Power Plant Engineering

Principles and Economics

Electrical Energy and Units

Variable Load and Different Factors
Economics of Power Generation
Tariffs of Power Generation

A.O.M. Abdul Ahad

Power Plant Engineering

A.O.M.AbdulAhad

Electrical Energy and Units

1.

Importance of Electrical Energy

Energyneededasheat,aslight,asmotivepower,etc.electricalenergy..easily
convertible..toanydesiredform.
Advancementofacountryismeasuredintermsofpercapitaconsumptionofelectrical
energy.Electricalenergy..superiortoallotherformsforfollowingreasons:
a.Convenientforms.Convertibletoheat,light,mechanicalenergy,sound,.etc.
b.Easycontrols.Electricalmachines.easystart,easyoperationandcontrol.
c.Greaterflexibility..easyconduction.,easytransmission.
d.Cheapness.Cheaperthanotherforms.
e.Cleanliness..nosmoke,fumesnogases.overallhealthy.
f.Hightransmissionefficiency...fromoneplacetoother,.easyconductionand
transmission.

2.

Generation of Electrical Energy

Theconversionofenergyavailableindifferentformsinnatureintoelectricalenergyis
knownasgenerationofelectricalenergy.
Electricalenergyislikeamanufacturedcommodity,clothing..furniture..toolsetc.
fromrawmaterials.Electricalenergy.Fromrawmaterialsdifferentformsofenergy.
Differentforms.Headofwater,chemicalenergyoffuels,nuclearenergyfrom
radioactivematerials,solarenergyfromsunrays,etc.
Primemover.drivenbyenergyfromdifferentsources..drivesalternatortoproduce
electricity.

3.

Sources of Energy

1.TheSun, 2.TheWind, 3.Water,

4.Fuels,
5.NuclearEnergy.
..renewableenergy.
i)
Sun :
Solar drier, Solar heater .. reflectors and lenses.
ii)
Wind :
Wind mills .. wind turbine.
iii) Water : Water turbine . hydro-electric plant, steam steam turbine.
iv) Fuels :
Fossil fuels . solid ..liquid gaseous . burning fuels .. steam
turbines .. alternator.
v) Nuclear Energy : Fission of U-235 . 1 kg of U
4500 tons of best coal,
fusion of light atoms . thermonuclear reactor ..unlimited
energy.

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4.

Units of Energy
i)

Mechanical Energy Newton-meter (N-m), Joule (J).

ii) Electrical Energy

Watts (W)
Watt-sec = 1 Joule
Watt. hour = 1 W 1 hr = 3600 W. sec
1 kWhr = 1 kW 1 hr = 36 105 Watt-sec.

1 Calorie = 1 gram of water through 10 C .

1 kilocalorie = 1000 calories.
1 BTU = 1lb of water through 10 F
= 453.6 g of water through (5/9)0 C = 252 Calories.
1 BTU = 252 Calories = 252 4.18 = 1053 Joules. (as 1 calorie = 4.18 Joules) .

iii) Heat Energy

iv)Electricityandheat.

1 kWhr = 36 105 Watt-sec = 36 105 Joules =

= 860 10

1 kWhr = 860 kCalories .

1 kWhr = 36 105 Joules =

= 3418

1 kWhr = 3418 BTU .

5. Calorific value of fuel

The amount of heat produced by complete combustion of a unit weight of fuel is
known as its calorific value. It is actually an indication of amount of heat
available from a fuel.
.. greater value larger ability.
Bituminous Coal 7,600 kCal/kg
Petrol
11,110 kCal/kg
Natural Gas
520 kCal/m3 .

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Variable Load and Different Factors

Theloadonapowerstationisneverfixed;ratheritvariesfromtimetotimeduetouncertain
demandsofconsumers.Thisisknownasvariableloadonthestation.

