Fire Protection System in Power Plant

The fire protection system in power plant is furnished to shield the power plant towards fire deterioration to prevent damage of life and building. Fire protection system is presented to identify fire in its incipient phase and also to actuate the system to extinguish fire. Fire protection system should supply alarm system which shows caution in the event of fire to induce fire battling staff and also some other operation personnel to get essential action. In combination with permanent automatic program, portable and mobile devices are also offered for fire extinguishing.

The designer power plant should provide a complete fire protection system that furnished with all required building, equipment and accessories to form a complete fire protection system as define by related NFPA codes, standard and recommended practices codes, as listed below:

1. Recommended practice for tire protection for electric generating plants and high voltage direct current converter stations shall be per NFPA 850.
2. Yard mains and outdoor fire hydrant shall be in accordance with NFPA 24 and 26.
3. Stand pipes and hose systems shall be pre NFPA 14, 1961 and 1962.
4. Automatic fire detectors, Fire Alarms and tire protection actuation system, shall be per NFPA 72A-E.
5. Portable fire extinguisher and dry chemical extinguishing system shall be per NFPA 10 and 17.
6. Automatic and manual sprinkler systems shall be per NFPA 13, 231 and 231C.
7. Dry chemical systems shall be per NFPA 17.
8. Carbon dioxide systems shall be per NFPA 12.
9. Clean Agent Extinguishing System shall be per NFPA 2001.
10. Water spray fixed systems shall be per NFPA 15.
11. Fire water valves shall be per NFPA 13, 14, 15, 20, 24 and 26.
12. Fire pumps shall be per NFPA 13, NFPA 20, UL and FM.
13. Water supply shall be per NFPA 13, 15, 20 and 22.
14. The deluge fire protection system shall be per NFPA 13 & NFPA 15.
15. The water and foam monitors shall be provided per NFPA 11.
16. Protection clothing and helmets shall be provided per NFPA 1971 and 1972.
17. Breathing apparatus shall be provided per NFPA 1981.
18. Standard for wet chemical extinguishing system shall be per NFPA 17A.
19. Flammable and combustible liquids code shall be per NFPA 30.
20. Recommended practice for tire flow testing and marking of hydrants shall be per NFPA 291.

The fire protection system design shall be adequate for the site condition, to provide a high degree of protection to the plant, equipment, buildings and employees.

The fire protection system in power plant shall also provide complete set of portable tire extinguishers and wheel cargo extinguishers, protective clothing and helmets, tools, breathing apparatus, etc. in the appropriated buildings / area.

The methods of fire protection systems in power plant as follow:

1. Hydrant system
2. Water spray system
3. Foam system
4. Inert gas system
5. Potable and mobile fire extinguishers

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Steam Power Plant

A steam power plant is a plant system to convert the prospective chemical energy in fuel resources towards electric power energy. Steam power plant in most basic mode contains a steam boiler and also a steam turbine generating an electrical generator.

The steam boiler is a unit to convert water into steam in which it is then utilized to drive turbine blades and generator shaft. The figure 1 is simple sketch to show working principal of steam power plant. The steam boiler is assumed as tea pot and steam turbine is assumed as small windmill. But actually, the steam turbine and boiler form are more complex and difficult but the figure 1 below shows same working principle of steam power plant with the actual form.

Figure 1: Basic Sketch of Steam Power Plant

The method of producing electric power is really balconies and an abundance to many people today, but the real method is simple to be known. As displayed, the generator contains a tiny bar magnet rotating on the inside of a stationery wire coil. That might appear an very uncomplicated matter, but this is precisely what a actual generator contains – a magnet turning on the inside of a wire coil. Because the magnet area issuing via the closes of the magnet mover over the spins of wire within the stationery coil an electrical current is developed within the wire. Through winding a big quantity of spins of wire towards a ring, the current established in every move is included to the current established in another spins of wire, therefore a extra strong current is generated.

The steam power plant shown in the figure 1 isn't quite effective, in fact its effectiveness is approximately zero. Therefore in fact a lot of designs are developed to obtain as much power as doable produced from combustion of fuel, it's important to generate steam power plant as efficient as possible.

The improvement should be made to increase the efficiency of the steam power plant, it can be done by improve boiler or turbine itself. Any modification can be carried out the boiler system such as modify combustion method, furnace dimension, selection of fuel, using economizer and air heater and the others.

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Key Success Factors in Design Power Plant

Key success factors in design power plant are very important to be noted because build a power plant requires not less cost. Therefore, the power plant should be able to operate properly so as to produce electrical power output which is expected associated with the big investment was spent to build it.

Key success factors in design power plant can be seen from how much the value of EAF (Equivalent Availability Factor). The expected goal is to get the optimal value of EAF, high efficiency and low heat rate. Power plant must operate continuously, if at any time shutdown or the plant stop to operates, the potential loss of profits should be reduced to a minimum. This means that the power plant should get the value of EAF as high as possible.

Heat rate is the ratio of required heat energy (in kJ or Btu unit) to produce electric power 1 kWh (kilo watt hour). A power plant can be called has high efficiency when has low heat rate because the power plant needs less fuel than a power plant which has high heat rate. One of easy methods to determine the value of heat rate in a power plant is to know the value of SFC (Specific Fuel Consumption). The smaller SFC at same load, then the power plant is more efficient.

There are some key success factors in design power plant as follow:

1. Design factors

Design factor is the most important key success factor long before talking about commercial of power plant. Design factors can be:

a.       Design capacity factor

The design capacity of a power plant will affect the design of steam boiler, turbine generator, heater, deaerator, condenser and other equipment. It also affects the design pressure, temperature and its flow.

b.      Fuel selection factors

Selection of fuel will affect the power output of electricity which is generated, but it also effect on the type of steam boiler which is used, the type of furnace, fuel handling system, ash handling system and other supporting components.

c.       Location factors such as conditions of wind, earthquake, corrosion, humidity, coolant reservoir and the others.

d.      Standard material and design factor which is used such as whether to use standard ASME, JIS, DIN, and the others.

2. Construction factors

Construction factor is important to be considered such method and sequence of construction or erection, equipment used, so that at the time of construction phase is expected to do as little  as possible mistakes so that the duration of construction is not delayed and costs will not high. Safety factor should also be kept in this phase.

3. Commissioning factors

Commissioning is the initial testing that is a benchmark of success in a power plant. The first time each equipment must be tested (individual test) after it perform system test overall.

4. Operation and maintenance factors

In this factor, the pattern of operation and maintenance should be well designed both in the schedule maintenance and type of maintenance, so the power plant can operate continuously without any damage.

By knowing the key success factors in design power plant, an engineer is expected can create and design an efficient power plant.

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