International

OPEN ACCESS Journal

Of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER)

Energy Based Analysis of a Thermal Power Station for Energy

Efficiency Improvement
Dr. Mohammed Yunus1, Mohammed Asadullah2, Dr. Hamza A. Ghulman3, Dr.
J. Fazlur Rahman4, Mohammed Irfan5
1,2,4,5
Department of Mechanical Engineering, H.K.B.K.College of Engineering/ Visvesvaraiah Technological
University, India
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ummul Qura University, Mekkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT: Despite of growth of renewable energy stations installations like wind, solar, Tidal power, the
energy for the world depends heavily on fossil fuels for electricity generation. It is also expected to continue the
dependence on fossil fuels for next few decades. Therefore, given the continued reliance on the fossil fuels for some
time, it is important to note these plants must reduce their environmental impact by operating fossil fuels more
efficiently. Two types of analysis namely, energy and exergy analysis can be developed for the system. Energy
analysis based on first law of thermodynamics cannot be applied as it cannot justify the real useful energy loss
because it does not differentiate between the quality and quantity of energy within the system. Whereas, exergy
analysis will characterize the work potential of a system based on the second law of thermodynamics and the
maximum work that can be obtained from the system when its state is brought to the reference or dead state
(standard atmospheric conditions).This technical paper presents the results of exergy and energy analysis carried out
on 62 MW coal-based thermal power plant to evaluate the performance. The performance of the plant was estimated
by a component-wise modeling followed by a system simulation. A parametric study is conducted for the thermal
plant under various operating conditions, including different operating condenser pressures, temperatures and flow
rates of cooling water across the condenser etc, in order to determine which parameter that maximizes plant
performance. Energy loss distribution to find out the amount and source of irreversibilities generated in boiler and
turbine in a plant so that any process in the system having largest energy destruction can be identified and that helps
the designer to re design the system components.
Keywords: Exergy Analysis, Energy analysis, Coal based Thermal Power station, Fossil fuels,
Irreversibility, Second Law of Thermodynamics.

I. Introduction
Despite of growth of renewable energy stations installations like wind, solar and tidal power, the
energy for the world depends heavily on fossil fuels for electricity generation. It is also expected to continue the
dependence on fossil fuels for decades. Therefore, given the continued reliance on the fossil fuels for some time,
it is important that fossil fuel plants reduce their environmental impact by operating more efficiently. The heavy
dependence on fossil fuels is expected to continue for decades. Despite the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and
environmental concerns such as climate change, the growth in oil demand is expected to be 60% between 2014
and 2035, 94% for natural gas and 96% for coal [24]. Since it is very clean process, it is continued to reliance on
the fossil fuels for some more time. Therefore, it is important that fossil fuel plants should reduce their
environmental impact by operating more efficiently.
There are two types of analysis used for thermal power plants, namely, energy and exergy analysis can
be developed for the system. Energy analysis based on first law of thermodynamics cannot be applied as it
cannot justify the real useful energy loss because it does not differentiate between the quality and quantity of
energy within the system and also does not characterize the irreversibility of processes within the system.
Whereas, exergy analysis will characterize the work potential of a system based on the second law of
thermodynamics and the maximum work that can be obtained from the system when its state is brought to the
reference or dead state (standard atmospheric conditions). Exergy analysis is based on the second law of
thermodynamics. Past exergy studies have evaluated the performance of power plants, as a means to optimize the
performance and turbine power output.
Using exergy and energy analysis, the performance of 400MW capacity coal-fired and nuclear power
plants carried out successfully by Habib et. al.and Zubair et.al [17] conducted a second law analysis of
regenerative Rankine power plants with reheating. Sengupta et al. [19] conducted an exergy analysis of a 210
MW thermal power plant in India. Rosen et.al.[13], [16], [20], [21] and [22] performed exergy analysis of power
plants that operate on various fuels. They have also investigated capital costs involved and thermodynamic

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 Energy Based Analysis of a Thermal Power Station for Energy Efficiency Improvement

losses. Most common size of power plants in India are 100/110/200/210 MW [6]. The exergy analysis is not so
popular among industries especially in India and it needs much more attention and application so that the
irreversibilities can be minimized and thus the systems can be operated at much higher efficiency. The present
work is to show the application of energy and exergy based analysis. The performance of the plant was estimated
by a component-wise modeling followed by a system simulation (computer program) and detailed break-up of
exergy losses are evaluated. For the low performance of plant, the various parameters responsible for the plant
are mismatching of equipments/ components, improper maintenance, over a period of time, low performance due
to deteriorated equipments, inadequate instrumentation, mismatching of equipments etc. [3].
The power plant is designed to utilize an air cooled condenser to condense the exhaust steam. This
paper will identify major sources of losses and energy destruction in the power plant. It will provide ways and
means to improve the system performance and reduce environment impact. Finally, it will perform a parametric
study to determine how the system performance varies with different operating parameters. he introduction of the
paper should explain the nature of the problem, previous work, purpose, and the contribution of the paper. The
contents of each section may be provided to understand easily about the paper.

