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Rice Straw/Paddy Straw as fuel in Boiler

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Paddy straw is being burnt in the field of  Punjab and Haryana region as crop residue. It has gross calorific value (GCV) nearly 3000-3300Kcal//kg. If we compare it with coal as fuel for boiler some challenges have to overcome.  New boiler technology and fuel management are  required t o overcome those challenges. And it is found that this is successful ,efficient  and environment friendly for power generation. } Biomass( Rice Straw) Fired Boiler } Comparison with Coal } Challenges for Biomass as Fuel } Biomass having high percentage of chlorine (.3 to 1.2%) } High percentage of Volatile Matter (VM-48-60%) } Ash is having high temperature corrosion properties on the boiler tube  specially super heater tubes } Ash deposition on the Boiler tube surface } Fuel is available in seasonal so huge storage is required } Fuel management is also a big challenge ( fuel collection to storage to feeding to Boiler) } Comparison of Rice straw a...

Power Plant Safety Practices:

  Power plant safety practices are crucial to ensure the well-being of employees, the environment, and the general public. Here are some key safety practices:   General Safety Practices 1. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Ensure workers wear PPE, such as hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, and respirators, as required. 2. Training and Awareness: Provide regular training on safety procedures, emergency response plans, and equipment operation. 3. Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment ( HIRA): Identify potential hazards and assess risks to implement controls and mitigations. 4. Lockout/Tagout: Implement PTW and lockout/tagout procedures for equipment maintenance and repairs. 5. Fire Safety: Implement fire prevention and response measures, including fire extinguishers and emergency response plans.   Power Plant Specific Safety Practices 1. Electrical Safety: Ensure electrical equipment is properly maintained, and workers follow electrical safety pro...

How to design Air Cooled Condenser and specification guideline:

  How to design ACC and specification guideline: 1.     Fundamental design consideration: ·        Heat Load and Performance: Size the ACC at maximum steam flow and heat rejection duty at peak ambient temperature ( often summer ambient dry bulb temperature consider). The process margin and extreme conditions are also considered. ·        Low IDT means larger size ( size of the ACC inversely proportional to ITD), ITD is maintained 15-16deg.C ·        ITD = TCond – Tamb, ITD= Initial temperature difference ·        Heat Load/ ITD = Constant ·        Q rejected = U.A. LMTD where U is heat transfer coefficient, A is surface area of the      condenser ·        Thermal duty= Q(required)= Ms x(h steam at turbine exhaust – h condensate), Ms is steam flow at tu...

How to improve efficiency of AFBC Boiler

  How to improve efficiency of AFBC Boiler: 1.       Optimize combustion air supply:   Boiler is designed for particular air and fuel ratio. This ratio also related to excess O2 which is measured after APH . There is minimum excess O2 is to be maintained by tuning the air flow into the furnace. Typically, in AFBC and CFBC boiler excess O2 is maintained 2-3% in optimum operating condition. There are two types of air supplied in this type of boilers, one is primary air (PA) and another is Secondary Air (SA). There is also a ratio between the PA and SA air. PA is basically help to fluidise the bed and secondary air is used to create turbulence at the free board zone for better combustion. 2.       Improve Feed Water Temperature: Raising feed water temperature basically increase the cycle efficiency by reducing the fuel consumption. Every 6deg.C rise in feed water temperature increase the efficiency by 1%. 3.   ...

Trouble Shooting of vacuum in condenser

Check points for low vacuum in condenser   1.  Condenser and System Leak Checks ·         Inspect all flanges, joints, manholes, and sensor ports for air ingress. ·         Check for cracks on condenser body, vents , drains and pipe line. ·         Examine expansion bellows, rupture disks, and drain valves for leaks. ·         Use agarbati leak detection simple methods to find ingress points 2.  Ejector Inspection ·         Ensure vacuum ejectors are operating within design parameters. ·         Confirm proper operation of intake and exhaust valves. ·         Confirm ejector strainer and nozzles are properly cleaned 3.  Condenser Cooling and Water System ·     ...

Check points prior to start any maintenance work

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What is heat rate?

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  In general heat rate is defined as ratio of heat input to power output in a system, in other way requirement of heat energy to generate one unit of power. In case of power plant cycle , output is electrical power and input is any kind of energy in fuel . If we consider steam turbine heat rate , input energy to turbine is in the form of steam energy i.e enthalpy corresponds to pressure and temperature. Different cases for steam turbine are considered as follows: Steam Turbine Heat Rate: CASE1: This is the calculation for closed cycle, single cylinder, condensing type of turbine where steam inlet to turbine at point no1 is expanded to point 2 as per below fig : Turbine Heat rate: M= Mass flow rate of steam inlet to turbine, kg/hr                                           ...