CONVENTIONAL SOURCE OF

ELECTRICAL ENERGY
ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN INDIA
 Sources of Electrical energy
Conventional ( Non Renewable) Non Conventional (Renewable)
• Hydro • Solar
• Coal • Wind
• Nuclear • Fuel Cell
• Diesel • Tidal
• Gas • Geothermal
• Biogas
Renewable and Non renewable energy
sources
Conventional ( Non Renewable)
Hydro Energy
Coal Energy
Nuclear Energy
Diesel Energy

Gas Energy
Non-Conventional (Renewable)
Thermal Power Plant
(Schematic layout and operation)
 Coal
• In a coal based thermal power plant, coal is transported from coal mines
to the generating station.
• Generally, bituminous coal or brown coal is used as fuel.
• The coal is stored in either 'dead storage' or in 'live storage'.
• Dead storage is generally 40 days backup coal storage which is used when
coal supply is unavailable.
• Live storage is a raw coal bunker in boiler house.
• The coal is cleaned in a magnetic cleaner to filter out if any iron particles
are present which may cause wear and tear in the equipment.
• The coal from live storage is first crushed in small particles and then taken
into pulverizer to make it in powdered form.
• Fine powdered coal undergoes complete combustion, and thus pulverized
coal improves efficiency of the boiler.
• The ash produced after the combustion of coal is taken out of the boiler
furnace and then properly disposed.
• Periodic removal of ash from the boiler furnace is necessary for the proper
combustion.
• Boiler:
• The mixture of pulverized coal and air (usually preheated
air) is taken into boiler and then burnt in the combustion
zone.
• On ignition of fuel a large fireball is formed at the center
of the boiler and large amount of heat energy is radiated
from it.
• The heat energy is utilized to convert the water into steam
at high temperature and pressure.
• Steel tubes run along the boiler walls in which water is
converted in steam.
• The flue gases from the boiler make their way through
superheater, economizer, air preheater and finally get
exhausted to the atmosphere from the chimney.
Superheater:
• The superheater tubes are hanged at the hottest part of the
boiler.
• The saturated steam produced in the boiler tubes is
superheated to about 540 °C in the superheater.
• The superheated high pressure steam is then fed to the
steam turbine.
Economizer:
• An economizer is essentially a feed water heater which heats
the water before supplying to the boiler.
Air pre-heater:
• The primary air fan takes air from the atmosphere and it is
then warmed in the air pre-heater.
• Pre-heated air is injected with coal in the boiler. The
advantage of pre-heating the air is that it improves the coal
combustion.
Steam turbine:
• High pressure super heated steam is fed to the steam turbine
which causes turbine blades to rotate.
• Energy in the steam is converted into mechanical energy in the
steam turbine which acts as the prime mover.
• The pressure and temperature of the steam falls to a lower value
and it expands in volume as it passes through the turbine.
• The expanded low pressure steam is exhausted in the condenser.
Condenser:
• The exhausted steam is condensed in the condenser by means of
cold water circulation.
• Here, the steam loses it's pressure as well as temperature and it is
converted back into water.
• Condensing is essential because, compressing a fluid which is in
gaseous state requires a huge amount of energy with respect to
the energy required in compressing liquid. Thus, condensing
Alternator:
• The steam turbine is coupled to an alternator. When the
turbine rotates the alternator, electrical energy is
generated.
• This generated electrical voltage is then stepped up with
the help of a transformer and then transmitted where it
is to be utilized.
Feed water pump:
• The condensed water is again fed to the boiler by a feed
water pump.
• Some water may be lost during the cycle, which is
suitably supplied from an external water source.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of a
Thermal Power Plant
Advantages:
• Less initial cost as compared to other generating stations.
• It requires less land as compared to hydro power plant.
• The fuel (i.e. coal) is cheaper.
• The cost of generation is lesser than that of diesel power plants.
Disadvantages:
• It pollutes the atmosphere due to the production of large
amount of smoke. This is one of the causes of global warming.
• The overall efficiency of a thermal power station is low (less
than 30%).
 FUEL HANDLING SYSTEM
Coal delivery equipment is one of the major components of
plant cost. The various steps involved in coal handling are as
follows:

