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102-504: ISCC may refer to: Integrated solar combined cycle, a form of electric power generation, see Combined cycle #Integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) Inter-Service Chess Championship, a chess tournament sponsored by the United States Department of Defense, see United States Armed Forces Chess Championship #Inter-Service Chess Championship Inter-Society Color Council ,

204-521: A heat exchanger so that the two engines can use different working fluids. By generating power from multiple streams of work, the overall efficiency can be increased by 50–60%. That is, from an overall efficiency of the system of say 34% for a simple cycle, to as much as 64% net for the turbine alone in specified conditions for a combined cycle. Historically successful combined cycles have used mercury vapour turbines , magnetohydrodynamic generators and molten carbonate fuel cells , with steam plants for

306-513: A heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) with a live steam temperature between 420 and 580 °C. The condenser of the Rankine cycle is usually cooled by water from a lake, river, sea or cooling towers . This temperature can be as low as 15 °C. Plant size is important in the cost of the plant. The larger plant sizes benefit from economies of scale (lower initial cost per kilowatt) and improved efficiency. For large-scale power generation,

408-451: A steam drum , and the furnace with its steam generating tubes and superheater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to protect against excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan , air preheater (AP), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash collectors ( electrostatic precipitator or baghouse ), and the flue-gas stack . The boiler feed water used in

510-435: A vacuum of about −95 kPa (−28 inHg) relative to atmospheric pressure. The large decrease in volume that occurs when water vapor condenses to liquid creates the vacuum that generally increases the efficiency of the turbines. The limiting factor is the temperature of the cooling water and that, in turn, is limited by the prevailing average climatic conditions at the power station's location (it may be possible to lower

612-430: A 50.00 MJ/kg (21,500 BTU/lb) LHV: a 11% increase. Efficiency of the turbine is increased when combustion can run hotter, so the working fluid expands more. Therefore, efficiency is limited by whether the first stage of turbine blades can survive higher temperatures. Cooling and materials research are continuing. A common technique, adopted from aircraft, is to pressurise hot-stage turbine blades with coolant. This

714-714: A US trade organization Islamic Supreme Council of Canada , based in Calgary, Alberta IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications, held by the IEEE Communications Society Invasive Species Council of California, a state inter-agency council involved with invasive species in the United States See also [ edit ] ISC (disambiguation) ISSC (disambiguation) International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) Topics referred to by

816-634: A backup or supplementary power. It is named after American professor D. Y. Cheng who patented the design in 1976. The efficiency of a heat engine, the fraction of input heat energy that can be converted to useful work, is limited by the temperature difference between the heat entering the engine and the exhaust heat leaving the engine. In a thermal power station , water is the working medium. High pressure steam requires strong, bulky components. High temperatures require expensive alloys made from nickel or cobalt , rather than inexpensive steel . These alloys limit practical steam temperatures to 655 °C while

918-415: A business add plant capacity as it is needed. Multiple-pressure reheat steam cycles are applied to combined-cycle systems with gas turbines with exhaust gas temperatures near 600 °C. Single- and multiple-pressure non-reheat steam cycles are applied to combined-cycle systems with gas turbines that have exhaust gas temperatures of 540 °C or less. Selection of the steam cycle for a specific application

1020-449: A combined heat and power (CHP) plant. In general, combined cycle efficiencies in service are over 50% on a lower heating value and Gross Output basis. Most combined cycle units, especially the larger units, have peak, steady-state efficiencies on the LHV basis of 55 to 59%. A limitation of combined cycles is that efficiency is reduced when not running at continuous output. During start up,

1122-660: A gas turbine, in the form of hot exhaust gas, can be used to raise steam by passing this gas through a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The steam is then used to drive a steam turbine in a combined cycle plant that improves overall efficiency. Power stations burning coal, fuel oil , or natural gas are often called fossil fuel power stations . Some biomass -fueled thermal power stations have appeared also. Non-nuclear thermal power stations, particularly fossil-fueled plants, which do not use cogeneration are sometimes referred to as conventional power stations . Commercial electric utility power stations are usually constructed on

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1224-442: A gas turbine. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. Geothermal plants do not need boilers because they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. A fossil fuel steam generator includes an economizer ,

1326-410: A generator on a common shaft. There is usually a high-pressure turbine at one end, followed by an intermediate-pressure turbine, and finally one, two, or three low-pressure turbines, and the shaft that connects to the generator. As steam moves through the system and loses pressure and thermal energy, it expands in volume, requiring increasing diameter and longer blades at each succeeding stage to extract

