MEHRAN UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY JAMSHORO.

Assignment;

Energy Management

Topic;

Environmental impact of power plant

Submitted By;

TUFAIL MUSTAFA KHOSA

ROLL NO;

10CH14 (M.E Chemical)

Submitted TO;

Sohail Ahmed Somro Sb

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF POWER PLANT;

INTRODUCTION;
Energy creates the power to drive tools and machines, to process materials into manufactured products and to create structures. Thermal power plant contribute maximum to the generation of power for any country. Thermal power plants constitute 75% of total installed captive and non-captive power generation. In thermal power generation station coal, oil, and natural gas, etc are employed as primary source of energy.

Fossil fuels are the main source of energy and also, unfortunately, of pollutants, greenhouse gases, and other trace atmospheric varieties. Coal is the primary fuel in thermal power plants; gasoline and diesel are the primary fuels for automobiles. There is also limited use of natural gas in these energy activities. Fossil fuels coal, oil and natural gas -- currently provide more than 40% of all the energy consumed in the world, nearly two-thirds of the electricity, and virtually all of the transportation fuels. Moreover, it is likely that the nations reliance on

fossil fuels to power an expanding economy will actually increase over at least the next two decades even with aggressive development and deployment of new renewable and nuclear technologies.

Emissions from Thermal Power Plants

The main emissions from coal combustion at thermal power plants are carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NO), sulfur oxides (SO), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and air-borne inorganic particles such as fly ash, soot, and other trace gas species. Carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons are greenhouse gases. These emissions are considered to be responsible for heating up the atmosphere, producing a harmful global environment. Oxides of nitrogen and sulfur play an important role in atmospheric chemistry and are largely responsible for atmospheric acidity. Particulates and black carbon (soot) are of concern, in addition to possible lung tissue irritation resulting from inhalation of soot particles and various organic chemicals that are known carcinogens. CO2, SO2, NO, and soot emissions from each of the power plants have been computed. Emissions from combustion of the supplementary fuels such as high-speed diesel (HSD) and furnace oil used in small quantities (<1%) are not counted in the present calculations.

Carbon dioxide emissions

Utilities burn mostly coal with approximately 10 30% excess air. The total carbon obtained from analysis is converted to CO after the reaction (combustion) is complete. Total CO emissions for 1997 from all the power plants in India are estimated at 1.1 Teragrams (Tg) per day or 397 Tg per year. Average CO emission per unit of electricity is 1.04 Gig grams (Gg). Technological improvements in efficient combustion of coal can lead to greater production of electricity per unit of coal that will effectively reduce CO emission per unit of electricity. Although the current per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in India is only one quarter of the world average and about twenty times less than United States averages, the growth rate of emissions is very high. Because of this growth, the region is expected to soon become a major contributor of greenhouse gases, such as CO and other air pollutants.

Sulfur dioxide emissions

The sulfur content in Indian coal is low compared to United States coal. Acid rain due to sulfur dioxide emissions is presently not of great concern. However, increasing coal use or blending Indian coal with imported coal of higher calorific value (further increasing electricity

production) needs to be carefully addressed through viable technological options. Average SO emissions per unit of electricity are 0.0069 Gg. Total SO emissions are estimated to be 7.33 Gg per day or 2.7 Tg per year.

Emissions of oxides of nitrogen

Oxidation of nitric oxide (NO) discharged in combustion products forms nitrogen dioxide (NO) in the atmosphere. These oxides of nitrogen are responsible for the formation of photochemical smog. Nitric oxide emission per unit of electricity is estimated as approximately 0.00056 Gg. Total NO emissions are estimated to be 0.5 Gg per day and 0.185 Tg per year. Nitrogen oxides are important chemical species in the atmosphere since they contribute to its acidity; they also act as precursor gases for the formation of tropospheric ozone. Tropospheric ozone is a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming and is also known to have an adverse affect on plants. NO emissions should be kept at a minimum possible level. Lower concentrations of NO lessen the formation of tropospheric ozone even when other precursor gases like carbon monoxide (CO) are present in higher concentrations.

