A

MINI PROJECT REPORT

ON

“STUDY OF SUPER THERMAL POWEWR STATION”

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the Degree of

Bachelor of Technology in Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Submitted By

K.ANUSHA (16281A0206)

MD.SHAFIEUL HUSSAIN (16281A0239) G.ROHITH (15281A0228)

Under the Guidance of

Sri A.KRISHNA (Assistant professor)

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

KAMALA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
(Approved by AICTE & Affiliated to J.N.T.U, Hyderabad)

Sponsored by Vodithala Education Society, Hyderabad

SINGAPUR, KARIMNAGAR 505468, TELANGANA (2016-2020)

 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Ms. K.ANUSHA (16281A0206), Mr. MD.SHAFIEUL

HUSSAIN(16281A0239), Mr. G.ROHITH(15281A0228) of final year B.Tech has satisfactorily completed
the module of project entitled “STUDY OF SUPER THERMAL POWER STATION” under my supervision
and guidance towards partial fulfilment of requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of
Technology in E.E.E to JNTU, Hyd, T.S. during the year 2019-2020.

Project Guide Head of the Department

Mr. A.KRISHNA Dr.YOGESH.Y.PUNDLIK

Assistant professor Professor

 Ramagundam

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify the project titled “ STUDY OF SUPER THERMAL POWER STATION ” on it –N.T.P.C
Ramagundam has been successfully carried out , in the partial fulfilment for award of “Bachelor of Technology
in Electrical And electronics Engineering” from

K.ANUSHA (16281A0206)

MD.SHAFIEUL HUSSAIN (16281A0239)

G.ROHITH (15281A0228)

KAMALA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE

SINGAPUR, KARIMNAGAR -505468 (T.S.)

This bonafide work has been carried out by students of KAMALA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE,
SINGAPUR carried out ,project work under our guidance and supervision at “NTPC Limited-Ramagundam”,
During the academic year 2016-2020.

PROJECT GUIDE PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Before we get into the thick of things we would like to add a few heart-felt words for the
people who guided our project in numerous ways, people who gave us unending support right from
the stage, the project idea was conceived.

We express our immense pleasure with a profound feeling of reverence and gratitude to our
project guide Mr. A. KRISHNA , Asst. Professor Electrical & Electronics Engineering Department, for
his inspiring and valuable guidance throughout this project.

We express our healthy gratitude to project co-ordinator Mr. B. CHERALU, Asst. Professor of
EEE department for patience & for gratuitous co-operation extended by him & who has given us
valuable suggestions.

We wish to express our gratitude to Dr. YOGESH YASHWANTH PUNDLIK, Head of EEE
department and all the staff members of Electrical & Electronics Engineering Department for their
encouragement and support.

We place our sincere thanks to Prof. K.SHANKER, Principal of KAMALA INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE for his kind co-operation.

We are grateful to the management of KAMALA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

College for providing all the facilities required for completing this project work.

Lastly we wish to thank our parents & friends for their co-operation & encouragement in
completing this project.

Presented By,

K.ANUSHA (16281A0206),
MD.SHAFIEUL HUSSAIN (16281A0239),
G.ROHITH
(15281A0228)
 ABSTRACT

PROJECT TITLE: STUDY OF SUPER THERMAL POWER STATION

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This project report contains information regarding overall view of thermal
plant with description of all the departments. The potential energy into kinetic energy with the help
of coal. The kinetic energy is then used to rotate the turbine to obtain the mechanical energy. The
information about the study of working of entire power plant is discussed in this project.

