1.

THERMAL POWER PLANT

Objectives
After studying this practical, students will understand:
(1) the layout of thermal power plant
(2) fuel handling system
(3) ash disposal and ash handling system
(4) dust collection system




Layout of modern thermal power plant
The general arrangement and layout of basic elements of thermal power plant is shown below. A thermal power
plant can be roughly divided into three segments (1) the furnace boiler and auxiliaries (2) The turbine which
includes condenser, pump, feed water heaters and rejection system. (3) The electric generator.
Working:
Layout of thermal plant can be easily understood by dividing the plant components into four circuits. (a) Coal and
ash circuit (b) Air and gas circuit (c) Feed water and steam circuit (d) Cooling water circuit.

Coal and ash circuit:
Coal arrives at storage yard and after necessary handling it passes on to the furnace through fuel feeding system.
In case of pulverizing system, coal is pulverized and then goes to the fuel burners. Ash resulting from combustion
of coal gets collected at the ash pit and is removed to ash storage yard by ash handling equipment.
Air and gas circuit:
Air is taken in from atmosphere through forced draught or induced draught fans and passes to the furnace
through air preheater, where it has been heated of the flue gases which pass to chimney via preheater. The hot
gases of combustion first flow through boiler tubes, and superheater tubes in furnace then through economiser
and then finally through air preheater and then discharges through chimney to the atmosphere.
Feed water and steam circuit:
The condensate leaving the condenser is first heated in a closed water heaters. The bleeded steam from the
turbine is used to heat the feed water in the heaters. In boiler drum and tubes, water circulates due to natural
circulation. Wet steam from drum further is heated up in superheater. Steam then expands in turbine and
produces power. From there it is exhausted in to condenser. The condensate is collected in hot well. Then it goes
to feed water heaters, economiser and to the boiler. Make up water is added in the condenser after purification.
Cooling water circuit:
The condenser requires cooling water to condense the exhaust steam. The water is cooled in cooling tower or in
cooling ponds and re-used again and again. Some make up cooling water is added in the circuit.

Fuel Handling (Coal handling):
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) Storage (6) In-plant handling (7)
Weighing and measuring (8) Feeding the coal into the furnace
(1) 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. The transportation of coal by trucks is used if the railway facilities are not available.
(2) Unloading:
If coal is 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 railway 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.

(3) 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.

(4) Transfer:
After preparation coal is transferred to the dead storage by means of the following systems :
i. Belt conveyors. ii. Screw conveyors. iii. Bucket elevators. iv. Grab bucket elevators.
v. Skip hoists. vi. Flight conveyor.


i. Belt conveyor:
It consists of an endless belt moving over a pair of end drums (rollers). 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. Average speed of belt conveyors varies between 200-300 r.p.m.
This conveyor is preferred than other types as its operation is smooth and clean and also it requires
less power as compared to other types of systems.
ii. Screw conveyor:
It consists of an endless helicoid screw fitted to a shaft. 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 exist. The initial cost of the system is
low. It suffers from the drawbacks that the power consumption is high and there is considerable
wear of screw. Rotation of screw varies between 75-125 r.p.m.
iii. Bucket elevator:
It consists of buckets fixed to a chain. The chain moves over two wheels. The coal is carried by the
buckets from bottom and discharged at the top.

(5) Storage of coal:
Storage of coal gives protection against the interruption of coal supplies when there is delay in
transportation of coal or due to strikes in coal mines. Also when the prices are low, the coal can be
purchased and stored for future use. Usually coal required for one month operation of power plant
is stored in case of power stations situated at longer distance from the collieries whereas coal need
for about 15 days is stored in case of power station situated near to collieries. Storage of coal for
longer periods is not advantageous because it blocks the capital and results in deterioration of the
quality of coal. The coal received at the power station is stored in dead storage in the form of piles
laid directly on the ground. The coal is stored by the following methods:
(i) Stocking the coal in heats. The coal is piled on the ground up to 10-12 m height. The pile top
should be given a slope in the direction in which the rain may be drained off.
The sealing of stored pile is desirable in order to avoid the oxidation of coal after packing an air
tight layer of coal. Asphalt, fine coal dust and bituminous coating are the materials commonly used
for this purpose.
(ii) Under water storage. The possibility of slow oxidation and spontaneous combustion can be
completely eliminated by storing the coal under water. Coal should be stored at a site located on
solid ground, well drained, free of standing water preferably on high ground not subjected to
flooding.
(6) In Plant Handling.
From the dead storage the coal is brought to covered storage (Live storage) (bins or bunkers). A
cylindrical bunker is shown in Fig. above. In plant handling may include the equipment such as belt
conveyors, screw conveyors, bucket elevators etc. to transfer the coal. Weigh lorries hoppers and
automatic scales are used to record the quantity of coal delivered to the furnace.
(7) Coal weighing methods.
Weigh lorries, hoppers and automatic scales are used to weigh the quantity coal. The commonly
used methods to weigh the coal are as follows: (i) Mechanical (ii) Pneumatic (iii) Electronic.
The important factors considered in selecting fuel handling systems are as follows:
(i) Plant flue rate
(ii) Plant location in respect to fuel shipping
(iii) Storage area available
Ash disposal and Ash handling equipments:

