Power Plant: Fundamental of Power Plant

 

 

It is commonly accepted that the standard of living increases with increasing energy consumption per capita. Any consideration of energy requirement and supply has to take into account the increase conservation measures. On the industrial font, emphasis must be placed on the increased with constant effort to reduce energy consumption. Fundamental changes in the process, production and services can affect considerable energy saving without affecting the overall economy.

 It need not be over emphasized that in house hold commercial and industrial use of energy has considerable scope in energy saving. Attempt at understanding the integrated relationship between environment and energy have given shape due to development of R-134a, (a non pollutant refringent) to emerging discipline of environmental management. The government of India has laid down the policy “it is imperative that we carefully utilize our renewal (i.e., non-decaying) resources of soil water, plant and animal live to sustain our economic development” our exploration or exploitation of these is reflected in soil erosion, salutation, floods and rapid destruction of our forest, floral and wild life resources. The depletion of these resources often tends to be irreversible since bulk of our population depends on these natural resources. Depletion of these natural resources such as fuel, fodder, and housing power plant.

 

 

CONCEPT OF POWER PLANT

 

A power plant is assembly of systems or subsystems to generate electricity, i.e., power with economy and requirements. The power plant itself must be useful economically and environmentally friendly to the society. The present book is oriented to conventional as well as non-conventional energy generation. While the stress is on energy efficient system regards conventional power systems viz., to increase the system conversion efficiency the supreme goal is to develop, design, and manufacturer the non-conventional power generating systems in coming decades preferably after 2050 AD which are conducive to society as well as having feasible energy conversion efficiency and non-friendly to pollution, keeping in view the pollution act. The subject as a whole can be also stated as modern power plants for power viz electricity generation in 21st century. The word modern means pertaining to time. At present due to energy crisis the first goal is to conserve energy for future while the second step is to develop alternative energy systems including direct energy conversion devices, with the devotion, dedication and determination remembering the phrase, “Delve and Delve Again till wade into”.

CLASSIFICATION OF POWER PLANTS

 

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. The type of prime move determines, the type of power plants. The major power plants,

 

1. Steam power plant

2. Diesel power plant

3. Gas turbine power plant

4. Nuclear power plant

5. Hydroelectric power plant

 

The Steam Power Plant, Diesel Power Plant, Gas Turbine Power Plant and Nuclear Power Plants are called THERMAL POWER PLANT, because these convert heat into electric energy.

 

ENERGY

 

Energy is the capacity for doing work, generating heat, and emitting light. The equation for work is the force, which is the mass time the gravity times the distance. Heat is the ability to change the temperature of an object or phase of a substance. For example, heat changes a solid into a liquid or a liquid into a vapor. Heat is part of the definition of energy. Another part of the definition of energy is radiation, which is the light and energy emitted in the form of waves traveling at the speed of light. Energy is measured in units of calorie, quad, and joule. A kilocalorie is the amount of energy or heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water from 14.5°C to 15.5°C. The quad unit is used to measure energy needed for big countries. The final measurement of energy is joules. Energy is an essential input for economic development and improving quality of life. India’s per capita consumption of Commercial Energy (viz., coal, petroleum and electricity) is only one-eighth of the Global Average and will increase with growth in Gross Domestic Production (GDP) and improvement in standard of living. Commercial Energy accounts for a little over half of the total energy used in the Country, the rest coming from non-commercial resources like cow-dung, fuel wood and agricultural waste. Though the share of these non-commercial sources has been coming down, consumption has increased almost double since 1953. These renewable, non-commercial sources have been used extensively for hundreds of years but in a primitive and ineffective way. Indiscriminate use of non-commercial energy sources is leading to an energy crisis in the rural areas. Seventh Plan laid emphasis on the development and accelerated utilisation of renewable energy sources in rural and urban areas. A major Policy of the Government is directed towards increasing the use of coal in household and of electricity in transport sector in order to reduce dependence on oil, which is becoming scarce gradually.

 

 

RESOURCES FOR POWER GENERATION

 

The hydel power source plays a vital role in the generation of power, as it is a non-conventional perennial source of energy. Therefore, the French calls it “huile blanche”—white oil-the power of flowing water. Unlike black oil, it is a non-conventional energy source. A part of the endless cycle in which moisture is raised by the sun, formed into clouds and then dropped back to earth to feed the rivers whose flow can be harnessed to produce hydroelectric power. Water as a source of power is non-polluting which is a prime requirement of power industry today. The world’s total waterpower potential is estimated as 1500 million kW at mean flow. This means that the energy generated at a load factor of 50% would be 6.5 million kW-hr, a quantity equivalent to 3750 million tonnes of coal at 20% efficiency. The world hydel installed capacity (as per 1963 estimate is only 65 million kW or 4.3% of the mean flow.