Chapter – II

THERMAL POWER STATIONS

Syllabus:

Single line diagram of Thermal Power Station, Description of TPS components, block diagram
approach of hydro electric power plant, classification of pumped storage power plants

Text Books referred:

1. Power System Engineering by D P Kothari & I J Nagarath – TMH

2. Principles of Power System by J B Guptha

NPTEL Courses referred:

1. Power System Generation, transmission & Distribution by D P Kothari IIT Delhi-video

course
2. Power System Engineering by Debapriya Das IIT Kharaghpur
 Chapter – II

THERMAL POWER STATIONS

Steam Power Station (Thermal Station)
A generating station which converts heat energy of coal combustion into electrical energy is known
as a steam power station.

Single Line Diagram of Thermal Power Station

Fig 1.3: Single Line Diagram of Thermal Power Station

Thermal power station
The schematic arrangement of a modern steam power station is shown in the above figure. The whole
arrangement can be divided into the following stages.
1. Coal and ash handling plant.
2. Steam generator or boiler.
3. Steam turbine.
4. Condenser
5. Cooling tower
6. Feed water heater.
7. Super heater
8. Economizer
9. Air pre heater.
10. Alternator

Coal and ash handling plant:

• The coal is transported to the power station by road or rail and is stored in the coal storage
plant.
• From the coal storage plant, coal is delivered to the coal handling plant where it is pulverized
in order to increase its surface exposure, thus promoting rapid combustion without using large
quantity excess air. The pulverized coal is fed to the boiler by belt conveyors.
• The coal is burnt in the boiler and the ash produced after the complete combustion of coal is
removed to the ash handling plant and then delivered to the ash storage plant for disposal. The
removal of the ash from the boiler furnace is necessary for proper burning of coal.

Advantages of coal pulverization:

• Surface exposure is increased, resulting in rapid combustion without requiring large amount of
excess air.
• Wide varieties of coal, even low grade of coal can be used, since it is used in powdered form.
• The rate of feed of the fuel can be regulated properly and easily, resulting in fuel economy.
• Higher boiler efficiency is achieved due to almost complete combustion of the fuel.
• Ash removing problems are reduced)
• The firing process in boiler can be started rapidly.
• Fluctuations of load can be easily met. (Fast response to load changes).
 • Pulverized fuel increases over all plant efficiency, so we can construct larger capacity plants to
meet peak loads.
• In thermal power plant bituminous coal is used because, it has low ash content.
Example: Semi bituminous coal is more preferable.

Steam Generator (or) Boiler

Boiler is a device where in water is converted into steam by utilizing the heat of combustion
This is two types: a) Water tube boiler b) Fire tube boiler

a) Water tube boiler: The water flows through the tubes and hot combustion gases flow over
these tubes, water tube boiler are used universally for such plant.
Features of water tube boiler:
 Improved method of heating
 Easy removal of scale from inside the tube.
 Method of water circulation

b) Fire Tube Boiler: The hot combustion gases flow through the tube. Water is surrounded by the
fire tube.

Super Heater:
• A device which raises the temperature of the steam much above the boiling point of water.
• Heat is taken from flue gases. Normal radiant type of heat transfer method is used)
• It is placed between boiler and turbine and it improves efficiency of plant.
Radiant super heater
• Placed in the furnace between the water walls and receives heat from the burning fuel
through radiation process.
Convection super heater
• The convection super heater is placed in the boiler tube bank and receives heat from flue
gases entirely through the convection process.
• advantage of this type is that temperature of super heater increases with the increase in
steam output
Advantages:
• Reduce the steam consumption per given output.
• Reduce the condensation loss.
• Eliminates the erosion of steam turbine blades due to the absence of moisture.
• Improves the overall efficiency.
Economizer:
• Consists of closely spaced parallel tubes through which feed water on its way to boiler
flows and the fuel gases flow outsides the tubes.
• Some of the heat energy of the fuel gases is recovered by heating the feed water.
Advantages:
i) Economizer raises boiler efficiency by 10-12%.
ii) Causes saving in fuel consumption about 5-15%.
iii) Reduces temperature stresses in boiler as a result of higher feed water temperature.
Disadvantages:
i) Increases the installation cost of the plant.
ii) Maintenance and regular cleaning is required, also additional requirement of space.

Air pre heater:

• An air pre heater increases the temperature of the air supplied for coal burning by deriving heat
from fuel gases.
• Air is drawn from the atmosphere by a forced draught fan and is passed through air pre heater
before supplying to the boiler furnace.
• Air pre heaters are placed in between economizer and chimney.

