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Fossil fuel power plant

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Mohave Power Station, a 1,580 MW coal power plant nearLaughlin, Nevada, out ofservice since 2005 due to environmental restrictions

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A fossil fuel power plant is apower plantthat burnsfossil fuelssuch ascoal,natural gasorpetroleum(oil) to produceelectricity.

Fossil fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation. In manycountries, such plants provide most of the electrical energy used.
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A fossil fuel power plant always has some kind of rotating machinery to convert the heatenergy ofcombustionintomechanical energy, which then operates anelectricalgenerator. Theprime movermay be asteam turbine, agas turbineor in small isolatedplants, a reciprocatinginternal combustionengine.

Byproducts of power plant operation need to be considered in both the design andoperation. Waste heat due to thefinite efficiencyof the power cycle must be released tothe atmosphere, often using acooling tower, or river or lake water as a cooling medium.Theflue gasfrom combustion of the fossil fuels is discharged to the air; this containscarbon dioxideand water vapour, as well as other substances such asnitrogen, nitrousoxides, sulfur oxides, and (in the case of coal-fired plants)fly ashandmercury. Solidwaste ash from coal-fired boilers must also be removed, although some coal ash can berecycled for building materials.

Contents

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1 Basic conceptso 1.1 Conversion of chemical energy to heato 1.2 Conversion of heat into mechanical energy

2 Fuel transport and delivery 3 Fuel processing 4 Feedwater heating and deaeration 5 Boiler operation 6 Steam turbine generator 7 Steam condensing 8 Diagram 9 Stack gas path and cleanup 10 Supercritical steam plants 11 Gas turbine combined-cycle plants 12 Environmental impacts

o 12.1 Carbon dioxideo 12.2 Particulate mattero 12.3 Mercuryo 12.4 Radioactive trace elements

13 Clean coal 14 Alternatives to fossil fuels 15 See also 16 References 17 Bibliography 18 External links

[edit] Basic concepts
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In a fossil fuel power plant the chemical energy stored in fossil fuels (such ascoal,fueloil,natural gasoroil shale) andoxygenof theairis converted successively intothermalenergy,mechanical energyand, finally,electrical energyfor continuous use anddistribution across a wide geographic area. Each fossil fuel power plant is a highlycomplex, custom-designed system. Present construction costs, as of 2004, run to

US$1,300 perkilowatt, or $650 million for a 500MWeunit. Multiple generating unitsmay be built at a single site for more efficient use ofland,natural resourcesandlabor.Mostthermal power stationsin the world use fossil fuel, outnumberingnuclear,geothermal,biomass, orsolar thermalplants.

[edit] Conversion of chemical energy to heat

Thecomplete combustionof fossil fuel using air as the oxygen source is summarized inthe following chemical reaction, assuming thenitrogenremains inert:

,

wherestoichiometric coefficientsx andy depend on the fuel type. A simple wordequation for this chemical reaction is:

.

Depending on temperature andflameparameters during combustion, however, some ofthe nitrogen can beoxidized, producing variousnitrogen oxides. Other, unintended,products of combustion aresulfur dioxidecoming from sulfur impurities (predominantly

in coal).

[edit] Conversion of heat into mechanical energy

Thesecond law of thermodynamicsstates that anyclosed-loop cyclecan only convert afraction of the heat produced during combustion intomechanical work. The rest of theheat, calledwaste heat, must be released into a cooler environment during the returnportion of the cycle. The fraction of heat released into a cooler medium must be equal orlarger than the ratio ofabsolute temperaturesof the cooling system (environment) and theheat source (combustion furnace). Raising the furnace temperature improves theefficiency but also increases the steam pressure, complicates the design and makes the

furnace more expensive. The waste heat cannot be converted into mechanical energywithout an even cooler cooling system. However, it may be used incogenerationplants toheat buildings, produce hot water, or to heat materials on an industrial scale, such as insomeoil refineries,cementplants, andchemical synthesisplants.

[edit] Fuel transport and delivery
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Big Bend Coal Power StationinApollo Beach, Floridain the United States.

Coal fired power plants provide about 50% of consumed electricity in the United States.This is theCastle Gate PlantnearHelper, Utah.

