UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

LECTURE NOTES
ON

POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Prepared
By

RAM BABU DARA

Senior Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Aditya Nagar, ADB Road, Surampalem, East Godavari Dist,

Andhra Pradesh-533437

1
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Syllabus:
STEAM POWER PLANT: Plant layout, working of different circuits, fuel and handling
equipments, types of coals, coal handling, choice of handling equipment, coal storage, ash
handling systems. Combustion: properties of coal – overfeed and underfeed fuel beds,
traveling grate stokers, spreader stokers, retort stokers, pulverized fuel burning system and its
components, combustion needs and draught system, cyclone furnace, design and
construction, dust collectors, cooling towers and heat rejection, corrosion and feed water
treatment.

Introduction to the Sources of Energy – Resources and Development of Power In India.

Sources of energy
The sun is the main source of energy on Earth. Other energy sources include coal, geothermal
energy, wind energy, biomass, petrol, nuclear energy, and many more. Energy is classified
into various types based on sustainability as renewable sources of energy and non-renewable
sources of energy.
Sources of energy can be classified into:
 Renewable Sources
 Non-renewable Sources

Figure 1.1: Available energy sources

Renewable sources of energy are available plentiful in nature and are sustainable. These
resources of energy can be naturally replenished and are safe for the environment.
Examples: Solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, biomass, hydropower and tidal
energy.

2
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that is found underneath the earth. This type
of energy resources do not replenish at the same speed at which it is used. They take millions
of years to replenish. The main examples of non-renewable resources are coal, oil and natural
gas.
Examples: Natural gas, coal, petroleum, nuclear energy and hydrocarbon gas liquids.
Table1. Difference between Renewable and Non-renewable Sources of Energy
Renewable Non-renewable
The resources that can be renewed once they The resources that cannot be renewed once
are consumed are called renewable they are consumed are called non-renewable
Sources of energy. Sources of energy.
These resources do not cause any These resources cause environmental
environmental pollution. pollution.
Renewable resources are inexhaustible. Non- Renewable resources are exhaustible.
Renewable resources are not affected by Non- Renewable resources are affected by
human activities. human activities.

POWER PLANT:
A power plant may be defined as a machine or assembly of equipment that generates and
delivers a flow of mechanical or electrical energy. The main equipment for the generation of
electric power is generator. When coupling it to a prime mover runs the generator, the
electricity is generated.
Types of power plants
1. Conventional power plants
Ex: Steam or Thermal, Gas turbine, Hydro-Electric, etc.
2. Non-Conventional power plants
Ex: Fuel-Cell based, PV cell based, Wind energy, Geo thermal, Bio gas and Bio mass energy,
etc.

Plant Layout and Working of Different Circuits:

The schematic layout of the power plant is shown in Figure 1.2.

3
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 1.2: Thermal Power Plant Layout

MAJOR COMPONENTS
 High pressure boiler
 Prime mover
 Condensers and cooling towers
 Coal handling system
 Ash and dust handling system
 Draught system
 Feed water purification plant
 Pumping system
 Air Pre-heater, Economizer, Super Heater, Feed Heaters.

The entire arrangement is divided into four main circuits (for the simplicity purpose):
(i) Coal and Ash Circuit
(ii) Air and Flue Gas Circuit
(iii) Feed Water and Steam Circuit
(iv) Cooling Water Circuit

4
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

1. Coal and Ash Circuit:

Figure 1.3: Coal and Ash Circuit

2. Air and Flue gas Circuit:

Figure 1.4: Air and Flue gas Circuit

3. Feed Water and Steam Circuit:

Figure 1.5: Feed Water and Steam Circuit

5
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

4. Cooling Water Circuit:

Figure 1.6: Cooling Water Circuit

Fuel and Handling

Types of Fuels
1. Solids 2. Liquids 3.Gaseous
Factors should be considered in selecting the fuel handling system.
1. Plant fuel rate
2. Plant location with respect of fuel shipping
3. Storage area available
Requirements of good fuel handling plant
1. It should need minimum maintenance
2. It should be reliable
3. It should be able to deliver required quantity of fuel during peak periods
4. It require a minimum of operative

COAL
 “Coal” is the primary fuel source for the “steam power plants”
 Contains carbon, volatile matter, moisture and ash [in some
cases Sulphur and Phosphorous]
Types of Coals: Peat, Lignite, Bituminous and Anthracite Coal.
1. Peat (First stage of formation)
• Contains less than 25 to 40 per cent carbon == more impurities.

6
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• Contains sufficient *volatile matter and lot of moisture [more smoke and more pollution].
• Left to itself, it “burns like wood”, gives less heat, emits more smoke and leaves a lot of
ash.
2. Lignite (Brown Coal: 2nd stage of formation)
• Lower grade coal. It contains 40 to 55 per cent carbon.
• Intermediate stage.
• Moisture content is high (over 35 per cent).
• It undergoes spontaneous combustion [Bad: Creates fire accidents in mines]

Figure 1.7: Stages of Coal formation

3. Bituminous (Soft coal: 3rd stage of formation)
• Most widely available and used coal.
• It contains 40 to 80 per cent carbon.
• Moisture and volatile content (15 to 20 per cent)
• Dense, compact, and is usually of black colour.
• Calorific value is very high due to high proportion of carbon and low moisture.
4. Anthracite (Best quality; hard coal)
• It contains 80 to 95 per cent carbon.
• Very little volatile matter.
• Negligibly small proportion of moisture.
• Ignites slowly == less loss of heat == highly efficient.
• Ignites slowly and burns with a nice short blue flame. [Complete combustion == little or
no pollutants]

7
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• In India, it is found only in Jammu and Kashmir and that too in small quantity.