Recuperative type:
• The flue gases are passed through the tubes while the air flows externally to the tubes.
Thus heat of flue gases is transferred to air.
Regenerative type:
• It consists of slowly moving drum made of corrugated metal plates.
• The flue gases flow continuously on one side of the drum and air on the other side. This
action permits the transference of heat of flue gases to the air being supplied to the furnace
for coal combustion.

Steam turbine:
• The dry and super heated steam from the super heater is fed to the steam turbine through main
valve.
• The heat energy of steam when passing over the blades of the turbine is converted in to
mechanical energy.
Steam turbines are classified into two types
• Impulse turbines
 In this turbine, the steam expands completely in the stationary nozzles, the pressure over
the moving blades remaining constant. In doing so, the steam attains a high velocity and
impinges against the moving blades. This results in the impulsive force on the moving
blades which sets the rotor rotating.
• Reactions turbines
In a reaction turbine, the steam is partially expanded in the stationary nozzles, the
remaining expansion takes place during its flow over the moving blades.

Condenser: A Condenser is a device which condenses the steam at the exhaust of turbine. It will
improve the overall plant efficiency.
• It creates a very low pressure at the exhaust of turbine, thus permitting expansion of the steam
in the prime mover to a very low pressure. This helps in converting heat energy of steam into
mechanical energy in the prime mover.
• Thus Condensed steam can be used as feed water to the boiler.
There are two types of Condensers, namely a) Jet Condenser. b) Surface condenser.

Cooling tower:
• Heat energy given by the steam during condensation is taken up by the cooling tower.

Feed water:
The steam after utilized by turbine is exhausted to the condenser which condenses the exhausted
steam by means of cold water circulation.
• The condensate from the condenser is used to feed water to the boiler. This feed water on its
way to the boiler is heated by feed water heaters and economizer.
• After heated by feed water heater, the feed water is passed to economizer through de-aerator.
• The function of de-aerator is to reduce dissolved oxygen content in the feed water. This helps
in raising the overall efficiency of the plant.

Alternator:
The steam turbine is coupled to an alternator. The alternator converts mechanical energy of turbine
into electrical energy. The electrical output from the alternator is delivered to the bus bars through
transformer, circuit breakers and isolators.

Electrostatic precipitator:
• The electrostatic precipitator is used to remove fine, dust particles from flue gas.
• It is connected to high D)C voltage about 30K.
• It is placed between combustion chamber and chimney.
Factors considered for site selection of thermal plant:
• Supply of fuel
• Availability of water
• Transportation facilities
• Cost and type of land
• Nearness to load centers
• Distance from the populated area
• Labor supplies
• Ash disposal

Advantages & Disadvantages of steam power plant:

Advantages:
1. The fuel (i.e.,coal) used is quite cheap.
2. Less initial cost as compared to other generating stations.
3. It can be installed at any place irrespective of the existence of coal. The coal can be trans-
ported to the site of the plant by rail or road)
4. It requires less space as compared to the hydroelectric power station.
5. The cost of generation is lesser than that of the diesel power station.

Disadvantages:
1. It pollutes the atmosphere due to the production of large amount of smoke and fumes.
2. It is costlier in running cost as compared to hydroelectric plant.

EFFICIENCY OF STEAM POWER PLANT:

The generation of electrical power in thermal power plants includes basically two states.
Stage-I:- Conversion of heat energy of coal combustion into mechanical energy of turbine.
Stage-II:-Conversion of mechanical energy of turbine into electrical energy by using a Generator or
an alternator.
By using this concept the efficiency of a thermal power plant can be defined as follows.
1) Thermal efficiency. 2) Electrical efficiency. 3) The overall Plant efficiency.

1) Thermal efficiency:-
The ratio of heat equivalent of mechanical energy transmitted to the turbine shaft to the heat of
combustion of coal is known as “Thermal Efficiency” of steam power station.

Heat equivalent of mechanical energy

transmitted to turbine shaft
Thermal efficiency (ηThermal) =
Heat of coal combustion

2) Electrical Efficiency(or) Efficiency of generation:-

 The ratio of heat equivalent of electrical output to the heat equivalent of mechanical energy
transmitted to turbine shaft is known as “Electrical Efficiency” of steam power plant.

Heat equivalent of electrical output

Electrical efficiency (ηElectrical) = Heat equivalent of mechanical
energy transmitted to turbine shaft

3) Overall Power plant efficiency:-

The ratio of heat equivalent of electrical output to the heat of combustion of coal is known as
“Overall Efficiency” of steam power station.

Heat equivalent of electrical output

Overall efficiency (ηOverall) =
Heat of combustion of coal

Hence, Overall Plant efficiency=𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓𝐓 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 × 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄 𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥.

