Steam Power Plant

References:
 Thermodynamics by Yunus A Cengel
 Power Plant Engineering by G.R. Nagpal

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 1

 Steam Power Plant

Electric Power Generation

Faraday Law of Electromagnetic Induction
Voltage is induced in a circuit whenever relative motion exists between a Conductor and a
Magnetic Field and that the Magnitude of this Voltage is proportional to the rate of change of the
flux
Emf induced is called Induced Emf and if the conductor circuit is closed, the current will also
circulate through the circuit and this current is called induced Current

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 2

 Steam Power Plant

Electric Power Generation

Faraday Law of Electromagnetic Induction---contd…
 Amount of voltage (emf) induced in the coil using just magnetism can be increased by:
o Increasing the number of turns of wire in the coil
o Increasing the speed of the relative motion between the coil and the magnet
o Increasing magnetic field strength surrounding the coil

 Magnitude of the electromagnetic induction is

directly proportional to:
o Flux Density, β
o Number of loops giving a total length of the
conductor l in meters
o rate ν at which the magnetic field changes within
the conductor in m/s

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 3

 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

Power Plant or Power Generating Station: an industrial location that is utilized for the
Generation and Distribution of Electric Power in mass scale, in the order of several 1000 Watts

OR

Power plant is an assembly of equipment that produces and delivers mechanical and electrical
energy.

All Power Generating Stations has an A.C. generator or an Alternator, which is basically a
rotating machine that is equipped to convert energy from the Mechanical Domain (Rotating
Turbine) into Electrical Domain by creating Relative Motion between a Magnetic Field and the
Conductors

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 4

 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

 Depending on the type of fuel used, Power Generating Stations are broadly classified as:

1. Steam Power Plant

2. Diesel Power Plant
THERMAL POWER PLANT : Converts Heat into Electrical Energy
3. Gas Turbine Power Plant
4. Nuclear Power Plant
5. Hydro Electric Power Plant

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 5

 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

Thermal Power Generation

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 6

Steam Power Plant

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 7

 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

Hydal Power Generation

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 8

 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

Hydal Power Generation

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 9

 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

Hydal Power Generation
Warsak Dam:
Penstock Or Water Tunnel Dia = 36ft
6 units X 40 MW = 240 MW

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 10

 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

Hydal Power Generation
Tarbela Dam:
• Opened in 1976
• Reservoir = 97km long,137m depth, 260km2 area, makes it the largest earth filled dam in the world.
• The total volume of earth and rock used for the project is approximately 200 million cubic yards
(152.8 million cu. meters) which makes it one of the largest man-made structures in the world.
• Tunnel 1 = 4 Units X 175MW = 700MW
• Tunnel 2 = 6 Units X 175MW = 1050MW
• Tunnel 3 = 4 Units X 432MW = 1728MW Total Generating Capacity = 3478MW
• Tunnel 4 = 3 Units X 470MW = 1410MW (Will start working on 14th August 2017)
• Tunnel 5 = 1400MW (Will start working in 2018)

Total Tarbela Capacity in 2018 will be 6288MW

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 11
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 12
 Steam Power Plant

Power Plants & Types of Power Plant

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 13

 Steam Power Plant

Introduction to Steam Power Plant

Today, most of the electricity produced throughout the world is from Steam Power Plants

Steam Power Plant continuously converts the energy stored in fossil fuels (Coal, Oil, Natural
Gas) into shaft work and ultimately into electricity

Steam has the advantage that,

o it can be raised from water which is available in abundance
o it does not react much with the materials of the equipment of power plant
o is stable at the temperature required in the plant

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 14

 Steam Power Plant

Rankine Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Vapor Power Cycles

 Steam Engine and Steam Turbines in which steam is used as working medium follow Rankine cycle
 Ideal Rankine Cycle does not involve any Internal Irreversibilities and consists of the following 4
processes:
1-2: Isentropic Compression in a pump 2-3: Isobaric Heat Addition in a boiler
3-4: Isentropic Expansion in a turbine 4-1: Isobaric Heat Rejection in a condenser