Various stages in coal handling:

Figure 1.8: Various stages of coal handling

COAL DELIVERY:
The coal from supply points is delivered by ships or boats to power stations situated near to
sea or river whereas coal is supplied by rail or trucks to the power stations which are situated
away from sea or river. The transportation of coal by trucks is used if the railway facilities are
not available.
UNLOADING:
The type of equipment to be used for unloading the coal received at the power station
depends on how coal is received at the power station. If coal is delivered by trucks, there is
no need of unloading device as the trucks may dump the coal to the outdoor storage. In case
the coal is brought by railway wagons, ships or boats, the unloading may be done by car
shakes, rotary car dumpers, cranes, grab buckets and coal accelerators.
PREPARATION:
When the coal delivered is in the form of big lumps and it is not of proper size, the
preparation (sizing) of coal can be achieved by crushers, breakers, sizers, driers and magnetic
separators.
TRANSFER:
After preparation coal is transferred to the dead storage by means of the following systems:
1. Belt conveyors 2. Screw conveyors
3. Bucket elevators 4. Grab bucket elevators
5. Skip hoists 6. Flight conveyor

8
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

1. BELT CONVEYER:
It consists of an endless belt. Moving over a pair of end drums (rollers). At some distance a
supporting roller is provided at the centre. The belt is made up of rubber or canvas. Belt
conveyor is suitable for the transfer of coal over long distances. It is used in medium and
large power plants. The initial cost of the system is not high and power consumption is also
low. The inclination at which coal can be successfully elevated by belt conveyor is about 20.
Average speed of belt conveyors varies between 200-300 rpm. This conveyor is preferred
than other types.

Figure 1.9: Belt Conveyer

Advantages:
• Its operation is smooth and clean.
• It requires less power as compared to other types of systems.
• Low initial installation cost
• Large quantities of coal can be discharged quickly and continuously.
• Material can be transported on moderate inclines.

2. SCREW CONVEYER:

Figure 1.10: Belt Conveyer

It consists of an endless helicoid screw fitted to a shaft. The screw while rotating in a trough
transfers the coal from feeding end to the discharge end. This system is suitable, where coal is
to be transferred over shorter distance and space limitations exist. The initial cost of the

9
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

system is low. It suffers from the drawbacks that the power consumption is high and there is
considerable wear of screw. Rotation of screw varies between 75-125 rpm.

3. BUCKET ELEVATOR:
It consists of buckets fixed to a chain. The chain moves over two wheels. The coal is carried
by the buckets from bottom and discharged at the top. This elevator limits transfers to 30 –
meters vertically, with a maximum horizontal inclination of up to 60 degrees

Figure 1.11: Bucket Elevator

4. GRAB BUCKET ELEVATOR:

It lifts and transfers coal on a single rail or track from one point to the other. The coal lifted
by grab buckets is transferred to overhead bunker or storage. This system requires less power
for operation and requires minimum maintenance. Although the initial cost of this system is
high but operating cost is less.

Figure 1.12: Grab Bucket Elevator

10
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

5. SKIP HOIST
It consists of a vertical or inclined hoist way a bucket or a car guided by a frame and a cable
for hoisting the bucket. It is used for high lifts and handling is non-continuous. It is used for
both coal and ash handling

Figure 1.13: Skip Hoist

6. FLIGHT CONVEYER:
It consists of one or two strands of chain to which steel scraper or flights are attached which
scrap the coal through a trough having identical shape. This coal is discharged in the bottom
of trough. It is low in first cost but has large energy consumption. There is considerable wear.
Skip hoist and bucket elevators lift the coal vertically. Belts and flight conveyors move the
coal horizontally or on inclines.

Figure 1.14: Flight Conveyer

STORAGE OF COAL
It is desirable that sufficient quantity of coal should be stored. Storage of coal gives
protection against the interruption of coal supplies. Also when the prices are low, the coal can
be purchased and stored for future use. The amount of coal to be stored depends on the

11
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

availability of space for storage, transportation facilities, the amount of coal that will whether
away and nearness to coal mines of the power station.
The coal storage requires the following:
• No standing of water near the storage area.
• Proper drainage ditches should be provided.
• Storage should be solid and not loose or porous.
• Handling cost should be minimum.
• The area should be protected against the fire.

Procedure (or) Method of Coal Storage:

1. Stocking the Coal in Heaps
The ground used for stocking the coal should be dry and level. The concrete-floored area is
used to prevent the flow of air from the bottom. The pile top should be given a gentle slope in
the direction in which rain may be drained off so that the water will be removed. The coal is
piled on the ground up to 10-12 m height. The sealing of the stored pile may be done to avoid
the oxidation of coal after packing an air-tight layer of coal.

Figure 1.15: Stocking the coal in Heaps

2. Under Water Storage

Figure 1.16: Stocking the coal under water

12
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

The possibility of slow oxidation and spontaneous combustion may be totally eliminated by
storing coal underwater. It will control the dust formation. The dock basins can be used for
storing the coal under-water. “Coal kept in water cannot burn until the water is removed”
3. Live storage: In Bunkers
Live storage is covered storage provided in plants, sufficient to meet the one-day requirement
of the boiler. The bunkers made up of steel or reinforced concrete is used to store the coal.
From here coal is transferred to boiler gates.

Figure 1.17: Coal Storage Bunker

COAL WEIGHING METHODS

Weigh Lorries, hoppers and automatic scales are used to weigh the quantity coal. The
commonly used methods to weigh the coal are as follows:
Mechanical (ii) Pneumatic (iii) Electronic
The Mechanical method works on a suitable lever system mounted on knife edges and
bearings connected to a resistance in the form of a spring of pendulum.
The pneumatic weightier use a pneumatic transmitter weight head and the corresponding air
pressure determined by the load applied.
The electronic weighing machines make use of load cells that produce voltage signals
proportional to the load applied.

ASH HANDLING SYSTEM

A large quantity of ash is, produced in steam power plants using coal. Handling of ash is a
problem because ash coming out of the furnace is too hot, it is dusty and irritating to handle
and is accompanied by some poisonous gases.
It is desirable to quench the ash before handling due to following reasons:

13
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• Quenching reduces the temperature of ash.

• It reduces the corrosive action of ash.
• Ash forms clinkers by fusing in large lumps and by quenching clinkers will disintegrate.
• Quenching reduces the dust accompanying the ash.
• Handling of ash includes its removal from the furnace, loading on the conveyors and
delivered to the fill from where it can be disposed off.

GENERAL LAYOUT OF ASH HANDLING AND DUST COLLECTION SYSTEM

Figure 1.18: Ash Handling & Dust Collection System – General Layout
The commonly used ash handling systems are as follows:
• Hydraulic system
• Pneumatic system
• Mechanical system

ASH HANDLING - HYDRAULIC SYSTEM

In this system, ash from the furnace grate falls into a system of water possessing high
velocity and is carried to the sumps. It is generally used in large power plants.
Hydraulic system is of two types:

• Low pressure hydraulic system used for continuous removal of ash, and

• High pressure system which is used for intermittent ash disposal.

