This document discusses different types of electric power plants including nuclear, fossil fuel thermal, hydroelectric, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass thermal, and ocean power plants. It provides details on the processes involved in each type of power plant such as using uranium to produce heat in nuclear plants or using coal, natural gas, or oil to heat water in thermal plants. The summaries highlight how each power plant converts energy sources like moving water, wind, or sunlight into electrical energy.

1. ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
By: Maria García Bermejo and María Alejo Hernández.
I.E.S Rodríguez Moñino 3ºA 2011/2012

2. INDEX
There are different types of power plants depending on
the source of the energy:
Nuclear power plants
Fossil fuel thermal power plants
Hydroelectric power plants
Wind power plants and wind farms
Solar power plants
Geothermal power plants
Biomass thermal power plants
Ocean power plants
Curiosities

3. Nuclear power plants
These nuclear power plants burn the radioactive material
(mainly uranium), to produce electricity.

4. Process in the nuclear power
plants
First, uranium is burned in the reactor and inside the control
rods, nuclear fission takes place.
Water in the reactor is heated to very high temperatures.
Then it's transported to the steam generator where the
reaction of hot and cool water produces steam
The steam moves a turbine that produces electricity.
This electricity is then induced into the electric network.
While this occurs the steam produced is cooled down again
to water, and is transported to the reactor.
The process is repeated.

5. Thermal power plants

6. Process in thermal power plants
These types of power plants, use fossil raw materials
such as coal,natural gasl or petroleum in order to heat
water in a boiler. The steam produced is then
transported to a turbine and makes it turn. The turbine is
connected to an electric generator that produces
electricity. The steam is converted again to water and
the result is the realisng water vapour through the
cooling tower.

7. Hydroelectric power plants

8. Process in hydroelectric power
plants
These types of power plants use the force of
water accumulated in a dam in order to make a
turbine move. Again the turbine is connected to
an electric generator and produces electricity.
The characteristics of the obtained electricity
are modified in the transformer to high voltage
in order to be transported. When it reaches the
electric network near the cities and towns, the
voltage is then reduced in order to be
consumed.

9. Wind power plants and wind
farms

10. Process in wind power plants
The nacelle is a metallic box in which a series of
electric machines measure the physical
characteristics of the wind. When a curent of
wind cames, the blades move the generator
inside the nacelle. The process in the
hydroelectric network is then repeated,
tranporting the electricity to the far away cities,
passing first through a transformation and
control substation.

11. Solar power plants
We can find two different types: Photo-thermal
and photovoltaic power plants

12. Characteristics
PHOTOVOLTAIC PHOTO-THERMAL
Radiation from the sun The sun heats water and
reaches photovoltaic water vapour is
cells that are capableof produced in order to
transforming it into move a turbine. The
electricity. turbine is conected to a
generator that produces
They are usually located in
electricity.
large areas.
Special mirrors are
Can also be obtained at
required to reflect the
home and then sold to
sun light to the boiler.
the electric grid.

13. Geothermal power plants

14. This type of energy source is able to
produce energy in two ways:
DIRECTLY INDIRECTLY
The internal heat of the This is the process in
Earth is used for which the (unwanted)
storing hot water and water vapour
heating in industrial produced in the direct
and domestic use. one is used (recycled)
to produce electricity
through a generator.

15. Biomass thermal power plants

16. Process and characteristics
This power plant uses energy from recycled
waste that has non-potential use to produce
electricity such as agricultural waste, agri-food
industrial waste and specific crops.
These wastes are burned and as a consequence
steam is produced which again moves a turbine
conected to a generator.
The main disadvantage is the huge quatities of
CO2 released to the atmosphere.

17. OCEAN POWER PLANTS

18. Characteristics
It uses three different types of energy from the
sea:
-the mechanical energy from the tides
-the mechanical energy from the waves
-the energy from the ocean's thermal gradient
Its principal aim is to move a turbine that is
connected to a generator that produces
electricity.

19. Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages Disadvantages
It is a clean form of energy Its productivity is very low
that takes advantage of the because ocean power
natural force of the sea plants aren't still totally
such as the waves and the experimented.
tides.
It causes environmental
It benefits from the impact and affects the
differences in temperature development of the
between the surface and
species.
the ground soil, creating
energy from the thermal
gradient.

20. Curiosities: Wind turbine creates
water from thin air
This ecological purpose aims to help arid and
desertic areas that have low manufacture of
drinking water by taking advantage of a
renewable energy. How? It's easy, the energy
produced in wind power station is used to make
a water generating system works. This process
extracts humidity from the air and stores fresh
water into stainless steel pipes. This process
has been discovered by a French firm and the
good point about it is that it can took place
anywhere.

21. The end