Steam-generated electricity

Electro-Steam. Electrical Steam Generators. Various marketing publications. Electro-Steam Generator Corp., USA. 

Steam units in general, and electrical steam generators in particular, should always be placed away from easy access to limit the chances of accidental bums or unintended electrical contact. 

Electric Power Generation. Hydrothermal steam and hot water resources having temperatures ia excess of about 150°C are generaHy suitable for the production of electricity (see Eig. 3a). Because electricity is easy to market and transport, it is the only product of hydrothermal energy which permits the resource to be utilized at some distance from its actual location. 

Power plants based on the Rankine thermodynamic cycle have served the majority of the world s electric power generation needs in the twentieth century. The most common heat sources employed by Rankine cycle power plants are either fossil fuel-fired or nuclear steam generators. The former are the most widely used. 

Electric power generation using biomass as a fuel is economic in situations where the cost of the fuel is competitive with that of fossil fuels. The cost of a commercially available biomass steam—electric power plant is about 1500/kW for a wood-fired facility. If wood can be obtained at a cost of 2.00/GJ ( 2.10 X 10 /Btu), the total cost of power for base-load operation would be about 0.05/kWh. If wood or agricultural wastes are available at... 

A further enhancement to the HRS process whereby the exhaust from a gas fired turbine is used to superheat steam from the HRS process is also possible (129). The superheated steam is then fed through a turbogenerator to produce additional electricity. This increases the efficiency of heat recovery of the turbine exhaust gas. With this arrangement, electric power generation of over 13.6 kW for 1 t/d (15 kW/STPD) is possible. Good general discussions on the sources of heat and the energy balance within a sulfuric acid plant are available (130,131). 

Combustion. Most of the mined coal is burned to produce steam for electric power generation (qv). The calorific value determines the amount of steam that can be generated. However, the design and operation of a boiler requires consideration of a number of other properties (see Furnaces, FUEL-FIRED). 

The waste heat recovered in the boilers is in the form of steam and used either to generate electricity or to produce compressed air. The latter is used in the converter tuyeres. If electricity is generated, it is in turn used to produce compressed air for the converters. In practice, the energy made available in the waste heat boilers is almost equal to the energy required for producing the converter air. 

The combined cycle is also appHcable to dedicated power production. When the steam from the waste heat boiler is fed to a condensing turbine, overall conversion efficiencies of fuel to electricity in excess of 50% can be achieved. A few pubHc utihty power plants use this cycle, but in general utihties have been slow to convert to gas turbines. Most electricity is generated by the cycle shown in Figures 5d and 6d. 

Fossil-Fuel-Fired Steam Generators for Which Construction Commenced after August 17, 1971 Electric Utility Steam Generating Units for Which Construction Commenced after September 18, 1978... 

The PWR operates at a pressure such that cooling water does not boil as it passes through the core. It goes to a heat exchanger (steam generator) to form steam that leaves containment, and drives a turbine generator to produce electricity. 

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