POWER GENERATION

Q1.- SUN

Q2 -Nuclear power plant

Q3 -steam power plant

Q4 -1

Q5 -steam

Q6 -Load factor=capacity factor-Utilization factor

Q7 -Always more than unity

Q8 -Nuclear

Q9 -41.6%

Q10- 28

Q11 -77%

Q12 -System load increase

Q13 -Positive slop

Q14 -Firm reserve

Q15 -MAX. demand

Q.16 Draw the schematic diagram Diesel engine Power Plant and State various application of
Diesel Engine Power Plant.

Schematic Diagram of Diesel power station:

A diesel power station or diesel power plant schematic diagram consists of the following
levels:

(i) Fuel supply system: It consists of the storage tank, strainers, fuel transfer pump and all day
fuel tank.The fuel oil is supplied at the plant site by rail or road.This oil is stored in the storage
tank.From the storage tank, oil is pumped to smaller all day tank at daily or short intervals.From
this tank, fuel oil is passed through strainers to remove suspended impurities.The clean oil is
injected into the engine by fuel injection pump.

(ii) Air intake system: This system supplies necessary air to the engine for fuel combustion.It
consists of pipes for the supply of fresh air to the engine manifold.Filters are provided to
remove dust particles from the air which may act as abrasive in the engine cylinder.

(iii) Exhaust system: This system leads the engine exhaust gas
outside the building and discharges it into the atmosphere.A silencer is usually incorporated in
the system to reduce the noise level.

(iv) Cooling system: The heat released by the burning of fuel in the engine cylinder is partially
converted into work.The remainder part of the heat passes through the cylinder walls, piston,
rings etc. and may cause damage to the system.In order to keep the temperature of the engine
parts within the safe operating limits, cooling is provided.The cooling system consists of a water
source, pump and cooling towers.The pump circulates water through the cylinder and head
jacket.The water takes away heat from the engine and itself becomes hot.The hot water is
cooled by cooling towers and is recirculated for cooling.

diesel power plant schematic diagram

(v) Lubricating system: This system minimises the wear of rubbing surfaces of the engine.It
comprises of lubricating oil tank, pump, filter and oil cooler.The lubricating oil is drawn from the
lubricating oil tank by the pump and is passed through filters to remove impurities.The clean
lubricating oil is delivered to the points which require lubrication.The oil coolers incorporated in
the system keep the temperature of the oil low.
(vi) Engine starting system: This is an arrangement to rotate the engine initially while starting
until firing starts and the unit runs with its own power. Small sets are started manually by
handles but for larger units, compressed air is used for starting.In the latter case, air at high
pressure is admitted to a few of the cylinders, making them to act as reciprocating air motors to
turn over the engine shaft.The fuel is admitted to the remaining cylinders which make the
engine to start under its own power.

Applications of Diesel Electric Power Plant:

The size limitations not-withstanding, the escalating oil costs have made the operation of diesel
electric power plants very uneconomical. In view of this, such plants play a very minor role in
electric power generation.

Their principal fields of use are given below:

1. Central Power Stations:
Diesel power plants are installed where supply of coal and water is not available in sufficient
quantity or where power is to be generated in small quantity. Power stations of this type in
common use are of capacities up to 10 MW. The limit will be decided by the economics of the
cost of the plant and the local conditions such as fuel costs, availability of water supply etc.

2. Standby Power Stations:

Diesel power plants may be used as standby plants where continuity of power supply is
essential such as in hospitals, telephone exchanges, radio stations, cinemas etc.

3. Peak Load Plants:

Diesel power plant can be employed to supply the peak load on the power system while the
base load is supplied by a nuclear or hydro power plant. The base load factor will thus be
improved and cost of electrical energy per unit will be reduced. Diesel power plant is
particularly suitable for supplying a load of small load factor. Its characteristics of quick starting
and absence of standby losses make such plants very suitable for supplying peak loads.

4. Emergency Plants:
A small diesel power plant may be installed in a large power station to supply essential auxil-
iaries in case of failure of main supply. Arrangements can be made to start the diesel plant
automatically.

5. Private Power Plant For Small Industries:

Diesel electric power plants can be employed as private industrial plants for supply of electric
power specially if the capacity requirements are within the limits, set by the size of the diesel
units available. The diesel power plants have certain advantages over the steam power plants.

Q.17 State the merits and demerits of Solar energy conversion and utilization. State various
types of solar thermal collectors along with their advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

1. Solar power is pollution free and causes no greenhouse gases to be emitted after
installation
2. Reduced dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels
3. Renewable clean power that is available every day of the year, even cloudy days
produce some power
4. Return on investment unlike paying for utility bills
5. Virtually no maintenance as solar panels last over 30 years
6. Creates jobs by employing solar panel manufacturers, solar installers, etc. and in turn
helps the economy
7. Excess power can be sold back to the power company if grid intertied
8. Ability to live grid free if all power generated provides enough for the home / building
9. Can be installed virtually anywhere; in a field to on a building
10. Use batteries to store extra power for use at night

Disadvantages

1. High initial costs for material and installation and long ROI
2. Needs lots of space as efficiency is not 100% yet
3. No solar power at night so there is a need for a large battery bank
4. Some people think they are ugly (I am definitely not one of those!)
5. Devices that run on DC power directly are more expensive
6. Cloudy days do not produce much energy
7. Solar panels are not being massed produced due to lack of material and technology to
lower the cost enough to be more affordable
8. Solar powered cars do not have the same speeds and power as typical gas powered cars
9. Lower production in the winter months

Q.18 (a) Compare Conventional Thermal Power Plant and Solar Thermal power plant.

