A thermal power plant operates by burning coal to create steam, which spins turbines that drive generators to produce electricity. The thermal power plant uses various processes: coal is pulverized and blown into a boiler to create steam, which expands in a turbine to spin a generator. The steam is then condensed in a condenser and recycled to the boiler. Ash produced during combustion is collected by an electrostatic precipitator and disposed of properly. The plant's operations are controlled and monitored in a central control room.

2.  A Thermal Power Plant converts the
heat energy of coal into electrical
energy. Coal is burnt in a boiler
which converts water into steam.
The expansion of steam in turbine
produces mechanical power which
drives the alternator coupled to the
turbine.
 Thermal Power Plants contribute
maximum to the generation of Power
for any country . Thermal Power
Plants constitute 75.43% of the total
installed captive and non-captive
power generation in India . In
thermal generating stations coal, oil,
natural gas etc. are employed as
primary sources of energy.

3.  Established in 7th July 1948 as the first multipurpose river valley
project of independent India to arrest the fury by the river of sorrow
and to harness the resources of Damodar Valley command area in
Jharkhand and West Bengal.
 With the time DVC developed and expanded its infrastructure, seven
thermal power stations with a capacity of 8910MW, three
hydroelectric power stations with a capacity of 147 MW.

4. Bokaro Thermal Power Station comprises with two plants that are BTPS ‘A’ &
BTPS ‘B’. The power station is located on the banks of the Konar River near.
Entire power generated by the plant is supplied to DVC network.
BTPS ‘A’ plant was the India first thermal power plant. It has an installed
capacity of 205 MW in 4 units i.e. 3 Units of 50 MW and One Unit of 55 MW. It
was later defunct and being scrapped down. A 500 MW Project is under
construction in place of it.
BTPS ‘B’ has an installed capacity of 210 MW in 3 Units Each.

6. 1. Coal handling plant
2. Water Treatment Plant
3. Boiler
4. Steam Turbine
5. Economizer
6.Turbine
7. Generator
8. Super heater
9.Condenser
10. Ash handling plant
11. Electrostatic Precipitator
12.Cooling Tower
13. Chimney

7. Coal can provide usable
energy at a cost of between 12
to 15 % compared to oil and
natural gas, and coal prices are
relatively stable.
Coal is the principal energy
source because of its large
deposits and availability.
Coal is inherently higher
polluting and carbon intensive
than other energy alternatives.
However coal is so inexpensive
that one can spend quite a bit
on pollution control, and still
maintain coal’s competitive
position.

8. Generally most of the thermal power plants uses low grades bituminous coal.
The conveyer belt system transports the coal from the coal storage area to
the coal mill.
Now the FHP(Fuel Handling Plant) department is responsible for converting
the coal converting it into fine granular dust by grinding process. The coal
from the coal bunkers.

9. The coal handling plant is used to store, transport and distribute coal which
comes from the mine. The coal is delivered either through a conveyor belt
system or by rail or road transport. The bulk storage of coal at the power
station is important for the continues supply of fuel.
The coal goes to the crusher house by the help of conveyer belt. The coal
after being crushed goes to the stacker via the conveyer belt for being
stacked or reclaimed and finally to the desired unit. ILMS is the inline
magnetic separator where all the magnetic particles associated with coal
get separated.

10.  In modern thermal power
plant , coal is pulverised
i.e. ground to dust like size
and carried to the furnace
in a stream of hot air.
 Pulverising is a means of
exposing a large surface
area to the action of
oxygen and consequently
helping combustion

11. Raw water received at the thermal power plant consists of various impurities and
dissolved gases including organic substances. To make it use for plant it is passed
through Water Treatment Plant to separate suspended impurities and dissolved
gases including organic substance and then through De-mineralized Plant to
separate soluble impurities.

12. In De-mineralised Plant, the filter water of Water Treatment Plant is passed
through the pressure sand filter (PSF) to reduce turbidity and then through
activated charcoal filter (ACF) to adsorb the residual chlorine and iron in filter
water.