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 15

 Steam Power Plant

Rankine Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Vapor Power Cycles

 Area under the process curve on a T-S Diagram represents the heat transfer for internally
reversible processes

Area under process curve 2-3:

heat transferred to the water in T
the boiler

Area under process curve 4-1:

Heat rejected in the Condenser

o Difference between these two (the area

enclosed by the cycle curve) is the Net
Work produced during the cycle

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 16

 Steam Power Plant

Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle

 Boiler and the Condenser do not involve any work. Pump and the Turbine are assumed to be Isentropic

Considering 1 kg of fluid :
 Applying Steady Flow Energy Equation (S.F.E.E.) to Boiler, Turbine, Condenser and Pump:

(i) For Boiler (as control volume) T

(ii) For Turbine (as control volume)

(iii) For Condenser (as control volume)

(iii) For Feed Pump(as control volume)

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 17

 Steam Power Plant

Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle

 Thermal Efficiency of the Rankine cycle is:
Where;

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 18

 Steam Power Plant
Methods to Increase the Efficiency of The Rankine Cycle
 Basic Idea behind all the modifications to increase the thermal efficiency of a power cycle is:
o Av. Fluid Temperature should be as high as possible during Heat Addition and
o as low as possible during Heat Rejection
T
1- Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)

 Colored area on this diagram represents increase in

net work output as a result of lowering the
condenser pressure from P4 to P4/

 Heat Input requirements also increase (represented

by the area under curve 2/-2), but this increase is
very small

 Overall Effect of lowering the Condenser Pressure is

an increase in η

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 19

 Steam Power Plant
Methods to Increase the Efficiency of The Rankine Cycle
2- Superheating the Steam to High Temperatures (Increases Thigh,av)
 Av. Temp at which heat is transferred to steam can be increased without increasing the boiler pressure by
superheating the steam to high temperatures
 Colored Area on TS-diagram represents increase in the
net work
 Total Area under the process curve 3-3’ represents the
increase in Heat Input
 Overall effect is an increase in Thermal Efficiency.
 Superheating of steam decreases the moisture content
of the steam at the turbine exit (4 vs 4’)

 Presently, Highest Steam Temperature allowed at the

turbine inlet is about 620°C

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 20

 Steam Power Plant
Methods to Increase the Efficiency of The Rankine Cycle
3- Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,av)
 Increasing the operating pressure of the boiler automatically raises the temperature at which boiling takes
place

o It raises the average temperature at which heat is

transferred to the steam and thus raises ηcycle

 For a Fixed Turbine Inlet Temp., cycle shifts to the

left
and the moisture content of steam at the turbine exit
increases → Undesirable

 Max Moisture Content at Turbine Exhaust is not allowed

to exceed 12% or the quality of steam to fall below 88 %

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 21

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

o It is a closed vessel in which, water is heated until it is converted into steam at required
pressure
o Fuel is burnt inside a furnace and hot gases are produced
o These hot gases come in contact with water vessel where the heat of these hot gases
transfer to the water and consequently steam is produced in the boiler.

𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎

o Boiler (Steam Generator) efficiency = X 100
𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍

o It depends upon the size of boiler used

o Typically it ranges from 80-88%

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 22

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 23

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

Important Boiler Terms

1. Boiler Shell: It is made up of steel plates bent into cylindrical form and riveted or welded
together. The ends of shell are closed by means of end plates.
2. Combustion Chamber: space generally below boiler shell meant for burning fuel in order to
produce steam from water contained in the shell.
3. Boiler Mountings: these are fittings which are mounted on the boiler for its proper functioning.
They include water level indicator, pressure gauges, safety valves etc. It may be noted that a boiler
cannot function safely without the mountings.
4. Boiler Accessories: these are the devices which form an integral part of a boiler, but are not
mounted on it. They include super heater, economizer, feed pump, etc. It may be noted that
accessories help in controlling and running of boiler efficiency.
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 24
 Steam Power Plant

Classification of Boiler (Steam Generator)

• According to contents in tube

Fire tube boiler
Water tube boiler
• According to axis of shell
Vertical boiler
Horizontal boiler
• According to position of the furnace
Externally fired boiler (mostly water tube boilers)
Internally fired boiler (mostly fire tube boilers)
Externally fired boilers have a separate furnace built outside the boiler shell & usually below it.