14
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 1.19: Sump System (Low pressure system)

In this method water at sufficient pressure is used to take away the ash to sump. Where water
and ash are separated.
WATER JETTING (High Pressure system)

Figure 1.20: Water Jetting System (High pressure system)

In this method a low pressure jet of water coming out of the quenching nozzle is used to cool
the ash. The ash falls into a trough and is then removed.
Advantages:
• High capacity, more suitable large power plants
• Clean and dust free operation
• Handle molten ash
• No working parts in contact with ash so minimum erosion problem
• Can discharge at a distance of 1000 m
Disadvantages:

15
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• In contact with water, ash forms corrosive acids

• Water channel and pump must be made of wear resisting material

ASH HANDLING – PNEUMATIC SYSTEM

In this system ash from the boiler furnace outlet falls into a crusher where larger ash particles
are crushed to small sizes. The ash is then carried by a high velocity air or steam to the point
of delivery. Air leaving the ash separator is passed through filter to remove dust etc. so that
the exhauster handles clean air which will protect the blades of the exhauster.

Figure 1.21: Pneumatic System

Advantages:
• Dust free operation
• Less installation cost per ton of ash handling
• Dry ash handling eliminates chances of ash freezing, sticking in the storage bin
Disadvantages:
• Noisy operation
• High maintenance due to wearing of pipeline by ash

ASH HANDLING – MECHANICAL SYSTEM

In this system ash cooled by water seal falls on the belt conveyor and is carried out
continuously to the bunker. The ash is then removed to the dumping site from the ash bunker
with the help of trucks.
Advantages:
• Low power consumption
• Continuous ash removal
Disadvantages:

16
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• Suitable for low capacity plants

• Life is about 5 to 10 years.

Figure 1.22: Mechanical Ash handling System

BOILER ACCESSORIES:
SUPER HEATER
It is integral part of boiler and is placed in the path of hot flue gases from the furnace. The
heat recovered from the flue gases is used in superheating the steam before entering into the
turbine (i.e., prime mover).Its main purpose is to increase the temperature of saturated steam
without raising its pressure.
Following are the advantages of using Super heater.
• There is an increase in efficiency of the steam power plant.
• Erosion of turbine blade is minimized (or) even eliminated.
• Steam consumption of the prim-mover is reduced.
• Condensation loss in the pipes is reduced.
• It removes entrained water particles from the steam conveyed to the steam turbines
and increases the temperature of saturated steam.
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 super
heater. This is simply a heat exchanger where additional heat is added to the saturated steam.
In water-tube boilers, the super heater may be an additional pendant suspended in the furnace
area where the hot gases will provide the degree of superheat required. In other cases, it

17
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

superheats the steam generated by the boiler and increases the temperature steam above
saturation temperature at constant pressure. Superheaters are placed in the path of flue gases
to recover some of their heat. In bigger installations, the super heaters are placed in an
independently fired furnace. Such super heaters are called separately fired or portable super
heaters.

Figure 1.23: Super-heater

WORKING
Steam stop valve is opened. The steam (wet or dry) from the evaporator drum is passed
through the super heater tubes. First the steam is passed through the radiant super heater and
then to the convective super heater. The steam is heated when it passes through these super
heaters and converted into superheated steam. This superheated steam is supplied to the
turbine through a valve.
Applications
This type of super heaters are used in modern high pressure boilers.

AIR PREHEATERS
Air pre-heaters are provided in boilers to preheat the combustion air. There are two main
types: recuperative and regenerative air heaters. Tubular or recuperative air pre-heaters are
provided in boilers of medium and small range of steam generation. This type of air pre-
heater becomes very large in size if they have to be used in very high capacity boilers like
600 tons/hr of steam production and above. In these cases regenerative air pre-heaters are
used. The arrangement of all these air pre-heaters differs with the design and, in large, the

18
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

way they are combined for very high capacity boilers. Regenerative air per-heaters are
compact and can have a stationary or rotating hood. A combination of tubular and
regenerative type of air pre-heaters is used in very high capacity boilers. The tubular being
used for primary air heating and the regenerative used for the secondary air heating. In case
the boiler designers do not want to go for a combination of tubular and regenerative air pre-
heater, then they have a choice of tri-sector regenerative air heater. Normally the ambient air
is heated to about 300 to 350 degree centigrade. This results in a flue gas temperature drop of
around 230 to 250 degree centigrade. So for each degree pick up in air temperature, roughly
0.8 degree drop in flue gas temperature is achieved.

Figure 1.24: Air Preheater

ECONOMIZER
The feed water from the high pressure heaters enters the economizer and picks up heat from
the flue gases after the low temperature super heater. Many types of economizer are designed
for picking up heat from the flue gas. These can be classified as an inline or staggered
arrangement based on the type of tube arrangement. The staggered arrangement is compact
and occupies less volume for the same amount of heat transfer when compared to the inline
arrangement. Economizers are also designed with plain tube and fined tubes. The fins can be
longitudinal or spiral. All these types are suitable for clean fuels like gas, oil, and low ash
coals. For high ash coals, only the plain tube inline arrangement is used. This is mainly to
reduce ash erosion and thus reduce erosion failures.

19
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 1.25: Economizer

These economizers pick up about 50 to 55 degrees centigrade in a large capacity boiler,
which will reduce the flue gas temperature by about 150 to 170 degree centigrade. The boiler
designers always keep the economizer water outlet temperature to about 25 to 35 degrees
below the drum saturation temperature. This is done to mainly avoid steaming in the
economizer. A steaming economizer generally is less reliable. As a rule of thumb, for every
one degree pick up of economizer water temperature, there will be a drop of about 3 to 3.5
degrees.

There are two common methods used for burning coal.

1. Stoker firing 2. Pulverised fuel firing.

1. Stoker firing
Mechanical stokers are commonly used to feed solid fuels into the furnace in medium and
large size power plants.
The various advantages of stoker firing are as follows:
i. Large quantities of fuel can be fed into the furnace. Thus greater combustion capacity
is achieved.
ii. Poorer grades of fuel can be burnt easily.
iii. Stoker save labour of handling ash and are self-cleaning. By using stokers better
furnace conditions can be maintained by feeding coal at a uniform rate.
iv. Stokers save coal and increase the efficiency of coal firing.

