• A power station (also referred to as generating station, power

plant, or powerhouse) is an industrial facility for

the generation of electric power.
• At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating
machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by
creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor
• The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely.
• It depends chiefly on which fuels are easily available and on the types
of technology that the power company has access to.
• In thermal power stations, mechanical power is produced by a heat
engine that transforms thermal energy, often from combustion of a
fuel, into rotational energy.
Terminology
• Superheated steam is an extremely high-temperature vapor
generated by heating the saturated steam obtained by boiling
water.
• Saturated (dry) steam results when water is heated to the boiling
point (sensible heating) and then vaporized with additional heat
(latent heating).
• If this steam is then further heated above the saturation point, it
becomes superheated steam(sensible heating).
• The water goes from a liquid state to a vapour state and receives
energy in the form of “latent heat of vaporization”.
• As long as there is some liquid water left, the steam's temperature is
the same as the liquid water. The steam is then called saturated
steam.
Diagram of a Typical Coal-Fired Thermal Power
Station
Diagram of a typical coal-fired thermal power
station

1. Cooling tower 10. Steam Control valve 19. Superheater

2. Cooling water pump 11. High pressure steam turbine 20. Forced draught (draft) fan
3. transmission line (3-phase) 12. Deaerator 21. Reheater

4. Step-up transformer (3-phase) 13. Feed water heater 22. Combustion air intake

5. Electrical generator (3-phase) 14. Coal conveyor 23. Economiser

6. Low pressure steam turbine 15. Coal hopper 24. Air preheater
7. Condensate pump 16. Coal pulveriser 25. Precipitator
8. Surface condenser 17. Boiler steam drum 26. Induced draught (draft) fan
9. Intermediate pressure steam
18. Bottom ash hopper 27. Flue gas stack
turbine
• Coal conveyor : This is a belt type of arrangement. With this coal is
transported from coal storage place in power plant to the place
near by boiler.
• Stoker : The coal which is brought near by boiler has to put in boiler
furnace for combustion. This stoker is a mechanical device for
feeding coal to a furnace.
• Pulverizer : The coal is put in the boiler after pulverization. For this
pulverizer is used. A pulverizer is a device for grinding coal for
combustion in a furnace in a power plant.
Boiler : Now that pulverized coal is put in boiler furnace. Boiler is an
enclosed vessel in which water is heated and circulated until the water is
turned in to steam at the required pressure.
•Coal is burned inside the combustion chamber of boiler. The products of
combustion are nothing but gases.
•These gases which are at high temperature vaporize the water inside the
boiler to steam. Some times this steam is further heated in a super heater as
higher the steam pressure and temperature the greater efficiency the
engine will have in converting the heat in steam in to mechanical work.
•This steam at high pressure and temperature is used directly as a heating
medium, or as the working fluid in a prime mover to
convert thermal energy to mechanical work, which in turn may be
converted to electrical energy.
•Although other fluids are sometimes used for these purposes, water is by
far the most common because of its economy and suitable thermodynamic
characteristics.
 Superheater : Most of the modern boilers are having super
heater and reheater arrangement.
• Superheater is a component of a steam-generating unit in
which steam, after it has left the boiler drum, is heated
above its saturation temperature.
• The amount of superheat added to the steam is influenced
by the location, arrangement, and amount of super heater
surface installed, as well as the rating of the boiler.
• The super heater may consist of one or more stages of tube
banks arranged to effectively transfer heat from the
products of combustion. Super heaters are classified as
convection , radiant or combination
 Reheater : Some of the heat of superheated steam is used to
rotate the turbine where it loses some of its energy
• Reheater is also steam boiler component in which heat is added
to this intermediate-pressure steam, which has given up some
of its energy in expansion through the high-pressure turbine
• The steam after reheating is used to rotate the second steam
turbine where the heat is converted to mechanical energy
• This mechanical energy is used to run the alternator, which is
coupled to turbine , there by generating electrical energy
 Economiser : Flue gases coming out of the boiler carry lots of heat.
Function of economiser is to recover some of the heat from the
heat carried away in the flue gases up the chimney and utilize for
heating the feed water to the boiler.
• It is placed in the passage of flue gases in between the exit from
the boiler and the entry to the chimney.
• The use of economiser results in saving in coal consumption ,
increase in steaming rate and high boiler efficiency but needs extra
investment and increase in maintenance costs and floor area
required for the plant.
• This is used in all modern plants. In this a large number of small
diameter thin walled tubes are placed between two headers. Feed
water enters the tube through one header and leaves through the
other. The flue gases flow out side the tubes usually in counter
 Air Preheater : The remaining heat of flue gases is utilized by air
preheater. It is a device used in steam boilers to transfer heat from
the flue gases to the combustion air before the air enters the
furnace.
• Also known as air heater; air-heating system. It is not shown in the
lay out. But it is kept at a place near by where the air enters in to
the boiler.
• The purpose of the air preheater is to recover the heat from the
flue gas from the boiler to improve boiler efficiency by burning
warm air which increases combustion efficiency, and reducing
useful heat lost from the flue.
Deaerator : A steam generating boiler requires that the boiler feed
water should be devoid of air and other dissolved gases, particularly
corrosive ones, in order to avoid corrosion of the metal.