NOTE: In general, the overall thermal efficiency of thermal power plant is 20 to 25%. The reasons for
this are huge amount of heat is lost in the condenser and heat losses occur at various stages of the
plant.

Methods of improving Thermal Efficiency of Thermal Power Plant

Some of the methods to improve thermal efficiency are as follows:

 Pulverizing the fuel especially when the fuel is of low calorific value. This helps in complete
combustion of fuel.
 Reheating the steam between the various stages of turbine.
 Breeding of steam turbines, this means taking out a small quantity of steam from turbine at
certain points and circulating it around the feed water pipe to raise the temperature of the feed
water.
 Proper de-aeration of condensate and raw make-up water to avoid formation of scale on the
inner walls of the boiler tubes.(scales interferes the heat transfer)
 Cooling water passing through condenser tubes should be properly treated (by addition of
chlorine) to avoid growth of scale formation.(The growth of scale sticking to the walls of tubes
is harmful because it interferes heat transfer)
 Initial and final steam conditions supplied to the turbine are important. Stations employing
higher pressure and higher temperatures are more efficient.
 Hydro power stations

Hydro electric power is the power obtained from the energy of falling water where as hydro
electric power plant is the power plant utilizing the potential energy of water at a high level for the
generation electrical energy.

There are two reasons for the extensive development of water power.
1. The tremendous increase in demand of electric power for industrial, agricultural, commercial
and domestic purposes.
2. The high cost of fuels (coal and oils), and the limited resources.

Advantages
1. The plant is simple in construction, does not pollute the atmosphere.
2. The plant is highly reliable and it is cheapest in operation and maintenance.
3. The load can be varied quickly & the rapidly changing load demands can be met easily.
4. These plants are robust and have got longer life compared thermal and nuclear plants.
5. Starting time is also low comparative to other plants.
6. These plants can be used as base load or peak load plants.

Disadvantages
1. It requires large area.
2. Its construction cost is enormously high and takes longer time.
3. Long transmission lines are required as the plants are located in hilly areas which are quite
away from the load centers.
4. The power generation depends on the availability of water, which depends on weather
conditions.
5. The firm capacity of hydro electric plants is low compared to thermal, nuclear plants.

Note: - Firm power capacity of a power station is defined as the theoretical power that the plant is
supposed to produce all the time.

Firm Capacity = Plant efficiency × Plant Gross capacity

 SELECTION OF SITE FOR A HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER PLANT

The following factors should be considered while selecting the site of a Hydro power station.
• Sufficient quality of water at reasonable head should be available
• More area is required for reservoir and dam
• It should hello strong foundation with low cost
• There should not be any leakage of water in future
• The selected site should have large catchment area to maintain a certain water level
• Distance of power station from load centers must not be longer
• Construction materials will be available very nearby
• Submergence area should be minimum

Schematic arrangement of a hydro electric power plant

Fig: schematic arrangement hydro electric power plant

A typical hydro electric power plant consists of the following elements.

1. Water Reservoir 7. Penstock

2. Dam 8. Prime Mover
3. Pressure Tunnel 9. Power House
4. Surge Tank 10. Draft Tube
5. Valve House 11. Tail Race
6. Forebay 12. Spill Way
Water Reservoir:
• It is the basic requirement of a hydro electric plant. Its purpose is to store water which may be
utilized to run the prime mover to produce electrical power.
• A reservoir stores water during the rainy season and supplies the same during the dry season
Dam:

• The function of a dam is to provide a head of water to be utilized in the water turbine.
• It helps in increase the working head of power plant.
Forebay:
• It is an enlarged body of water just above the intake to store water temporarily to meet the
hourly load fluctuations.
• When the Hydro electric plants are located just at the base of the dam, no Forebay is required
because the reservoir itself serves the purpose of forebay. However, where the plants are
situated away from the storage reservoir, a forebay is needed.
• It distributes river water to various penstocks. It is also known as head pond.

Trash Rack:
• The purpose of providing a trash rack is to prevent entering of the debris which might damage
the wicket gates and turbines runners.
• Trash rack is made of steel bars and is placed across the intake at the beginning of water
conductor system.

Surge Tank:
• A surge tank is provided just before the valve house for better regulation water pressure in the
system.
• The sudden changes in load causes the changes in some pressure variations in the penstock.
• This may results in “water hammer” phenomenon. This may be accomplished by providing a
small storage tank called surge tank to overcome hammer effect.
Penstock:
• The pipe between surge tank and urban is called penstock
• It supplies water to the turbine from surge tank or forebay
• It is made of steel or concrete and designed as a pressure flow pipe
• It is supported on anchor blocks
Spill way:
• This may be considered as safety valve for a dam.
• A spill way serves to discharge excess water from the reservoir.
• These are generally constructed of concrete and provided with water discharge opening shut
off by metal control gates at Dam.
Draft Tube:
An air tight pipe of suitable diameter used to discharge water down by turbine into tail race.