1428-480: A large scale and designed for continuous operation. Virtually all electric power stations use three-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz . Large companies or institutions may have their own power stations to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if steam is created anyway for other purposes. Steam-driven power stations have been used to drive most ships in most of

1530-520: A marine CCGT safer by permitting a ship to operate with equipment failures. A flexible stationary plant can make more money. Duct burning raises the flue temperature, which increases the quantity or temperature of the steam (e.g. to 84 bar, 525 degree Celsius). This improves the efficiency of the steam cycle. Supplementary firing lets the plant respond to fluctuations of electrical load, because duct burners can have very good efficiency with partial loads. It can enable higher steam production to compensate for

1632-552: A means of load control or load shifting since ice can be made during periods of low power demand and, potentially in the future the anticipated high availability of other resources such as renewables during certain periods. Combustion technology is a proprietary but very active area of research, because fuels, gasification and carburation all affect fuel efficiency. A typical focus is to combine aerodynamic and chemical computer simulations to find combustor designs that assure complete fuel burn up, yet minimize both pollution and dilution of

1734-422: A more efficient steam cycle. However, a multi-shaft system is about 5% higher in initial cost. The overall plant size and the associated number of gas turbines required can also determine which type of plant is more economical. A collection of single shaft combined cycle power plants can be more costly to operate and maintain, because there are more pieces of equipment. However, it can save interest costs by letting

1836-407: A percentage of the lower heating value of the fuel consumed, can be over 60% when operating new, i.e. unaged, and at continuous output which are ideal conditions. As with single cycle thermal units, combined cycle units may also deliver low temperature heat energy for industrial processes, district heating and other uses. This is called cogeneration and such power plants are often referred to as

1938-559: A set of tubes in the furnace. Here the steam picks up more energy from hot flue gases outside the tubing, and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves before the high-pressure turbine. Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. Experimental nuclear plants were equipped with fossil-fired superheaters in an attempt to improve overall plant operating cost. The condenser condenses

2040-438: A single cycle steam power plant is limited to efficiencies from 35 to 42%. Many new power plants utilize CCGTs. Stationary CCGTs burn natural gas or synthesis gas from coal . Ships burn fuel oil . Multiple stage turbine or steam cycles can also be used, but CCGT plants have advantages for both electricity generation and marine power. The gas turbine cycle can often start very quickly, which gives immediate power. This avoids

2142-434: A single electrical generator on a single shaft. This arrangement is simpler to operate, smaller, with a lower startup cost. Single-shaft arrangements can have less flexibility and reliability than multi-shaft systems. With some expense, there are ways to add operational flexibility: Most often, the operator desires to operate the gas turbine as a peaking plant. In these plants, the steam turbine's shaft can be disconnected with

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2244-523: A specific type of large heat exchanger used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to thermally connect the primary (reactor plant) and secondary (steam plant) systems, which generates steam. In a boiling water reactor (BWR), no separate steam generator is used and water boils in the reactor core. In some industrial settings, there can also be steam-producing heat exchangers called heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) which utilize heat from some industrial process, most commonly utilizing hot exhaust from

2346-423: A stationary stator and a spinning rotor , each containing miles of heavy copper conductor. There is generally no permanent magnet , thus preventing black starts . In operation it generates up to 21,000 amperes at 24,000 volts AC (504 MWe) as it spins at either 3,000 or 3,600 rpm , synchronized to the power grid . The rotor spins in a sealed chamber cooled with hydrogen gas, selected because it has

2448-602: A synchro-self-shifting (SSS) clutch, for start up or for simple cycle operation of the gas turbine. Another less common set of options enable more heat or standalone operation of the steam turbine to increase reliability: Duct burning, perhaps with a fresh air blower in the duct and a clutch on the gas turbine side of the shaft. A multi-shaft system usually has only one steam system for up to three gas turbines. Having only one large steam turbine and heat sink has economies of scale and can have lower cost operations and maintenance. A larger steam turbine can also use higher pressures, for

2550-564: A thermodynamic cycle that operates between the gas-turbine's high firing temperature and the waste heat temperature from the condensers of the steam cycle. This large range means that the Carnot efficiency of the cycle is high. The actual efficiency, while lower than the Carnot efficiency, is still higher than that of either plant on its own. The electric efficiency of a combined cycle power station, if calculated as electric energy produced as

2652-406: A trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting the coal. The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial start up. Fossil fuel power stations often have a superheater section in the steam generating furnace. The steam passes through drying equipment inside the steam drum on to the superheater,