This project is done at RAMAGUNDAM SUPER THERMAL POWER STATION(RSTPS). It is a unit of NTPC
LIMITED.
 RAMAGUNDAM SUPER THERMAL POWER STATION,
RAMAGUNDAM,TELANGANA

INDEX

1. OVERVIEW OF NTPC
2. ENERGY CONVERSION IN POWER PLANT
3. COAL FEEDER AND PULVARISERS
4. BOILER AND ITS AUXILARIES
5. AIR PRE-HEATERS
6. TURBINE AND GENERATOR SYSTEM
7. ID AND FD , PA FANS
8. ESP
9. COOLING TOWERS
 1. OVERVIEW OF NTPC

Introduction Of NTPC:

National Thermal Power Corporation the Mega Power Generation Corporation, generating
over ¼th of the total thermal power in the country.
The corporation is maintaining a record by consistently generating reliable and quality power
established in 1975. NTPC is one of the Maharatna companies in India and playing a major
roll in Indian Power Sector.
Today with the install capacity of 41794 MW, the corporation is looking ahead with an
ambitious in term of actual generation.
NTPC has 16 coal based, 7 gas based, 2 solar based, 7 joint ventures thermal plants spread all
over India. This include Vindhyachal-II (100MW) Thermal Power Station in MP, where the
stage- I activity at 6 units of 210 MW each financing by USSR and IBRD. The work has
already started at the site. Some of the projects under construction are 10 coal based, 3 hydro
based, 6 solar based, 5 joint ventures.

Approved capacity 2600 MW

Installed Capacity Stage I : 3X200 MW
Stage II : 3X500 MW
Stage III : 1X500 MW
Location PEDDAPALLI,TELANGANA
Coal Source (i) South Godavari Coal Fields of Singrani Collieries for
Stage I & II
(ii) Korba Coal Fields of SECL for Stage III
Water Source Sri Ram Sagar Dam on Godavari River, D-83 Canal from
pochampad Reservoir
Beneficiary States Pondicherry, Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, AP,
PGCIL (for HVDC)
Approved Investment Rs. 2059.22 Cr Stage I & II
Rs. 1818.46 Cr Stage III
Unit Sizes Stage-I: 3x200MW
Stage -II: 3x 500 MW
Units Commissioned Unit -I 200 MW November 1983
Unit -II 200 MW May 1984
Unit -III 200 MW December 1984
Unit -IV 500 MW June 1988
Unit -V 500 MW March 1989
Unit -VI 500 MW October 1989
Unit Commissioned Shedule Unit -VII 500 MW August 2004
International Assistance IDA
IBRD loan
 OPEC
KFW
EXIM Bank, Japan.
SFD

ABSTRACT:

Furnace is a part of the Boiler. The water fed in to the boiler with the help of
Boiler Feed Pump (BFPs) and such water is known as Feed Water. Boiler takes the water from
the Boiler Feed Pumps and first converts it in to saturated steam. This saturated steam is again
heated in different stages of Super heaters. The steam from the super heaters becomes
completely dry and the quality of steam becomes suitable to use in Turbines. The temperature
of this steam is around 540 Deg C.

The steam with water droplets is made to pass through Super Heaters (SHs), to
remove the water droplets by further heating up the steam. This steam drives the Turbine
system. The Alternator, whose shaft is connected to the turbine, produces the electrical
voltage.

Unlike the primary air, secondary air is made to enter the furnace directly as this
air is used solely for the combustion of coal in the furnace. During the combustion of coal and
secondary air in the furnace, flue gases will emerge out of the boiler. These flue gases are
passed through a heat exchangers, called ‘Economizer’, where the heat energy is saved by
transferring to the water flowing through pipes in Economizer. The temperature of the flue
gases is greatly reduced in Economizer and the gases are passed through Electro Static
precipitators (ESPs) to collect the Ash and other heavy dust particles. The light gases
remaining after the precipitators are pushed out from the plant to the Flue gas stack or
Chimney to the atmosphere. Two Induced Draught Fans (IDF-A, IDF-B) are used to suck out
the flue gases from the plant to the stack

THERMAL POWER PLANT LAYOUT

ENERGY CONVERSION IN POWER PLANT:-

Conversion of energy during the power generation is as shown below.

Coal is the primary input used as the fuel in thermal plants. This consists of carbon
compounds, which is in the form of Chemical energy. This energy is transformed in to
mechanical form to rotate turbines. The turbine is hence rotated and thereby acting as prime
movers to the alternators. These alternators thus produce the electrical voltage.

PROCESS INSIDE THE THERMAL PLANT

Boiler is the main equipment in the power plant, where the water is converted in to steam by
heating the water, thereby providing sufficient energy to rotate the turbines. These turbines
(act as Prime movers) are connected to the shaft of the alternators, to produce electricity.

