Energy Content in Coal: Coal Fired Power Plant

How to make quick estimate of the coal required for running a power
plant? This articledescribes a simple method.Very often, the Power

engineer is required to perform some basic calculations regarding the
keyparameters of a power plant. Most important is the quantity and
cost of fuel that is required.Thisarticle gives the simple calculation
method. (A detailed calculation required in the context of acontract,
tender, performance repor,t or a legal document may require more
accurate input data.)We take the example of a 100 MW Coal Fired
Power Plant.
Energy Content in Coal

The basic function of the power plant is to convert energy in coal to
electricity. Therefore, thefirst thing we should know is how much
energy there is in coal. Energy content of coal is givenin terms of
KiloJoules (kJ) per Kilogram (kg) of coal as the Gross calorific
value (GCV) or theHigher Heating value (HHV) of coal. This value
can vary from 10500 kJ/kg to 25000 kJ/kgdepending on the quality
and type of the coal.You should have an idea of the type of coal, or
the source or mine from where the the plant getsthe coal. Published
data about the sources, mines, regions or the procurement data gives
an ideaabout the HHV of coal. For this example we use a HHV of
20,000 kJ/kg.
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Efficiency
Energy conversion takes place in two stages.
The first part of the conversion is efficiency of the

boiler and combustion. For thisexample we take 88 %
on an HHV basis that is the normal range for a well-
optimizedpower plant.
Second part is the steam cycle efficiency. Modern

Rankine cycle, adopted in coal firedpower plants, have
efficiencies that vary from 32 % to 42 %. This depends
mainly on thesteam parameters. Higher steam perssure
and temperatures in the range of 600 ° C and230 bar
have efficiencies around 42 %. We assume a value of
38 % for our case.
The overall conversion efficiency then is (38% x 88%)

33.44 %.
Heat Rate
Heat rate is the heat input required to produce one unit
of electricity. (1 kw hr)
One Kw is 3600 kJ/hr. If the energy conversion is 100
% efficient then to produce oneunit of electricity we
require 3600 kJ. After considering the conversion
efficiency in a power plant we require an heat input
of (3600 / 33.44% ) 10765 kJ/ kw hr.
Coal Quantity
Since coal has a heat value of 20,000 kJ/kg, for
producing one kw.hr we require (10765 / 20000) 0.538
kg of coal. This translates to (0.538 x 100 x 1,000)
53800 kg/hr (53.8 T/hr)of coal for an output of 100
MW.
Coal Cost
Basic cost of coal depends on the market conditions.
Transportation costs, regional influences
and government taxes are also part of the cost. Coal
trader’s web sites give base prices in the
international market.
We take a coal price of around 65 $ / Ton.
The cost of coal consumed by 100 MW power plant is
(53.8 x 65) 3497 $ /hr
A 100 MW unit produces 100,000 units of electricity.
So the cost of coal per unit of electricity is
(3497/100,000) 3.5 cents per unit
Coal Fired Thermal Power Plant: The
BasicSteps and Facts
Written by:
johnzactruba • Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher Updated Sep 8, 2011 •
Related Guides:
Carbon Dioxide | Steam | Electricity This article explains the basics
of the working of a coal fired thermal power plant.More than half of
the electricity generated in the world is by using coal as the primary
fuel.The function of the coal fired thermal power plant is to convert
the energy available in the coal toElectricity.Coal power plants work
by using several steps to convert stored energy in coal to
usableelectricity that we find in our home that powers our lights,
computers, and sometimes, back intoheat for our homes.
image provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority
How Coal Power Plants Produce Electricity

The conversion from coal to electricity takes place in three stages.
Stage 1
The first conversion of energy takes place in the boiler. Coal is burnt
in the boiler furnace toproduce heat. Carbon in the coal and Oxygen
in the air combine to produce Carbon Dioxide andheat.
Stage 2
The second stage is the thermodynamic process.1.

The heat from combustion of the coal boils water in the boiler to
produce steam. Inmodern power plant, boilers produce steam at a high
pressure and temperature.2.
The steam is then piped to a turbine.3.
The high pressure steam impinges and expands across a number of

sets of blades in theturbine.4.
The impulse and the thrust created rotates the turbine.5.
The steam is then condensed and pumped back into the boiler to
repeat the cycle.
Stage 3
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Key Facts About Coal-Fired Electricity Production
In practice to effect these three stages of conversion, many systems
and sub systems have to bein service. Also involved are different
technologies, like combustion, aerodynamics,
heattransfer, thermodynamics, pollution control, and
logistics.As an example consider these facts for typical
coal fired power plant of capacity 500 MW.
Around 2 million tons of coal will be required each year

to produce the continuouspower.
Coal combustion in the boiler requires air. Around 1.6
million cubic meter of air in anhour is delivered by air
fans into the furnace.
The ash produced from this combustion is around