Coal is delivered by highwaytruck,rail,bargeorcolliership. Some plants are even builtnear coal mines and coal is delivered by conveyors. A large coaltraincalled a "unit train"may be two kilometers (over a mile) long, containing 100 cars with 100tonsof coal in

each one, for a total load of 10,000 tons. A large plant under full load requires at least onecoal delivery this size every day. Plants may get as many as three to five trains a day,especially in "peak season", during the summer months when power consumption is high.A large thermal power plant such as the one inNanticoke, Ontario stores several milliontons of coal for winter use when the lakes are frozen.

Modern unloaders use rotary dump devices, which eliminate problems with coal freezingin bottom dump cars. The unloader includes a train positioner arm that pulls the entiretrain to position each car over a coal hopper. The dumper clamps an individual caragainst a platform that swivels the car upside down to dump the coal. Swiveling couplersenable the entire operation to occur while the cars are still coupled together. Unloading a

unit train takes about three hours.

Shorter trains may use railcars with an "air-dump", which relies on air pressure from theengine plus a "hot shoe" on each car. This "hot shoe" when it comes into contact with a"hot rail" at the unloading trestle, shoots an electric charge through the air dumpapparatus and causes the doors on the bottom of the car to open, dumping the coalthrough the opening in the trestle. Unloading one of these trains takes anywhere from anhour to an hour and a half. Older unloaders may still use manually operated bottom-dump
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rail cars and a "shaker" attached to dump the coal. Generating stations adjacent to a minemay receive coal byconveyor beltor massivediesel-electric-drive trucks.

A collier (cargo ship carrying coal) may hold 40,000 tons of coal and takes several daysto unload. Some colliers carry their own conveying equipment to unload their own

bunkers; others depend on equipment at the plant. Colliers are large, seaworthy, self-powered ships. For transporting coal in calmer waters, such as rivers and lakes, flat-bottomed vessels calledbargesare often used. Barges are usually unpowered and must bemoved bytugboatsortowboats.

For startup or auxiliary purposes, the plant may usefuel oilas well. Fuel oil can bedelivered to plants bypipeline,tanker,tank caror truck. Oil is stored in verticalcylindrical steel tanks with capacities as high as 90,000 barrels' worth (14,000 m, orabout 5 million US gallons). Theheavierno. 5 "bunker" and no. 6 fuels are typicallysteam-heated before pumping in cold climates.

Plants fuelled by natural gas are usually built adjacent to gas transport pipelines or havededicated gas pipelines extended to them.

[edit] Fuel processing

Coal is prepared for use by crushing the rough coal to pieces less than 2 inches (5 cm) insize. The coal is then transported from the storage yard to in-plant storage silos byrubberizedconveyor beltsat rates up to 4,000 tons/hour.

In plants that burn pulverized coal, silos feed coalpulverizers(coal mills) that take thelarger 2-inch pieces, grind them to the consistency offace powder, sort them, and mix

them with primary combustion air which transports the coal to the furnace and preheatsthe coal to drive off excess moisture content. A 500 MWe plant will have six suchpulverizers, five of which can supply coal to the furnace at 250 tons per hour under fullload.

In plants that do not burn pulverized coal, the larger 2-inch pieces may be directly fedinto the silos which then feed thecycloneburners, a specific kind of combustor that canefficiently burn larger pieces of fuel.

[edit] Feedwater heating and deaeration

The feedwater used in thesteamboiler is a means of transferring heat energy from theburning fuel to the mechanical energy of the spinningsteam turbine. The total feedwaterconsists of recirculated condensate water and purified makeup water. Because themetallic materials it contacts are subject tocorrosionat high temperatures and pressures,the makeup water is highly purified before use. A system ofwater softenersandionexchangedemineralizers produces water so pure that it coincidentally becomes anelectricalinsulator, withconductivityin the range of 0.31.0microsiemensper
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centimeter. The makeup water in a 500 MWe plant amounts to perhaps 20 US gallons perminute (1.25 L/s) to offset the small losses from steam leaks in the system.