Feeder is a system, which provides the coal with the help of Conveyor belts. The coal is in
solid state with irregular shape and size. This coal is not convenient enough for the
combustion. Instead, this coal is to be converted in to fine powder with the help of milling
systems. This process of changing bulk blocks of coal in to its fine granular form is known as
‘Pulverization’ and such milling systems(sometimes called ‘Mills’) doing this function are
called as ‘Pulverizers’. Generally there are many number of pulverizers to pulverize the coal
in the plant. Now, the coal powder is fed to the furnace with the help of Air for the combustion
process.

Here, Air is responsible for two functions in the plant. Firstly, it helps the coal powder from
the pulverizers to enter the furnace. This air doesn’t involve in the combustion process. This
air is known as ‘Primary Air’. The air from the atmosphere at STP is drawn in to the plant by
two individual Primary Air Fans (PAF-A, PAF-B).This air enters the milling systems through
Primary Air Heater (PAHs) systems followed by Primary Air Fans (PAFs), thereby mixes with
the coal powder in Millers. This coal with secondary air enters the furnace and burns there,
causing heat energy to build up in the furnace.

Secondly, the air solely responsible for the combustion process along with the coal in
the furnace is called Secondary air. This air is also drawn in to the plant by two individual
Force Draught Fans (FDF-A, FDF-B) from the atmosphere. The FD Fans supplies the
secondary air in to the furnace through the two individual Secondary Air Heaters (SAHs)
followed by FD Fans. The Air Heaters (AHs) heats up the air drawn by the FD fans or PAFs
and admits in to the furnace.

OVERVIEW:-

Basically, the general layout of thermal power plant consists of mainly four circuits which
are,

1. Coal and Ash circuit

2. Air and Gas circuit

3. Feed Water and Steam circuit

4. Cooling Water circuit

Coal and Ash Circuit:

In this circuit, the coal from the storage is fed to the boiler through coal handling equipment
for the generation of steam. Ash produced due to combustion of coal is removed to ash storage
through ash-handling system.

Air and Gas Circuit:

Air is supplied to the combustion chamber of the boiler either through forced draught
or induced draught fan or by using both. The dust from the air is removed before supplying to
the combustion chamber. The exhaust gases carrying sufficient quantity of heat and ash are
passed through the air-heater where the exhaust heat of the gases is given to the air and then it
is passed through the dust collectors where most of the dust is removed before exhausting the
gases to the atmosphere.

Feed Water and Steam Circuit:

The steam generated in the boiler is fed to the steam prime mover to develop the
power. The steam coming out of the prime mover is condensed in the condenser and then fed
to the boiler with the help of pump. The condensate is heated in the feed-heaters using the
steam tapped from different points of the turbine. The feed heaters may be of mixed type or
indirect heating type. Some of the steam and water are lost passing through different
components of the system; therefore, feed water is supplied from external source to
compensate this loss. The feed water supplied from external source to compensate the loss.
The feed water supplied from external source is passed through the purifying plant to reduce
to reduce dissolve salts to an acceptable level. This purification is necessary to avoid the
scaling of the boiler tubes.

Cooling Water Circuit:

The quantity of cooling water required to condense the steam is considerably high and
it is taken from a lake, river or sea. At the Columbia thermal power plant it is taken from an
artificial lake created near the plant. The water is pumped in by means of pumps and the hot
water after condensing the steam is cooled before sending back into the pond by means of
cooling towers. This is done when there is not adequate natural water available close to the
power plant. This is a closed system where the water goes to the pond and is re circulated back
into the power plant. Generally open systems like rivers are more economical than closed
systems.

Site Selection of a Thermal Power Plant:

The important aspect to be borne in mind during site selection for a thermal power plant are
availability of coal, ash disposal facility, space requirement, nature of land, availability of
water, transport facility, availability of labor, public problems, size of the plant.

It consists of many important parts to during the electricity generation.