2754-414: A turbine, where it rotates the turbine's blades. The rotating turbine is mechanically connected to an electric generator which converts rotary motion into electricity. Fuels such as natural gas or oil can also be burnt directly in gas turbines ( internal combustion ), skipping the steam generation step. These plants can be of the open cycle or the more efficient combined cycle type. The majority of

2856-478: A typical late 20th-century power station, superheated steam from the boiler is delivered through 14–16-inch-diameter (360–410 mm) piping at 2,400 psi (17 MPa; 160 atm) and 1,000 °F (540 °C) to the high-pressure turbine, where it falls in pressure to 600 psi (4.1 MPa; 41 atm) and to 600 °F (320 °C) in temperature through the stage. It exits via 24–26-inch-diameter (610–660 mm) cold reheat lines and passes back into

2958-626: A typical set would be a 270 MW primary gas turbine coupled to a 130 MW secondary steam turbine, giving a total output of 400 MW. A typical power station might consist of between 1 and 6 such sets. Gas turbines for large-scale power generation are manufactured by at least four separate groups – General Electric, Siemens, Mitsubishi-Hitachi, and Ansaldo Energia. These groups are also developing, testing and/or marketing gas turbine sizes in excess of 300 MW (for 60 Hz applications) and 400 MW (for 50 Hz applications). Combined cycle units are made up of one or more such gas turbines, each with

3060-478: A waste heat steam generator arranged to supply steam to a single or multiple steam turbines, thus forming a combined cycle block or unit. Combined cycle block sizes offered by three major manufacturers (Alstom, General Electric and Siemens) can range anywhere from 50 MW to well over 1300 MW with costs approaching $ 670/kW. The heat recovery boiler is item 5 in the COGAS figure shown above. Hot gas turbine exhaust enters

3162-430: A water washing procedure. A simpler and less expensive purification system will do the same job for light crude and light distillates. A magnesium additive system may also be needed to reduce the corrosive effects if vanadium is present. Fuels requiring such treatment must have a separate fuel-treatment plant and a system of accurate fuel monitoring to assure reliable, low-maintenance operation of gas turbines. Xcel Energy

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3264-508: A wider range of temperatures or heat to electric power. Systems burning low quality fuels such as brown coal or peat might use relatively expensive closed-cycle helium turbines as the topping cycle to avoid even more expensive fuel processing and gasification that would be needed by a conventional gas turbine. A typical single-shaft system has one gas turbine, one steam turbine, one generator and one heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The gas turbine and steam turbine are both coupled in tandem to

3366-406: Is a simplified form of combined cycle where the steam turbine is eliminated by injecting steam directly into the combustion turbine. This has been used since the mid 1970s and allows recovery of waste heat with less total complexity, but at the loss of the additional power and redundancy of a true combined cycle system. It has no additional steam turbine or generator, and therefore it cannot be used as

3468-471: Is also bled-off in proprietary ways to improve the aerodynamic efficiencies of the turbine blades. Different vendors have experimented with different coolants. Air is common but steam is increasingly used. Some vendors might now utilize single-crystal turbine blades in the hot section, a technique already common in military aircraft engines. The efficiency of CCGT and GT can also be boosted by pre-cooling combustion air. This increases its density, also increasing

3570-429: Is also dosed with pH control agents such as ammonia or morpholine to keep the residual acidity low and thus non-corrosive. The boiler is a rectangular furnace about 50 feet (15 m) on a side and 130 feet (40 m) tall. Its walls are made of a web of high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches (58 mm) in diameter. Fuel such as pulverized coal is air-blown into the furnace through burners located at

3672-419: Is also some development of modified Rankine cycles. Two promising areas are ammonia/water mixtures, and turbines that utilize supercritical carbon dioxide. Modern CCGT plants also need software that is precisely tuned to every choice of fuel, equipment, temperature, humidity and pressure. When a plant is improved, the software becomes a moving target. CCGT software is also expensive to test, because actual time

3774-547: Is called " combined heat and power " (CHP). In stationary and marine power plants, a widely used combined cycle has a large gas turbine (operating by the Brayton cycle ). The turbine's hot exhaust powers a steam power plant (operating by the Rankine cycle ). This is a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant. These achieve a best-of-class real (see below) thermal efficiency of around 64% in base-load operation. In contrast,

3876-399: Is converted to electrical energy . The heat from the source is converted into mechanical energy using a thermodynamic power cycle (such as a Diesel cycle , Rankine cycle , Brayton cycle , etc.). The most common cycle involves a working fluid (often water) heated and boiled under high pressure in a pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam. This high pressure-steam is then directed to