Apowerstationisdesignedtomeettheloadrequirementsoftheconsumers.Frompointof
equipment and operating routine an ideal load would be of constant magnitude and steady
duration.However,suchanidealloadisneverrealizedinpractice.Theconsumersrequiresmallor
largeblockofpowerinaccordancewiththedemandsoftheiractivities.Inthiswaydemandofone
consumerisdifferentfromthatofotherconsumer.
Effects of variable load. Thevariableloadonapowerstationintroducesmanyperplexities
initsoperation.Someoftheimportanteffectsare:
i) Need of additional equipment. Thevariableloadonapowerstationnecessitatestohave
additional equipment. In order to produce variable power, the supply of materials like fuel, air,
water,etc.havetobeincreased.Therefore,additionalequipmenthastobeinstalledtoaccomplish
thisjob.Asamatteroffact,inamodernpowerplantthereismuchequipmentdevotedentirelyto
managethesupplyofrawmaterialsinaccordancewiththepowerdemandontheplant.
ii) Increase in production cost.Thevariableloadontheplantincreasesthecostof
production.Analternatoroperatesatmaximumefficiencyatitsratedcapacity.Withasingle
alternatorisnotpossibleduringlightloads.Therefore,inactualpractice,anumberofalternatorsof
differentcapacitiesareinstalledsothatmostofthegeneratorscanbeoperatedatnearlytheirfull
capacities.However,theuseofanumberofgeneratingunitsincreasestheinitialcostperkWofthe
plantaswellasspacerequired.Thisleadstotheincreaseinproductioncostofenergy.

Load Curves

Thecurveshowingthevariationofloadonthepowerstationwithrespecttotimeisknown
as a load curve. The load onapowerstation isneverconstant; it varies fromtimetotime. These
loadvariationsduringthewholedayarerecordedhalfhourlyorhourlyandareplottedagainsttime
onthegraph.Thecurvethusobtainedisknownasdailyloadcurveasitshowsthevariationsofthe
loadduringtheday.Example..
Themonthlyloadcurvecanbeobtainedfromthedailyloadcurvesofthatmonth.Forthis
purpose average values of power over a month for different times of the day are calculated and
plottedonthegraph.Themonthlyloadcurveisgenerallyusedtofixtheratesofenergy.Theyearly
loadcurvecanbeobtainedbyconsideringthemonthlyloadcurvesofthatparticularyear.Theyearly
loadcurveisgenerallyusedtodeterminetheannualloadfactor.
Importance . The daily load curves have attained a great importance as they supply the
followinginformationreadily.
(i) Thedailyloadcurveshowsthevariationsofloadonthepowerstationduringdifferent
hoursoftheday.

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(ii)Theareaunderthedailyloadcurvegivesthenumberofunitsgeneratedduringtheday.
Unitsgenerated/day=Areaunderthedailyloadcurve(inkWh).
(iii) The highest point on the daily load curve represents the maximum demand on the
stationonthatday.
(iv) The area under the daily load curve divided by the total number of hours gives the
averageloadonthestationintheday.
=

(v)Theratiooftheareaundertheloadcurvetothetotalareaoftherectangleinwhichit
iscontainedgivetheloadfactor.
=

(vi)Theloadcurvehelpsinselectingthesizeandnumberofgeneratingunits.
(vii)Theloadcurvehelpsinpreparingtheoperationscheduleofthestation.

Important Terms and Factors

Thevariableloadproblemhasthefollowingtermsandfactorsinpowerplantengineering.
(i)Connectedload.Itisthesumofcontinuousratingsofalltheequipmentconnectedto
thesupplysystem.

Apower station suppliesloadtothousandsofcustomer.Eachcustomerhas different

equipment in their premises. The sum of the ratings of equipment in a customer's
premisesisknownasconnectedloadofthecustomer.Thesumoftheconnectedloads
ofalltheconsumersistheconnectedloadofthepowerstation.
(ii)Maximumdemand.Itisthegreatestdemandofloadonthepowerstationduringa
givenperiod.

The load on the power station varies from time to time. The maximum of all the
demandsthathaveoccurredduringthedayisthemaximumdemand.Referringbackto
figure.......themaximumdemandis.........maximumdemandisgenerallylessthanthe
connectedloadbecausealltheloadsarenotusedatthesametime.Theknowledgeof
maximumdemandisveryimportantasithelpstodeterminetheinstalledcapacityof
thestation.Thestationmustbecapableofmeetingthemaximumdemand.
(iii)Demandfactor.Itistheratioofthemaximumdemandonthepowerstationtothe
connectedload.

