Economics of Power GenerationIn all new engineering enterprises of this era, the question of cost is of utmost importance. It is the role played by an engineer to achieve the desired technical result, with minimum cost that distinguishes him from a non engineer who can also possibly attain the same result, but at what cost? In a power generation industry we are usually confronted with a situation where we have to make a choice between equipment of high cost with high efficiency and their low cos

The unit of electric power is watt, and hence unit of electrical energy is watt – second since energy is the product of power and time. The watt – seconds is referred as joules. One joule means the work required to be done for transferring one-ampere current in one second from one point to another point of potential difference one volt. So one-joule electrical energy equals to the product of one volt, one ampere and one second.Joule which equals to one watt – second is a very small unit of energ

When we generate electricity in steam power plant we have to burn fuel like coal, petroleum oil or flammable gases. The fuel can be considered as such a raw material for producing electricity in any kind of thermal power generating plants. So the quality of the fuel used in a thermal power generating plants plays a vital role in that sense. The calorific value of a fuel determines the quality of the fuel. We define the calorific value of a fuel as the amount of heat produced by complete combusti

What is Economic Dispatch?Economic dispatch (also known as economic load dispatch or merit order) is defined as an online process that allocates the generation among the available generators to fulfill the load demand that helps to minimize the total generation cost.The economic dispatch outlines efficient and dependable methods for operating generation facilities, considering operational constraints on production and transmission systems, to serve consumers.The economic dispatch determines the

In all power generating stations except solar power generating station employee alternator to generate electrical energy. An alternator is a rotating machine which can produce electricity only when it rotates. Hence there must be a prime mover which helps to turn the alternator. The primary arrangement of all power plants is to rotate the prime mover so that alternator can generate required electricity. In gas turbine power plant we use high pressure and temperature air instead of high pressure

The main components of a gas turbine power plant are the compressor, regenerator, combustion chamber, gas turbine, alternator, and starting motor.CompressorAir compressor used in a gas turbine power plant is mainly of the rotary type. The air filter is attached at the inlet of the compressor where air gets filtered from dust. The rotary blades attached to the shaft push the air between stationary blocks, and consequently, the pressure of the air is increased. High pressure air is available at th

A diesel power plant is a type of power plant that uses a diesel engine as the prime mover to drive an alternator and generate electricity. Diesel power plants are mainly used for small-scale power generation or as backup sources of electricity in remote areas or during emergencies. In this article, we will discuss the components, working principles, advantages, disadvantages, and applications of diesel power plants.What is a Diesel Power Plant?A diesel power plant is defined as a power plant th

We can generate electrical power by means of nuclear power. In nuclear power station, generates electrical power by nuclear reaction. Here, heavy radioactive elements such as Uranium (U235) or Thorium (Th232) are subjected to nuclear fission. This fission is done in a special apparatus called reactor.What is nuclear fission?In the fission process, the nuclei of heavy radioactive atoms are broken into two nearly equal parts. During this breaking of nuclei, a huge quantity of energy is released. T

In hydroelectric power station the kinetic energy developed due to gravity in a falling water from higher to lower head is utilised to rotate a turbine to produce electricity. The potential energy stored in the water at upper water level will release as kinetic energy when it falls to the lower water level. This turbine rotates when the following water strikes the turbine blades. To achieve a head difference of water hydroelectric electric power station are generally constructed in hilly areas.

Thesteam turbineis a favourite prime mover in a steam power generating plants. The steam turbine may be of capacity from 5 megawatts 2000 megawatt.The advantages of a steam turbine over a diesel engine are as follows. The size of a steam turbine is much smaller than that of an equivalent diesel engine. The size of a 30-megawatt steam turbine is same as a 5-megawatt diesel engine. Construction wise the steam turbine is much simpler than a diesel engine. The rotor shaft, blades, steam control valv