They are,

1. Pulverizers

2. Boiler

3. Turbine System

4. Generator

5. Electrostatic precipitator(ESP)

6. Induced Draft and Forced Draft Fans.

COAL FEEDER AND PULVERIZERS

Coal Feeders

Mechanical arrangement to transport the coal from remote place in the plant to the
Pulverizers.

The feeder was typically located immediately beneath the coal bunker and immediately over
one of the Pulverizers. Coal would pass down into the feeder and onto the horizontal transfer
belt within the feeder body. As the coal proceeded from the inlet and toward the discharge, it
passed over a weighing system comprised of two fixed and one moveable roller. As the coal
density varied, the moveable roller would either rise or fall and thereby open or close switches
controlling a material levelling bar actuator motor.

The levelling bar was located just beyond the coal inlet and, by either raising or lowering it,
exactly 100 pounds of coal could be maintained on the three-roller span which was equal in
length to the head pulley circumference. The feeder, therefore, discharged exactly 100 pounds
of coal for each turn of the head pulley. The head pulley speed was proportional to the rate of
coal fed that could be expressed as pounds of coal per minute or pounds of coal per hour, as
desired. Total turns of the feeder head pulley times 100equaled the pounds of coat fed during
any given period. By commanding a change in the motor speed, and thus the head pulley
speed, the combustion control system could command instantaneous fuel delivery rate
changes. The simplicity of the system allowed reliable operation in the hostile environment
presented by the coal dust, heat, and pressures common to coal firing systems. Further
refinements were provided to simplify maintenance and to minimize the possibility of
equipment failure.

Pulverizers

A pulverize is a mechanical device for the grinding of many different types of materials. For
example, they are used to pulverize coal for combustion in the steam-generating furnaces of
fossil fuel power plants.

Types of Pulverizes:

Ball and Tube Mill

A ball mill is a pulverizer that consists of a horizontal rotating cylinder, up to

three diameters in length, containing a charge of tumbling or cascading steel
balls, pebbles, or rods.

A tube mill is a revolving cylinder of up to five diameters in length used for fine pulverization
of ore, rock, and other such materials; the material, mixed with water, is fed into the chamber
from one end, and passes out the other end as slime.

Ring and Ball Mill

This type of mill consists of two rings separated by a series of large balls. The lower ring
rotates, while the upper ring presses down on the balls via a set of spring and adjuster
assemblies. The material to be pulverized is introduced into the center or side of the pulverizer
(depending on the design) and is ground as the lower ring rotates causing the balls to orbit
between the upper and lower rings. The pulverized material is carried out of the mill by the
flow of air moving through it. The size of the pulverized particles released from the grinding
section of the mill is determined by a classifier separator.

Vertical Roller Mills

This mill uses hydraulically loaded vertical rollers resembling large tires to pulverize raw coal
fed down onto a rotating table. As the table rotates, the raw coal is pulverized as it passes
underneath the rollers. Hot air forced through the bottom of the pulverizing chamber removes
unwanted moisture and transports the pulverized coal dust up through the top of the pulverizer
and out the exhaust pipes directly to the burner. The more recent coal pulverizer designs are
Vertical Roller.
 Fig : Diagram detailing a direct fired coal burning system.

Most commonly used pulverizer is the Boul Mill. The arrangement consists of 2
stationary rollers and a power driven baul in which pulverization takes place as the coal passes
through the sides of the rollers and the baul. A primary air induced draught fan draws a stream
of heated air through the mill carrying the pulverized coal into a stationary classifier at the top
of the pulverizer. The classifier separates the pulverized coal from the unpulverized coal.

Fig: Pulverizer being used in Thermal Power Stations.

Advantages of pulverized coal:

1. Pulverized coal is used for large capacity plants.

2. It is easier to adapt to fluctuating load as there are no limitations on the combustion

capacity.

3. Coal with higher ash percentage cannot be used with out pulverizing because of the
problem of large amount ash deposition after combustion.

4. Increased thermal efficiency is obtained through pulverization.

5. The use of secondary air in the combustion chamber along with the powered coal helps
in creating turbulence and therefore uniform mixing of the coal and the air during
combustion.

