Power
plant/Generation station is the special place where a bulk amount of
electrical power is produced.
Power plant employs the prime mover which is coupled to a to an alternator. The prime mover
coverts energy obtained from energy sources into mechanical energy which in
turn drives an alternator to produce electrical power.
On designing of power
plants the following aspects should be considered. One is that the selection and placing of the power generation equipment
should provide a maximum return from the minimum expenditure invested over its
working life.
Another is that the operation of the plant should be so as to provide cheap
and reliable operation.
In this, we shall
discuss the following power plants
1.Steam power plant
2.Hydroelectric power
plant
3.Diesel power plant
4.Nuclear power plant
5.Natural gas power
plant
Steam, diesel,
nuclear and gas turbine power plants are called thermal
power plants since they convert heat energy from the energy source
into electrical energy.
Steam, gas
turbine and natural gas power plants are
also called fossil-fueled power plants.
Fossil
fueled power plants are the one which burns fossil fuel to produce electrical
energy. Fossil fuels are fuel materials that are formed by the decomposition of animal and
plant remains long time years ago.\
Again steam, nuclear, gas turbine, and diesel power plants are called convectional
power plants because their energy sources are convectional sources.
Convectional sources
are energy sources that are available
in a limited quantity and once they are used they get exhausted. Eg.
Petroleum fuels, coal, biomass.
The hydropower plant is called non-covectional power plants as hydro energy is the non-conventional source of energy. Non-convectional sources are the ones that are not available in a limited quantity and once used they don't get exhausted. eg hydro-energy, wind energy solar energy.
This is a brief introduction to power plants. We shall explore more about these power plants in the coming lectures
Thank you!
