What Is an Electric Power Plant?

A power plant, also called a power station, is a factory that converts all kinds of primary energy stored in nature into electrical energy (secondary energy). At the end of the 19th century, with the increase in power demand, people began to propose the idea of establishing a power production center. The development of motor manufacturing technology, the expansion of the scope of application of electrical energy, and the rapid increase in the demand for electricity for production have led to the emergence of power plants. Today's power plants have multiple ways of generating electricity: thermal power plants are called thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants are called hydroelectric power plants, and some rely on solar (photovoltaic) and wind and tidal power plants. And nuclear power plants have played an increasingly important role in many countries around the world.

In the 1870s, Europe entered the era of the power revolution. Not only large companies, but even small ones have adopted new motivations one after another-

Traditional power generation refers to coal-fired power plants.

Hydroelectric power plant

A plant that uses the kinetic and potential energy of water flow to produce electricity is referred to as a hydropower plant. The amount of water flow and the height of the water head determine the amount of water flow energy. From the perspective of energy conversion, the process is: water energy mechanical energy electric energy. To achieve this energy conversion

Hydro power plant

The production method is generally to build a dam upstream of the river to raise the water level to cause a high head of water; to build corresponding hydraulic facilities to effectively obtain concentrated water flows. Water is introduced into the water turbine of the hydropower plant through the water diversion ditch, and the water turbine is driven to rotate, and the water energy is converted into the rotating mechanical energy of the water turbine. The generator directly connected to the turbine converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, which is boosted by the electrical system of the power plant and sent to the grid.

When building powerful hydropower plants, consider improving navigation and land irrigation, and ecological balance. Hydropower plants are classified into diversion, dam, and hybrid hydropower plants according to the structure of the power plant and hydropower development methods; run-off and reservoir-type hydropower plants are classified according to the performance and the degree of flow regulation of the power plant; rear-dam types are classified according to the layout of the power plant In-dam hydropower plants; there are ground and underground hydropower plants classified according to the layout of the main engine.

The construction cost of hydropower plants is high, and the amount of power generation is limited by hydrological and meteorological conditions, but the cost of electricity is low, which has comprehensive benefits of water conservancy. The turbine takes only a few minutes from startup to full load, and can adapt to the load change of the power system. Therefore, the hydropower plant can serve as system frequency regulation, peak regulation and load backup.

Small hydropower plant

From the perspective of capacity, it is at the end of all hydropower stations. It generally refers to hydropower stations with a capacity of less than 50,000 kilowatts. The proportion of small hydropower in the world in hydropower is 5% -6%. China can develop small hydropower resources, such as the original statistics of 70 million kW, accounting for about half of the world. In addition, China's small hydropower resources are widely distributed, especially in the vast rural areas and remote mountainous areas. They are suitable for local development and utilization. They can not only develop the local economy to solve the problem of local people s electricity difficulties, but also bring considerable returns to investors. It has great development prospects, and it will become a development hotspot in China in the first 20 years of the 21st century.

In the world, many developing countries have formulated a series of policies to encourage private enterprises to invest in small hydropower. Because small hydropower stations have small investment, low risks, stable benefits, and relatively low operating costs. Encouraged by various preferential policies in China, a wave of investment in the construction of small hydropower stations was set off across the country. Due to the severe power shortage in the country, private enterprises' investment in small hydropower has sprung up and has sprung up. The state's general policy of encouraging the rational development and utilization of small hydropower resources is determined. Beginning in 2003, mega hydropower investment projects have also begun to open to private capital. According to the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" of the State Council and the Ministry of Water Resources and the 2015 development plan, more preferential policies will be given to private investment in small hydropower and small hydropower development. China's small hydropower development capacity accounts for 23% of the country's hydropower resources development capacity, ranking first in the world.