Carbonaceous material and black carbon (soot)

Incomplete and/or inefficient combustion processes of fossil fuel generate soot. A recently conducted Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) suggests that the presence of soot carbon in the atmosphere over the northern Indian Ocean hinders its natural heating processes by about 15%. Enhancement of boundary layer heating can significantly influence regional hydrological cycles and climate. Present calculations show that soot emissions are produced at a rate of 22.0 Gg per year from Indian thermal power plants. Soot emissions in India have not been studied thoroughly so far; these are the first estimates of soot emission from Indian thermal power plants. Appropriate technological intervention to prevent soot carbon emissions may possibly not only reduce the chances of soot escaping into the atmosphere (where it can potentially change the radiation balance), but can also lead to further increases in electricity production.

Noise.
Wind power unit may make some noise during its operation. To analogy the actual operation of the installed wind power unit with the capacity of 1500kW per set, its known that generators may make noise of 9296dBAduring its operation.

Waste water.
Wind power field has higher automation and fewer operators and maintainers. This project has only 11 workers. There are 4 or 5 workers on duty per day in the wind power field, to need 120 L/d domestic water per person. Through calculating the discharge as 80% of the total water consumption, the discharge of domestic sewage is about 175 t/a.

 Solid waste.
The main solid waste is a little domestic waste, with the quantity of 1.05 t/a. A small amount of waste oil will be made while changing the transformer oil regularly (The changing cycle is usually 3~5 year). The waste oil is hazardous waste, and the quantity of it is about 0.6 t/a.

Lighting.
The shadow of the rotating blades fan will produce lighting effects in a certain range.

Electromagnetic radiation.
All electrical equipment can generate electromagnetic radiation at run-time. This radiation is called artificially industrial frequency type radiation. Its radiation sources include generators, motors, transmission lines, substation, etc. For wind power project, the radiation sources conclude three parts including generator, substation and transmission line.

Pollution control measures

Control measures of noise.
(1)Balance and vibration reduction should be considered, when the equipment is installed. (2)The spread of noise should be blocked by strengthening greening of the border area and boundary. Control measures of waste water. The discharge of domestic sewage of the wind power field is 175 t/a. There are no drainage pipelines in the project areas. Therefore, a septic tank should be built in substations to treate domestic sewage. And the septic tank should be cleared regularly for composting.

Control measures of solid waste

Domestic waste should be piled up at fixed-point, cleared up timely and sent to the city's waste dump to be processed uniformly. The transformer oil periodically changed is poly chlorinated biphenyls for waste slags, belonging to the hazardous waste. It should be in strict accordance with the requirements of the national hazardous waste relevant laws and regulation, needs sending to the hazardous waste processing center, was handed and disposed according to the relevant requirement of hazardous waste. It should be sent to a qualified hazardous waste processing center to be handed and disposed in strict accordance with the requirements of the national laws and regulations about hazardous waste.

Control measures of lighting.

In order to avoid effecting on surrounding by lighting, the site selection of wind power projects should be away from the residential areas or other environmentally-sensitive areas as far as possible.

Control measures of electromagnetic radiation.

(1) Generator Requirements such as antimagnetic, anti-radiation etc. should be considered when designing the wind generator. And radiation should be reduced to a minimum when selecting materials. (2) Substation and transmission line

According to the regulation of the electromagnetic radiation environmental protection management approach promulgated by the state environmental protection administration: If the transformer substation system with above 100 kV voltage belonging to electromagnetic radiation project, cause environmental pollution, the units or individuals who are directly damaged must be compensated for, according to the law. The transmission lines of this project is 66 kV, not achieving 100 kV stipulated by the state, so it does not belong to the electromagnetic radiation project. There is so little electromagnetic radiation that control measures needn't to be taken.

Control measures of the other pollution.

(1) Control measures of the impact on forest vegetation By increasing recovery efforts of forest vegetation, leveling construction site timely, setting up green belt by the roadside, and increasing green, the overall landscape and ecological environment in this area will be improved. (2) Control measures of the impact on landscape. After the project put into operation, original natural ecological environment in the project area will be changed because of the construction of roads and wind power units. So the project will have certain impact on landscape ecological environment. But the artificial landscape formed by roads and wind power units will match the natural forest landscape in the area, making the landscape ecological environment more features, and more harmonious. Therefore, wind power projects have so little effect on landscape that control measures needn't to be taken. (3) Control measures of the impact on wild animals The wheel height of the wind generators is 49~66 m. Birds migration should be paid close attention to, because wake flow produced by the unit operation has certain impact on it. When necessary, the wind generator should be stopped to avoid affecting the birds.