6. Greater surface area of coal per unit mass of coal allows faster combustion as more coal
is exposed to heat and combustion.

7. The combustion process is almost free from clinker and slag formation.

8. The boiler can be easily started from cold condition incase of emergency.

9. Practically no ash handling problem.

10. The furnace volume required is less as the turbulence caused aids in complete
combustion of the coal with minimum travel of the particles.

The pulverized coal is passed from the pulverizer to the boiler by means of the primary air that
is used not only to dry the coal but also to heat is as it goes into the boiler. The secondary air is
used to provide the necessary air required for complete combustion. The primary air may vary
anywhere from 10% to the entire air depending on the design of the boiler. The coal is sent
into the boiler through burners. A very important and widely used type of burner arrangement
is the Tangential Firing arrangement.
 BOILER AND ITS AUXILIARIES

Boiler is a main part of the Thermal Power Plant. The function of the Boiler is to generate
steam. Boiler is a closed vessel in which water or the other fluid is heated. The heated or the
vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications. It
incorporates a fire-box or furnace in order to burn the fuel and generate the heat. This heat is
initially transferred to water to produce steam.

Different types of boilers are available viz. Coal-fired boilers, Fire tube boilers, Water tube
boilers, etc. A water-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated
externally by the fire. Water-tube boilers are used for high-pressure boilers. Fuel is burned
inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats up water in the steam-generating tubes. In
smaller boilers, additional generating tubes are separate in the furnace, while larger utility
boilers rely on the water-filled tubes that make up the walls of the furnace to generate steam.

The heated water then rises into the steam drum. Here, saturated steam is drawn off the top of
the drum. In some services, the steam will reenter the furnace in through a superheater in order
to become superheated. Superheated steam is used in driving turbines. Since water droplets
can severely damage turbine blades, steam is superheated to 730°F (390°C) or higher in order
to ensure that there is no water entrained in the steam.
A large amount of fuel is used in thermal power plant and very large amount of heat is
generated and carried by waste gases. The loss would be very high if the waste gases carry all
the heat away. The loss can he halved by installing an economizer and a pre- heater in the path
of the waste gases. The economizer transfers the heat from the waste gases to the incoming
feed water. This reduces the heat required to convert the feed water to steam. The air pre
heater increases the heat of the air supplied into the boiler for combustion. This increases the
efficiency of the boiler.

Super Heaters:

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 tube in different areas of the boiler. The areas are
known as superheater and reheater. The steam vapour picks up from main steam tube when
heated with super heaters. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to
the valves of the high pressure turbine.
Whatever type of boiler is used, steam will leave the water at its surface and pass into the
steam space. Steam formed above the water surface in a shell boiler is always saturated and
cannot become superheated in the boiler shell, as it is constantly in contact with the water
surface.
If superheated steam is required, the saturated steam must pass through a superheater. This is
simply a heat exchanger where additional heat is added to the saturated steam.
In water-tube boilers, the superheater may be an additional pendant suspended in the furnace
area where the hot gases will provide the degree of superheat required. In other cases, for
example in CHP schemes where the gas turbine exhaust gases are relatively cool, a separately
fired superheater may be needed to provide the additional heat.
 Fig: A water tube boiler with a superheater.

If accurate control of the degree of superheat is required, as would be the case if the steam is
to be used to drive turbines, then attemperator (Desuperheater) is fitted. This is a device
installed after the superheater, which injects water into the superheated steam to reduce its
temperature.

AIR PREHEATERS

An air preheater or air heater is a general term to describe any device designed to heat air
before another process (for example, combustion in a boiler) with the primary objective of
increasing the thermal efficiency of the process. They may be used alone or to replace a
recuperative heat system or to replace a steam coil.

In particular, this article describes the combustion air preheater used in large boilers found in
thermal power stations producing electric power from e.g. fossil fuels, biomasses or waste.
The purpose of the air preheater is to recover the heat from the boiler flue gas which increases
the thermal efficiency of the boiler by reducing the useful heat lost in the flue gas. As a
consequence, the flue gases are also sent to the flue gas stack (or chimney) at a lower
temperature, allowing simplified design of the ducting and the flue gas stack. It also allows
control over the temperature of gases leaving the stack (to meet emissions regulations, for
example).