HYDRO GRAPH:-
It is a graphical representation between discharge (or flow) and time, where the X-axis is
represented by time in terms of hours, days, weeks or months and Y-axis is represented by flow or
discharge in cubic meter per second. Generally the flow or discharge is considered as number of cubic
meters of water in second per a square kilometer (area).
A hydro graph provides the following information,
1) The Discharge at any time during the period under considerations.
2) The Average and Maximum, Minimum Run-Off during the period.
3) Total volume of discharge up to any time, given by the area under the curve up to that
time.

Fig: Hydro Graph Fig: Flow Duration Graph

FLOW DURATION CURVE:

It is a very convenient form of Hydrograph. Flow duration curve is a re-arrangement of all the
stream flow elements of a hydrograph in a descending order.
A Flow Duration graph provides the following information,
1) The area under flow duration curve represents total quantity of run-off during the period.
2) A flow duration curve may be used for determination of the Average and Maximum, Minimum
conditions of flow.

MASS CURVE:
 A mass curve is a plot of cumulative volume of water that can be stored from stream flow
versus time in terms of hours, days, weeks or months. If the rainfall is uniform throughout the year, the
mass curve would be a straight line having uniform slope.
A Mass curve provides the following information,
1) The slope of this curve at any point gives the rate of flow at that time.
2) Mass curve is used to determine the capacity of storage reservoir in Hydro electric projects.

Fig 3.4:Mass curve

Note: - Drawing of these curves (Hydro Graph, Flow duration Graph, Mass Curve) is very helpful in
the selection of site for a Hydro electric Power Plant.

Expression for power developed in a hydro electric plant

Let W = Density of water in Kg/m3 (generally = 1000 Kg/m3).

Q = Rate of flow or discharge in m3/sec.
H = Head in meters.
η = Overall efficiency of the plant.
The electric Power developed by Hydro Electric Power Plant is given by,

P =WQHη × 9.81 × 10-3 kW

Classification of hydro power plants

There are three different methods of classifying hydro-electric plants. The classification may be based
upon
1) Quantity of water available.
2) Available head.
3) Nature of load.

Classification of Hydro-electric plant according to Quantity of water available

According to this classification the plants may be divided into
a) Run-Off river plants without pondage.
b) Run-Off river plants with pondage.
c) Reservoir plants.

a) Run-Off river plants without pondage:

As the name indicates this type of plant does not store water, the plant uses water as it comes.
The plant can use water only as and when available. i.e., the generation of power is possible only when
there is availability of water. The firm capacity of such plant is very low, since the supply of water is
not uniform throughout the year.

b) Run-Off river plants with pondage:

Usefulness of a run-off river plant is increased by pondage. Pondage permits storage of water
during the off-peak periods and use of this water during the peak periods. The pondage increases the
storage increases the storage of water which increases the firm capacity of the plant.

c) Reservoir plant:
Majority of hydro-electric plants are of this type. When water is stored in a big reservoir it is
possible to control flow of water. The storage increases the firm capacity. Such a plant has better
capacity and can be used efficiently throughout the year and it can be used either as a base-load plant
or as a peak load plant.

II) Classification of Hydro-electric plant according to Available head

Hydro-electric plants may be classified into:
a) Low head b) Medium head c) High head plants.
a) Low head Plant :
If the head of the plant is below 60m, then those
plants are called as low head plants. In this case a
small dam is built across the river to provide the
necessary head. In such plants Francis,
Propeller or Kaplan types of turbines are used.
Also no surge tank is required.
Fig 3.7: Low Head Power Plant
b) Medium head plant :
In these plants the head varies from 60m-300m. The forebay provided at the beginning of the
penstock serves as water reservoir for such plants. In these plants water is generally carried in open
canals from main reservoir to the forebay and then to
the power house through the penstock. The forebay
itself works as surge tank.
The common prime movers used in these plants are
Francis, Propeller and Kaplan turbines.