II. Experimental Methodology

A detailed process flow-sheet of a Thermal Power Station consists of a unit employs regenerative feed
water heating system which is carried out in two stages of low pressure heaters and high pressure heaters along
with one open de-aerating heat exchanger. Saturated steam from the boiler drum is fed to the super heater to heat
it up to 500oC at a pressure of 85 bars.

Fig. 1. Process flow diagram: ACC - air cooled condenser, BFP - boiler feed pump,
CEP condensate extraction pump, DE - deaerator, GEN - generator, GSC gland steam
condenser, HPH - high pressure heater, LPH - low pressure heater.
The condenser pressure is taken as 10 kPa. The extraction pressures of steams from the turbine varies at
High Pressure Heater of fist stage of 30 bars to High Pressure Heater of stage of 16 bars , De-aerator of 6 bars
and Low Pressure Heater of fist stage of 2.8 bars to Low Pressure Heater of 2 stage of 0.8 bar.

2.1 Composition Details

Coal available in India is the supply fuel of the power plant with the following components and the
compositions of it used for coal fired thermal power plant are shown in table 1. Calorific value of Indian coal
supplied to Raichur Thermal Power station has 15.5 MJ/kg.

Table 1.Composition of typical Indian coal

Components Mass in percentage
Moisture 10
Ash 40
Hydrogen 2.68
Nitrogen 0.8
Sulphur 0.65
Oxygen 7
Carbon 38.87

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 Energy Based Analysis of a Thermal Power Station for Energy Efficiency Improvement

2.2 Assumptions to be made for using flow sheet program method of analysis.
1. Reference temperature for water / steam is at 250C and incoming fuel temperature is also 250C.
2. Neglect the potential and kinetic exergies.
3. Environment model to calculate exergy has reference pressure and temperature are 1.013 bar
and 250C and the composition of environment( % mole)for CO2, H2O, N2, O2, are 0.03, 3.12, 76, 21.
4. Excess air is 20%.
5. Generator efficiency is 95%.
6. Isentropic efficiency of pumps / fans and turbine are 70% and 80% respectively.

The present study has been performed using a flow-sheet program, which is a well-structured program
for the thermodynamic analysis of energy systems. The ash content of Indian coal, as already mentioned is
around 40 - 50% as against 5 - 10% in the coal being used in the western countries. This is one of the important
factors contributing to the lower overall efficiency of the plant. Being a tropical country, the cooling water
temperature in majority of the parts in India throughout the year is around 25 0C. In Europe and other western
countries the cooling water temperatures are lower in the range of 5 – 100C, which enables the operation of the
condenser at much lower vacuum pressures (5 kPa), thus resulting in higher operating efficiencies. Since, both
the above factors are nature’s limitation; though coal can be beneficiated to a small extent, designer’s / plant
operator’s focus should shift to other major sites of potential improvement. Thus, the goal of this paper is to
identify such sites so that the overall efficiency of the system can be improved.

III. Results and Discussion

Parametric study has been carried out in order to account the performance of the over the parameters
such as gain in cooling water temperature across the condenser, Steam temperature, steam pressure, inlet air
temperature, and the condenser pressure. Fig 2. shows that the reference temperature does not have an effect on
the energy efficiency, but it affects then exergy efficiency. The performance of the system depends on the
surroundings of the system i.e. inlet air temperature. Fig. 4. shows the variation of efficiencies (both exergy and
energy) with the increase in cooling water temperature across the condenser and it is found about 0.15 – 0.20%
for the temperature variation of 50C. As this power plant uses an air cooled condenser to condense the exhaust
steam of the turbine and mainly the improvement that can be achieved by lowering the condenser pressure as
shown in fig.3 due to the higher expansion of steam through the turbine, resulting in higher power output.