The feedwater cycle begins with condensate water being pumped out of thecondenserafter traveling through the steam turbines. The condensate flow rate at full load in a 500

MWe plant is about 6,000 US gallons per minute (0.38 m/s).

Diagram of boiler feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section andhorizontal water storage section

The water flows through a series of six or seven intermediatefeedwater heaters, heatedup at each point with steam extracted from an appropriate duct on the turbines andgaining temperature at each stage. Typically, the condensate plus the makeup water thenflows through adeaerator

[2][3]that removes dissolved air from the water, further purifying

and reducing its corrosivity. The water may be dosed following this point withhydrazine,a chemical that removes the remainingoxygenin the water to below 5parts per billion(ppb). It is also dosed withpHcontrol agents such asammoniaormorpholineto keep theresidualaciditylow and thus non-corrosive.

[edit] Boiler operation

The boiler is a rectangularfurnaceabout 50 feet (15 m) on a side and 130 feet (40 m) tall.Its walls are made of a web of high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches (60 mm) indiameter.

Pulverized coalis air-blown into the furnace from fuel nozzles at the four corners and itrapidly burns, forming a large fireball at the center. Thethermal radiationof the fireballheats the water that circulates through the boiler tubes near the boiler perimeter. Thewater circulation rate in the boiler is three to four times the throughput and is typically
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driven by pumps. As the water in theboilercirculates it absorbs heat and changes intosteam at 700F(370C) and 3,200psi(22MPa). It is separated from the water inside adrum at the top of the furnace. The saturated steam is introduced intosuperheatpendanttubes that hang in the hottest part of the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Herethe steam is superheated to 1,000 F (540 C) to prepare it for the turbine.

Plants designed forlignite(brown coal) are increasingly used in locations as varied asGermany,Victoria, andNorth Dakota. Lignite is a much younger form of coal than blackcoal. It has a lower energy density than black coal and requires a much larger furnace forequivalent heat output. Such coals may contain up to 70%waterandash, yielding lowerfurnace temperatures and requiring larger induced-draft fans. The firing systems alsodiffer from black coal and typically draw hot gas from the furnace-exit level and mix itwith the incoming coal in fan-type mills that inject the pulverized coal and hot gasmixture into the boiler.

Plants that use gas turbines to heat the water for conversion into steam use boilers known

as HRSGs,Heat Recovery Steam Generators. The exhaust heat from the gas turbines isused to make superheated steam that is then used in a conventional water-steamgeneration cycle, as described inGas turbine combined-cycle plantssection below.

[edit] Steam turbine generator

Rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power station

The turbine generator consists of a series of steam turbines interconnected to each otherand a generator on a common shaft. There is a high pressure turbine at one end, followedby an intermediate pressure turbine, two low pressure turbines, and the generator. Assteam moves through the system and loses pressure and thermal energy it expands involume, requiring increasing diameter and longer blades at each succeeding stage toextract the remaining energy. The entire rotating mass may be over 200 tons and 100 feet(30 m) long. It is so heavy that it must be kept turning slowly even when shut down (at 3
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rpm) so that the shaft will not bow even slightly and become unbalanced. This is soimportant that it is one of only five functions of blackout emergency power batteries onsite. Other functions areemergency lighting,communication, station alarms andturbogenerator lube oil.

Superheated steam from the boiler is delivered through 1416-inch (360410 mm)diameter piping to the high pressure turbine where it falls in pressure to 600 psi (4 MPa)and to 600 F (320 C) in temperature through the stage. It exits via 2426-inch (610660 mm) diameter cold reheat lines and passes back into the boiler where the steam isreheated in special reheat pendant tubes back to 1,000 F (540 C). The hot reheat steamis conducted to the intermediate pressure turbine where it falls in bothtemperatureandpressureand exits directly to the long-bladed low pressure turbines and finally exits to thecondenser.