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 25

 Steam Power Plant

Classification of Boiler (Steam Generator)

• According to the application
stationary (permanently installed on a land)
mobile (marine boiler meant for ocean cargo & passenger ships)
• According to steam pressure
low pressure boiler (upto 1.03bar)
medium pressure boiler ( 1 to 80bar)
high pressure boiler (above 80bar)
Our Lab:
Vertical water tube boiler Feed Water Tank = 150ltr.
Rated heat output = 63KW Fuel Tank = 50 ltr.
Maximum working pressure = 7 bar

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 26

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

1- Water Tube Boilers
 Water flows inside of the tubes and hot gases from combustion flow outside of the tubes
 Combustion Gases heat the water into a steam-water mixture, because it becomes less dense than liquid
water inside the Feed-water Drum, rises
 Mixture ascends in tubes called Risers to the Steam Drum

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 27

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

1- Water Tube Boilers – contd--
 Steam from the water-vapor mixture is removed and released into the system
 Water remaining in the steam drum returns to the feedwater drum through pipes called Downcomers

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 28

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

Advantages of Water Tube Boilers:

• It generates steam at high pressure than that of fire tube boiler

• For a given boiler, it occupies less space than fire tube boiler
• Rate of flow of steam is more in case of water tube boilers
• Bursting of water tube boiler doesn't produce any destruction in whole boiler.

Disadvantages of Water Tube Boilers:

• The feed water requires purification to prevent the scales inside the tubes. If the scale is formed
inside the tubes, there are chances of overheating and busting of tubes.
• Cleaning of water tubes cannot be done easily.

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 29

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

2- Fire Tube Boilers
 Hot gases of combustion flow through a series of tubes surrounded by water
 Heat Energy of the gasses is transferred to the water surrounds them
 Steam is generated in the water and naturally comes up and is stored upon the water in
the same vessel of fire tube boiler

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 30

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

2- Fire Tube Boilers- cont.

 As water & steam both are in the same vessel, a fire tube boiler can’t produce steam at very high
pressure
 It can produce max. of 17.5kg/cm2 and capacity of 9 metric ton of steam per hour

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 31

 Steam Power Plant

Boiler (Steam Generator)

Advantages of Fire Tube Boilers:

• Compact in construction
• Fluctuation of steam demand can be met easily
• Relatively inexpensive
• Easy to clean
• Available in sizes from 600,000BTU/hr to 50,000,000BTU/hr 1 BTU = 1055 Joules
• Easy to replace tubes

Disadvantages of Fire Tube Boilers:

• Water required is large. So it requires long time for rising steam at desired pressure
• Very high pressure of steam is not possible
• Steam received from fire tube boiler is not very dry.
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 32
 Steam Power Plant

Economizer, Evaporator and Superheater

 Heat transfer in Steam Generator normally takes place in 3 steps
o Economiser (4-5): Sensible heating in liquid Phase till it becomes saturated Liquid
o Evaporator (5-6): Phase change by absorbing Latent Heat of Vaporization
o Superheater (6-1): Sensible heating of vapor to become Super Heated Vapor

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 33

 Steam Power Plant
Steam Turbine

It is a device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do

mechanical work on a rotating output shaft.