3978-418: Is determined by an economic evaluation that considers a plant's installed cost, fuel cost and quality, duty cycle, and the costs of interest, business risks, and operations and maintenance. By combining both gas and steam cycles, high input temperatures and low output temperatures can be achieved. The efficiency of the cycles add, because they are powered by the same fuel source. So, a combined cycle plant has

4080-406: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Combined cycle#Integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) The principle is that after completing its cycle in the first engine, the working fluid (the exhaust) is still hot enough that a second subsequent heat engine can extract energy from the heat in the exhaust. Usually the heat passes through

4182-473: Is expensive and has seldom been implemented. Government regulations and international agreements are being enforced to reduce harmful emissions and promote cleaner power generation. Almost all coal-fired power stations , petroleum, nuclear , geothermal , solar thermal electric , and waste incineration plants , as well as all natural gas power stations are thermal. Natural gas is frequently burned in gas turbines as well as boilers . The waste heat from

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4284-941: Is going to build two natural gas power plants in the Midwestern United States that can mix 30% hydrogen with the natural gas. Intermountain Power Plant is being retrofitted to a natural gas/hydrogen power plant that can run on 30% hydrogen as well, and is scheduled to run on pure hydrogen by 2045. However others think low-carbon hydrogen should be used for things which are harder to decarbonize , such as making fertilizer , so there may not be enough for electricity generation. Combined-cycle systems can have single-shaft or multi-shaft configurations. Also, there are several configurations of steam systems. The most fuel-efficient power generation cycles use an unfired heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) with modular pre-engineered components. These unfired steam cycles are also

4386-449: Is limited on the multimillion-dollar prototypes of new CCGT plants. Testing usually simulates unusual fuels and conditions, but validates the simulations with selected data points measured on actual equipment. Steam power plant A thermal power station , also known as a thermal power plant , is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal , natural gas , nuclear fuel , etc.)

4488-474: Is limited, and governed by the laws of thermodynamics . The Carnot efficiency dictates that higher efficiencies can be attained by increasing the temperature of the steam. Sub-critical pressure fossil fuel power stations can achieve 36–40% efficiency. Supercritical designs have efficiencies in the low to mid 40% range, with new "ultra critical" designs using pressures above 4,400 psi (30 MPa) and multiple stage reheat reaching 45–48% efficiency. Above

4590-479: Is often readily available in rural areas. Gas turbines burn mainly natural gas and light oil. Crude oil, residual, and some distillates contain corrosive components and as such require fuel treatment equipment. In addition, ash deposits from these fuels result in gas turbine deratings of up to 15%. They may still be economically attractive fuels however, particularly in combined-cycle plants. Sodium and potassium are removed from residual, crude and heavy distillates by

4692-476: Is returned to the downcomers and the steam is passed through a series of steam separators and dryers that remove water droplets from the steam. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils. The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers , water lancing, and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after

4794-464: Is separated from the water inside a drum at the top of the furnace. The saturated steam is introduced into superheat pendant tubes that hang in the hottest part of the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Here the steam is superheated to 1,000 °F (540 °C) to prepare it for the turbine. Plants that use gas turbines to heat the water for conversion into steam use boilers known as heat recovery steam generators (HRSG). The exhaust heat from

4896-482: Is supplied to the low-temperature turbine. A super heater can be provided in the low-pressure circuit. Some part of the feed water from the low-pressure zone is transferred to the high-pressure economizer by a booster pump . This economizer heats up the water to its saturation temperature . This saturated water goes through the high-temperature zone of the boiler and is supplied to the high-pressure turbine . The HRSG can be designed to burn supplementary fuel after

4998-465: Is the air-cooled condenser . The process is similar to that of a radiator and fan. Exhaust heat from the low-pressure section of a steam turbine runs through the condensing tubes, the tubes are usually finned and ambient air is pushed through the fins with the help of a large fan. The steam condenses to water to be reused in the water-steam cycle. Air-cooled condensers typically operate at a higher temperature than water-cooled versions. While saving water,

5100-410: Is the gas turbine power plant cycle is the topping cycle. It depicts the heat and work transfer process taking place in the high temperature region. The cycle a-b-c-d-e-f-a which is the Rankine steam cycle takes place at a lower temperature and is known as the bottoming cycle. Transfer of heat energy from high temperature exhaust gas to water and steam takes place in a waste heat recovery boiler in