20
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

v. The main disadvantages of stokers are their more costs of operation and repairing
resulting from high furnace temperatures.
TYPES OF STOKERS:
Charging of fuel into the furnace is mechanized by means of stokers of various types. They
are installed above the fire doors underneath the bunkers which supply the fuel. The bunkers
receive the fuel from a conveyor.
1. Over feed stokers
 Travelling grate stokers
 Spread stokers
2. Under feed stokers
 Single retort stoker
 Multi retort stoker
Overfeed stoker:
Combustion mechanism:
In overfeed stoker; the coal is fed on the grate above the entry point of the air. The primary
air is forced through bottom of the grate by the forced draught fan. The air gets heated while
it passes through grate openings and ash. Then it passes through a layer of incandescent
(glowing with heat) cock, where the oxygen (O2) reacts with coke (carbon) to form carbon-
di-oxide CO2. The water vapour in the air reacts with incandescent coke and forms carbon-di-
oxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and free hydrogen (H2). The raw coal is continuously
supplied over the fuel bed, the volatile matters are removed by the heat of the incandescent
coke by distillation. The gases leaving the surface of the fuel bed are CO2, CO, N2, H2, H2O
and combustible volatile matter. Secondary air is supplied over the surface of the fuel bed for
burning the combustible gases. During incandescent, carbon in the fuel is lost by oxidation
and only ash remains. The ash settles down at the bottom of the grate.
(a) Travelling grate stokers:
Travelling grate stoker is of two types
1. Travelling chain grate stoker and
2. Travelling bar grate stoker.
1. Travelling chain grate stoker:
In this type, the grate surface is made up of a series of cast iron links connected by pins to
form an endless chain. This chain forms the fuel bed support. The chain travels over two

21
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

sprocket wheels, one at the front of the furnace and another at the back. The front wheel is
driven by a variable speed drive mechanism.

Figure 1.26: Travelling Chain Grate Stoker

Working:
By gravity, the coal is fed to the travelling chain from the hopper. The depth of the fuel bed is
adjusted by adjusting the fuel grate opening. According to the combustion, the speed of the
chain is controlled.
Through the air inlets, the primary air required for combustion enters. The air duct under the
grate is divided into sections to enable air supply to different ports of the stoker. The
secondary air is supplied through the ports provided in the furnace walls. Both primary and
secondary air supplied provides turbulence required for rapid combustion. The ash falls down
at the rear end of the stoker and deposited in the ash pit.
Advantages:
 Simple in construction.
 Ash crusher is not required since no ash clinker is formed.
 Heat releasing rate can be controlled by adjusting the speed of the chain.
 Low initial cost and maintenance cost.
 High heat release per unit volume of the furnace.
Disadvantages:
 Since the amount of coal carried on the grate is less, this cannot be used for high
capacity boilers.
 Some coal is lost in the form of fine particles with ashes.
 Pre heated air temperature is limited to 180°C

22
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

2. Travelling bar grate stoker:

Chain grate stoker and bar grate stoker differ only in construction. The grate surface of bar
grate stoker is made up of a series of cast iron grate bars. The bar grate stoker is used to burn
lignite and small size anthracite coal etc.
(b) Spreader stoker:

Figure 1.27: Spread stoker

Spreader stoker consists of a hopper, feeder, spreader and openings for admitting air. In front
of furnace wall, the coal feeding and distributing mechanism is located. The feeder is a
rotating drum which consists of number of small blades. Spreader consists of a fast rotating
shaft carrying twisted blades. Both travelling and stationary grates are used with spreader
stoker.
Working:
By gravity, the coal is fed to the feeder from hopper. According to the combustion
requirement, the feeder supplies the coal to the spreader.
The fast rotating blades of the spreader receives the coal particles coming from the feeder and
distributes the coal uniformly over the grate. A part of coal is burnt in suspension and the
remaining is burnt in the grate. Forced draught fan is used for supplying the required amount
of air through grate openings.
Advantages:
 Wide variety of coal can be burnt easily.
 The clinkering problem is reduced by the spreading action.
 Flexible to load changes since most of the heat is released by burning coal in
suspension.

23
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

 Fuel burns rapidly.

Disadvantages:
 An efficient dust collecting equipment is needed.
 It does not work satisfactorily for varying size of coal.
Under feed stokers:
In this type, both the fuel and air are fed from the bottom to the top in the same direction. The
primary air passes through raw coal first. By the heat of incandescent fuel bed, combustible
volatile matter is formed from the raw coal. The mixture of air and volatile matter passes
through the ignition zone and then enters the incandescent coke. Hence the combustion
process is highly efficient and gives high rate of heat release. The reactions that take place in
incandescent coke is same as over feed stoker. Secondary air is supplied to burn the volatile
matters.
(a) Single retort stoker:
This consists of a hopper, a cylinder fitted with ram, tuyeres for air and pushers.

Figure 1.28: Single retort stoker

The coal is fed into the cylinder by gravity. Then the coal is forced into the bottom of the
horizontal trough by the reciprocating ram. The pushers push the coal into the grate. The air
is supplied through tuyeres provided along the grate. The ash and clinkers are collected in the
ash pit for removal.
(b) Multi retort stoker:
Multi retort stoker consists of a series of alternate retorts and tuyere box. Each retort is fitted
with pusher plate for uniform coal distribution. The coal is fed by gravity. This coal is pushed
forward by the stoker ram. Then the pushers force the coal down to the entire stoker. Through
tuyeres, the primary air is supplied. The ashes are collected at the lower end of the stoker.

24
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 1.29: Multi – Retort Stoker

Pulveriser:
To increase the surface exposure, the coal is pulverised. This enables rapid combustion. The
pulverised coal is produced by grinding the raw coal in pulverizing mills. There are different
types of pulverising mills namely 1. ball mill, 2. hammer mill and 3. bull and race mill

Figure 1.30: Double classifier Ball Mill

A ball mill consists of steel balls partly filled in a drum. The drum is rotated slowly. The raw
coal is fed to the feeding hoppers. The coal moves to the drum through the classifiers and

25
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

screw conveyors. As the drum rotates, there is a continuous impact between coal and the steel
balls. Thus the coal is powdered. Hot air is passed through the drum. This air picks up the
powdered coal with it. The coal air mixture enters the classifiers. In classifier oversized coal
is returned back to the drum. The powdered coal and air mixture is drawn by the exhaust fan
and supplied to the burners.
Pulverised fuel firing system:
There are two methods of pulverised fuel firing system.
 Unit or direct system,
 Bin or central system.