Fig 3.8: Medium Head Power Plant

c) High head plants :-
The plants having head above 300m called High head plants. For these plants Pelton wheel
turbine is used as prime mover. Majority of hydro-electric plants are of this type

Fig 3.9: High Head Power Plant

III) Classification of Hydro-electric plant according to Nature of load
Hydro-electric plants may be classified into:
a) Base load Plant.
b) Peak load Plant.
c) Pumped storage plant for peak load.

a) Base load plant:-

The average load that exists always on the power plant in a particular time period is called the
base load. The Power plants used to supply power for this loads are called Base load plants. (Or) The
plants, which can take up load on the base portion of load curve, are known as Base load plants.
Ex:-Run-Off river plants and reservoir type plants are used as base load plants. (The load factor of the
base load plants is high)

b) Peak load plants:-

The maximum load that exists on the power plant at a particular time is called the peak load at
that time. The Power plants used to supply power for this loads are called Peak load plants. These
plants supply power corresponding to the load at the top portion of the load curve.
Ex:- Run-Off river plant with pondage, reservoir plants are used as peak load plants.

c) Pumped storage plant: -

This is a unique design of peak load plant in which the plant pumps back all or a portion of
water supply during low load period. During the peak load period water is drawn from the head water
pond through the penstock to operate the turbine. The pumping back from the tail race pond to the
head water pond is done during off-peak period.
These plants can be operated only in interconnected systems, where other generating plants
(steam, nuclear, etc..,) are also available. This plant acts as a generator during peak load period
and acts as a motor during off-peak load period.
For this type of power plant reversible-turbine-pump units are used. Such a unit can be used
as a turbine while generating power in peak load periods and acts as a pump while pumping water
back to storage in off-peak load periods.

Advantage:-
The major advantage of a pumped storage plant is that it decreases the operating cost of a
steam plant or nuclear plant, etc.., which when working in combination with it.
 Fig: Pumped Storage Power Plant

IMPORTANT FORMULAS

 Firm Capacity = Plant efficiency × Plant Gross capacity.

 Run-off = Total precipitation – Total evaporation.
 The electric Power developed by Hydro Electric Power Plant isP =WQHη × 9.81 × 10 -3 kW
Average Power Demand
 Load Factor =
Maximum Power Demand

A. Objective Questions at Remembering / Understanding Level

I. Multiple Choice Questions

1. The following is the correct order of energy conversion in thermal power plants [ ]
a) Chemical energy – Mechanical energy – Electrical energy
b) Mechanical energy – Chemical energy – Electrical energy
c) Wind energy – Mechanical energy – Electrical energy
d) Heat energy – Electrical energy – Mechanical energy

2. Which of the following is correct arrangement of different types of coals according to their
increasing carbon content? [ ]
a) Peat, bituminous, lignite, anthracite
b) Peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite
c) Bituminous, peat, lignite, anthracite
d) Peat, anthracite, bituminous, lignite

3. Arrange following in correct sequence in which the flue gas passes through them after coming out of
the boiler in a thermal power station
1. I.d. Fan
 2. Air Preheater
3. Economizer
4. Electrostatic Precipitator
Select the correct answer using the codes given below code:
a) 4,3,2,1
b) 2,1,4,3
c) 1,4,3,2
d) 3,2,4,1

4. Statement-I
In high head hydel stations, the action of governor due to sudden change in load, changes the
water admitted to turbine blades leading to water hammering effect on penstocks.
Statement-II
A surge tank in high head hydel stations is used to absorb the flow variations.
Codes: [ ]
a) Both statement (I) and statement (II) are individually true and statement(II) is the
correct explanation of statement(I)
b) Both statement (I) and statement (II) are individually true but statement(II) is not the correct
explanation of statement(I)
c) Statement (I) is true but statement (II) is false
d) Statement (I) is false but statement (II) is true

5. The efficiency of a thermal power plant improves with [ ]

a) increased quantity of coal burnt
b) larger quantity of water used
c) lower load in the plant
d) use of high steam pressures.

6. In the steam condensing power plants [ ]

a) The amount of energy extracted per kg of steam is increased
b) the steam, converted into water, can be re-circulated with the help of pump
c) Both a) and b)
d) None of the above

7. In thermal power plants, the dust of flue gases is trapped by [ ]

a) Precipitator b) Economizer c) Superheater d) Air preheater

8. The path of flue gases in Thermal power plant is [ ]

a) Boiler – Economizer – Superheater– Air preheater
b) Boiler – Superheater – Air preheater – Economizer
c) Boiler – Air preheater – Superheater – Economizer
d) Boiler – Superheater – Economizer – Air preheater

9. Fluid fuels are handled by [ ]

a) burners b) stokers c) both a) and b) d) None of the above
10. For steam boilers, the fuel(s) is (are) mainly [ ]
a) Bituminous coal b) Fuel oil c) Natural gas d) All of the above

11. The height of chimney in a staem power plant is governed by........ [ ]

a) Flue gases quantity b) The draught to be produced
c) Control of pollution d) Corner of power plant

12. The major heat loss in a steam power station occurs in........ [ ]
a) Heat chamber b) Penstock c) Spillways d) Condenser