Solar-thermal technology concentrates the sun’s power to obtain thermal energy. This thermal
energy is used to generate steam, which in turn operates a conventional turbine that produces
electricity. Solar-thermal power generates electricity in a manageable way, in other words, on
demand
 Photovoltaic technology uses solar radiation to generate electricity by exploiting the chemical
properties of certain materials. This technology generates electricity directly via
the photoelectric effect, in other words, as a result of the effect of solar radiation
on semiconductor materials. The impact of solar energy on the atomic structure of
semiconductor materials generates a continuous electrical current. Photovoltaic modules use
this process to generate power when this material comes into contact with light.

Thermal Solar thermal

Manageable, which means production can be
Low-cost.
adapted to energy demand.
Can be hybridized with fossil fuels like natural
gas. In conventional plants, this can reduce
Wide geographical area of application.
pollution from atmospheric gas emissions. This
can also prolong its useful life.
Promotes socio-economic development by
Low maintenance costs: photovoltaic
creating employment and industrial
technology does not need major economic
infrastructure, which encourage technological
investment and human resources for its
development, innovation and
maintenance.
entrepreneurship.

(b) Explain Combined Cycle Generation.

HOW A COMBINED-CYCLE POWER PLANT PRODUCES ELECTRICITY

This is how a combined-cycle plant works to produce electricity and captures waste heat from
the gas turbine to increase efficiency and electrical output.

1. Gas turbine burns fuel.

 The gas turbine compresses air and mixes it with fuel that is heated to a very high
temperature. The hot air-fuel mixture moves through the gas turbine blades, making them
spin.
 The fast-spinning turbine drives a generator that converts a portion of the spinning energy
into electricity.

2. Heat recovery system captures exhaust.

  A Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) captures exhaust heat from the gas turbine that
would otherwise escape through the exhaust stack.
 The HRSG creates steam from the gas turbine exhaust heat and delivers it to the steam
turbine.

3. Steam turbine delivers additional electricity.

 The steam turbine sends its energy to the generator drive shaft, where it is converted into
additional electricity.

Q.19 (a) What is green energy give advantage of green energy?

What Is Green Power?

Green power is a subset of renewable energy and represents those renewable energy
resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. The market
defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible
biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources. Customers often buy green power for its
zero emissions profile and carbon footprint reduction benefits.
Renewable energy includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over
short periods of time and do not diminish. Such fuel sources include the sun, wind, moving
water, organic plant and waste material (eligible biomass), and the earth's heat (geothermal).
Although the impacts are small, some renewable energy technologies can have an impact on
the environment. For example, large hydroelectric resources can have environmental trade-offs
on such issues as fisheries and land use.
Conventional power includes the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) and the
nuclear fission of uranium. Fossil fuels have environmental costs from mining, drilling, or
extraction, and emit greenhouse gases and air pollution during combustion. Although nuclear
power generation emits no greenhouse gases during power generation, it does require mining,
extraction, and long-term radioactive waste storage.

(b) What is diversity factor?

Definition: Diversity factor is defined as the ratio of the sum of the maximum demands of the
various part of a system to the coincident maximum demand of the whole system. The
maximum demands of the individual consumers of a group do not occur simultaneously. Thus,
there is a diversity in the occurrence of the load. Due to this diverse nature of the load, full load
power supply to all the consumers at the same time is not required.
Diversity factors can be defined for loads, substations, feeders, and generating stations.
Usually, the maximum demands of the consumers do not occur at the same time. The diversity
factor can be equal or greater than 1.

Q.20 (a) Why nuclear power station becoming very popular ?

Nuclear power is a largely controversial topic in environmental physics as there are multiple
pros and cons. It could be the future for our planet or just the same story as fossil fuels where it
lasts for a couple hundred years or so then becomes high in demand and exceedingly
expensive. Unfortunately nuclear power is not renewable as it uses radioactive “heavy” metals
such as uranium as its fuel which is not very abundant with about two to four parts per million
in the earth’s crust however still fourty times more abundant than silver. Also for it to be
economically viable to extract, it needs to be extracted in large quantities which can only be
done in countries like Canada and Australia. Many countries with small amounts of uranium
cannot extract it and make a profit.

There are two types of generating power using nuclear processes. They are essentially very
simple concepts to understand. Firstly there is nuclear fission which is the process where
neutrons are fired with incredible velocity at the nucleae of uranium, plutonium or thorium
(these elements are used as they are radioactive, dense and very unstable therefore the
nucleae are likely to split). The neutron splits the nucleus in half which releases incredibly large
amounts of energy, two fission products which become radioactive nuclear waste and separate
neutrons. These neutrons can be used further in nuclear chain reactions where the process of
nuclear fission continues exponentially.

(b) What is centralized power generation?

The vast majority of the electricity that Americans use is from centralized generation.
Centralized generation facilities in the United States currently have the capacity to generate
more than 1,100 gigawatts of electric power.
The earliest electric utilities operated independently from each other. A consumer would
purchase electricity from a utility in their area, which would then provide the electricity through
its own electricity delivery system. During the second half of the 20th century, utilities found it
more efficient and economical to connect their delivery systems, resulting in the need to
coordinate power plant operations. The majority of electricity generation in the United States
today is coordinated by regional system operators to ensure reliability. Therefore, the
electricity delivered to consumers by their local electric utility may be generated at a
centralized power plant located in another city or state and owned by a different company.
These power plants are subject to economic, reliability, and environmental regulations by
federal, tribal, state, and/or local governments.