• 1. Coal delivery.
• 2. Unloading
• 3. Preparation
• 4. Transfer
• 5. Outdoor storage
• 6. Covered storage
• 7. Implant handling
• 8. Weighing and measuring
• 9. Feeding the coal into furnace
i) 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.
ii) Unloading
• If coal delivered by trucks, there is no need of unloading
device as the trucks may dump the coal to the outdoor
storage.
• Coal is easily handled if the lift trucks with scoop are used.
• In case the coal is brought by railways wagons, ships or
boats, the unloading may be done by car shakes, rotary car
dumpers, cranes, grab buckets and coal accelerators.
• Rotary car dumpers although costly are quite efficient for
unloading closed wagons.
(iii) 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.
iv)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
Belt Conveyor
• 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.
Screw Conveyor
• It consists of an endless
helicoid screw fitted to a shaft
(figure).
• 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.
Bucket elevator
• It consists of buckets fixed to a
chain.
• The chain moves over two
wheels.
• The coal is carried by the bucket
from bottom and discharged at
the top.
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.
Flight conveyor
Storage of Coal
Dead storage
Heaps or Piles
 Under water Storage
•Possibility of slow oxidation and spontaneous completely
eliminated by storing under water
Live Storage
•Live coal storage implies the reclaiming and combustion of coal that
has been stored for only a relatively short time, usually less than a
weak.
•Coal from a live coal storage pile is usually supplied to combustion
equipment without the use of mobile equipment.
• The coal is usually stored in the vertical cylinder bunkers or coal
bins or silo. Coal from silo is transferred to the boiler greet.
• Live coal storage bunkers are normally constructed with a diamond
shaped cross section storage area.
• The storage bunkers are made of steel or reinforced concrete to
store the live coal.
Implant handling :
• An implant handling system feeds the coal from covered
storage (boiler room storage to the firing equipment.
• In case of mechanical stoker firing, Only Chutes are required
to feed the coal from storage bunker to the firing units.
• Gates and valves are provided in this system to control the
flow according to the load of the plant.
Coal weighing methods:
• Weigh lorries, hoppers and automatic scale: are used to weigh
the quantity of coal.
• The commonly used methods to weigh the coal are as follows;
(i) Mechanical (ii) Pneumatic (iii) Electronic
 Ash Handling

• After coal, ash handling is another major task.

• In the case of coal fired boilers about 10 to
15% of the total weight of the coal fired is
collected in the form of ash.
• A thermal power plant of parity produces
about 2000 to 3000 tons of ash per day.
• This will require a large ash m and also
requires a large area of land for dumping.
• Ash handling is a major problem due to the
following difficulties in the handling and disposal
• (i) It is hot when comes out of the boiler furnaces
• ii) It is abrasive and wears out the conveyors,
containers and Other handling equipment
• (iii) It produces dust nuisance.
• (iv) It produces poisonous gases.
• (v) It has corrosive action.
• (vi) It forms clinkers by fusing together in lumps,
• (vii) It is dusty hence irritating and annoying to
handle.
Principle requirements of an ash handling
system
• The ash handling plant should be able to handle large
clinkers, boiler refuse, dust, etc., with minimum efforts and
attention.
• The plant should be able to deal with hot and wet ashes,
and operate with minimum noise and within desirable /
mandatory limits of dust nuisance.
• Minimum operation and maintenance charges.
• Should be able to handle the maximum quantity of ash
produced / likely to be produced.
• It should have provision on meeting the additional capacity
with minimum changes
 ASH HANDLING EQUIPMENT
• Mechanical means are required for the disposal of ash.
• The handling equipment should perform the following
functions:
• 1. Capital investment, operating and maintenance charges of
the equipment should be low.
• 2. It should be able to handle large quantities of ash,
• 3. Clinkers, soot, dust etc. create troubles; the equipment
should be able to handle them smoothly.
• 4. The equipment used should remove the ash from the
furnace, lead it to the conveying system, to deliver the ash to
a dumping site or storage and finally it should have means to
dispose of the ash.
• 5. The ash equipment should be corrosion and wear resistant.
Layout of ash handling and dust collection
system
 Ash handling systems
• The commonly ash handling systems are as
follows:
• (i) Hydraulic system;
• (ii) Pneumatic system ;
• (iii) Mechanical system
• (iv) Steam jet system
1. 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, namely low pressure
hydraulicsystem used for continuous removal of ash and
high pressure system which is used for intermittent ash
disposal
2. Pneumatic system: -
• In this system, the 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 tream 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.
3. Mechanical ash handling system
• Commonly used mechanical handling system include wheel
borrows, bucket elevator, belt conveyor;
• (a) Wheel barrows. The ash is collected directly through the
ash outlet doors from the boiler into the containers / barrows
moving on rails towards the dumping sit. this system is
suitable for small stations.
• (b|) Bucket elevator. This is useful equipment when vertical
lift is involved in movement of ash, The bucket is attached to
an endless chain and collecting the ashes under the boiler,
elevating and dumping them in storage. This system is limited
to small power plants.
• (c) Belt conveyors. The ash must be thoroughly quenched
before it is fed on to the conveyor belt. The ash is allowed to
fall through a water seal over the belt conveyor and then is
carried continuously towards the dumping site or overhead
bunkers.
• 4. Steam Jet System
• This system utilizes jets of high pressure steam, blowing in
the direction of travel through a conveying pipe in which
the ash from the boiler ash hoppers is fed.
• The application of the system is for small and medium size
plants.
• In this system ash can be removed economically through a
horizontal distance of 200 meters and through a vertical
distance of about 30 meters.
• This equipment can be installed in a limited space and
also in awkward position.
• Moreover the operation is noisy and the pipes carrying
ash have greater wear and therefore, the pipe is required
to be lined with nickel alloy.
• Uses of Ash and Dust:
• Ash (fly ash) is widely used in the production of cement.
• Ash is used for treating acidic soils.
• It has been found that ash supplies essential nutrients such as
sulphur , calcium, zinc, etc. if the ash issued in limited
quantity in soil, it increases the yield of corn, turnip, and
white clover.
• When about 10% of normal cement is added to pulverized
fuel ash, the product acts as hardening materials and can be
used for factory floors, side roads, foot paths, road base etc..
• Pulverized fuel ash can be used as load bearing fill material.
• It can also be used for building the blocks or bricks which can
be obtained by adding it to clay.