The flue gases coming out of the economizer is used to preheat the air before supplying it to
the combustion chamber. An increase in air temperature of 20 degrees can be achieved by this
method. The pre heated air is used for combustion and also to dry the crushed coal before
pulverizing.

Fig: Air preheater in a thermal plant.

Types of Air Heaters:

Tubular Air Heater:

The flue gas flows outside the tubes in which the air flows heating it. To increase the
time of contact horizontal baffles are provided.

Plate Type Air Heater:

 It consists of rectangular flat plates spaced 1.5 to 2 cm apart leaving alternate air and
gas passages. This is not used extensively as it involves high maintenance.

Regenerative Air Heater:

The transfer of heat from hot gas to cold air is done in 2 stages. In the first stage the
heat from the hot gases is passed to the packing of the air heater and the temperature of the gas
is sufficiently reduced before letting it out in the atmosphere. This is called the heating period.
In the second stage the heat from the packing is passed to the cold air. This is called the
cooling period.

TURBINE SYSTEM AND GENERATOR SYSTEM

Turbine System

Turbine is a device consisting of blades mounted on a cylindrical metal object which is kept
on a shaft itself is coupled to the generator. This motion of the turbine rotor is transmitted to
generator in which mechanical energy is transmitted to electrical energy. The steam produced
into boiler expands in the turbine. In the turbine the thermal energy of the steam is converted
into the kinetic energy. Generally turbine having blades rotating by steam is shown in figure.
Turbine is divided into three categories, they are:

High Pressure Turbine:

The stream from the boiler drum first is sent on to the HPT, where it rotates the turbine.
Here the steam temperature is 5400C and a pressure of 170 Kg/cm2 and most of the
temperature and pressure of is used by the HPT itself.

Intermediate Pressure Turbine:

The steam from the reheater is sent to the IPT, where it is used to rotate the turbine. This is
having temperature of 5400C and pressure of 4.5 kg/cm2.

Low Pressure Turbine:

The expanded steam from the IPT is sent to the LPT but the pressure decreases to a
negative value of -0.8kg/cm2.

The steam after expansion from the turbine goes to the condenser. The use of turbine increases
the efficiency of the plant by decreasing the exhaust power of the steam below at atmosphere.

Generator:

Generator is a device, which converts mechanical energy of the shaft into

electrical energy by electro magnetic induction. It consists of a stator and rotor and an
excitation system. This electrical power transmitted various load enters through the
transmission lines.

NTPC-Ramagundam generators 2600MW power of which 3x200MW in Stage-1, 3x500MW

in Stage-2 and 1x500MW in stage-3 capacity.

Operation:
An electrical generator is a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.
The energy conversion is based on the principle of the production dynamically induced EMF.
Whenever conductor cuts flux dynamically induced EMF is produced in it according to
faraday’s law of electro- magnetic induction. This EMF causes a current to flow if the
conductor circuit is closed. Hence, basic essential parts of an electrical generator are a
magnetic field and conductors, which can so more as to cut the flux.

The basic law or principle of operation of all rotating machine remains the same that is
faraday’s law of electro- magnetic induction. It states that whenever there is relation motion
between a conductor and a magnet that is when a moving coil cuts the magnetic lines then an
emf is directly proportional to the rate of change of flux and the number of turns thus to
produce relative motion either the armature rotate on the magnet.

Thus to produce relative motion either the armature to rotate on the magnet. In a DC
generator, the armature is rotating part and in alternator, it is a stationary part. The rotation part
(rotor) produces the magnetic field and armature winding is the stator.

INDUCED DRAFT AND FORCED DRAFT FANS

Need of Air Flow Control

When the amount of airflow in to the furnace lesser than the optimum value, indicates
that fuel (coal containing carbon compounds) amount is more when compared with the
proportionate value of the air flow. Then, it results in inefficient combustion, during which the
flue gases emerging out will considerably consist of partially burnt fuel with compounds viz.,
Co2, SO2, Co and other dangerous gases. These gases considerably pollute the Atmosphere.

