Electric Power Generation

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Before Michael Faraday had discovered his famous law of electromagnetic induction,
battery were the only source of electric power. After that, DC generator was
developed, but it could produce only a few hundred volts of electric power and
naturally this low voltage power could not transmitted efficiently to a large distance.
In the latter half of eighteen centuries, AC electric power generation, transmission
and distribution came into the picture. In an AC system, it became possible to step up
voltage of electric power to desire level for efficient transmission to a long distance.
After that 3-phase induction motor was developed which was much simpler in
construction. Generation, transmission and distribution of AC power were much easier
than DC power; hence very fast AC power system became the most popular means of
electric power.
Electric Power Generation
The AC power is generated in 3 phase system as 3-phase AC electric power
generation is most economical. 3 phase AC generator is commonly known as the
alternator. An alternator has balanced three phase winding on its stator and an
electromagnetic field is rotated inside the stator.
Due to this system, rotating magnetic field cuts the stator windings conductor and as
a result, electricity is induced in the stator windings. From terminals of the stator
three phase power is obtained. In an alternator, rotating electromagnet is energized
by the DC source. The rotor is driven by some external means with the help of
thermal, hydel, wind or other forms of energy. For example, in thermal power plant,
the rotor of the alternator is rotated by means of a turbine shaft and the turbine is
driven by means of high temperature and pressure steam. The steam is produced in a
boiler by burning coal in the furnace.
As the stator winding is perfectly balanced, the three phase power produced in an
alternator is also balanced that means phase difference between two conjugative
phases is 120 degrees (electrical).
Frequency, Voltage and Interconnected System
If p is the number of poless and N is the RPM of an alternator, frequency of the
generated voltage will be Np/120. In India the frequency of generated power or
simply power frequency is 50 Hz. In USA it is 60 Hz. In modern power plants there
are generally more than one number of alternators run in parallel. Not only in a single
plant, may alternators, of other plants also be interconnected to run parallel. This
arrangement improves flexibility and efficiency of the power system. When the power
stations of different locations are interconnected by means of transmission lines, the
total network is referred as a grid. In other word grid is a system by which alternators
of all power plants connected to that grid run in parallel. If any of the alternators
becomes out of service, still power can be fed by other alternators without affecting
availability of the system. As many numbers of alternators are connected and run in
parallel, the frequency and voltage of the system becomes much stable irrespective of
degree of loading present in the system. The main drawback of the grid system is,
when an alternator is connected to the grid, its frequency, voltage and phase
sequence must match with that of the grid, and the process of matching the said
parameters of alternator with the grid is not a simple task and the process is called
synchronizing.
Conventional Source of Electric Power Generation
There are mainly three conventional source of electric power generation, and they are
thermal hydel, and nuclear energy.
Thermal Power Generation

In thermal power plant coal or diesel is burnt to produce sufficient heat. This heat
energy is utilized to produce high temperature and high pressure steam in the boiler.

This steam
is then passed through the turbine blades and the turbine shaft rotates due to this
steam pressure. The rotor of an alternator is mechanically coupled with the turbine
shaft and hence it also rotates. This rotation produces electric power.
Hydel Power Generation
Here the water head is used to rotate the rotor shaft of an alternator. Water head can
be naturally available or it can be created. In hilly region water head can be naturally
available in the hill top natural lakes. In plain land, it can be created by constructing
dams across suitable rivers. In comparing to a thermal power plant, hydel plants are
more echo-friendly as they are free from fuel combustion. Also the running cost of
hydel plant is much cheaper than that of thermal plants as there is no need of fuel to
be
burnt.