5202-797: The Manhattan Elevated Railway . Each of seventeen units weighed about 500 tons and was rated 6000 kilowatts; a contemporary turbine set of similar rating would have weighed about 20% as much. The energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station is defined as saleable energy produced as a percent of the heating value of the fuel consumed. A simple cycle gas turbine achieves energy conversion efficiencies from 20 to 35%. Typical coal-based power plants operating at steam pressures of 170 bar and 570 °C run at efficiency of 35 to 38%, with state-of-the-art fossil fuel plants at 46% efficiency. Combined-cycle systems can reach higher values. As with all heat engines, their efficiency

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5304-403: The critical point for water of 705 °F (374 °C) and 3,212 psi (22.15 MPa), there is no phase transition from water to steam, but only a gradual decrease in density . Currently most nuclear power stations must operate below the temperatures and pressures that coal-fired plants do, in order to provide more conservative safety margins within the systems that remove heat from

5406-552: The steam boiler is a means of transferring heat energy from the burning fuel to the mechanical energy of the spinning steam turbine . The total feed water consists of recirculated condensate water and purified makeup water . Because the metallic materials it contacts are subject to corrosion at high temperatures and pressures, the makeup water is highly purified before use. A system of water softeners and ion exchange demineralizes produces water so pure that it coincidentally becomes an electrical insulator , with conductivity in

5508-408: The super heater , then passes through the evaporator and finally through the economiser section as it flows out from the boiler . Feed water comes in through the economizer and then exits after having attained saturation temperature in the water or steam circuit. Finally it flows through the evaporator and super heater. If the temperature of the gases entering the heat recovery boiler is higher, then

5610-409: The vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum . Thus leaks of non-condensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Typically the cooling water causes the steam to condense at a temperature of about 25 °C (77 °F) and that creates an absolute pressure in the condenser of about 2–7  kPa (0.59–2.07  inHg ), i.e.

5712-540: The 18th century, with notable improvements being made by James Watt . When the first commercially developed central electrical power stations were established in 1882 at Pearl Street Station in New York and Holborn Viaduct power station in London, reciprocating steam engines were used. The development of the steam turbine in 1884 provided larger and more efficient machine designs for central generating stations. By 1892

5814-743: The 20th century . Shipboard power stations usually directly couple the turbine to the ship's propellers through gearboxes. Power stations in such ships also provide steam to smaller turbines driving electric generators to supply electricity. Nuclear marine propulsion is, with few exceptions, used only in naval vessels. There have been many turbo-electric ships in which a steam-driven turbine drives an electric generator which powers an electric motor for propulsion . Cogeneration plants, often called combined heat and power (CHP) facilities, produce both electric power and heat for process heat or space heating, such as steam and hot water. The reciprocating steam engine has been used to produce mechanical power since

5916-943: The Otto or Diesel cycles. In the Rankine cycle, the low-pressure exhaust from the turbine enters a steam condenser where it is cooled to produce hot condensate which is recycled to the heating process to generate even more high pressure steam. The design of thermal power stations depends on the intended energy source. In addition to fossil and nuclear fuel , some stations use geothermal power , solar energy , biofuels , and waste incineration . Certain thermal power stations are also designed to produce heat for industrial purposes, provide district heating , or desalinate water , in addition to generating electrical power. Emerging technologies such as supercritical and ultra-supercritical thermal power stations operate at higher temperatures and pressures for increased efficiency and reduced emissions. Cogeneration or CHP (Combined Heat and Power) technology,

6018-561: The United States are about 90 percent efficient in converting the energy of falling water into electricity while the efficiency of a wind turbine is limited by Betz's law , to about 59.3%, and actual wind turbines show lower efficiency. The direct cost of electric energy produced by a thermal power station is the result of cost of fuel, capital cost for the plant, operator labour, maintenance, and such factors as ash handling and disposal. Indirect social or environmental costs, such as

6120-489: The air in the air preheater for better economy. Secondary air is mixed with the coal/primary air flow in the burners. The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the furnace, maintaining slightly below atmospheric pressure in the furnace to avoid leakage of combustion products from the boiler casing. A steam turbine generator consists of a series of steam turbines interconnected to each other and

6222-400: The atmosphere, or once-through cooling (OTC) water from a river, lake or ocean. In the United States, about two-thirds of power plants use OTC systems, which often have significant adverse environmental impacts. The impacts include thermal pollution and killing large numbers of fish and other aquatic species at cooling water intakes . The heat absorbed by the circulating cooling water in

