Introduction:

A power plant (otherwise called a power station or power producing station), is a modern area used for the generation and transmission of large-scale electrical power. Many power stations have at least one generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical power into three-phase electrical power (otherwise known as an alternator). The overall motion between an attractive field and an electric conveyor creates an electric current.

These are generally located in the sub-urban 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 waste disposal, etc.

For this reason, a power generating station has to concern itself not only with the efficient production of electricity, but also with the transmission of that electricity. This is why power plants are often accompanied by transformer switchyards. These switchyards increase the transmission voltage of electricity, which allows it to be transmitted more efficiently over long distances.

The energy source used to turn the generator shaft varies widely and depends primarily on the type of fuel used. The choice of fuel determines what we call a power plant, and thus the different types of power plants are classified.

Types of Power Plants:

Various kinds of force plants are ordered relying upon the sort of fuel utilized. With the end goal of mass power age warm, atomic and hydropower are generally effective. Power creating stations can be extensively ordered into the over three kinds. We should investigate these kinds of force stations exhaustively.

Thermal Power Station:

A thermal power station or coal-fired thermal power plant is, by far, the most conventional method of generating electricity with reasonably high efficiency. It uses coal as the primary fuel which boils the available water into superheated steam to drive a steam turbine.

The steam turbine is then mechanically connected to an alternator rotor, the rotation of which produces electrical power. Generally in India, bituminous coal or brown coal is used as boiler fuel with volatile content of 8 to 33% and ash content of 5 to 16%. To increase the thermal efficiency of the plant, coal is used in its pulverized form in the boiler.

In a coal-fired thermal power plant, steam is obtained at high pressure inside a steam boiler to burn the coal. This steam is then heated to a very high temperature in a superheater. This superheated steam is then allowed to enter the turbine, as the turbine blades are rotated by the steam pressure.

The turbine is mechanically coupled to the alternator in such a way that its rotor rotates with the rotation of the turbine blades. After entering the turbine, the steam pressure drops suddenly causing a corresponding increase in steam volume.

After supplying energy to the turbine rotors, the steam is transferred out of the turbine blades to the turbine’s steam condenser. In the condenser, cold water at ambient temperature is circulated by a pump to condense the low-pressure wet steam.

This condensed water is then further fed to a low pressure water heater where low pressure steam raises the temperature of this feed water, reheating it to high pressure. It outlines the basic working mechanism of a thermal power plant.