33 energy efficiency Exergy efficiency

32
31
Efficiency

30
29
28
27
26
25
15 20 25 30 35 40
Reference air temperature

Fig.2. Variation of efficiencies v/s Reference air temperature

energy efficiency Exergyefficiency

50
Efficiencies

25

0
5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5
Condenser Pressure in KPa

Fig. 3. Variation of efficiency vs. condenser pressure

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 Energy Based Analysis of a Thermal Power Station for Energy Efficiency Improvement

In case of water cooled condensers, where the temperature of water can be easily controlled, but not in
an air cooled condenser, the temperature at which the steam to be condensed cannot be reduced.

Energy Efficiency Exergy Efficiency

33
32
31

Efficiencies
30
29
28
27
26
25
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Increase in Condenser cooling water temperature

Fig. 4. Variation of efficiencies with increase in condenser cooling water temperature.

It is seen that the efficiency rises with an increase in the superheated steam parameters as presented in
fig. 5. Show the effects of the steam temperature on the cycle performance. It is evident the increasing the cycle
steam temperature will result in a higher power output for the same mass flow rate of steam and fuel input into
the boiler. Therefore steam has higher energy/exergy content, resulting in higher work output of the turbine.

Exergy Efficiency Energy Efficiency

35
Efficiency

30

25

20
480 490 500 510 520 530 540 550
Cycle Steam Temperature

Fig.5.Illustrates the efficiency vs. Cycle steam pressure

It is seen that the efficiency rises with an increase in the superheated steam parameters as presented in
fig. 5. Show the effects of the steam temperature on the cycle performance. It is evident the increasing the cycle
steam temperature will result in a higher power output for the same mass flow rate of steam and fuel input into
the boiler. Therefore steam has a higher energy/exergy content, resulting in higher work output of the turbine.
exergy eff energy eff

35

30
Efficincies

25

20
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Fraction of Full Load

Fig. 6. Efficiency vs. Fraction of Full Load (% of generator output power)

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 Energy Based Analysis of a Thermal Power Station for Energy Efficiency Improvement

It is evident from figs.6 and 7, that the variation of energy and exergy efficiencies with lower auxiliary
power consumption, in terms of the percentage of generator output power which leads to higher system
efficiencies. The operation of the plant below 50% of the designed capacity results in the significant increase of
irreversibilities and indicates that when the plant is operated at its rated capacity would be more economical than
operating at part loads. Figs.8 and 9 show the detailed energy and exergy balance of the considered system at
the maximum operating load of 60 MW and difference in the composition of energy and exergy balances. It is
noted that the exergy analysis has enabled the identification of the causes of process inefficiencies in detail when
compared to the energy analysis.

Energy Efficiency Exergy Efficiency

35

30
Efficiencies

25

20
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Power ouput

Fig.7. Variation of efficiencies vs. power output of Turbine

Heat rejected
through stack
Other Losses 1%
13%

heat rection
Overall Energy 53%
Efficiency
33%

Fig. 8.Energy balance of 62 MW thermal power plant

Heat Loss in
Evaporator
14%

Heat Loss in
Turbine Heat loss in
6% combustor
36%
Heat loss
through stack
4%

Other Losses
11%

Overall Exergy
Efficiency
29%
Fig. 9.Exergy balance of 62 MW thermal power plant

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 Energy Based Analysis of a Thermal Power Station for Energy Efficiency Improvement

In order to utilize non-renewable sources more effectively like fossil fuels without damaging the
environment, so that it can achieve better environmental sustainability. This will enable us to
maximize its use of limited resources and make existing resources last longer. Fig. 10 shows the effect of exergy
efficiency on the sustainability index.

2.5

2
Sustainability
1.5
Index
1

0.5

0
15

25

35

45

55

65
5

Fig.10. Sustainability index vs. exergy efficiency.

IV. Conclusion
Energy analysis of a thermal power plant based on a second law analysis has been presented and a
detailed parametric study considering the effects of various parameters on the system performance has been
performed to identify and quantify the sites having largest energy and exergy losses. The power plant's energy
and energy efficiency is determined to be 32.5% and 27.5% for the gross generator output. The maximum exergy
loss is found to occur in the boiler and turbine and if the performance of a boiler and turbine are improved, plant
performance will also be improved. Hence the largest improvement the power plant efficiency. The exergy
analysis of the plant showed that lost energy in the condenser is thermodynamically insignificant due to its low
quality.

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