Figure 1.31: Pulverized coal handling plant

1. Unit (or) direct system:
A line diagram of unit system is given in the Fig.1.31 (a) and 1.32.
The raw coal is supplied to the feeder from the coal bunker. Hot air (or) flue gas is passed
through the feeder to dry the coal. The dried coal is fed into the pulverising mill and
powdered. The induced draught fan brings primary air to the pulverising mill. This air carries

26
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

coal with it and supplies to the burner through pipe. The secondary air is added in the burner
before the fuel enters the combustion chamber.

Figure 1.32 Unit System

Advantages:
 The layout is simple and economical.
 It gives direct control of combustion.
 Coal transportation system is simple.
 Maintenance cost is less.
Disadvantages:
 Power consumption is more at part loads by the poor performance of the pulverizing
mill.
 Plant capacity is higher than central system.
 Fan blades are subjected to wear and tear excessively as they handle mixture of air &
coal particles.
2. BIN (or) Central System:
A line diagram of bin system is shown in Fig.1.84(b) and 1.86. By gravity, the coal is
supplied to the feeder or drier from the raw coal bunker. The coal is dried by passing hot
gases, preheated air or bleeder steam. Then it is fed to the pulverising mill where it is
pulverised.

27
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 1.33: Central or Bin system

An induced draught fan draws coal powder and air from the pulveriser and then it is passed
through cyclone separator where air is separated from coal. The separated coal is transferred
to the central fuel bunker (bin) by the conveyor system. Then the powdered coal enters the
feeder. A forced draught fan supplies primary air into the feeder and the mixture of air and
powdered coal is supplied to the burner.
Advantages:
 More flexible system changes can be made according to the demand.
 Quantity of fuel & air can be controlled separately.
 Break down in the coal supply will not affect the functioning of the boiler for some
time.
 Less power consumption.
 Less labour requirement.
 Burner operation is independent of coal preparation.
 Sometimes the pulveriser can be made idle, if there is sufficient fuel in bunker.
Disadvantages:
 Capital coal is high.
 Space requirement is more.
 Driers must be used.
 There is possibility of fire hazard of stored pulveriser.
 Coal transportation system is more complicated.
 Operational and maintenance cost is high.

28
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

COMBUSTION
Properties of Coal: (Physical and Chemical)
• Energy Content (Calorific value & Carbon content)
• Sulphur Content (and Hydrogen and oxygen)
• Burning Characteristics: Flash & Fire points
• Volatile matter, Specific heat, Viscosity, etc.
• Moisture content & Ash content
• Color, Hardness, Density, etc.

Figure 1.34: Coal types & its properties

COMBUSTION OF COAL
• Combustion is a rapid chemical reaction between fuel and oxygen. When combustible
elements of fuel combine with O2, heat energy comes out.
• During combustion combustible elements like Carbon, Sulphur, Hydrogen etc.
combine with oxygen and produce respective oxides.
• As per combustion theory the quantity of air required for combustion is that which
provides sufficient O2 to completely oxidize combustible elements of fuel.
• This quantity of air is normally known as STOICHIOMETRICAIR requirement.
• In complete combustion, the carbon combines with an equivalent amount of oxygen to
form CO2
• In Incomplete combustion occurs when coal does not unite according to the reaction
stoichiometry.
• In this type of combustion carbon monoxide (CO) may be formed, and Sulphur is
converted to SO2

29
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• In practice it is impossible to obtain complete combustion with the theoretical amount

of air.
• In most of the cases, excess, amounting to double or more than the theoretical supply
of oxygen is required, depending upon the nature of the fuel to be burned and the
method of burning it
• The technology of the combustion of coal mainly depends on the type of coal firing
equipment, coal-feeding method and the type of combustion devices, such as fixed-
bed combustion, fluidized-bed combustion, and coal suspended-bed.

DUST GENERATION

 In material handling plant during broking, dumping, crushing, grinding, screening,

belt conveying, transferring, stocking, loading and milling materials to a finer size and
movement of workers and machinery.
 The amount of dust emitted by these activities depends on the physical characteristics
of the material and the way in which the material is handled.

Inhalable dust: Which enters the body, but is trapped in the nose, throat, and upper respiratory
tract, the aerodynamic diameter of this dust is about 100 µm

Respirable dust: These are small enough to penetrate the nose and upper respiratory system
and deep into the lungs where gas exchange takes place. Particle size of respirable dust is up
to 10 microns.

Necessity of dust control:

 Health
 Reduce plant safety
 Increased maintenance cost
 Reduced efficiency

SMOKE AND DUST REMOVAL: In coal fed furnaces the products of combustion contain
particles of solid matter floating in suspension. This may be smoke or dust. The production of
smoke indicates that combustion conditions are faulty and amount of smoke produced can be
reduced by improving the furnace design.
The disposal smoke to the atmosphere is not desirable due to the following:
• A smoky atmosphere is less healthful than smoke free air.

30
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• Smoke is produced due to incomplete combustion of coal. This will create a big
economic loss due to loss of heating value of coal.
• In a smoky atmosphere lower standards of cleanliness are prevalent. Buildings,
clothing, furniture etc., becomes dirty due to smoke. Smoke corrodes the metals and
darkens the paints.

TYPES OF DUST COLLECTORS

The various types of dust collectors are as follows:
• Mechanical dust collectors.
• Electrical dust collectors.
Mechanical dust collectors
• Mechanical dust collectors, often called cyclones or multiclones have been used
extensively to separate large particles from a flue gas stream.
• Mechanical collectors are particulate control devices that use centrifugal force, gravity
settling, and inertia to collect pollutants.

(a)

(b)
Figure 1.35: Mechanical dust collectors

31
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

• In cyclone separators, cyclonic separation method of removing particulates is used.