• Generally, power stations use a Deaerator to provide for the

removal of air and other dissolved gases from the boiler feed water.

• A deaerator typically includes a vertical, domed deaeration section

mounted on top of a horizontal cylindrical vessel which serves as the
deaerated boiler feed water storage tank.
Prime Movers: These depend on the fuel used. Coal fired plants
use Steam Turbines. In case of coal fired plants steam produced
in the boiler is passed through an axial flow turbine. The turbine
is coupled to the generator and thus energy conversion is
achieved. Increasing the unit capacity from 100MW to 250MW
results in saving of about 15% in their capital cost per kW.
Moreover units of this magnitude result in fuel saving of almost
8% per kWh. The cost of installation is also low for such units.
Condenser : Steam after rotating steam turbine comes to
condenser. Condenser refers here to the shell and tube heat
exchanger (or surface condenser) installed at the outlet of every
steam turbine in Thermal power stations of utility companies
generally.
•These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from
its gaseous to its liquid state, also known as phase transition. In so
doing, the latent heat of steam is given out inside the condenser.
Where water is in short supply an air cooled condenser is often
used.
•An air cooled condenser is however significantly more expensive
and cannot achieve as low a steam turbine backpressure (and
therefore less efficient) as a surface condenser.
•The purpose is to condense the outlet (or exhaust) steam from
steam turbine to obtain maximum efficiency and also to get the
condensed steam in the form of pure water, otherwise known as
condensate, back to steam generator or (boiler) as boiler feed
water.
Cooling Towers: The condensate (water) formed in the
condenser after condensation is initially at high temperature.
This hot water is passed to cooling towers.
• It is a tower- or building-like device in which atmospheric air
(the heat receiver) circulates in direct or indirect contact with
warmer water (the heat source) and the water is thereby cooled.
•A cooling tower may serve as the heat sink in a conventional
thermodynamic process, such as refrigeration or steam power
generation, and when it is convenient or desirable to make final
heat rejection to atmospheric air.
•Water, acting as the heat-transfer fluid, gives up heat to
atmospheric air, and thus cooled, is recirculated through the
system, affording economical operation of the process.
Electrostatic precipitator : It is a device which removes dust or
other finely divided particles from flue gases by charging the
particles inductively with an electric field, then attracting them to
highly charged collector plates.
• Also known as precipitator. The process depends on two steps.
In the first step the suspension passes through an electric
discharge (corona discharge) area where ionization of the gas
occurs.
• The ions produced collide with the suspended particles and
confer on them an electric charge. The charged particles drift
toward an electrode of opposite sign and are deposited on the
electrode where their electric charge is neutralized. The
phenomenon would be more correctly designated as electrode
position from the gas phase.
Smoke stack : A chimney is a system for venting hot flue gases or
smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside
atmosphere. They are typically almost vertical to ensure that the
hot gases flow smoothly, drawing air into
the combustion through the chimney effect (also known as
the stack effect). The space inside a chimney is called a flue.
Chimneys may be found in buildings, steam locomotives and
ships. In the US, the term smokestack (colloquially, stack) is also
used when referring to locomotive chimneys. The term funnel is
generally used for ship chimneys and sometimes used to refer to
locomotive chimneys. Chimneys are tall to increase their draw of
air for combustion and to disperse pollutants in the flue gases
over a greater area so as to reduce the pollutant concentrations
in compliance with regulatory or other limits.
A flue is a duct, pipe, or opening in a
chimney for conveying exhaust gases
from a fireplace, furnace, water heater,
boiler, or generator to the outdoors
Generator : An alternator is an electromechanical device that
converts mechanical energy to alternating current electrical
energy. Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field.
Different geometries - such as a linear alternator for use
with stirling engines - are also occasionally used. In principle,
any AC generator can be called an alternator, but usually the
word refers to small rotating machines driven by automotive
and other internal combustion engines.

Transformers : It is a device that transfers electric energy

from one alternating-current circuit to one or more other
circuits, either increasing (stepping up) or reducing (stepping
down) the voltage. Uses for transformers include reducing
the line voltage to operate low-voltage devices and raising the
voltage from electric generators so that electric power can be
transmitted over long distances. Transformers act through
electromagnetic induction; current in the primary coil induces
current in the secondary coil. The secondary voltage is
calculated by multiplying the primary voltage by the ratio of
the number of turns in the secondary coil to that in the
primary.
Monitoring and alarm system : Most of the power plant operational controls
are automatic. However, at times, manual intervention may be required. Thus,
the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems that alert the plant
operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating from their
normal range.

Battery supplied emergency lighting and communication : A central battery

system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency
electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plant's
control systems, communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, and
emergency lighting. This is essential for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the
units in an emergency situation.

Control Room and Switchyard : The control room monitors the overall
operation of the plant. It is provided with controls for real and reactive power
flow. It is provided with safety relays and switchgears.
Site Selection for Steam Power Plant
Availability of law materials
Cost of land
Transport facilities
Availability of labour
Load center
Nature of land
Availability of water
Ash disposal facilities
Future extensions
Advantages
Respond rapidly to changing in loads
Can be located conveniently close to a load center
Fuel used is cheaper
Cheaper initial costs
Less space required compared to hydro
Disadvantages
Maintenance costs are high
Cost of plant increases with temperature and pressure
Large quantity of water required
Pollution problems