13. The most common method(s) used for burning of coal is (are) [ ]
a) Stroker firing b) Pulverized fuel firing c) both a) and b) d) None of the above

14. A ‘stroker’ is a power operated fuel ___ mechanism [ ]

a) Burning b) Feeding c) Handling d) Storage

15. The spreader stroker, secondary air is supplied [ ]

a) Through holes b) through nozzles c) from bottom side d) any of the above

16. The following is not a pulverized fuel burner. [ ]

a) Tangential burner b) Turbulent burner c) Cyclone burner d) Radial burner

17. In which of the following type of burner, liquid fuel is raised by capillary action? [ ]
a) Wick burners b) Re-circulating burner
c) Rotating cup burner d) All of the above

18. A Fluidised bed may be defined as the bed of ______ particles [ ]

a) Liquid b) Solid c) Both a) and b) d) None of the above

19. The following is (are) ash handling system(s) [ ]

a) Hydraulic system b) Pneumatic system c) Steam jet system d) All of the above

20. The following is dry type dust collectors [ ]

a) Spray type b) Packed type c) Impingement type d) cyclone separator

21. The major constituent of fly ash is [ ]

a) Silicon dioxide b) Aluminium oxide c) Calcium oxide d) Magnesium oxide

22. The draught produced by the chimney if due to the ____ difference between the column of hot gases
inside the chimney and the cold air outside. [ ]
a) Temperature b) Potential c) Density d) None of the above

23. Which of the following station is least efficient........? [ ]

a) Nuclear power plant b) Diesel power station
c) Thermal power station d) None of the above

24. Modern steam plants works on which of the following cycles? [ ]

 a) Carnot cycle b) Rankine cycle c) Otto cycle d) Bell- Coleman cycle

25. What would be the most important factor under consideration for the site selection of a thermal plant?
a) Availability of fuel. b) Availability of water. [ ]
c) Distance from the populated area) d) Cost and the type of land)

26. When pulverized fuel is not used, the equipment used for supplying coal to the boiler is
a) Heater
b) Stoker
c) Burner
d) Skip hoist.

27. In a thermal power plant cooling towers are used to

a) condense low pressure steam
b) cool condensed steam
c) cool water used in condenser for condensing steam
d) cool feed water of boiler.

28. In a thermal power plant, heat from the flue gases is recovered in
a) chimney
b) de-super heater
c) economizer
d) condenser.

29. Which of the following is not an accessory for a boiler?

a) Feed water pump
b) Condenser
c) Economizer
d) Air pre-heater.

30. Consider the following statements regarding the pumped storage plants : [ ]
1. A pumped storage plant is a peak load plant.
2. The starting time of a pumped storage plant is very long.
3. Reversible turbines and pumps are very suitable for pumped storage plants.
4. Pumped storage plants can be used for load frequency control.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

a) 1 only b) 1, 3 and 4 c) 1 and 2 only d) 3 and 4 only

31. In Hydro Power Plants

a) Operating cost is low and initial cost is high
b) Operating cost is high and initial cost is low
c) Both operating cost as well as initial cost are high
d) Both operating cost as well as initial cost are low

32. Hydrograph is similar to

a) load duration curve
b) mass curve
c) energy load curves
 d) Chronological load curve

33. a penstock is used as a conduit between

a) the steam chest and the turbine in a thermal station
b) the dam and the turbine in a hydrostation
c) the turbine and the discharge drain
d) the heat exchanger and the turbine in a nuclear power plant

34. For High head and low discharge the water turbine used is
a)Peloton Wheel
b)Kaplan turbine
c) Francis turbine
d) Propeller turbine

35. The flow duration curve at a given head of a hydro electric plant is used to determine the
a) total power available at the site
b) total units of energy available
c) load factor of the plant
d) diversity factor

36. In pump storage hydro power plant, the electrical machine is made to work alternately as generator and
motor. The efficiency of the generator working at the same electrical power level is
a) greater than that as motor
b) equal to that as motor
c) less than that as motor
d) greater or less than that as motor depending on the type of the machine

37. When a pumped storage power plant is operated in conjunction with a steam power plant
a) operating cost of steam plant becomes optimum
b) The chances of the tripping of the system decrease because of the use of two heterogeneous types of
plants.
c) Load factor of the steam plant is increased.
d) operation of the storage plant in the pumping mode during the low load period improves the steam
plant stability.