On the other hand, when the amount of air entering the boiler exceeds the
predefined limit, then fuel will not reach the furnace with high amount of air and hence the
wastage of fuel, which considerably loss of efficiency of power generation. In addition to this,
the continuous higher airflow in to the boilers may cause furnace pressurization inside the
boiler and there may be a chance of severe damage to the equipment and there by prevailing
hazardous situations in the plant.

In order to provide efficient combustion and to ensure the safety from the
hazardous conditions, the amount of air entering the Boiler needs to be continuously
monitored and controlled by effective means.

Role and Path of Air F1ow in Plant

The Air is responsible for 2 types of functions i.e. for the coal to enter the furnace as well as
for the combustion process (by containing O2 in the Air).

Firstly, Air helps the coal powder from the Pulverizers to enter the furnace. This air doesn’t
involve in the combustion process. This air is known as ‘Primary Air’. The air from the
atmosphere at STP is drawn in to the plant by two individual Primary Air Fans (PAF-A, PAF-
B).This air enters the milling systems through Primary Air Heater (PAHs) systems followed by
Primary Air Fans (PAFs), thereby mixes with the coal powder in Millers. This coal with
secondary air enters the furnace and burns there, causing heat energy to build up in the
furnace.

Secondly, the air solely responsible for the combustion process along with the coal in the
furnace is called Secondary air. This air is also drawn in to the plant by two individual Force
Draught Fans (FDF-A, FDF-B) from the atmosphere. The FD Fans supplies the secondary air
in to the furnace through the two individual Secondary Air Heaters (SAHs) followed by FD
Fans. The Air Heaters (AHs) heats up the air drawn by the FD fans or PAFs and admits in to
the furnace.

There are two types of fans are being used in thermal power stations, namely Forced draft and
Induced draft fans. These Fans may be driven by electric motors, steam turbines, gas or
gasoline engines, or hydraulic motors. The overwhelming choice is the electric motor.
Hydraulic motors are sometimes used when power from an electric utility is unavailable.
Hydraulic motors also provide variable speed control, but have low efficiencies.

Fig: Forced Draft Fan and path of air flow.

The Forced Draft (FD) Fan, sucks the air from the atmosphere, pressurizes it and sends in to
furnace. Prior sending it to furnace, the pressurized air is heated in Secondary air pre
heaters(SAPHs). The source of heating in SAPH is the hot flu gas, which are leaving from the
boiler. There are 2 FD Fans for each boiler. The pressurized hot air generally called Secondary
Air acts as combustion medium in furnace.
 Fig: Induced draft fan in power plant.

The path of air flow in Forced Draft (FD) and Induced Draft (ID) is shown above.

ID fans extract ash less flue gases from Electro Static Precipitators and send it to the
chimney. Chimney sends out the gases to atmosphere at a greater height to prevent pollution.

Electro Static Precipitators (ESP’s)

These are used for the dust and ash to be removed, and not to enter the atmosphere. These ash
and heavy dust particles are highly polluting the environment, as they contain higher amounts
of CO2, CO, SO2 and other Carbon compounds.

Two emission control devices for fly ash are the traditional fabric filters and the more recent
electrostatic precipitators. The fabric filters are large bag house filters having a high
maintenance cost (the cloth bags have a life of 18 to 36 months, but can be temporarily
cleaned by shaking or back flushing with air). These fabric filters are inherently large
structures resulting in a large pressure drop, which reduces the plant efficiency. Electrostatic
precipitators have collection efficiency of 99%, but do not work well for fly ash with a high
electrical resistivity (as commonly results from combustion of low-sulfur coal). In addition,
the designer must avoid allowing unburned gas to enter the electrostatic precipitator since the
gas could be ignited.

The salt & pepper collector/selector, and repelling balloon experiments serve to illustrate the
basis of an electrostatic precipitator. In these experiments a type of electrostatic collector and
electrostatic selector are created. This same principle is used to keep the environment clean
today.
 The flue gas laden with flyash is sent through pipes having negatively charged plates
which give the particles a negative charge. The particles are then routed past positively
charged plates, or grounded plates, which attract the now negatively-charged ash particles. The
particles stick to the positive plates until they are collected. The air that leaves the plates is
then clean from harmful pollutants. Just as the spoon picked the salt and pepper up from the
surface they were on, the electrostatic precipitator extracts the pollutants out of the air.