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6324-433: The boiler, where the steam is reheated in special reheat pendant tubes back to 1,000 °F (540 °C). The hot reheat steam is conducted to the intermediate-pressure turbine, where it falls in both temperature and pressure and exits directly to the long-bladed low-pressure turbines and finally exits to the condenser. The generator, typically about 30 feet (9 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter, contains

6426-514: The bottoming cycle. During the constant pressure process 4-1 the exhaust gases from the gas turbine reject heat. The feed water, wet and super heated steam absorb some of this heat in the process a-b, b-c and c-d. The steam power plant takes its input heat from the high temperature exhaust gases from a gas turbine power plant. The steam thus generated can be used to drive a steam turbine . The Waste Heat Recovery Boiler (WHRB) has 3 sections: Economiser, evaporator and superheater. The Cheng cycle

6528-507: The capital costs of combined cycle power is relatively low, at around $ 1000/kW, making it one of the cheapest types of generation to install. The thermodynamic cycle of the basic combined cycle consists of two power plant cycles. One is the Joule or Brayton cycle which is a gas turbine cycle and the other is the Rankine cycle which is a steam turbine cycle. The cycle 1-2-3-4-1 which

6630-443: The condenser tubes must also be removed to maintain the ability of the water to cool as it circulates. This is done by pumping the warm water from the condenser through either natural draft, forced draft or induced draft cooling towers (as seen in the adjacent image) that reduce the temperature of the water by evaporation, by about 11 to 17 °C (52 to 63 °F)—expelling waste heat to the atmosphere. The circulation flow rate of

6732-519: The cooling water in a 500 MW unit is about 14.2 m /s (500 ft /s or 225,000 US gal/min) at full load. The condenser tubes are typically made stainless steel or other alloys to resist corrosion from either side. Nevertheless, they may become internally fouled during operation by bacteria or algae in the cooling water or by mineral scaling, all of which inhibit heat transfer and reduce thermodynamic efficiency . Many plants include an automatic cleaning system that circulates sponge rubber balls through

6834-411: The economic value of environmental impacts, or environmental and health effects of the complete fuel cycle and plant decommissioning, are not usually assigned to generation costs for thermal stations in utility practice, but may form part of an environmental impact assessment. Those indirect costs belong to the broader concept of externalities . In the nuclear plant field, steam generator refers to

6936-472: The efficiency of the cycle is reduced (resulting in more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity). From the bottom of the condenser, powerful condensate pumps recycle the condensed steam (water) back to the water/steam cycle. Power station furnaces may have a reheater section containing tubes heated by hot flue gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high-pressure turbine is passed through these heated tubes to collect more energy before driving

7038-600: The energy harvested from solar radiation with another fuel to cut fuel costs and environmental impact (See: ISCC section ). Many next generation nuclear power plants can use the higher temperature range of a Brayton top cycle, as well as the increase in thermal efficiency offered by a Rankine bottoming cycle. Where the extension of a gas pipeline is impractical or cannot be economically justified, electricity needs in remote areas can be met with small-scale combined cycle plants using renewable fuels. Instead of natural gas, these gasify and burn agricultural and forestry waste, which

7140-400: The expansion ratio of the turbine. This is practised in hot climates and also has the effect of increasing power output. This is achieved by evaporative cooling of water using a moist matrix placed in the turbine's inlet, or by using Ice storage air conditioning . The latter has the advantage of greater improvements due to the lower temperatures available. Furthermore, ice storage can be used as

7242-407: The failure of another unit. Also, coal can be burned in the steam generator as an economical supplementary fuel. Supplementary firing can raise exhaust temperatures from 600 °C (GT exhaust) to 800 or even 1000 °C. Supplemental firing does not raise the efficiency of most combined cycles. For single boilers it can raise the efficiency if fired to 700–750 °C; for multiple boilers however,

7344-470: The flexibility of the plant should be the major attraction. "Maximum supplementary firing" is the condition when the maximum fuel is fired with the oxygen available in the gas turbine exhaust. Combined cycle plants are usually powered by natural gas , although fuel oil , synthesis gas or other fuels can be used. The supplementary fuel may be natural gas, fuel oil, or coal. Biofuels can also be used. Integrated solar combined cycle power stations combine

7446-421: The four corners, or along one wall, or two opposite walls, and it is ignited to rapidly burn, forming a large fireball at the center. The thermal radiation of the fireball heats the water that circulates through the boiler tubes near the boiler perimeter. The water circulation rate in the boiler is three to four times the throughput. As the water in the boiler circulates it absorbs heat and changes into steam. It