38. What does a mass curve represent?

a) Average load
b) The total energy consumed by the load up to a particular time in a day
c) The number of hours for which a particular lasts during the day
d) The variation of load during different hours of the day

39. The mass curve is plotted from which of the following curve?
a) Chronological curve
b) Energy load curve
c) Load duration curve
d) None of these
ii) Questions given in previous GATE papers

1. Which material is used in controlling the chain reaction in nuclear reactor? (GATE-96)
a) Thorium b) Heavy Water c) Boron d) Beryllium [ ]

2. In a thermal power plant, the feed water coming to the economiser is heated using [ ]
(GATE-00)
a) H.P steam b) L.P steam c) Direct heat in the fiancé d) Flue gases.

3. In thermal power plants, the pressure in the Working fluid cycle is developed by (GATE-04)
a) Condenser b) Super heater c) Feed water pump d) Turbine [ ]

4. For harnessing low variable water heads , the suitable hydraulic turbine with high percent of
reaction and runner with adjustable vanes is (GATE-04) [ ]
a) Kaplan b) Francis c) Pelton d) Impeller

5. Out of the following plant categories [ ]

(i) Nuclear (ii) Run-of-river (iii) Pump Storage (iv) Diesel
The base load power plants are (GATE-09)
a) (i) and (ii) b) (ii) and (iii) c) (i), (ii) and (iv) d) (i), (iii) and (iv)

6. Base load power plants are P. wind farms Q. run-of-river plants R. nuclear power plants S.
diesel power plants (GATE-15-S1)[ ]
a) P, Q and S only b) P, R and S only c) P, Q and R only d) Q and R only

iii) Questions given in previous IES papers

1. The advantage of hydro-electric power station over thermal power station is : [ ]

a) The initial cost of hydro- electric power station is low IES 2013
b) The operating cost of hydro-electric power station is low
c) Hydro-electric power station can supply the power throughout the year
d) Hydro -electric power station can be constructed at the place where the energy is required

2. In inter connected power system, the most suitable power plant to meet peak load condition is
IES 2012 [ ]
a) Hydral b) nuclear c) thermal d) pumped storage

3. With reference to hydro power station, the graphical representation of the discharge as a
function of time is known as IES 2011 [ ]
a) Monograph `b) Hectograph c) Load duration curve d) Hydrograph

4. For harnessing low variable water heads, the suitable hydraulic turbine with reaction and
adjustable vanes runners is : IES 2011 [ ]
a) Frames b) impeller c) Kaplan d) Pelton

5. A Pumped storage hydro-electric plant' consists of IES 2011 [ ]

a) A synchronous machine and a multi-stage centrifugal pump in one shaft
b) A synchronous machine, a reaction turbine, and a multistage centrifugal pump all in one
shaft
c) An induction generator, a synchronous machine and a reaction turbine, all in one shaft
 d) An induction generator, a synchronous machine, and a multistage centrifugal pump, all in
one shaft

6. Which of the following power stations is mainly used to cover peak load on the system?
IES 2010 [ ]
a) Coal based thermal power plant b) Nuclear power plant
c) Gas based thermal power plant d) Pumped storage hydro power plant

7. Where is the draft tube of a hydropower station that is an airtight pipe located? [ ]
a) Near the surge tank b) In between the penstock and the runner IES 2009
c) In between the runner and the tailrace `d) At the beginning of penstock

8. What is the nominal pH value of water that is to be maintained in a steam raising thermal
power station? IES 2009 [ ]
a) 0.0 b) 7.0 c) 8.5 d) 14.3 96.

9. Complete combustion of pulverized coal in a steam raising thermal power plant is ensured by
what type of an analysis of flue gas chimney? IES 2009 [ ]
a) CO2 content for given air intake b) CO2 content for given fuel rate feed
c) CO content d) All of these

B. Questions at Applying / Analyzing level

I. Multiple choice Questions

1. Read the following statement about boilers.
I. Water tube boiler is capable of generating steam of pressure more than 50 kg/cm2.
II. Fire tube boiler is suitable for generating steam of pressure less than 17.5 kg/cm2 .
III. Water tube boiler occupy comparatively less space.
a) Only statement I is true
b) Statement I, II and III are true
c) I and II are true but III is false
d) I and III are true but II is false

2. Which of the following statement about economizer of steam power plant is wrong?
a) Economizer increases the Boiler Efficiency about 5 to 15%
b) It uses the heat of flue gases used by boiler going to the chimney.
c) Economizer increases the temperature of intake air
d) It require regular maintenance and cleaning

3. Which of the following are the most widely used condensers in modern thermal power
plants?
a) Surface condensers
b) Low level counter flow type jet condenser
c) High level counter flow type jet condenser
d) Parallel flow type jet condenser
4. Read the following statements about feed water heaters
I. Open or contact heaters are also called Deaerator.
II. Open or contact heaters constructed to remove non-condensable gases from feed water.
a) Only statement I. is correct
b) Only statement II. is correct
c) I. and II. are correct
d) I. and II. are wrong