The generator, 30 feet (9 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter, contains a stationarystatorand a spinningrotor, each containing miles of heavycopperconductorno

permanentmagnetshere. In operation it generates up to 21,000ampsat 24,000voltsAC(504 MWe) as it spins at either 3,000 or 3,600rpm, synchronized to thepower grid. Therotor spins in a sealed chamber cooled withhydrogengas, selected because it has thehighest knownheat transfer coefficientof any gas and for its lowviscositywhich reduceswindagelosses. This system requires special handling during startup, with air in thechamber first displaced bycarbon dioxidebefore filling with hydrogen. This ensures thatthe highlyexplosivehydrogen-oxygenenvironment is not created.

Thepower grid frequencyis 60HzacrossNorth Americaand 50 Hz inEurope,Oceania,Asia(Koreaand parts ofJapanare notable exceptions) and parts ofAfrica.

The electricity flows to a distribution yard wheretransformersstep the voltage up to 115,230, 500 or 765 kV AC as needed for transmission to its destination.

[edit] Steam condensing
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Diagram of a typical water-cooled surface condenser

The condenser condenses the steam from the exhaust of the turbine into liquid to allow itto be pumped. If the condenser can be made cooler, the pressure of the exhaust steam is

reduced and efficiency of thecycleincreases. The condenser is usually ashell and tubeheat exchangercommonly referred to as asurface condenser. Cooling water circulatesthrough the tubes in the condenser's shell and the low pressure exhaust steam iscondensed by flowing over the tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. The tubing isdesigned to reduce the exhaust pressure, avoid subcooling the condensate and provideadequate air extraction. Typically the cooling water causes the steam to condense at atemperature of about 35 C (95 F) and that creates anabsolute pressurein the condenserof about 57kPa(1.52.1inHg), i.e. avacuumof about 95 kPa (28 inHg) relative toatmospheric pressure. The condenser, in effect, creates the low pressure required to dragsteam through and increase the efficiency of the turbines. The limiting factor is thetemperature of the cooling water and that, in turn, is limited by the prevailing average

climatic conditions at the power plant's location (it may be possible to lower thetemperature beyond the turbine limits during winter, causing excessive condensation inthe turbine).

From the bottom of the condenser, powerfulcondensate pumpsrecycle the condensedsteam (water) back to the water/steam cycle.

A Marley mechanical induced draft cooling tower

The heat absorbed by the circulating cooling water in the condenser tubes must also beremoved to maintain the ability of the water to cool as it circulates. This is done bypumping the warm water from the condenser through either natural draft, forced draft orinduced draftcooling towers(as seen in the image to the right) that reduce thetemperature of the water by evaporation, by about 1117 C (2030 F) - expellingwaste

heatto the atmosphere. The circulation flow rate of the cooling water in a 500MWeunitis about 14.2 m/s (225,000 US gal/minute) at full load.[4]

The condenser tubes are made ofbrassorstainless steelto resist corrosion from eitherside. Nevertheless they may become internally fouled during operation by bacteria oralgae in the cooling water or by mineral scaling, all of which inhibit heat transfer andreducethermodynamic efficiency. Many plants include an automatic cleaning system that
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circulatessponge rubber ballsthrough the tubes to scrub them clean without the need totake the system off-line.

The cooling water used to condense the steam in the condenser returns to its sourcewithout having been changed other than having been warmed. If the water returns to a

local water body (rather than a circulating cooling tower), it is tempered with cool 'raw'water to prevent thermal shock when discharged into that body of water.

Another form of condensing system is the air-cooled condenser. The process is similar tothat of aradiatorand fan. Exhaust heat from the low pressure section of a steam turbineruns through the condensing tubes, the tubes are usually finned and ambient air is pushedthrough the fins with the help of a large fan. The steam condenses to water to be reused inthe water-steam cycle. Air-cooled condensers typically operate at a higher temperaturethan water cooled versions. Whilst saving water, the efficiency of the cycle is reduced(resulting in more carbon dioxide per MW of electricity).

