per minute) after unit stoppages for any reason. Once the unit is "tripped" (i.e., the turbine steam inlet valve is closed), the turbine starts slowing or "coasting down". When it stops completely, there is a tendency for the turbine shaft to deflect or bend if allowed to remain in one position too long. This deflection is because the heat inside the turbine casing tends to concentrate in the top half of the casing, thus making the top half portion of the shaft hotter than the bottom half. The shaft therefore warps or bends by millionths of inches, only detectable by monitoring eccentricity meters. But this small amount of shaft deflection would be enough to cause vibrations and damage the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted. Therefore, the shaft is not permitted to come to a complete stop by a mechanism known as "turning gear" or "barring gear" that automatically takes over to rotate the unit at a preset low speed.

If the unit is shut down for major maintenance, then the barring gear must be kept in service until the temperatures of the casings and bearings are sufficiently low.

Condenser

The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes. The exhaust steam from the low pressure turbine enters the shell where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor-driven exhausters for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum. A Typical Water Cooled Condenser For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 oC where the vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum. Thus leaks of noncondensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning.

The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to reject waste heat to the atmosphere, or once-through water from a river, lake or ocean.

Feedwater Heater

In the case of a conventional steam-electric power plant utilizing a drum boiler, the surface condenser removes the latent heat of vaporization from the steam as it changes states from vapour to liquid. The heat content (btu) in the steam is referred to as Enthalpy. The condensate pump then pumps the condensate water through a feedwater heater. The feedwater heating equipment then raises the temperature of the water by utilizing extraction steam A Rankine cycle with a two-stage steam turbine and a single feedwater heater. from various stages of the turbine. A Rankine cycle with a two-stage steam turbine and a single feedwater heater

Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the system.[9] This reduces plant operating costs and also helps to avoid thermal shock to the boiler metal when the feedwater is introduced back into the steam cycle.

Superheater
As the steam is conditioned by the drying equipment inside the drum, it is piped from the upper drum area into an elaborate set up of tubing in different areas of the boiler. The areas known as superheater and reheater. The steam vapor picks up energy and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves of the high pressure turbine.

Deaerator

A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed water should be devoid of air and other dissolved gases, particularly corrosive ones, in order to avoid corrosion of the metal.Generally, power stations use a deaerator to provide for the removal of air and other dissolved gases from the boiler feedwater. A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration section mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the deaerated boiler feedwater storage tank. There are many different designs for a deaerator and the designs will vary from one manufacturer to another. The adjacent diagram depicts a typical conventional trayed deaerator. If operated properly, most deaerator manufacturers will guarantee that oxygen in the deaerated water will not exceed 7 ppb by weight (0.005 cm3/L).

Auxiliary Systems
Oil System
An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam turbine generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbine's main inlet steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and seal oil systems, the relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms. At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine main shaft takes over the functions of the auxiliary system. Generator Heat Dissipation The electricity generator requires cooling to dissipate the heat that it generates. While small units may be cooled by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units generally require special cooling arrangements. Hydrogen gas cooling, in an oil-sealed casing, is used because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its low viscosity which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during start-up, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly flammable hydrogen does not mix with oxygen in the air. The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmospheric pressure to avoid outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward leakage where the shaft emerges from the casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are installed with a very small annular gap to avoid rubbing between the shaft and the seals. Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to atmosphere.

The generator also uses water cooling. Since the generator coils are at a potential of about 15.75kV and water is conductive, an insulating barrier such as Teflon is used to interconnect the water line and the generator high voltage windings. Demineralized water of low conductivity is used.

Generator High Voltage System

The generator voltage ranges from 10.5 kV in smaller units to 15.75 kV in larger units. The generator high voltage leads are normally large aluminum channels because of their high current as compared to the cables used in smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminum bus ducts and are supported on suitable insulators. The generator high voltage channels are connected to step-up transformers for connecting to a high voltage electrical substation (of the order of 220 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid. The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high voltage leads. Thus, the steam turbine generator and the transformer form one unit. In smaller units, generating at 10.5kV, a breaker is provided to connect it to a common 10.5 kV bus system.

Other Systems
Monitoring and Alarm system

Most of the power plants operational controls are automatic. However, at times, manual intervention may be required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems that alert the plant operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating from their normal range.

Battery Supplied Emergency Lighting & Communication

A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plant's control systems, communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, and emergency lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the units in an emergency situation.

DEEPAK KUSHWAHA deepkush5@gmail.com 9956620375