5. Which part of thermal power plant causes maximum energy losses?

a) Boiler
b) Alternator
c) Condenser
d) Ash and un-burnt carbon

6. What is the effect of increasing steam pressure on efficiency of steam power plant?
a) Increases linearly
b) Increases nonlinearly
c) Decreases linearly
d) Does not changes

7. What is the effect of increasing steam temperature of thermal power plant on its thermal
efficiency?
a) Increases linearly
b) Decreases
c) It does not depends on temperature
d) Increases nonlinearly

8. Which of the following is not a type of steam turbine?

a) Impulse turbine
b) Reaction turbine
c) Pelton wheel turbine
d) Axial flow type turbine

9. Which statement about impulse turbine is true?

a) Steam expands over blades
b) Steam expends completely in stationary nozzels
c) Steam expends partially over nozzle and turbine blades
d) Steam expends over blades incompletely

10. Which statement about reaction turbine is false?

a) Steam does not expand in nozzle
b) Blades acts like nozzles
c) Steam expands as flows over the rotor blades
d) Steam continuously losses its heat as flows over the rotor blades
 11. Reaction turbines are characterized by ___________
a) relatively low RPM and steam expansion over nozzle
b) relatively high RPM and steam expansion over nozzle
c) relatively low RPM and steam expansion over rotor blades
d) relatively high RPM and steam expansion over rotor blades

12. Read the statements below.

I. The built up rotor is cheaper and easier to manufacture.
II. The high pressure and intermediate pressure rotors are always of integral type.
a) Only statement I is correct
b) Only statement II is correct
c) I and II are correct
d) I and II are wrong

13. Read the below statements.

I. Sulphur is one of the combustible elements
II. The Sulphur content of coal should be less than 1%
a) Only I is correct
b) Only II is correct
c) I and II are correct
d) I and II are incorrect

14. The selection of coal for power plant does not depends on _________
a) Calorific value
b) Nitrogen content
c) Sulphur content
d) Grindability index

15. Read the following statements about coals.

I. Lignite coals can be used in thermal power plants
II. Super-anthracite coal are best for thermal power plants
a) Only I is correct
b) Only II is correct
c) I and II are correct
d) I and II are incorrect

16. Which of the following is most advantageous and most widely method of solid fuel firing?
a) Stoker firing
b) Underfeed firing
c) Spreader stoker firing
d) Pulverized fuel firing

ii) Questions given in previous GATE papers

No Questions under this section

iii) Questions given in previous IES papers

1. The thermal and electrical efficiencies of a 100 MW steam station are respectively 30% and
92%. The coal used has a calorific value of 6400 kcal/kg. For the supply of full-load rated
capacity the coal consumption in kg/hour would be approximately. IES 2014 [ ]
a) 24340 b) 32450 c) 48690 d) 64910

2. The utilizable water from a catchment is 60 X 106 cu m annually and the hydra station has head
of 40m. Assuming ideal generator and turbine, the power that can be theoretically generated is
IES 2012 [ ]
a) 250KW b) 300KW c) 500KW d)750KW

3. One million cubic meters of water is stored in a reservoir feeding a water turbine, The density
of water is 993 kg/m3. If the centre of mass of water is 50 meters above the turbine and the
losses are negligible, the energy produced by that volume of water is : IES 2011 [ ]
a) 135.3 MWhr b) 130 MWhr c) 120 MWhr d) 140 MWhr.

4. In a thermal power station, a typical heat balance sheet, for a large turbine and surface
condenser taken together, is the percentage distribution of heat energy in IES 2011[ ]
1. Work done or thermal efficiency
2. Friction and windage loss
3. Heat to circulating water
4. Heat in condensate to be retained to the boiler.
The percentage amount of heat in the heads stated above, in the descending order is
a) 3, 4, 1 and 2 b) 2, 1 , 4 and 3 c) 3, 1, 4 and 2 d) 2, 4, 1 and 3

5. Consider the following statements :

Pumped storage plants when operated in interconnected power systems serve to
1. Increase load factor of steam plant.
2. Provide added capacity to meet peak loads.
3. Decrease load factor of steam plant.
4. Provide added capacity to meet base loads.

Which of the above statements are correct ? IES 2010 [ ]

a) 1, 2, 3 and 4 b) 1 and 3 only c) 1 and 2 only d) 3 and 4 only

6. Consider the following statements concerning steam power plants : IES 2009 [ ]
1. Maintenance and operating costs are low.
2. Water is required in huge quantity.
3. Requires long time for installation.
4. Handling of coal and disposal of ash can be done easily.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

a) 1 only b) 3 only c) 2 and 3 d) 3 and 4