Rotational effects and gravity are used to separate mixtures of solids and fluids
Mechanical dust collectors are sub-divided into wet and dry types. In wet type collectors also
known as scrubbers, water sprays are used to wash dust from the air. As shown in Fig.1.35
(a) by increasing the cross- sectional area of duct through which dust laden gases are passing,
the velocity of gases is reduced and causes heavier dust particles to fall down. Changing the
direction of flow Fig. 1.35 (a) of flue gases causes the heavier particles of settle out.
Sometime baffles are provided as shown in Fig. 1.35 (a) to separate the heavier particles.
Electrostatic Precipitators or Electrical dust collectors:

Figure 1.36 Electrostatic Precipitator

It has two sets of electrodes, insulated from each other that maintain an electrostatic field
between them at high voltage. The flue gases are made to pass between these two sets of
electrodes. The electric field ionises the dust particle; that pass through it attracting them to
the electrode of opposite charge. The other electrode is maintained at a negative potential of
30,000 to 60,000 volts. The dust particles are removed from the collecting electrode by
rapping the electrode periodically. The electrostatic precipitator is costly but has low
maintenance cost.
COOLING TOWERS
A cooling tower is a semi-enclosed device for evaporative cooling of water by contact with
air. It is a wooden, steel, concrete structure and corrugated surfaces or troughs or baffles or
perforated trays are provided inside the tower for uniform distribution and better atomization
of water in the tower. The hot water coming out from the condenser are fed to the tower on
the top and allowed to tickle in the form of thin sheets or drops. The air flows from the

32
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

bottom of the atmosphere after effective cooling. An evaporative cooling tower is a machine
of relatively simple conception and operation. The water to be cooled for a chiller, industrial
process or refrigeration installation is pumped and distributed through spray nozzles over a
fill pack or heat exchange surface through which passes an air current commonly generated
buy a fan. A small fraction of this water evaporates and the remainder is cooled thanks to the
absorption of latent heat of evaporation by the passing air, and fall under gravity into a basin
from there it is pumped back to the heat load source.
Cooling Water Systems
Site conditions determine the method to be used for supplying the cooling water to the
condensers, and may be one of three systems namely:

1. River, sea or canal/lake water system.

2. Combined river and cooling pond system.
3. Cooling tower or spray pond system.

1. Plants directly using water from river or sea: The water is drawn directly from the river,
pumped through the condensers the discharged to the river at a higher temperature, probably
5 to 120C in excess of the inlet temperature.
2. Combined river and cooling pond system: This type of cooling system uses river water
as well as cooling ponds or cooling towers, which overcome the difficulty of re-circulation
and meet the requirements of a fishery board on a fairly small river.

Figure 1.37: River, sea or canal/lake water system.

33
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 1.38: Combined River and cooling pond system.

3. Cooling tower system :( or closed system): Modern trend is to locate the stem power
stations as near as possible to the centre of gravity of the electrical load instead of near a
source of natural water to avoid huge transmission costs. Also, there may be constraints
imposed by the limitations on thermal discharge to natural waters.

Figure 1.39: Cooling tower system.

Therefore, for large power plants situated away from the source of natural water, enormous
quantities of pure water may not be available for once through condenser cooling and the
same supply of water may have to be used again the again. Moreover, enough quality of
water may not be available for cooling requirement from river. Therefore, there must be some
arrangement to recool the circulating water and for this Purpose cooling ponds or cooling
towers are needed. This type of cooling water system is known as closed circuit or circulating
cooling water system, or closed cooling system. Due to losses caused by the evaporation
leakage etc., it is still necessary to have water available to compensate for this loss. This
make up water may be taken from a river, sewage outfall or in times of emergency, from a
town main supply, the latter being rather expensive.

34
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

COOLING TOWER SYSTEM

The system is similar in many respects to the river circulating system, the main difference
being that the cooling water is alternatively warmed and cooled and circulated continuously.
The final; inlet temperature to the condensers depends to a large extent on atmospheric
conditions, and the temperatures of the cooling water tower is much above that of a river. In
this case the hot water coming out of a condenser is passed on to a cooling tower where it is
cooled down. The water in the cooling tower is made to trickle down drop by drop and is
broken into small particles while passing over the baffling devices. These water particles
come in contact with stream of a moving in the opposite direction. As a result of this, some
portion of the water gets evaporated and is carried away along with air. The air vaporizes a
small percentage of water, thereby cooling the remaining of water. The air gets heated and
leaves the tower at the top. The cooled water falls down into a tank at the bottom of the tower
from where it can be again circulated to the condenser, through water culver. The heat
exchange between air and water through direct contact is from (i) by the evaporative cooling
of water or by (ii) the convective heating of air. Cooling by evaporation is the greatest.
Factors affecting the cooling of water in a cooling tower are:
(i) Temperature of air
(ii) Humidity of air
(iii) Temperature of hot water
(iv) Size and height of tower
(v) Velocity of air entering the tower.
(vi) Accessibility of air to all parts of the cooling water
(vii) Degree of uniformity in descending water.
CLASSIFICATION OF COOLING TOWERS
The cooling towers can be classified in two ways:
1. On the basis of material used
(a) Timber
(b) Concrete:
i. Ferro – concrete
ii. Multi-deck concrete
iii. Hyperbolic
(c) Metallic or steel duct type

2. On the basis of draft:

35
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

(a) Natural draft

(b) Mechanical draft:
(i) Induced draft cooling towers
(ii) Forced draft cooling towers
(iii) Combined induced and forced draft cooling towers.

