Technological Advancement in Power Generation System

Hi Friends,

Technological advancement is the need of the hour in every field of industrialization for improvement in efficiencies their by reduction in operating expenditure, judicious utilization of natural resources and protection against damage to our natural environment. In present post, we will discuss about the technological advancement in coal based thermal power plants in improving efficiencies and reducing emissions of CO₂, SO_X, NO_X and suspended particulate matter.

The technological advancements in coal based thermal power plants can be discussed under following four categories-

1. Sub-critical power plants,
2. Super critical power plants,
3. Ultra super critical power plants and
4. Integrated gasification combined cycle power plants

First three categories of power plants uses either conventional pulverized coal combustion (PCC) boilers or fluidized bed combustion (FBC) boilers. Both types of boilers have their own advantages and disadvantages which we have already discussed in our previous post with glimpse of sub-critical and super critical thermal power plants.  We all know that fluidized bed combustion system has the flexibility of utilizing even the poor quality of coal which is generally not possible in pulverized coal combustion system.

The modified PCC systems with super critical and ultra super critical technology are operated at comparatively higher pressure and temperature which results in improved overall thermal efficiencies over 50% and substantial reduction in pollutants to atmosphere. Super critical power plants have been commercially proven technology since last ten twelve years and thus  has become the right choice for new thermal power plants in many countries.

The development of ultra super critical power plants  is in advanced stage of commercialization in countries like Japan, Denmark and Germany with focus on development of special alloy steel for boiler tubes to minimize rate of corrosion.

Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants are another advancement over PCC and FCB boilers where in coal gasification technology are used. In IGCC power plants, the sythetic gas (Syngas) is generated by combustion of coal in presence of oxygen and steam. The syngas is an artificially prepared gas as a mixture of methane and water gas (CH₄+CO+H₂). It has high pressure and calorific value but contains impurities like sulfur and suspended solids. The cleaned syn gas at high pressure is passed through gas turbines for generation of electrical power. The waste gas collected at the turbine exhaust is again burnt in gas fired boilers for generating high pressure steam and thus electrical power in steam turbines. Capex for IGCC based thermal power plants is much more compared to conventional coal fired power plants. The overall thermal efficiency of IGCC power plants is in the range of 45% to 50% with improved environmental control. This technology will bring revolutionary changes on commercialization thus will be proved to be the right choice for our better tomorrow. 

Hope, I have broadly covered the subject. Please put your views / remarks / suggestions / comments, if any.

If you like this article, then press your rating as  +1  .

Thanks and regards.

Kunwar Rajendra