200,000 tons per year.
Electrostatic precipitators capture almost all of this

ash without dispersing this to theatmosphere. Pollutants
from coal power plants like carbon dioxide, sulphur
dioxide, andnitrogen oxide can also affect the
environment. Thermal power plants are the
biggestproducers of Carbon Dioxide.
The boiler for typical 500 MW units produces around

1600 tons per hour of steam at atemperature of 540 to
600 degrees Centigrade. The steam pressures is in the
range of 200bar. The boiler materials are designed to
withstand these conditions with specialconsideration for
operational safety.
Heat transfer from the hot combustion gases to the

water in the boiler takes place due toRadiation and
convection.
The Electrical generators carry very large electric
currents that produce heat and are becooled by
Hydrogen and water.
The steam leaving the turbine is condensed and the
water is pumped back for reuse in theboiler. To
condense all the steam it will require around 50,000
cubic meter per hour of cooling water to be circulated
from lakes, rivers or the sea. The water is returned to
thesource with only an increase of 3 to 4 degrees
centigrade to prevent any effect to theenvironment.
Apart from the cooling water the power plant
also requires around 400 cubic meter perday of fresh
water for making up the losses in the water steam
cycle.
Details of Generating Electricity from Coal
These are some of the facts to highlight the

complexities of the working of a Coal Fired PowerPlant
generating Electricity.For more details, discover how
coal is blended to the right mix to maximize energy
production orlearn about the specific caloric energies of
coal and how moisture in the coal can affect a
powerplant's efficiency. Also learn how the coal is
prepared to be fired in the boiler. You may also learn
about the parts of a thermal power plant and site
selection
Proper Site Selection for a Thermal
PowerPlant
Written by: Ricky

• Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher
Published Jan 22, 2009
You might think that selecting a site for a thermal power plant is
based on requirements of powerof the nearby regions but it is not so
in actual practise. The engineer needs to take dozens of factors into
account before commencing such a project and here is a list of the
same.
Introduction
Selecting a proper site for a thermal power plant is vital for its long
term efficiency and a lotmany factors come into play when deciding
where to install the plant. Of course it may not bepossible to get
everything which is desirable at a single place but still the location
should contain
an optimum mix of the requirements for the settings to be feasible for

long term economic justification of the plant.
The Requirements for the Site

As the name implies the power plant is meant for generating power
which obviously means thatit will consume huge quantities of fuel.
The exact quantity would depend on the size of the plantand its
capacity but it is a general fact that ample quantities of fuel must be
available either in thevicinity or it should be reasonably economical to
transport the fuel till the power plant. Sincemost thermal power
plants use coal (they can use other fuels as well) it must be ensured
thatsufficient coal is available round the clock. Just to give you a
rough idea a power plant with 1000MW capacity approximately
would require more than ten thousand tons of coal per day hencethe
necessity for continuous supply and storage capability of coal in the
power station.
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Ash if the main byproduct of combustion and since the
amount of coal used is huge, you canintuitively imagine
the amount of ash generated and it is certainly in the
region of thousand tonsper day. Ash is much more
difficult to handle as compared to coal since it comes
out hot fromthe boiler and is very corrosive in nature.
Disposing of such huge quantities of ash requires alarge
amount of empty space where it can be safely
dumped.There must be ample space for the storage of
coal, disposal of ash, building of the power
plant,residential colony of workers, markets and so
forth. An approximate analysis suggests that forevery
MW of power generated there must be at least 3 acres
of land available for the purpose.Hence the power plant
site needs to have good amount of land and this land
should have goodbearing capacity in order to survive
the static and dynamic loads during the operation of
theplant.
As we saw in the previous article of this series,

large amount of water is required for coolingpurposes in
the power plant hence it is better if such a source is
available nearby in the form of rivers etc.Apart from
these major requirements there are also other
requirements which are equallyimportant such as the
availability of skilled people to work for the plant and
good transportfacilities in the vicinity.Hence we see that
setting up a thermal power plant requires a lots of
factors to be considered

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How to make quick estimate of the coal required for running a power

plant? This articledescribes a simple method.Very often, the Power

Energy Content in Coal

The first part of the conversion is efficiency of the

Second part is the steam cycle efficiency. Modern

The overall conversion efficiency then is (38% x 88%)

How Coal Power Plants Produce Electricity

The second stage is the thermodynamic process.1.

The steam is then piped to a turbine.3.

The high pressure steam impinges and expands across a number of

The impulse and the thrust created rotates the turbine.5.

Gypsum board equipment

Around 2 million tons of coal will be required each year

The ash produced from this combustion is around

Electrostatic precipitators capture almost all of this

The boiler for typical 500 MW units produces around

Heat transfer from the hot combustion gases to the

Details of Generating Electricity from Coal

These are some of the facts to highlight the

Written by: Ricky

an optimum mix of the requirements for the settings to be feasible for

The Requirements for the Site

Operation and Maintenance

steam turbine power plant

As we saw in the previous article of this series,

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