7548-407: The gas turbine. Supplementary burners are also called duct burners . Duct burning is possible because the turbine exhaust gas (flue gas) still contains some oxygen . Temperature limits at the gas turbine inlet force the turbine to use excess air, above the optimal stoichiometric ratio to burn the fuel. Often in gas turbine designs part of the compressed air flow bypasses the burner in order to cool

7650-403: The gas turbines is used to make superheated steam that is then used in a conventional water-steam generation cycle, as described in the gas turbine combined-cycle plants section. The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer . From the economizer it passes to the steam drum and from there it goes through downcomers to inlet headers at the bottom of

7752-615: The highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its low viscosity , which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during startup, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that a highly explosive hydrogen– oxygen environment is not created. The power grid frequency is 60 Hz across North America and 50 Hz in Europe , Oceania , Asia ( Korea and parts of Japan are notable exceptions), and parts of Africa . The desired frequency affects

7854-607: The hot exhaust gases. Some combustors inject other materials, such air or steam, to reduce pollution by reducing the formation of nitrates and ozone. Another active area of research is the steam generator for the Rankine cycle. Typical plants already use a two-stage steam turbine, reheating the steam between the two stages. When the heat-exchangers' thermal conductivity can be improved, efficiency improves. As in nuclear reactors, tubes might be made thinner (e.g. from stronger or more corrosion-resistant steel). Another approach might use silicon carbide sandwiches, which do not corrode. There

7956-426: The input temperature to the turbine (the firing temperature), is relatively high (900 to 1,400 °C). The output temperature of the flue gas is also high (450 to 650 °C). This is therefore high enough to provide heat for a second cycle which uses steam as the working fluid (a Rankine cycle ). In a combined cycle power plant, the heat of the gas turbine's exhaust is used to generate steam by passing it through

8058-428: The intermediate and then low-pressure turbines. External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The Primary air fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warms the air in the air preheater for better economy. Primary air then passes through the coal pulverizers, and carries the coal dust to the burners for injection into the furnace. The Secondary air fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warms

8160-450: The local economy by creating jobs in construction, maintenance, and fuel extraction industries. On the other hand, burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases (contributing to climate change) and air pollutants such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides (leading to acid rain and respiratory diseases). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil-fuel-based thermal power stations, however it

8262-399: The low temperature "bottoming" cycle. Very low temperature bottoming cycles have been too costly due to the very large sizes of equipment needed to handle the large mass flows and small temperature differences. However, in cold climates it is common to sell hot power plant water for hot water and space heating. Vacuum-insulated piping can let this utility reach as far as 90 km. The approach

8364-431: The lower temperature of a steam plant is fixed by the temperature of the cooling water. With these limits, a steam plant has a fixed upper efficiency of 35–42%. An open circuit gas turbine cycle has a compressor , a combustor and a turbine . For gas turbines the amount of metal that must withstand the high temperatures and pressures is small, and lower quantities of expensive materials can be used. In this type of cycle,

8466-427: The lowest in initial cost, and they are often part of a single shaft system that is installed as a unit. Supplementary-fired and multishaft combined-cycle systems are usually selected for specific fuels, applications or situations. For example, cogeneration combined-cycle systems sometimes need more heat, or higher temperatures, and electricity is a lower priority. Multishaft systems with supplementary firing can provide

8568-417: The middle of this series of feedwater heaters, and before the second stage of pressurization, the condensate plus the makeup water flows through a deaerator that removes dissolved air from the water, further purifying and reducing its corrosiveness. The water may be dosed following this point with hydrazine , a chemical that removes the remaining oxygen in the water to below 5 parts per billion (ppb). It

8670-581: The need for separate expensive peaker plants , or lets a ship maneuver. Over time the secondary steam cycle will warm up, improving fuel efficiency and providing further power. In November 2013, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE assessed the levelised cost of energy for newly built power plants in the German electricity sector . They gave costs of between 78 and €100 /MWh for CCGT plants powered by natural gas. In addition

8772-444: The nuclear fuel. This, in turn, limits their thermodynamic efficiency to 30–32%. Some advanced reactor designs being studied, such as the very-high-temperature reactor , Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor , and supercritical water reactor , would operate at temperatures and pressures similar to current coal plants, producing comparable thermodynamic efficiency. The energy of a thermal power station not utilized in power production must leave

8874-630: The plant in the form of heat to the environment. This waste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of with cooling water or in cooling towers . If the waste heat is instead used for district heating , it is called cogeneration . An important class of thermal power station is that associated with desalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas , and in these plants freshwater production and electricity are equally important co-products. Other types of power stations are subject to different efficiency limitations. Most hydropower stations in