13.  Boiler is an enclosed vessel in
which water is heated and
circulated until the water is
turned in to steam at the
required pressure.
 Coal is burned inside the
combustion chamber of boiler.
The products of combustion are
nothing but gases. These gases
which are at high temperature
vaporize the water inside the
boiler to steam.
Types of Boiler:
1.Fire tube
2.Water Tube

14.  Economizer tubes recover some of the heat from the
heat carried away in the flue gases up the stack and
utilize for heating the feed water to the boiler
 Air Preheater which increased the temperature of air
supplied to the boiler. The purpose of air pre heater is
to recover the heat from the boiler flue gases which
increased the thermal efficiency of the boiler by
reducing the useful heat lost in the flue gas.

15. Boiler Drum: Consists of steam separators and dryers.
Separate water and steam from the mixture generated
in water wells.
Furnace is primary part of boiler where the combustion
of oil and pulverized coal takes place.
Super heater are placed in the flue gas path to transfer
heat by radiation and convection in such proportion that
the outlet steam temperature can be maintained fairly
constant at all loads
Reheater for reheating the low pressure steam.

16.  A steam turbine is a device that
extracts thermal energy from
pressurized steam and uses it to
do mechanical work on a rotating
output shaft.
 The steam turbine is a form of heat
engine that derives much of its
improvement in thermodynamic
efficiency from the use of multiple
stages in the expansion of the steam,
which results in a closer approach to
the ideal reversible expansion
process.

17. The turbines used in thermal power plants are of Steam Gas type which uses
the heat energy of the steam for its working. Turbine Cycle is the most vital part
of the overall process; This is where the mechanical energy of the steam is
converted to electrical energy via turbine assembly. The turbine assembly
comprises of three turbines named as High Pressure Turbine (HPT),
Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) and the Low Pressure turbine (LPT).

18.  Converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Turbine is coupled with the
Turbo-generator that normally spins at 3000 rpm in countries with 50 Hz supply
frequency
 The generated voltage is stepped up in Generator Transformer and the power is
evacuated through transmission line feeders.

19.  A shell and tube type
surface heat exchanger.
 Cooling water flows twice
through the tubes.
 Steam condenses by
giving up heat and is
collected at the hot well
below.
 Maintained at 45˚C and
little below atmospheric
pressure.

20.  It is supplied by a large fan driven by a
variable speed motor, it blows the coal
from the mill to the boiler.
 When mixed with a stream of air the
powdered coal behaves more like a
gas than a solid.
 It heats the coal powder and lift it into
the furnace through pipelines.
The air heaters use the remaining heat
energy in the flue gas to heat up the
combustion air for the boiler .
Efficiency is increased by using this
heat that would otherwise go up the
chimney. The air temperature leaving
the air heaters is at 300°C

21.  A large quantity of ash is, produced
in steam power plants using coal.
 Ash produced in about 10 to 20% of
the total coal burnt in the furnace.
 A modern 2000MW plant
produces about 5000 tons of ash
daily.
 Fly ash is collected with an
electrostatic precipitator(ESP).
 The stations use some conveyor
arrangement to carry ash to
dump sites directly or for
carrying and loading it to trucks
and wagons which transport it to
the site of disposal

22.  The principal components of an ESP
are 2 sets of electrodes insulated from
each other.
 First set of rows are electrically
grounded vertical plates called
collecting electrodes while the second
set consists of wires called discharge
electrodes.
 The negatively charged fly ash particles
are driven towards the collecting plate
and the positive ions travel to the
negatively charged wire electrodes.
 Collected particulate matter is
removed from the collecting plates by a
mechanical hammer scrapping system.

23.  The control and relaying
equipment is installed in control
rooms in the form of panels called
control panels.
 Control of generators, transformer
circuits, etc. is provided on
separate control desk.
 The relays, meters and control
units are mounted in or on control
panels. Relays are mounted on
separate panel call relay panels.
Measuring instruments are placed
on metering panels.

24.  Hub of electrical power
sources.
 Exists in a generating station
to coordinate the transfer of
power between generators
and transmission lines.
 It contains current carrying
conductors, transformers,
circuit breakers etc.

25. The heated cooling water
after passing through the
condenser, is brought to
the cooling towers.
Heat is given out in the
atmosphere.
The water is recirculated
back as cooling water

26.  A chimney may be considered as a cylindrical hollow tower made of bricks or
steel. In BTPS the chimneys of all 3 units are made of bricks. Chimneys are used to
release the exhaust gases(coming from the furnace of the boiler)high up in the
atmosphere. So, the height of the chimneys are made high.