In recent times, most countries have been facing power crisis. Almost all our needs are based on power. In this blog, I will try to explain how power is produced in a thermal Power Plant. Of course, we have different methods by which power is produced, like Wind Mills, or Dams with Hydraulic Turbines, Diesel Generators, nuclear power plants etc. However, a thermal power plant is one of the oldest technologies in this field. 

A Thermal Power Plant basically runs on the Rankine Cycle principle. We have a Big Pump called the Boiler Feed Pump which gives the saturated water at its corresponding pressure a good amount of head to go through the boiler with out losing on the pressure. The Water once inside the boiler is heated in a step-by-step procedure. 

A thermal power plant is basically run by a Boiler which may be Coal Fired or Gas Fired or Oil Fired or maybe a combination of all these. 

The Boiler is heated and fired with the means of a fuel. Fuel may vary from different types of coal to oil or natural gas. The fuel is fired inside the combustion chamber and temperature upto 1300 degree celcius is generated. For smaller boilers the temperature inside the furnace may vary. 

The boiler heats the water and converts it into superheated steam or Dry Steam. ( Dry Steam is the steam with no water particles in it.) 

This Dry steam then goes to the Steam Turbine and it hits the blades with a lot of power. The Dry steam velocity may rise up to 70 to 80 m/sec. This steam has a high pressure and a high temperature. This pressure helps to move the turbine blades and the blades rotate with a RPM of say about, 15000. However the RPM depends on the Turbine Design also. This value may change!!! 

In this time the steam which had a lot of energy loses its energy as a result of hitting on the blades. As the pressure of the steam goes on decreasing the specific volume of the steam increases. This explains the construction of the Turbine as in the shape of an increasing cone. The steam which comes out of the turbine is then taken into a condenser where it is condensed and then with the help of the Condensate Extraction Pump it’s taken to the Deaerater. The Steam is cooled inside the Condensor with the help of Cooling Water which is supplied in huge quantities and is returned to the Cooling Towers for cooling. 

The shaft holding the impellers is now moving with a RPM which is coupled to a generator shaft. A gear box is placed between the two shafts. The RPM is reduced to 3000 rpm (in case of India) and 3600 rpm (in case of Europe and USA). The Generator has two magnetic stators and when the shaft rotates in the magnetic field, as per Faraday’s laws electricity is produced. The Main Line is connected to the Grid and we have power for our service. So this is how the power is produced. 

I hope to have made you understand (very roughly though) how the power is generated. If you have questions you can e-mail and ask me on arin.abc@gmail.com