Although

running cost of a hydel power plant is quite low, but initial constructional cost of this
plant is quite high as compared to thermal power plant. There is huge involvement of
money in construction of dams and other necessary civil buildings. Water turbine
generally runs at a low speed, hence number of poles in the generator is higher to
achieve fixed 50 Hz power frequency. The number of pole in a hydel alternator may
be up to 20 or more.
Nuclear Power Generation
It is estimated that, the coal reserve of our country will be exhausted within next 40
years if the coal is continued to be consumed in present rate. The solution of this
situation is a nuclear power plant as thought. In a nuclear power station, Uranium 235
is subjected to nuclear fission. In fission process, U 235 is bombarded by a beam of
neutrons. The collision of neutrons with the nucleus of U 235 creates huge heat energy
along with other neutrons. These newly created neutrons are called fission neutrons
which again hit by other U235 nuclear and create mare heat energy and other fission
neutrons. During fission process the nucleus of U 235 is divided into two parts. The
fission process is commutative in nature. That is why, a nuclear reaction is a chain
reaction and hence it should be allowed to be occurred in a controlled manner. The
moderates and control rods are used to control this chain reaction.

Moderators are used to reduce the velocity of neutrons and control rods are used to
absorb neutrons for maintaining, required number of neutrons for the process.
Moderators are made of heavy water or pure carbon and control rods are made of
cadmium or boron steel. The speed of the nuclear reaction can be controlled by
inserting control rods up to a desire deep into the reaction chamber. By pushing down
and pulling up the control rods, the output of the nuclear generating plant is
controlled. Although this process is not manual, it is controlled by the automatic
feedback control system. The heat generated during fission is taken out from the
reactor by means of coolant consisting of liquid sodium or some gaseous fluids. The
coolant is circulated between heat exchanger and the reactor. It takes heat from the
reactor and gives the heat to the water in the heat exchanger. Thus the water in the
heat exchanger is converted to high pressure and high temperature steam. This
steam then drives a turbine and exhausts into a condenser where it is condensed into
water and cooled down for re- feeding to the heater changes again via a feed water

pump. The main advantage of nuclear power plant is its minimum fuel consumption.
It has been observed that for running a 1000 MW thermal power plant, nearly 6
106 kg of coal to be burnt every day, whereas in a nuclear power plant only 2.5 kg of
Uranium to be consumed daily for getting same output. But the initial investment of
nuclear power plant is quite high. It produces electricity without causing any air
pollution, but, it has always a chance of radiation hazard because of leakage in
reactor chamber. Another major disadvantage of this plant is its disposals, as because
its disposals are not free from radioactivity.
Non Conventional Source of Electrical Power Generation
Although the main sources of electric power generation are thermal, hydel, and
nuclear power plants, but still there are many other non conventional sources of
power available. These non conventional sources, like wind power, solar power, MHD
generation, boimass, fuel cell, etc. are becoming the promising alternative sources for
electric power generation.

Power Plants and Types of Power Plant

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What is Power Plant?
A power plant or a power generating station, is basically an industrial location
that is utilized for the generation and distribution of electric power in mass scale,
usually in the order of several 1000 Watts. These are generally located at the suburban regions or several kilometers away from the cities or the load centers, because
of its requisites like huge land and water demand, along with several operating
constraints like the waste disposal etc. For this reason, a power generating station

has to not only take care of efficient generation but also the fact that the power is
transmitted efficiently over the entire distance. And thats why, the transformer switch
yard to regulate transmission voltage also becomes an integral part of the power
plant.
At the center of it, however, nearly all power generating stations has an AC 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. The energy
source harnessed to turn the generator shaft varies widely, and is chiefly dependent
on the type of fuel used.
Types of Power Station
A power plant can be of several types depending mainly on the type of fuel used.
Since for the purpose of bulk power generation, only thermal, nuclear and hydro
power comes handy, therefore a power generating station can be broadly classified in
the 3 above mentioned types. Let us have a look in these types of power stations
in details.
Thermal Power Station
A thermal power station or a coal fired thermal power plant is by far, the most
conventional method of generating electric power with reasonably high efficiency. It
uses coal as the primary fuel to boil the water available to superheated steam for
driving the steam turbine. The steam turbine is then mechanically coupled to an
alternator rotor, the rotation of which results in the generation of electric power.
Generally in India, bituminous coal or brown coal are used as fuel of boiler which has
volatile content ranging from 8 to 33 % and ash content 5 to 16 %. To enhance the
thermal efficiency of the plant, the coal is used in the boiler in its pulverized form. In
coal fired thermal power plant, steam is obtained in very high pressure inside the
steam boiler by burning the pulverized coal. This steam is then super heated in the
super heater to extreme high temperature. This super heated steam is then allowed
to enter into the turbine, as the turbine blades are rotated by the pressure of the
steam. The turbine is mechanically coupled with alternator in a way that its rotor will
rotate with the rotation of turbine blades. After entering into the turbine, the steam
pressure suddenly falls leading to corresponding increase in the steam volume. After
having imparted energy into the turbine rotors, the steam is made to pass out of the
turbine blades into the steam condenser of turbine. In the condenser, cold water at
ambient temperature is circulated with the help of pump which leads to the
condensation of the low pressure wet steam. Then this condensed water is further
supplied to low pressure water heater where the low pressure steam increases the
temperature of this feed water, it is again heated in high pressure. This outlines the
basic working methodology of a thermal power plant.
Advantages of Thermal Power Plants