[edit] Diagram

Simplified coal-fired power plant

1.Cooling tower 10.Steam control valve 19.Superheater

2.Cooling water pump 11. High pressuresteam 20. Forced draught (draft)
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turbine fan

3.Three-phasetransmissionline

12.Deaerator 21. Reheater

4. Step-upTransformer 13.Feedwater heater 22.Combustionair intake

5.Electrical generator 14.Coalconveyor 23.Economiser

6. Low pressuresteamturbine

15.Coalhopper 24.Air preheater

7.Boiler feedwater pump 16.Coal pulverizer 25.Precipitator

8.Surface condenser 17.Boiler steam drum26. Induced draught (draft)fan

9. Intermediate pressuresteam turbine

18.Bottom ashhopper 27.Flue gas stack

[edit] Stack gas path and cleanup

seeFlue gas emissions from fossil fuel combustionandFlue gas desulfurization

for more details

As the combustionflue gasexits the boiler it is routed through a rotating flat basket ofmetal mesh which picks up heat and returns it to incoming fresh air as the basket rotates,This is called theair preheater. The gas exiting the boiler is laden withfly ash, which aretiny spherical ash particles. The flue gas containsnitrogenalong with combustionproductscarbon dioxide,sulfur dioxide, andnitrogen oxides. The fly ash is removed byfabric bag filtersorelectrostatic precipitators. Once removed, the fly ash byproduct cansometimes be used in the manufacturing ofconcrete. This cleaning up of flue gases,

however, only occurs in plants that are fitted with the appropriate technology. Still, themajority of coal fired power plants in the world do not have these facilities.

[citation needed]Legislation in Europe has been efficient to reduce flue gas pollution. Japan has beenusing flue gas cleaning technology for over 30 years and the US has been doing the samefor over 25 years. China is now beginning to grapple with the pollution caused by coalfired power plants.

Flue gas stack atGRES-1 Power Stationin Ekibastusz, Kazakhstan
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ile:PowerPlantEkibastus.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PowerPlantEkibastus.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PowerPlantEkibastus.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concretehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_precipitatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_collector#Types_of_Baghouseshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_oxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_dioxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_ashhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_preheaterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flue_gashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flue_gas_desulfurizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flue_gas_emissions_from_fossil_fuel_combustionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fossil_fuel_power_plant&action=edit&section=11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flue_gas_stackhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_ashhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_turbinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_fanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_drumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_condenserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_precipitatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulverizerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler_feedwater_pumphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_preheaterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_turbinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_turbinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economiserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conveyorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_generatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combustionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feedwater_heaterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaeratorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_power_transmissionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_power_transmissionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-phasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifugal_fan


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Where required by law, the sulfur and nitrogen oxidepollutantsare removed bystack gasscrubberswhich use a pulverizedlimestoneor otheralkalinewet slurry to remove thosepollutants from the exit stack gas. The gas travelling up theflue gas stackmay by thistime have dropped to about 50 C (120 F). A typical flue gas stack may be 150180metres (500600 ft) tall to disperse the remaining flue gas components in the atmosphere.

The tallest flue gas stack in the world is 419.7 metres (1,377 ft) tall at theGRES-2powerplant inEkibastusz,Kazakhstan.

In the United States and a number of other countries,atmospheric dispersion modeling[5]

studies are required to determine the flue gas stack height needed to comply with thelocalair pollutionregulations. The United States also requires the height of a flue gasstack to comply with what is known as the "Good Engineering Practice(GEP)" stackheight.

[6][7]In the case of existing flue gas stacks that exceed the GEP stack height, any

air pollution dispersion modeling studies for such stacks must use the GEP stack heightrather than the actual stack height.

[edit] Supercritical steam plants

Above thecritical pointforwaterof 705 F (374 C) and 3,212 psi (22.15 MPa), there isnophase transitionfrom water to steam, but only a gradual decrease indensity.Boilingdoes not occur and it is not possible to remove impurities via steam separation. In thiscase a supercritical steam plant is required to utilise the increasedthermodynamicefficiencyby operating at higher temperatures. These plants, also called once-throughplants because boiler water does not circulate multiple times, require additional waterpurification steps to ensure that any impurities picked up during the cycle will beremoved. This purification takes the form of high pressure ion exchange units calledcondensate polishersbetween the steam condenser and the feedwater heaters. Subcritical

fossil fuel power plants can achieve 3640% efficiency.Supercriticaldesigns haveefficiencies in the low to mid 40% range, with new "ultra critical" designs usingpressures of 4,400 psi (30 MPa) and dual stage reheat reaching about 48% efficiency.

