Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The efficiency of a conventional steam–electric power plant, defined as energy produced by the plant divided by the heating value of the fuel consumed by it, is typically 33 to 48%, limited as all heat engines are by the laws of thermodynamics (See: Carnot cycle). The rest of the energy must leave the plant in the form of heat.
The steam turbine operates on basic principles of thermodynamics using the part 3-4 of the Rankine cycle shown in the adjoining diagram. Superheated steam (or dry saturated steam, depending on application) leaves the boiler at high temperature and high pressure.
The hot exhaust gas from an MHD generator can heat the boilers of a steam power plant, increasing overall efficiency. Practical MHD generators have been developed for fossil fuels, but these were overtaken by less expensive combined cycles in which the exhaust of a gas turbine or molten carbonate fuel cell heats steam to power a steam turbine.
The water, held under high pressure to keep it from boiling, produces steam by transferring heat to a secondary source of water. The steam is used to generate electricity. Cooling water from the river condenses the steam back into water. The river water is either discharged directly back to the river or cooled in the towers and reused in the plant.
Type of steam generator unit used in coal-fired power plants. The steam generator or steam boiler is an integral component of a steam engine when considered as a prime mover. However it needs to be treated separately, as to some extent a variety of generator types can be combined with a variety of engine units.
An illustration of Hero's aeolipile. An aeolipile, aeolipyle, or eolipile, from the Greek "Αἰόλου πύλη," lit. ' Aeolus gate ', also known as a Hero's (or Heron's) engine, is a simple, bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated.
There are two fundamental components of a steam plant: the boiler or steam generator, and the "motor unit", referred to itself as a "steam engine". Stationary steam engines in fixed buildings may have the boiler and engine in separate buildings some distance apart. For portable or mobile use, such as steam locomotives, the two are mounted together.
Supercritical steam generator or Benson boiler, a high-pressure steam generator that operates in the supercritical pressure regime, such that no boiling takes place within it. Steam generator (auxiliary boiler), a steam-powered boiler used on ships to produce a low-pressure steam, heated by a high-pressure steam supply rather than a flame.