Fuel used i.e coal is quite cheaper.

Initial cost is less as compared to other generating stations.

It requires less space as compared to hydro-electric power stations.

Disadvantages of Thermal Power Plants

It pollutes atmosphere due to production of smoke & fumes.

Running cost of the power plant is more than hydro electric plant.
Nuclear Power Station
The nuclear power generating stations are similar to the thermal stations in more
ways than one. How ever, the exception here is that, radioactive elements like
uranium and thorium are used as the primary fuel in place of coal. Also in a Nuclear
station the furnace and the boiler are replaced by the nuclear reactor and the heat
exchanger tubes. For the process of nuclear power generation, the radioactive fuels
are made to undergo fission reaction within the nuclear reactors. The fission reaction,
propagates like a controlled chain reaction and is accompanied by unprecedented
amount of energy produced, which is manifested in the form of heat. This heat is then
transferred to the water present in the heat exchanger tubes. As a result, super
heated steam at very high temperature is produced. Once the process of steam
formation is accomplished, the remaining process is exactly similar to a thermal
power plant, as this steam will further drive the turbine blades to generate electricity.
Hydro-Electric Power Station
In Hydro-electric plants the energy of the falling water is utilized to drive the turbine
which in turn runs the generator to produce electricity. Rain falling upon the earths
surface has potential energy relative to the oceans towards which it flows. This
energy is converted to shaft work where the water falls through an appreciable
vertical distance. The hydraulic power is therefore a naturally available renewable
energy given by the eqn: P = g QH Where, g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.81
m/sec 2 = density of water = 1000 kg/m 3 H = height of fall of water. This power is
utilized for rotating the alternator shaft, to convert it to equivalent electrical energy.
An important point to be noted is that, the hydro-electric plants are of much lower
capacity compared to their thermal or nuclear counterpart. For this reason hydro
plants are generally used in scheduling with thermal stations, to serve the load during
peak hours. They in a way assist the thermal or the nuclear plant to deliver power
efficiently during periods of peak hours.
Advantages of Hydro Electric Power Station

It requires no fuel , water is used for generation of electrical energy.

It is neat and clean energy generation.

Construction is simple , less maintenance is required.

It helps in irrigation and flood control also.

Disadvantages Hydro Electric Power Station

It involves high capital cost due to dam construction.

Availability of water depends upon weather conditions.

It requires high transmission cost as the plant is located in hilly areas.

Types of Power Generation
As mentioned above, depending on the type of fuel used, the power generating
stations as well as the types of power generation are classified. Therefore the 3 major
classifications for power production in reasonably large scale are :-

