A fossil-fuel power plant is a power plant that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum (oil) to produce electricity.
Fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation. In many countries, such plants provide most of the electrical energy used.
A fossil fuel power plant always has some kind of rotating machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, which then operates an electrical generator. The prime mover may be a steam turbine, a gas turbine or in small isolated plants, a reciprocating internal combustion engine.
Byproducts of power plant operation need to be considered in both the design and operation. Waste heat due to the finite efficiency of the power cycle must be released to the atmosphere, often using a cooling tower, or river or lake water as a cooling medium.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment