This document summarizes a student project on thermal power generation. It includes sections on the introduction, need for thermal power, basic definitions, functioning of a thermal power plant, advantages, and disadvantages. The introduction provides a brief history of thermal power and describes the basic process of heating water to create steam to spin a turbine and generate electricity. The plant uses various fuels like coal, natural gas, or oil to heat water in a boiler and create high pressure steam. This steam powers a turbine connected to an electric generator to produce electricity.

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A SYNOPSIS
OF
FINAL YEAR PROJECT
PROJECT TITLE - “ Thermal Power Generation ”
SUBMITTED TO- SUBMITTED BY-
Mr. Braj Kishore Gaur Ravinder Jangid
HOD (MECH. Engg.) (B.Tech,ME,Final Yr.)
Pratap University, Jaipur PU216084
Department of Mechanical Engg.
Pratap University, Jaipur

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page No.
CERTIFICATE 3
APPROVAL 4
CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION 5
ABSTRACT 6
INTRODUCTION 7
NEED FOR THERMAL POWER GENERATION 8
BASIC DEFINATIONS 9
FUCTIONING OF THERMAL POWER PLANT 10
ADVANTAGES 11
DISADVANTAGES
REFERENCES
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12

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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Project work titled “Thermal Power Generation” that is being
submitted by Ravinder Jangid is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of
Bachelor of Technology, is a record of bonafide work done under our guidance. The
contents of this Project work, in full or in parts, have neither been taken from any other
source nor have been submitted to any other Institute or University for award of any degree
or diploma.
(Guide/Supervisor)
External Examiner HOD

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APPROVAL
This Project on “Thermal Power Generation” by Ravinder Jangid is approved
for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical engineering.
Examiner (s)
Guide (s)/Supervisor(s)
HOD
Date:
Place:

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CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION
I declare that this written submission represents my ideas in my own words and where others
ideas or words have been included, I have adequately cited and referenced the original
sources. I also declare that I have adhered to all principles of academic honesty and integrity
and have not presented or fabricated or falsified any idea/data/fact/source in my submission. I
understand that any violation of the above will be cause for disciplinary action by the institute
and can also evoke penal action from the sources which have thus not been properly cited or
from whom proper permission has not been taken when needed.
NAME- Ravinder Jangid
Enrollment No. – PU216084
Roll No.- ME120080

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ABSTRACT
A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is
heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which either drives an electrical
generator or does some other work, like ship propulsion. After it passes through the turbine,
the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this is known as
a Rankine cycle.
Almost all coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermal electric, and waste incineration plants, as
well as many natural gas power plants are thermal. Natural gas is frequently
combusted in gas turbines as well as boilers.
Commercial eletric utility power stations are most usually constructed on a very large scale
and designed for continuous operation. Electric power plants typically use three-phase or
individual-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a
frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz depending on its location in the world.

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INTRODUCTION
History
Reciprocating steam engines have been used for mechanical power sources since the 18th
Century, with notable improvements being made by James Watt. The very first commercial
central electrical generating stations in New York and London, in 1882, also used
reciprocating steam engines. As generator sizes increased, eventually turbines took over they
increase the horse power.
A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water
is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator.
After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to
where it was heated; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in the design of
thermal power stations is due to the different fossil fuel resources generally used to heat the
water. Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities convert forms
of heat energy into electrical energy. Certain thermal power plants also are designed to
produce heat energy for industrial purposes of district heating, or desalination of water, in
addition to generating electrical power. Globally, fossil-fuel power stations produce a large
part of man-made CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, and efforts to reduce these are varied and
widespread.

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NEED FOR THERMAL POWER GENERATION
 Scarcity of water resources: Water resources are not abundantly available and are
geographically unevenly distributed. Thus hydel power plants cannot be installed with
ease and are limited to certain locations.
 Widely available alternate flues: Many alternate fuels such as coal, diesel, nuclear
fuels, geo-thermal energy sources, solar-energy, biomass fuels can be used to generate
power using steam cycles.
 Maintenance and lubrication cost is lower: Once installed, these require less
maintenance costs and on repairs. Lubrication is not a major problem compared to
hydro power plant.
 Coal is abundant: Coal is available in excess quantities in India and is rich form of
energy available at relatively lower cost.
 Working fluid remains within the system, and need not be replaced every time thus
simplifies the process.

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BASIC DEFINITIONS
Steam:- is vaporized water and can be produced at 100’C at standard atmosphere.
In common speech, steam most often refers to the visible white mist that condenses above
boiling water as the hot vapour mixes with the cooler air.
Turbine:- A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid or air flow and
converts it into useful work.
Electric generator:- An electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to
electrical energy.
A boiler or steam generator:- is a device used to create steam by applying heat
energy to water.

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FUNCTIONING OF THERMAL POWER PLANT:
 Water intake: Firstly, water is taken into the boiler through a water source. If water
is available in a plenty in the region, then the source is an open pond or river. If water
is scarce, then it is recycled and the same water is used over and over again.
 Boiler heating: The boiler is heated with the help of oil, coal or natural gas. A
furnace is used to heat the fuel and supply the heat produced to the boiler. The
increase in temperature helps in the transformation of water into steam.
 Steam Turbine: The steam generated in the boiler is sent through a steam turbine.
The turbine has blades that rotate when high velocity steam flows across them. This
rotation of turbine blades is used to generate electricity.
 Generator: A generator is connected to the steam turbine. When the turbine rotates,
the generator produces electricity which is then passed on to the power distribution
systems.
 Special mountings: There is some other equipment like the economizer and air pre-
heater. An economizer uses the heat from the exhaust gases to heat the feed water. An
air pre-heater heats the air sent into the combustion chamber to improve the efficiency
of the combustion process.
 Ash collection system: There is a separate residue and ash collection system in place
to collect all the waste materials from the combustion process and to prevent them
from escaping into the atmosphere.

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ADVANTAGES
 The fuel used is quite cheap.
 Less initial cost as compared to other generating plants.
 It can be installed at any place irrespective of the existence of coal. The coal can be
transported to the site of the plant by rail or road.
 It requires less space as compared to Hydro power plants.
 Cost of generation is less than that of diesel power plants.
DISADVANTAGES
 It pollutes the atmosphere due to production of large amount of smoke and fumes.
 It is costlier in running cost as compared to Hydro electric plants.
 A large number of circuits makes the design complex.

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Reference
Internet- Wikipedia
www.britannica.com/. -Thermal-Power-Generation-Technology
A Textbook of Power system engineering by R K RAJPUT
ProjectTitle- “THERMAL POWER GENERATION”