BOILER DRAUGHT:
Boiler draught may be defined as the small difference between the pressure of outside air and
that of gases within a furnace or chimney at the grate level, which causes flow of air/hot flue
gases to take place through boiler. It is measured in millimetre (mm) or water.
The draught is one of the most essential systems of the thermal power plant which support the
required quantity of air for combustion and removes the burnt products from the system. To
move the ait through the fuel bed and to produce a flow of hot gases through the boiler
economiser, preheater and chimney require a difference of pressure.
This difference of pressure to maintaining the constant flow of air and discharging the gases
through the chimney to the atmosphere is known as draught. Draught can be achieved by the
use of chimney, fan, steam or air jet or a combination of these.
When the draught is produced with the help of chimney only, it is known as Natural Draught
and when the draught is produced by any other means except chimney it is known as
Artificial Draught.
Purpose of Boiler Draught
1. To provide an adequate supply of air for fuel combustion.
2. For throw out the exhaust gases of combustion from the combustion chamber.
3. To discharge these gases to the atmosphere through the chimney.
The amount of draught depends upon:
(i) Nature and depth of fuel on the grate.
(ii) Design of combustion chamber/firebox.
(iii) Rate of combustion required. ADVERTISEMENTS:
(iv) Resistance offered in the system due to baffles, tubes, superheater, economiser, air pre-
heater, etc
Classification of Boiler Draught
1. Natural Draught
2. Artificial Draught
(a) Steam Jet (Produced by steam jet)

36
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

(i) Induced (ii) Forced

(b) Mechanical (Produced by fan/blower etc.)
(i) Induced (ii) Forced (iii) Balanced (Forced & Induced)

Natural Draught:
Natural draught system employs a tall chimney as shown in the figure. The chimney is a
vertical tubular masonry structure or reinforced concrete. It is formed for enclosing a column
of flue gases to produce the draught.

Figure 1.40: Natural draught system

It removes the gases high enough to prevent air pollution. The draught is produced by this tall
chimney due to the temperature difference of hot gases in the chimney and cold external air
outside the chimney.
Advantages of Natural Draught
1. It does not require any external power for producing the draught.
2. The capital investment is less. The maintenance cost is low as there is no mechanical part.
3. Chimney keeps the flue gases at a high place in the atmosphere which prevents the
contamination of the atmosphere.
4. It has a long life.
Disadvantages of Natural Draught
1. The maximum pressure available for producing natural draught by the chimney is hardly
10 to 20 mm of water under the normal atmospheric and flue gas temperatures.
2. The available draught reduces with increases in outside air temperature and for generating
enough draught, the exhaust gases have to be discharged at relatively high temperatures
resulting in the loss of overall plant efficiency. Thus maximum utilization of Heat is not
possible.

Artificial Draught:

37
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

It has been seen that the draught produced by the chimney is affected by the atmospheric
conditions. It has no flexibility; poor efficiency and tall chimney are required. In most of the
modern power plants, the draught applied must be freedom of atmospheric condition, and it
should have more flexibility (control) to bear the fluctuation loads on the plant.
Today’s steam power plants requiring 20 thousand tons of steam per hour would be
impossible to run without the aid of draft fans. A chimney of a reasonable height would be
incapable of improving enough draft to eliminate the huge volume of air and gases (400 x 103
m3 to 800 x 103 m3 per minutes). The further advantages of fans are to reduce the height of
the chimney needed.
The draught required in the actual power plant is sufficiently high (300 mm of water) and to
meet high draught requirements, some other system must be used, known as artificial
draught. The artificial is produced by a fan and it is known as mechanical draught.
Mechanical draught is preferred for central power stations.
Types of Artificial Draught
The following are the two types of Artificial or Mechanical draught:
1. Steam jet draught
2. Mechanical or fan draught
Advantages of Artificial Draught
1. It is more economical and its control is easy.
2. The desired value of draught can be produced by artificial means which cannot produce by
means of natural draught.
3. It increases the rate of combustion by which low-grade fuel can also be used.
4. It reduces the smoke level and increases the heat transfer co-efficient no flue gases side
thus increases the thermal efficiency of the boiler.
5. In artificial draught, it saves the energy and the heat of flue gases can be best utilized by it.
6. In this way, it reduces fuel consumption and makes boiler operation cheaper.
7. It reduces the height of chimney which now is only controlled by the requirement of
pollution norms.
Disadvantages of Artifical Draught
1. The initial cost of artificial draught system is high.
2. Running cost is also high due to the requirement of electricity but that is easily
compensated by the savings in fuel consumption.
3. Maintenance cost is also at a higher rate.
4. Noise level of boiler is also high due to noisy fan/blower etc.

38
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Steam Jet Draught:

It is a very simple and easy method of producing artificial draught without the need for an
electric motor. It may be forced or induced depending on where the steam jet is installed.
When a small portion of steam is passed through a jet or nozzle, pressure energy converts to
kinetic energy and steam comes out with a high velocity. This high-velocity steam carries,
along with it, a large mass of air or flue gases and makes it flow through the boiler. Thus
steam jet can be used to produce draught and it is a simple and cheap method.

Figure 1.41: Steam Jet draught system

Actually the steam jet is directed towards a fix direction and carries all its energy in kinetic
form. It creates some vacuum in it’s surrounding and attracts the air of flue gases either by
carrying along with it. Thus it has the capacity to make the flow of the flue gases either by
carrying or including towards chimney. It depends on the position of the steam jet.
Types of Steam Jet Draught
The following are the main two types of steam jet draught:
1. Induced steam jet draught.
2. Forced steam jet draught.

1. Induced Steam Jet Draught

The jet of steam is turned into a smoke box or chimney. The kinetic head of the steam is high
but static head is low i.e., it produces a partial vacuum which brings the air through the grate,
ash pit, flues and then to motor box and chimney.
This type of induced steam jet draught arrangement is used in locomotive boilers. Here the
steam jet is absorbing the exhaust gases through boiler so it is Induced Steam Jet Draught.

2. Forced Steam Jet Draught

39
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Steam from the boiler after having been throttled to a gauge pressure of 1.5 to 2 bar is
supplied to the jet or nozzle installed in the ash pit. The steam rising out of nozzles with a
great velocity drags air by the fuel bed, furnace, flue passage and then to the chimney. Here
the steam jet is pushing or forcing the air and flue gases to flow through boiler hence it is
forced steam jet draught.
Advantages of Steam Jet Draught
1. It is quite simple and cheap.
2. The steam jet draught has the capability of using low-grade fuels.
3. It occupies very less space.
4. It is quite simple and cheap.
5. The initial cost is low.
6. Maintenance cost is low.
7. Exhaust steam from the steam engine or turbine can be used easily in the steam jet draught.
Disadvantages of Steam Jet Draught
1. It can operate only when some steam is generated.
2. Draught produced very low.