1.
Thermal power generation.
2.
Nuclear power generation.
3.
Hydro-electric power generation.
Apart from these major types of power generations, we can resort to small scale
generation techniques as well, to serve the discrete demands. These are often
referred to as the alternative methods or non conventional energy of power
generation and can be classified as :1.
Solar power generation. (making use of the available solar energy)
2.
Geo-thermal power generation. (Energy available in the Earths crust)
3.
Tidal power generation.
4.
Wind power generation ( energy available from the wind turbines)
These alternative sources of generation has been given due importance in the last few
decades owing to the depleting amount of the natural fuels available to us. In the
centuries to come, a stage might be reached when several countries across the globe
would run out of their entire reserve for fossil fuels. The only way forward would then
lie in the mercy of these alternative sources of energy which might play an
instrumental role in shaping the energy supplies of the future. For this reason these
might rightfully be referred as the energy of the future.
Thermal Power Generation Plant or Thermal Power Station
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Thermal power generation plant or thermal power station is the most
conventional source of electric power. Thermal power plant is also referred as coal
thermal power plant and steam turbine power plant. Before going into detail of
this topic, we will try to understand the line diagram of electric power generation
plant.
Theory of Thermal Power Station
The theory of thermal power station or working of thermal power station is
very simple. A power generation plant mainly consists of alternator runs with help
of steam turbine. The steam is obtained from high pressure boilers. Generally in
India, bituminous coal, brown coal and peat are used as fuel of boiler. The bituminous
coal is used as boiler fuel has volatile matter from 8 to 33 % and ash content 5 to 16
%. To increase the thermal efficiency, the coal is used in the boiler in powder form.
In coal thermal power plant, the steam is produced in high pressure in the steam
boiler due to burning of fuel (pulverized coal) in boiler furnaces. This steam is further
supper heated in a super heater. This supper heated steam then enters into the
turbine and rotates the turbine blades. The turbine is mechanically so coupled with
alternator that its rotor will rotate with the rotation of turbine blades. After entering in
turbine the steam pressure suddenly falls and corresponding volume of the steam
increases. After imparting energy to the turbine rotor the steam passes out of the
turbine blades into the condenser. In the condenser the cold water is circulated with
the help of pump which condenses the low pressure wet steam. This condensed water
is further supplied to low pressure water heater where the low pressure steam
increases the temperature of this feed water, it is again heated in high pressure. For
better understanding we furnish every step of function of a thermal power station as
follows,
1.
First the pulverized coal is burnt into the furnace of steam boiler.
2.
High pressure steam is produced in the boiler.
3.
This steam is then passed through the super heater, where it further heated up.
4.
This supper heated steam is then entered into a turbine at high speed.

5.

In turbine this steam force rotates the turbine blades that means here in the
turbine the stored potential energy of the high pressured steam is converted into
mechanical energy.
Line Diagram of Power Plant

6.

After rotating the turbine blades, the steam has lost its high pressure, passes
out of turbine blades and enters into a condenser.
7.
In the condenser the cold water is circulated with help of pump which
condenses the low pressure wet steam.
8.
This condensed water is then further supplied to low pressure water heater
where the low pressure steam increases the temperature of this feed water, it is
then again heated in a high pressure heater where the high pressure of steam is
used for heating.
9.
The turbine in thermal power station acts as a prime mover of the alternator.
Overview of Thermal Power Plant
A typical Thermal Power Station Operates on a Cycle which is shown below.

The working fluid is water and steam.

This is called feed water and steam cycle. The ideal Thermodynamic Cycle to which
the operation of a Thermal Power Station closely resembles is the RANKINE CYCLE.
In steam boiler the water is heated up by burning the fuel in air in the furnace & the
function of the boiler is to give dry super heated steam at required temperature. The
steam so produced is used in driving the steam Turbines. This turbine is coupled to
synchronous generator (usually three phase synchronous alternator), which generates
electrical energy. The exhaust steam from the turbine is allowed to condense into
water in steam condenser of turbine, which creates suction at very low pressure and
allows the expansion of the steam in the turbine to a very low pressure. The principle

advantages of condensing operation are the increased amount of energy extracted

per kg of steam and thereby increasing efficiency and the condensate which is fed
into the boiler again reduces the amount of fresh feed water.
The condensate along with some fresh make up feed water is again fed into the boiler
by pump (called the boiler feed pump). In condenser the steam is condensed by
cooling water. Cooling water recycles through cooling tower. This constitutes cooling
water circuit. The ambient air is allowed to enter in the boiler after dust filtration. Also
the flue gas comes out of the boiler and exhausted into atmosphere through stacks.
These constitute air and flue gas circuit. The flow of air and also the static pressure
inside the steam boiler (called draught) is maintained by two fans called Forced
Draught (FD) fan and Induced Draught(ID) fan. The total scheme of a typical
thermal power station along with different circuits is illustrated below.