Turbine drives electric generator

Our Lab:
Single stage, twin nozzle, impulse turbine

Max. Speed = Approx. 33,000 rpm

Exhaust Pressure = Atmospheric

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 34

 Steam Power Plant
Classification of Steam Turbine

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 35

Why Compounding Is Required?
• Method in which energy from steam
is extracted in no. of stages rather
than a single stage.
• If entire energy of steam is extracted
in a single stage, than its velocity will
be very high.
• Approx. the velocity of rotor can
reach upto 30,000rpm which is very
high for practical uses because of
high vibrations.
• At such high speeds, the centrifugal
forces are immense which can
damage the structure.
Hence compounding is needed.
 Steam Power Plant

Condenser

• Condenser is a device in which steam is condensed to water at a pressure less than atmosphere.

• A condenser is basically steam to water exchanger in which heat from exhaust steam is transferred

to circulating cooling water

Objectives:

• Primary objective is to maintain a low pressure (below atmospheric) so as to obtain the maximum

possible energy from the steam and thus to secure a high efficiency.

• To condense the exhaust steam from the turbine and reuse it as pure feed water in the boiler. Thus

only make up water is required to compensate loss of water

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 37

Steam Power Plant

Condenser

Our Lab:
• Counter Flow Steam Tube
Heat Exchanger
• Heat Transfer Area = 5000 cm2
• Cooling Water Pump = 0.75kw
• Condensate Tank = 150ltr.

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 38

 Steam Power Plant

Condenser
Advantages of Condenser:

• It increases the expansion ratio of steam and thus increases the efficiency of plant

• It reduces the back pressure and temperature of exhaust steam and thus more work can

be obtained

• The use of a condensate as feed for the boiler, reduces the cost of power generation and

amount of heat supplied per kg of steam (in the boiler) is reduced.

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 39

 Steam Power Plant
Cooling Tower
 A device that passes outside air over the water to remove the system heat from the water
 Evaporation takes heat from the remaining water and adds to the capacity of the tower
 Cooling Tower is limited in capacity to the amount of evaporation that occurs
 Evaporation Rate is linked to the Wet-bulb Temperature of the outside air (humidity)

 Towers can be either:

(1) Natural Draft 35 oC
(2) Forced Draft
35 oC

26 oC

29 oC
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 40
 Steam Power Plant

Thermodynamics of the Compact Steam Power Plant

Dry Bulb and Wet Bulb Temperature

 Dry Bulb Temperature (DB): Temperature of the air, as sensed by a thermometer, freely
exposed to the air but shielded from radiation and moisture

 Wet Bulb Temperature (WB): Temperature sensed by a thermometer

whose bulb is wrapped with a water-soaked wick, in rapidly moving air

o If the surrounding air is very dry, the moisture will evaporate quickly,
causing the WB to drop lower
o If surrounding air is very wet (high relative humidity), rate of
evaporation will be very low and the WB reading will be closer to the
DB reading
o WB can never be higher than the DB
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 41
 Steam Power Plant
Cooling Tower
1- Natural-Draft Towers
 Natural-Draft Tower does not have a blower to move air through the tower
 Water is sprayed into the top of the tower through spray heads, and some of the water evaporates as it falls
to the bottom of the tower
 Must be located in the path of prevailing winds

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 42

 Steam Power Plant
Cooling Tower
2- Forced or Induced-Draft Towers
 They have a fan to move air over a wetted surface
 Presence of fans provides a means of regulating air flow, to compensate for changing atmospheric and load
conditions, by fan capacity manipulation

Our Lab:
• Storage Tank = 250ltr.
• Cooling Tower Capacity is
Upto 15RT
• Induction Fan = 0.18kw
• Circulating Pump = 0.75kw

Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 43

Thanks…!!!
 Three Gorges Dam
• The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest capacity hydroelectric
power station with 34 generators.
• 32 main generators, each with a capacity of 700 MW, and 2 plant power
generators, each with capacity of 50 MW, making a total capacity of
22,500 MW
• Among those 32 main generators, 14 are installed in the north side of
the dam, 12 in the south side, and the remaining six in the underground
power plant in the mountain south of the dam
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC 47