Power plant

A plant that uses combustibles as fuel to produce electricity is referred to as a thermal power plant. From the perspective of energy conversion, the basic process is: chemical energy thermal energy mechanical energy electrical energy. Thermal power plants in most countries in the world are dominated by coal. Pulverized coal and air are suspended in the furnace space of the power plant boiler and undergo intense mixing and oxidative combustion. The chemical energy of the fuel is converted into thermal energy. The thermal energy is transferred to the high-pressure water medium in the boiler in the form of radiation and thermal convection, and the water preheating, vaporization and superheating processes are completed in stages, so that the water becomes high-pressure high-temperature superheated steam. Water vapor is sent to the steam turbine in a controlled way through the pipeline, and the steam heat energy is converted into rotating mechanical energy by the steam turbine. The high-speed rotating steam turbine rotor drives the generator through the coupling to generate electricity, which is boosted into the power grid by the electrical system of the power plant. ^[3]

Power plant, garbage, power plant

As a type of thermal power generation, as of the end of 2007, the total number of waste incineration power plants in China has reached 75, of which 50 have been built. 25 waste incineration power plants under construction have stable income, low operating costs and enjoy certain tax benefits. Policies can bring stable returns to investors, but the environmental problems caused by waste power generation cannot be ignored.

Nuclear power plant

Nuclear power is used to produce electrical power plants, also known as nuclear power plants (nuclear power plants). The nucleus (neutron and proton) of the atomic nucleus has a strong binding force. When the heavy nucleus splits and the light nucleus aggregates, it releases huge energy, called nuclear energy. The technology has been relatively mature, and it has been put into operation on a large scale. It is only from the point of view of energy conversion that atomic power plants released by heavy nuclear fission to produce electrical energy are analyzed from heavy nuclear fission nuclear energy thermal energy mechanical energy electrical energy conversion process.

Solar power plant

A solar power plant is a factory that uses renewable energy, solar energy, to generate electricity. It uses photovoltaic technology that converts solar energy into electricity. Germany uses solar power to generate electricity for 550,000 homes, and is the world champion in the use of solar power.

Wind power plant

As of the end of 2003, 40 wind farms in 14 provinces (autonomous regions) with abundant wind energy resources across the country had built 1042 wind turbines, with a total capacity of 567.02MW (based on the completion of the whole machine hoisting).

Geothermal power plant

Geothermal energy refers to the renewable thermal energy stored in the earth. It is generally concentrated around the edges of tectonic plates and originates from the decay of molten magma and radioactive materials originating from the earth. Global geothermal energy reserves and resource potentials are huge. The heat energy transmitted from the earth to the ground is equivalent to 100 PW · h each year, but the distribution of geothermal energy is relatively scattered, so it is very difficult to develop. Because geothermal energy is stored underground, it will not be affected by any weather conditions, and geothermal resources have all the characteristics of other renewable energy sources. They can be used at any time without harmful substances. The key is whether there is more advanced technology Development. Geothermal energy is widely used in many regions of the world, and development technology is also increasingly perfect. For the use of geothermal energy, including the use of low-temperature geothermal resources for bath and space heating, and heating for greenhouses, heat pumps and some heat treatment processes, it can also use dry superheated steam and high-temperature water for power generation, using medium Temperature water is used to generate electricity through dual-fluid cycle power generation equipment. These geothermal energy development and application technologies have gradually matured, and research on effective methods for extracting geothermal energy from dry rocks and from geothermal pressurized resources and magma resources can further improve geothermal energy. The application potential of thermal energy, but the exploration and extraction technology of geothermal energy needs to be improved.

Space power plant

The space power plant may be the largest orbital building that humans are expected to achieve so far. If completed, the space power plant will reach an area of 6 square kilometers and be deployed at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers. Such a large man-made building can even be detected with the naked eye, and researchers say that looking at the orbital power station from the ground looks like a star hanging high in the sky. The advantages of moving a solar power plant into space are obvious, that is, the energy output will not be affected by the problem of day and night, and the weather does not need to be considered, and no cloud layer will block the sunlight collection of the power station. More importantly, space power plants do not occupy land resources.

Of course, there are several major issues that need to be overcome to build an orbital power station, such as how to transfer energy to the earth. The current method is to use microwave or laser. The Japanese scientist's plan is to connect energy to the ground through microwave remote transmission. But the weight of rail power stations will reach 10,000 tons. NASA's super rocket under development can only put a 120-ton load into orbit at one time. At the same time, the installation of solar panels is also a problem and needs to be replaced regularly, which involves huge capital supply.

Currently, thermal, hydraulic and nuclear power plants are still playing a leading role in the power system. ^[4]