8976-405: The range of 0.3–1.0 microsiemens per centimeter. The makeup water in a 500 MWe plant amounts to perhaps 120 US gallons per minute (7.6 L/s) to replace water drawn off from the boiler drums for water purity management, and to also offset the small losses from steam leaks in the system. The feed water cycle begins with condensate water being pumped out of the condenser after traveling through

9078-507: The remaining energy. The entire rotating mass may be over 200 metric tons and 100 feet (30 m) long. It is so heavy that it must be kept turning slowly even when shut down (at 3 rpm ) so that the shaft will not bow even slightly and become unbalanced. This is so important that it is one of only six functions of blackout emergency power batteries on site. (The other five being emergency lighting , communication , station alarms, generator hydrogen seal system, and turbogenerator lube oil.) For

9180-405: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title ISCC . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ISCC&oldid=1213037950 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

9282-517: The second cycle can take time to start up. Thus efficiency is initially much lower until the second cycle is running, which can take an hour or more. Heat engine efficiency can be based on the fuel Higher Heating Value (HHV), including latent heat of vaporisation that would be recuperated in condensing boilers , or the Lower Heating Value (LHV), excluding it. The HHV of methane is 55.50 MJ/kg (23,860 BTU/lb), compared to

9384-686: The simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat from the same fuel source, improves the overall efficiency by using waste heat for heating purposes. Older, less efficient thermal power stations are being decommissioned or adapted to use cleaner and renewable energy sources. Thermal power stations produce 70% of the world's electricity. They often provide reliable, stable, and continuous baseload power supply essential for economic growth. They ensure energy security by maintaining grid stability, especially in regions where they complement intermittent renewable energy sources dependent on weather conditions. The operation of thermal power stations contributes to

9486-460: The steam from the exhaust of the turbine into liquid to allow it to be pumped. If the condenser can be made cooler, the pressure of the exhaust steam is reduced and efficiency of the cycle increases. The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes. The exhaust steam from the low-pressure turbine enters the shell, where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over

9588-420: The steam turbines. The condensate flow rate at full load in a 500 MW plant is about 6,000 US gallons per minute (400 L/s). The water is usually pressurized in two stages, and typically flows through a series of six or seven intermediate feed water heaters, heated up at each point with steam extracted from an appropriate extraction connection on the turbines and gaining temperature at each stage. Typically, in

9690-433: The temperature beyond the turbine limits during winter, causing excessive condensation in the turbine). Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning . The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to reject waste heat to

9792-428: The temperature of the exiting gases is also high. In order to remove the maximum amount of heat from the gasses exiting the high temperature cycle, a dual pressure boiler is often employed. It has two water / steam drums. The low-pressure drum is connected to the low-pressure economizer or evaporator. The low-pressure steam is generated in the low temperature zone of the turbine exhaust gasses. The low-pressure steam

9894-455: The tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor -driven exhausts for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum . For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 °C where

9996-452: The tubes to scrub them clean without the need to take the system off-line. The cooling water used to condense the steam in the condenser returns to its source without having been changed other than having been warmed. If the water returns to a local water body (rather than a circulating cooling tower), it is often tempered with cool 'raw' water to prevent thermal shock when discharged into that body of water. Another form of condensing system

10098-413: The turbine blades. The turbine exhaust is already hot, so a regenerative air preheater is not required as in a conventional steam plant. However, a fresh air fan blowing directly into the duct permits a duct-burning steam plant to operate even when the gas turbine cannot. Without supplementary firing, the thermal efficiency of a combined cycle power plant is higher. But more flexible plant operations make

10200-432: The turbine was considered a better alternative to reciprocating engines; turbines offered higher speeds, more compact machinery, and stable speed regulation allowing for parallel synchronous operation of generators on a common bus. After about 1905, turbines entirely replaced reciprocating engines in almost all large central power stations. The largest reciprocating engine-generator sets ever built were completed in 1901 for

10302-400: The water walls. From these headers the water rises through the water walls of the furnace where some of it is turned into steam and the mixture of water and steam then re-enters the steam drum. This process may be driven purely by natural circulation (because the water is the downcomers is denser than the water/steam mixture in the water walls) or assisted by pumps. In the steam drum, the water

10404-433: The world's thermal power stations are driven by steam turbines, gas turbines, or a combination of the two. The efficiency of a thermal power station is determined by how effectively it converts heat energy into electrical energy, specifically the ratio of saleable electricity to the heating value of the fuel used. Different thermodynamic cycles have varying efficiencies, with the Rankine cycle generally being more efficient than

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