Inside the boiler there are various heat exchangers, viz. Economiser, Evaporator
(not shown in the fig above, it is basically the water tubes, i.e. downcomer riser
circuit), Super Heater (sometimes Reheater, air preheater are also present). In
Economiser the feed water is heated to considerable amount by the remaining heat of
flue gas. The Boiler Drum actually maintains a head for natural circulation of two
phase mixture (steam + water) through the water tubes. There is also Super Heater
which also takes heat from flue gas and raises the temperature of steam as per
requirement.
Efficiency of Thermal Power Station or Plant
Overall efficiency of steam power plant is defined as the ratio of heat equivalent of
electrical output to the heat of combustion of coal. The overall efficiency of a thermal
power station or plant varies from 20% to 26% and it depends upon plant
capacity.

nstalled plant capacity

Average overall thermal efficiency

pto 1MW

4%

MW to 10MW

12%

0MW to 50MW

16%

0MW to 100MW

24%

bove 100MW

27%

Thermal Power Plant Location

A thermal power station or thermal power plant has ultimate target to make business
profit. Hence for optimizing the profit, the location of the station is much important
factor. Power generation plant location plays an optimizing part in the economy of
the station.
The most economical , location of power plant can be determined by graphical
method as described below, The most economical and ideal power plant location is
the center of gravity of the load because for such a power generation plant the length
of the power transmission network will be minimum, thus the capital cost to the
system is reduced. Lets explain the graphical method, say, X and Y be two reference
axes. Lets Q1(x1, y1), Q2(x2, y2), Q3(x3, y3), Q4(x4, y4),.and
Qn(xn, yn) are n numbers of load centers. From the above graph we get, the
coordinates of the center of gravity of the load, Q(x, y) where

Obviously the location of thermal power

station is best at the center of gravity of the load, but many times it is not possible to
establish a thermal power plant at the CG of the load. Since normally CG point of the
load may be at the heart of the city. So other points are to be considered to decide
the best optimized location of the power plant.
1.
The electric power generation plant must be constructed at such a place
where the cost of land is quite reasonable.
2.
The land should be such that the acquisition of private property must be
minimum.
3.
A large quantity of cooling water is required for the condensers etc of thermal
power generation plant, hence the plant should preferably situated beside big
source of natural water source such as big river.
4.
Availability of huge amount of fuel at reasonable cost is one of the major
criterion for choosing plant location.
5.
The plant should be established on plane land.
6.
The soil should be such that it should provide good and firm foundation of plant
and buildings.
7.
The thermal power plant location should not be very nearer to dense locality
as there are smoke, noise steam, water vapors etc.
8.
There must be ample scope of development of future demand.

9.

Place for ash handling plant for thermal power station should also be available
very near by.
10. Very tall chimney of power station should not obstruct the traffics of air ships.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Thermal Power Station
Advantages:
1.
Economical for low initial cost other than any generating plant.
2.
Land required less than hydro power plant.
3.
Since coal is main fuel and its cost is quite cheap than petrol/diesel so
generation cost is economical.
4.
Maintenance is easier.
5.
Thermal power plant can be installed in any location where transportation &
bulk of water are available.
Disadvantages:
1.
The running cost for a thermal power station is comparatively high due to
fuel,maintenance etc.
2.
Large amount of smoke causes air pollution.The thermal power station is
responsible for Global warming.
3.
The heated water that comes from thermal power plant has an adverse effect
on the aquatic lives in the water and disturbs the ecology.
4.
Overall efficiency of thermal power plant is low like less 30%.

Hydro Power Plant | Construction Working and History of Hydro power plant
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Power system mainly contains three parts namely generation, transmission and
distribution. Generation means how to generate electricity from the available source
and there are various methods to generate electricity but in this article we only
focused on generation of electricity by the means of hydro or water (hydro power
plant). A generating station which utilizes the potential energy of water at a high
level for the generation of electrical energy is known as hydro-electric power station.
As we know that the power plant is defined as the place where power is generated
from a given source, so here the source is hydro thats why we called it hydro power
plant.