2. Mechanical or Fan Draught

The draught, produced by means of a fan or blower, is known as mechanical draught or fan
draught. The fan used is, generally, of centrifugal type and is driven by an electric motor.
In an induced fan draught a centrifugal fan is placed in the path of the flue gases before they
enter the chimney. It draws the flue gases from the furnace and forces them up through the
chimney. The action of this type of draught is similar to that of the natural draught.
In case of forced fan draught, the fan is placed before the grate, and the air is forced into the
grate through the closed ash pit.
Types of Mechanical or Fan Draught
The following are the three types of mechanical or fan draught:
1. Induced draught.
2. Forced draught.
3. Balanced draught.
1. Induced draught
In induced draught, the blower is placed near the base of the chimney instead of near the
grate. The air is absorbed in the system by decreasing the pressure through the system below
the atmosphere. The induced draught fan sucks the burned gases from the furnace and the

40
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

pressure inside the furnace is reduced below atmosphere and includes the atmospheric air to
flow through the furnace.
The action of the induced draught is related to the action of the chimney. The draught
produced is free from the temperature of the hot gases; therefore, the gases may be released
as cold as possible after recovering as much heat as possible in air-preheater and economiser.

Figure 1.42: Induced draught system

2. Forced Draught
In a forced draught system, a blower is installed near the base of the boiler and air is forced to
pass through the furnace, flues, and economiser, air-preheater and to the stack.
This draught system is known as positive draught system or forced draught system because
the pressure and air are forced to flow through the system.
The arrangement of the system is shown in the figure. A stack or chimney is also in this
system as shown in the figure but its function is to discharge gases high in the atmosphere to
prevent the contamination. It is not much significant for producing draught; therefore, the
height of the chimney may not be very much.

Figure 1.43: Forced draught system

41
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

3. Balanced Draught
It is always better to use a combination of forced draught and induced draught instead of
forced or induced draught alone. If the forced draught is applied alone, the furnace cannot be
opened for firing or inspection because high-pressure air inside the furnace will quickly try to
blow out and there is every possibility of blowing out the fire completely and furnace stops.
If the induced draught is used alone, then also furnace cannot be opened either for firing
inspection because the cold air will try to rush into the furnace as the pressure inside the
furnace is under atmospheric pressure. This reduces the effective draught and dilutes the
combustion.

Figure 1.44: Balanced draught system

Feed Water Treatment in Power Plant and Types:
Raw water coming from different sources contains dissolved salts and un-dissolved or
suspended impurities. Therefore it is necessary to remove harmful salts dissolved into the
water before feeding it to the boiler. It is Feed Water Treatment.
Need for feed water treatment:
 Scaling on the inside wall of different heat-exchangers due the deposition of dissolved
salts and suspended impurities will form and thus these will create excessive pressure
and thermal stress inside the heat-exchangers, which may lead to the explosion and
serious hazards for boilers.
 The dissolved salts may react with various parts of boiler through which it flows,
thereby corrode the surfaces.
 Corrosion damage may occur to turbine blades.
Hence, feed water treatment is very much required to remove such dissolved and suspended
impurities from water before feeding it to boiler.

42
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Classification of Impurities in Water:

The impurities in water may be classified as follows:
1. Visible Impurities:
(i) Microbiological growth: Presence of micro-organisms is always undesirable as they may
produce clogging troubles
(ii) Turbidity and Sediments: Turbidity is the suspended insoluble matter whereas sediments
are the coarse particles which settle down in stationary water, both are objectionable.
2. Dissolved Gases:
(i) Carbon dioxide (ii) Oxygen (iii) Nitrogen (iv) Methane
(v) Hydrogen Sulphide
3. Minerals and Salts
(i) Iron and Manganese (ii) Sodium and Potassium Salts (iii) Flourides
(iv) Silica
4. Mineral Acids: Their presence in water is always undesirable as it may result in the
chemical reaction with the boiler material.
5. Hardness: The salts of calcium and magnesium as bicarbonates, chlorides, sulphates, etc.
are mainly responsible for the formation of very hard surface which resist heat transfer and
clogs the passages in pipes. Presence of these salts is known as Hardness.

Methods of Feed Water Treatment

The different treatments adopted to remove the various impurities are enumerated and
discussed as follows:
1. Mechanical treatment
(i) Sedimentation (ii) Coagulation (iii) Filtration
(iv) Interior painting
2. Thermal treatment
(i) Deaeration (ii) Distillation by evaporation
3. Chemical treatment
(i) Cold lime soda softening process (ii) Hot lime soda softening process
(iii) Lime Phosphate softening process (iv) Ion Exchange process

Sedimentation:
 In this method, water is allowed to remain stand-still in big tanks or allowed to flow at
very low velocity

43
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

 The solid matter settles down due to gravity which is then removed periodically or
continuously
 Clean water is taken from the surface of the tank.

Figure 1.45: Sedimentation process

Coagulation:
 In this method, coagulants like aluminium sulphate, sodium aluminate or ferrous
sulphate are added to the impure water
 Reaction between these salts and alkalinity in the water causes smaller particles to
adhere to each other, forming large particles.
 These large particles settle down and can be removed by a filtration process

Figure 1.46: Coagulation process

Filtration:
 In this method, water is allowed to pass through gravity or pressure filters
 By increasing the fitness of the filtering element, maximum suspended impurities are
removed

44
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

 The suspended matter adheres to the filter material and clear water drains from the
bottom
 It is necessary to clean the dirt collected in the voids of the filter material periodically
by backwashing the filter material.

Figure 1.47: Filtration process

Distillation:
 In this method, raw water is evaporated utilizing bled steam from the boiler
 The steam from the boiler flows into the tubes and gets condensed after transferring
the heat to the water as shown in figure below
 The condensate is returned to the boiler as feed water
 The water from the top surface gets evaporated. The steam is collected and
condensed to supply pure feed water.

Figure 1.48: Distillation Process

45
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

Deaeration:
Deaeration is a water treatment process that removes dissolved gases, such as oxygen, carbon
dioxide, and ammonia, from water. It's often used in boiler feedwater to improve plant
efficiency and prevent corrosion and fouling.

Figure 1.49: Deaeration process

Hot Lime soda Process

(a)

46
UNIT-1 POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

(b)
Figure 1.50: Hot lime soda process
 Chemical reaction takes place are listed below
 The carbonate hardness is removed by hot lime

 The sulphate hardness of calcium and magnesium is removed by soda ash

47