Energy Efficiency Improvement in Thermal Power Plants
Genesis Murehwa2, Davison Zimwara2, Wellington Tumbudzuku3, Samson Mhlanga4
1Genesis Murehwa, National University of Science and Technology, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering P O Box AC 939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
2Davison Zimwara, National University of Science and Technology, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering P O Box AC 939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
3Wellington Tumbudzuku, National University of Science and Technology, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering P O Box AC 939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
4Samson Mhlanga. National University of Science and Technology, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering P O Box AC 939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Manuscript received on 12 December 2012 | Revised Manuscript received on 21 December 2012 | Manuscript Published on 30 December 2012 | PP: 20-25 | Volume-2 Issue-1, December 2012 | Retrieval Number: A0357112112/2012©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The purpose of the study outlined in this is to identify major energy loss areas in Zimbabwe’s thermal power stations and develop a plan to reduce them using energy and exergy analysis as the tools. The energy supply to demand is narrowing down day by day around the world due to the growing demand and sometimes due to ageing of machinery. Most of the power plants are designed by the energetic performance criteria based not only on the first law of thermodynamics , but the real useful energy loss cannot be justified by the fist law of thermodynamics, because it does not differentiate between the quality and quantity of energy. The present study deals with the comparison of energy and exergy analysis of thermal power plants stimulated by coal. Our national electricity requirement is about 2100MW against 1615MW supply; this is evident of about 21% deficit in terms of power requirements. In view of this situation, the project seeks to increase output from the Power Stations (PS) in the process closing down on the power shortages now and in the future through effective and efficiency improvement.
Keywords: Energy, Exergy, Effective, Efficiency, Improvement, Thermal Power Station
Scope of the Article: Thermal Engineering