Oldernuclear power plantsmust operate below the temperatures and pressures that coalfired plants do. This limits their thermodynamic efficiency to the order of 3032%.Advanced designs, such as theAdvanced gas-cooled reactorand theSupercritical waterreactor, operate at temperatures and pressures similar to current coal plants, producingcomparable efficiency.

[edit] Gas turbine combined-cycle plants
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480megawattGE H series power generation gas turbine

Currant Creek Power Plant nearMona, Utahis anatural gasfiredcombined cycleelectrical plant.

One type of fossil fuel power plant uses agas turbinein conjunction with aheat recoverysteam generator(HRSG). It is referred to as acombined cyclepower plant because itcombines theBrayton cycleof the gas turbine with theRankine cycleof the HRSG. Thethermal efficiency of these plants has reached a recordheat rateof 5690 Btu/kWh, or justunder 60%, at a facility in Baglan Bay, Wales.

[8]

The turbines are fueled either withnatural gasorfuel oil. While more efficient and fasterto construct (a 1,000 MW plant may be completed in as little as 18 months from start of

construction), the economics of such plants is heavily influenced by the volatile cost ofnatural gas. The combined cycle plants are designed in a variety of configurationscomposed of the number of gas turbines followed by the steam turbine. For example, a 3-1 combined cycle facility has three gas turbines tied to one steam turbine. Theconfigurations range from (1-1), (2-1), (3-1), (4-1), (5-1), to (6-1)

Simple-cycle gas turbine plants, without a steam cycle, are sometimes installed asemergency orpeakingcapacity; their thermal efficiency is much lower. The high running
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cost per hour is offset by the low capital cost and the intention to run such units only afew hundred hours per year.

[edit] Environmental impacts

Theworld's power demandsare expected to rise 60% by 2030.[9]With the world-widetotal of active coal plants over 50,000 and rising,

[10]theInternational Energy Agency

(IEA) estimates that fossil fuels will account for 85% of the energy market by 2030.[9]

World organizations, and international agencies like the IEA are concerned about theenvironmental impact of burning fossil fuels, and coal in particular. The combustion ofcoal contributes the most toacid rain,global warming, andair pollutiondue to thechemical composition of coal, and the difficulties of removing the impurities from thissolid fuel prior to its combustion. Acid rain is caused by the emission ofnitrogen oxidesandsulfur dioxideinto the air. These themselves may be only mildly acidic, yet whenthey react with the atmosphere, they create acidic compounds (such assulfurous acid,

nitric acid, andsulfuric acid) that fall as rain, hence the term acid rain. In Europe and theU.S.A., stricter emission laws and decline in heavy industries have reduced theenvironmental hazards associated with this problem, leading to lower emissions aftertheir peak in 1960s.

[edit] Carbon dioxide

According to a 2005 report from theWorld Wide Fund for Nature(WWF), coal powerstations are at the top of theList of least carbon efficient power stationsin terms of thelevel ofcarbon dioxideproduced per unit of electricity generated. Electricity generationis responsible for 41% of U.S. manmade carbon dioxide emissions.

[11]Research has

indicated that increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is correlatedwith a rise in mean global temperature, also known asclimate change.[12]TheInternational Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) states that, to avoid climate changeimpacts, Annexe 1 (developed) countries must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsby between 25 and 40% by 2020. The technology forcarbon capture and storageofemissions from coal fired power stations is not expected to be available on aeconomically viable commercial scale by 2020.

[citation needed]

[edit] Particulate matter

Another problem related to coal combustion is the emission ofparticulatesthat have a

serious impact on public health. Power plants remove particulate from the flue gas withthe use of abag houseorelectrostatic precipitator. Several newer plants that burn coaluse a different process,Integrated Gasification Combined Cyclein whichsynthesis gasismade out of a reaction between coal and water. The synthesis gas is processed to removemost pollutants and then used initially to power gas turbines. Then the hot exhaust gasesfrom the gas turbines are used to generate steam to power a steam turbine. The pollutionlevels of such plants are drastically lower than those of "classical" coal power plants.[13]
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