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The value of demand factor is usually less than 1. It is expected because maximum
demand on the power station is generally less than the connected load. If the
maximumdemandis80 MWandconnectedload is100MW,thendemandfactoris
80/100=0.8.Theknowledgeofdemandfactorisvitalindeterminingthecapacityof
plantequipment.
(iv)Averageload.Theaverageofloadsoccurringonthepowerstationinagivenperiod
(dayormonthoryear)isknownasaverageloadoraveragedemand.
.

(v)Loadfactor.Theratioofaverageloadtothemaximumdemandduringagivenperiod
=

oftimeisknownasloadfactor.

IftheplantisinoperationforThours,then

Theloadfactormaybedailyloadfactor,monthlyloadfactororannualloadfactorif
theperiodconsideredisday,monthoryear.Loadfactorisalwayslessthan1because
the average load is smaller than the maximum demand. The load factor plays the
important role in determining the overall cost per unit generated. Higher the load
factorofthestation,lesserwillbethecostperunitgenerated.
(vi) Diversity factor. The ratio of the sum of individual maximum demands to the
maximumdemandonpowerstationisknownasdiversityfactor.
Sum of individual maximum demands

Diversity factor =
Maximum demand on power station
A power station supplies load to various types of consumers whose maximum
demands occur at different times. Therefore, the maximum demand on the power
stationisalwayslessthanthesumofindividualmaximumdemandsoftheconsumers.
Obviously,diversityfactorisalwaysgreaterthan1.Thegreaterthediversityfactorthe
lesseristhecostofgeneration.
(vii)Plantcapacityfactor.Itisratioofactualenergyproducedtothemaximumpossible
energythatcouldhavebeenproducedduringagivenperiod.
=

,whereperiodisTinhours.

Theplantcapacityfactorisanindicationofthereservecapacityoftheplant.Apower
station is so designed that it has some reserve capacity for meeting the increased
demand in future. Therefore, the installed capacity of the plant is always somewhat
greaterthanthemaximumdemandontheplant.

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.
=

Power Plant Engineering

A.O.M.AbdulAhad
(viii) Plantusefactor. ItistheratioofkWhgeneratedtotheproductofplantcapacityand
thenumberofhoursforwhichtheplantwasinoperation.
=

Units Generated per Annum

ItisoftenrequiredtofindthekWhgeneratedperannumfrommaximumdemandandload
factor.Theprocedureisasfollows:

Load factor =

Average load =
Units generated per annum =

8760

Load Duration Curve

WhentheloadelementsofaloadcurvearearrangedIorderofdescendingmagnitudes,the
curvethusobtainediscalledaloaddurationcurve.Theloaddurationcurveisobtainedfrom
the same data as the load curve but the ordinates are arranged in order of descending
magnitudes.
Pointstonoteaboutloaddurationcurveare:
(i)Theloaddurationcurvegivesthedataonamorepresentableform.Itreadilyshows
thenumberofhoursduringwhichagivenloadhasprevailed.
(ii)Theareaundertheloaddurationcurveissameasthatofcorrespondingloadcurve.
(iii)Theloaddurationcurvecanbeextendedtoincludeanyperiodoftime.Variationand
distributionofdemandforanentiremonthoryearcanbesummarizedinonecurve.

Types of Load
Adevicewhichtakeselectricalenergyfromthesystemiscalledaloadonthesystem.The
loadmayberesistive,inductive,capacitiveoranycombinationofthem.Typesofloadare:
i) Domestic load. Lights, fans, refrigerators, heaters, ovens, motors, etc. varies with
time.
ii)Commercialload.Lightingforshops,restaurants,etc.andfans,acsandotherappliances
usedin shopsandrestaurants.Variationswithtime ofday .. seasonalvariations also
.
iii)Industrialload.Dependsontypesandnumberofindustries.

iv)Municipalload.Streetlighting,pumpsforwatersupplyandseweragesystem,etc.
v)irrigationload.Pumpsforwatersupplyinagriculturalfields..
vi)Tractionland.Tramcars,trolleybuses,electricrailways,etc.