In hydro power plant we use gravitational force of fluid water to run the turbine
which is coupled with electric generator to produce electricity. This power plant plays
an important role to protect our fossil fuel which is limited, because the generated
electricity in hydro power station is the use of water which is renewable source of
energy and available in lots of amount without any cost.

The big advantage of hydro power is the water which the main stuff to produce
electricity in hydro power plant is free, it not contain any type of pollution and after
generated electricity the price of electricity is average not too much high.
Construction and Working of Hydro Power Plant
Fundamental parts of hydro power plant are
1.
Area
2.
Dam
3.
Reservoir
4.
Penstock
5.
Storage tank
6.
Turbines and generators
7.
Switchgear and protection
For construction of hydro power plant first we choose the area where the water is
sufficient to reserve and no crisis of water and suitable to build a dam. The main
function of dam is to stop the flow of water and reserve the water in reservoir. Mainly
dam is situated at a good height to increase the force of water. Reservoir hold lots of
water which is employed to generate power by means of turbines. Penstock, the pipe
which is connected between dam and turbine blades and most important purpose of
the penstock is to enlarge the kinetic energy of water thats why this pipe is made up
of extremely well-built material which carry on the pressure of water. To control the
pressure of water means increase or decrease water pressure whenever required, we
use a valve. Storage tank comes in picture when the some reason the pressure of
water in reservoir is decreases then we use storage tank it is directly connected to
penstock and use only in emergency condition. After that we employ turbine and
generator. Turbine is the main stuff, when water comes through the penstock with
high kinetic energy and falls on turbine blades, turbine rotates at high speed. As we
know that the turbine is an engine that transfers energy of fluid into mechanical
energy which is coupled with generator and generator converts mechanical energy
into electrical energy which we utilize at the end. In hydro power plant we also add
switchgears and protections which control and protect the whole process inside the
plant. The control equipments consists control circuits, control devices, warning,
instrumentation etc and connect to main control board. After generating electricity at
low voltage, we use step up transformer to enlarge the level of voltage (generally 132
KV, 220 KV, 400 KV and above) as per our requirement. After that we transmit the
electric power to the load center, and then we step down the voltage for industrial and
large consumer and then again we step down the voltage to distribute electricity at
domestic level which we used at home. This is the whole process of generating
electricity by the means of hydro (hydro power plant) and then transmitting and
distributing electricity.
History of Hydro Power Plant
First hydro power is used by the Greeks to spin water wheels for crushing wheat into
flour before more than 2000 years ago. In the 1700's, hydropower was generally used
for pumping irrigation (non-natural use of water on the way to the land) water. We
start to generate electricity from hydro power in 1882 when United States (U S)
establishes a first hydro power station which generate 12.5 kilowatts (KW) of
power. The rapid growth of hydro power comes in 1900s when hydraulic reaction
turbine comes in picture as a result in 1900s hydro power plants fulfill the
requirement of 40% of total United States' electricity. In between 1905-1911 largest
hydro power station (Roosevelt Dam) is built by the united state and its generated
capacity is increased from 4500 kW to 36,000 kW. In 1914 S.J. Zowski developed the
high specific speed reaction (Francis) turbine runner for low head applications. 1922
the first time a hydroelectric plant was built specifically for crest power. In 1933

Hoover Dam, Arizona generated electricity first time. In 1940 over 1500 hydro power
plants generate about one third of the United States electrical energy.
If we compare the countries on the basis of generated electricity by the means of
hydro power, Canada on the top after that United State then Brazil then Russia then
China then Norway and at 7th number India is present. India fulfills the 3.5 % power
to the total world power through hydro power plants. In India scope of hydro power is
very good, first hydro power station, capacity of 130kW establishes in Asia at mounts
of Darjeeling in 1898 and after that in 1902 Shimsh (Shivanasamudra) is established
and both located in India. Now a day in India the leading hydro power plant is located
of river Naptha Jhakri hydro project of 1500MW in Himachal Pradesh. In India main
boost come in the field of hydro power in august 1998 when the Government of India
publicized a plan on Hydro Power Development after that in November 2008 once
again Indian government announced this plan and as a result India become leading
country list to produce hydro power. This is a general idea about hydro power plant.