Handling of ash is a problem because ash coming out of the furnace is too hot, it is dusty and
irritating to handle and is accompanied by some poisonous gases. It is desirable to quench the ash
before handling. Handling of ash includes its removal from the furnace, loading on the conveyors
and delivered to the fill from where it can be disposed off.
ASH HANDLING EQUIPMENT
Mechanical means are required for the disposal of ash.
Figure shows a general layout of ash handling and dust collection system. The commonly used ash
handling systems are as follows:
(i) Hydraulic system (ii) Pneumatic system (iii) Mechanical system
The commonly used ash discharge equipment is as follows:
(i) Rail road cars (ii) Motor truck (iii) Barge.
The various methods used for the disposal of ash are as follows:
(i) 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 hydraulic system used for continuous removal of ash
and high pressure system which is used for intermittent ash disposal. Fig. shows hydraulic system.

In this method water at sufficient pressure is used to take away the ash to sump where water and
ash are separated. The ash is then transferred to the dump site in wagons, rail cars or trucks. The
loading of ash may be through a belt conveyor, grab buckets. If there is an ash basement with ash
hopper the ash can fall, directly in ash car or conveying system.
(ii) Water Jetting: Water jetting of ash is shown in Fig.. In this method a low pressure jet of water
coming out of the quenching nozzle is used to cool the ash. The ash falls into a trough and is then
removed.
(iii) Ash Sluice Ways and Ash Sump System: This system shown diagrammatically in Fig. used high
pressure (H.P. ) pump to supply high pressure (H.P.) water-jets which carry ash from the furnace
bottom through ash sluices (channels) constructed in basement floor to ash sump fitted with
screen. The screen divides the ash sump into compartments for coarse and fine ash. The fine ash
passes through the screen and moves into the dust sump (D.S. ). Dust slurry pump (D.S. pump)
carries the dust through dust pump (D.P), suction pipe and dust delivery (D.D.) pipe to the disposal
site. Overhead crane having grab bucket is used to remove coarse ash. A.F.N represents ash
feeding nozzle and S.B.N. represents sub way booster nozzle and D.A. means draining apron.
(iv) Pneumatic system: In this system 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
steam 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.

(v) Mechanical ash handling system. Fig. shows a mechanical ash handling system. In this system ash
cooled by water seal falls on the belt conveyor and is carried out continuously to the bunker. The
ash is then removed to the dumping site from the ash bunker with the help of trucks.

Dust collection
In coal fed furnaces the products of combustion contain particles of solid matter floating in
suspension. This may be smoke or dust. In spreader stokers and pulverised coal fired furnaces the
coal is burnt in suspension and due to this dust in the form of fly ash is produced. Gas borne
particles larger than 1 in diameter are called dust and when such particles become greater in size
than 100p they are called cinders. The presence of dense smoke indicates poor furnace conditions
and a loss in efficiency and capacity of a boiler plant.
TYPES OF DUST COLLECTORS
The various types of dust collectors are as follows :
1. Mechanical dust collectors. 2. Electrical dust collectors.
Mechanical dust collectors:
Mechanical dust collectors are sub-divided into wet and dry types. In wet type collectors also known
as scrubbers water sprays are used to wash dust from the air. The basic principles of mechanical
dust collectors are shown in Fig. As shown in figure, by increasing the cross-sectional area of duct
through which dust laden gases are passing, the velocity of gases is reduced and causes heavier
dust particles to fall down. Changing the direction of flow of flue gases causes the heavier particles
of settle out. Sometime baffles are provided to separate the heavier particles. Mechanical dust
collectors may be wet type or dry type. Wet type dust collectors called scrubbers make use of water
sprays to wash the dust from flue gases.

FLY ASH SCRUBBER
Fig. shows a fly wash centrifugal scrubber. It is similar to a mechanical ash collector but has a
flowing water film on its inner walls. Due to this film, the collected ash is removed more rapidly
from the apparatus to the bin and there is less possibility for secondary. Capture of collected dust
particles by the gas flow. The degree of ash collection in scrubbers varies from 0.82 to 0.90. The
dust laden gas enters through the inlet pipe.
Cinder Catcher. Cinder catcher is used to remove dust and cinders from the gas. In this catcher the
dust laden gas is made to strike a series of vertical baffles that change its direction and reduce its
velocity. The separated dust and cinders fall to the hopper for removal. Cinder catchers are
ordinarily used with stoker firing.


Questions:
1. What are the four major circuits in steam power plant?
2. Write about out-plant handling and in-plant handling of coal?
3. Why the preparation of coal is necessary?
4. What is the use of belt conveyors?
5. Write about screw conveyor and bucket conveyors?
6. Why ash handling system is needed? How the ash handling system is classified?