Load Curves and Selection of Generating Units

The load on a power station varies from time to time. A single generating unit, therefore,
will not be economical to meet this varying load. This is because a single unit will have very poor
efficiencyduringtheperiodsoflightload.Inactualpracticeanumberofgeneratingunitsofdifferent
sizesareinstalledinapowerstation.Theselectionofthenumberandsizesoftheunitsisdecided
fromtheannualloadcurveofthestation.Thenumberandsizesoftheunitsareselectedinsucha
waythattheycorrectlyfitthestationloadcurve.Oncethisprincipleisfollowed,itbecomespossible
tooperatethegeneratingunitsnearthepointofmaximumefficiency.Seeexample
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Important Points in the Selection of Plants

Whileselectingthenumberandsizesofthegeneratingunits,thefollowingpointsshouldbekeptin
view.

(i) The number and sizes of the units should be selected that they approximately fit the
annualloadcurveofthestation.

(ii) Theunitsshouldpreferablybeofdifferentsizes.Identicalunitsmaynotmeettheload
requirements.

(iii) Thecapacityoftheplantshouldbemade15%to20%morethanthemaximumdemand
tomeetthefutureloadrequirement.

(iv) Thereshouldbeasparegeneratingunitsothatrepairsandoverhaulingoftheworking
unitscanbecarriedout.

(v) Thetendencytofittheloadcurveveryaccuratelybyselectingalargenumberofunits
od smaller capacity should be avoided. It is because the investment cost per kW of
capacityincreasesasthesizeoftheunitsdecreases.

Base Load and Peak Load on Power Station

From the load curve it is clear that load on the power station varies from time to time.
However, a close look at the load curve reveals that load on the power station can be
consideredintwoparts,namely;i)Baseloadandii)Peakload.
(i) Base load. The constant load which occurs almost the whole day on the station is
knownasbaseload.Seeloadcurveasexample.ItisclearthatXMWofloadhastobe
suppliedbythestationthroughout24hours.Abaseloadisalmostofconstantnature
andhence,itcanbesuitablyselectedwithoutfacingtheproblemsofvariableload.
(ii)
Peakload.Thevariouspeakdemandsofloadovertheconstantbaseloadofthestation
isknownaspeakload.Thesepeakdemandsofthestationgenerallyformasmallpart
ofthetotalloadandmayoccuratcertaintimesoftheday.Seeloadcurve.Plantswith
high fuel cost and operation cost are generally reserved for operation at peak load
times.
There is no hard and fast rule for selection of base load and peak load stations as it
would depend upon the particular situation. For example, both hydroelectric and
steam power plants are quite efficient and can be used as base load as well as peak
loadstationtomeetaparticularloadrequirement.
However, in order to achieve overall economy, the best method to meet load is to
interconnecttwoormoredifferentpowerstations.

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Interconnected Grid System

The connection of several generating stations in parallel in an wide area is known as

interconnectedgridsystem.
Althoughinterconnectionofstationsinvolveextracost,yetconsideringbenefits,itisgaining
muchfavorthesedays.Someoftheadvantagesare:
(i)Exchangeofpeakloads.Peakloadofastationcanbeexchangedwithotherstationof
theinterconnectedsystem.Excessloadscanbesharedbyotherstationsofthesystem.
(ii) Use ofolder plants.The interconnectedsystemmakes it possibletousethe older and
lessefficientplantstocarrypeakloadsofshortduration.
(iii) Ensures economical operation. The interconnected system makes the operation of
power stations quite economical. More efficient stations can work continuously while
lessefficientplantscanoperateforpeakloadhoursonly.
(iv) Increasesdiversityfactor.Duetointerconnectionmaximumdemandonthesystemis
much reduced as compared to the sum of individual maximum demands on different
stations. In other words, the diversity factor of the system is improved, thereby
increasingtheeffectivecapacityofthesystem.
(v) Reducesplantreservecapacity.Everypowerstationisrequiredtohaveastandbyunit
foremergencies.Thereservecapacityoftheinterconnectedsystemismuchreducedas
otherstationsmaybeavailableduringtheemergencies.Thisincreasestheefficiencyof
thesystem.
(vi) Increases reliability of supply. The interconnected system increases the reliability of
supply. If any unit is out of service, continuity of supply can be maintained by other
healthystations.

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