Hello Friend…
The power through which you are reading this post is from your mobile phone or computer, which needs to change from time to time from electricity.
You might be curious about from where this electricity comes and how it is made.
Then you landed on the right helipad, this place will be going to tell you the process of making electricity in a simplified way.
so, hold your seat and stay with me while I start the journey of knowledge with you at Engineers Rail.
This blog post is going to elaborate that- How Thermal Power Plant Works?
Let me assure you that this blog post will go so easily and you will able to understand the whole game of thermal power plants and its working by the end of this article.
There is a free gift to you as a gesture- You can download this whole article in pdf form at the end of this article.
So, without taking so much of your time, Let’s dive into the mainstream where the actual show begins, Isn’t It?
How Does a Thermal Power Plant Work?
Here is the guide on- how a thermal power plant work step by step mentioned below-
Coal Handling-
Coal is brought to the power plant via rail wagons in huge quantities ranging in millions of tons. After bringing coal to the plant, coal is turned around by the wagon tippler method.
Before going to the wagon tippler, the Pre-wetting process is done to suppress the dust of the coal. Now, coal is sent to the coal stockyard via a conveyer belt.
Keep in mind that power plants always maintain at least 1 month of coal requirement in advance to maintain the smooth working of the power plant without worrying.
The coal yards are equipped with dust suppression tools to suppress the dust to minimize the dust blowing.
The process of handling coal is fully automated and controlled by the control room of the plant.
Water Reservoir-
The main resource of any power plant is water which further helps to generate steam and thus runs the turbine.
Here, First of all, water is cleaned through DM(De-Mineralization) and RO(Reverse Osmosis) techniques which further improve the quality of water.
Further, water is sent to the boiler where water is converted into steam to run the turbine with the help of coal combustion.
Crushing-
Coal is brought through the conveyer belt into the coal bunkers which further sends those coal into a crushing mill via coal feeders.
Now, the Coal mill crushed the coal into the power form which further increases the surface area of the coal and this helps in the complete combustion of the coal.
Boiler-
The boiler is the main attraction appliance of any thermal power plant which converts water into steam using a combustion process in the combustion chamber.
I think I don’t have to mention that the combustion process is fueled by powered coal in any coal-based thermal power plant.
The generated steam is now superheated by a superheater to raise the temperature of the steam and further efficiency as well.
Steam Pipelines-
Now, Generated steam is supplied through the giant steam pipelines directly to the turbine which further rotates the blades of the turbine.
The temperature and pressure of steam traveling into the steam pipelines are very high and this temperature and pressure can be varied according to the capacity of the thermal power plant.
These steam pipelines are insulated internally to prevent the temperature and energy loss of the steam while traveling into the pipes which further helps to increase the efficiency of the power plant.
Steam Turbine-
As you know, steam turbines are run through the striking of high-pressure steam into its blade and this incident helps to run the blades of the turbine.
- Must Read: Classification of Turbines
Generator-
The connected shaft to the turbine is further connected to the generator, when the turbine starts to rotate to its full potential, the connected generator starts to generate electricity via the magnetic impulse method.
Power Transmission-
Now, the generated electricity voltage is so low and not able to fulfill plant requirements which is removed by a step-up transformer, and this step-up transformer increases the voltage of generated electricity.
Now, stepped-up electricity is sent to the switch yard and further to the connected grids.
Cooling Towers-
The remaining steam puts into the condenser to make it cool and cooled water is now sent to the cooling tower to eliminate the heat from the condensate water.
Natural draught cooling towers are used to cool the water coming from the condenser to further reuse. Heated water is dropped from above to cool down the water while increasing the surface area of the water.
Control Room-
As the name suggests, Every aspect of the automated process happens in the thermal power plant and is controlled by the control room. This is the heart of every power plant.
Wrapping Up-
This is all I have in How Thermal Power Plant Works?
I hope I have explained every aspect of this boiler in an easy and understandable manner. If anything is missed, toss those missing lines in the comment session.
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| Thermal power plant pdf |  |
Abhishek Tiwary is a blogger by passion and a Quality Engineer by profession. He completed his B.Tech degree in the year 2017. Now working in a reputed firm. He loves to share his knowledge with others.