Electrostatic precipitators are not only used in utility applications but also other
industries (for other exhaust gas particles) such as cement (dust), pulp & paper (salt cake &
lime dust), petrochemicals (sulfuric acid mist), and steel (dust & fumes).

Flue Gas Stack

A flue gas stack are a type of chimney, a vertical pipe, channel or similar structure through
which combustion product gases called flue gases are exhausted to the outside air. Flue gases
are produced when coal, oil, natural gas, wood or any other fuel is combusted in an industrial
furnace, a power plant's steam-generating boiler, or other large combustion device. Flue gas is
usually composed of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor as well as nitrogen and excess
oxygen remaining from the intake combustion air. It also contains a small percentage of
pollutants such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The
flue gas stacks are often quite tall, up to 400 meters (1300 feet) or more, so as to disperse the
exhaust pollutants over a greater area and thereby reduce the concentration of the pollutants to
the levels required by governmental environmental policy and environmental regulation.

As the need for more power generation increased, each power station had increased its
number of plants, resulting in optimized utilization of space and resources. One of the key
areas for space optimization was chimneys. Chimneys can be defined as a vertical hollow
structure of masonry, steel or reinforced concrete, built to convey gaseous products of
combustion from a building or process facility.

A chimney should be high enough to furnish adequate draft and to discharge the products of
combustion without causing local air pollution. The height and diameter of a chimney
determine the draft. For adequate draft, small industrial boilers and home heating systems
depend entirely upon the enclosed column of hot gas.

In contrast, stacks, which are chimneys for large power plants and process facilities, usually
depend upon force-draft fans and induced-draft fans to produce the draft necessary for
operation, and the chimney is used only for removal of the flue gas.

Cooling towers

A cooling tower is a heat rejection device that rejects waste water to the atmosphere through
the cooling of a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use
the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb
air temperature or, in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers, rely solely on air to cool the

working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature.

Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil

refineries, petrochemical and other chemical plants, thermal power stations and HVAC systems for

cooling buildings. The classification is based on the type of air induction into the tower: the
main types of cooling towers are natural draft and induced draft cooling towers.

Cooling towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures (as in
the adjacent image) that can be up to 200 metres (660 ft) tall and 100 metres (330 ft) in
diameter, or rectangular structures that can be over 40 metres (130 ft) tall and 80 metres
(260 ft) long. The hyperboloid cooling towers are often associated with nuclear power
plants,although they are also used in some coal-fired plants and to some extent in some large

chemical and other industrial plants. Although these large towers are very prominent, the vast
majority of cooling towers are much smaller, including many units installed on or near
buildings to discharge heat from air conditioning.

Water treatment:-

Besides treating the circulating cooling water in large industrial cooling tower systems to
minimize scaling and fouling, the water should be filtered to remove particulates, and also be
dosed with biocides and algaecides to prevent growths that could interfere with the continuous
flow of the water. Under certain conditions, a biofilm of micro-organisms such as bacteria,
fungi and algae can grow very rapidly in the cooling water, and can reduce the heat transfer
efficiency of the cooling tower. Biofilm can be reduced or prevented by using chlorine or other
chemicals. A normal industrial practice is to use two biocides, such as oxidizing and non-
oxidizing types to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, and to ensure a broader
spectrum of attack. In most cases, a continual low level oxidizing biocide is used, then
alternating to a periodic shock dose of non-oxidizing biocides.
CONCLUSION:-

I have successfully completed my project on study of

“OVERVIEW OF THERMAL POWER PLANT” and learnt about its working and
functional structure.

By this project I have come across various electrical and electronic devices and
equipments in a thermal power station.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Modern Power Plant – Volume C,G& H

2. Power Plant Performance by AB. Gill

3. Power Plant Engineering by P.K.NAG

4. Godavari Intranet, Ramagundam

5. en.wikipedia.org