HANI BULGASIM
STUDENT NO.20476217
DRAX POWER STATION VISIT REPORT
PEME 1080
Introduction
For our trip we visited Drax power station. Drax was ''originally built, owned and operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), Drax Power Station was constructed and commissioned in two stages. Stage one (units 1, 2 and 3) was completed in 1974, some 12 years later in 1986 stage two (units 4, 5 and 6) was completed. It is the newest and most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK.'' (DRAXPOWER 2009). The station has 6 generators which when working to maximum capacity can produce up to 4,000 megawatts of power which is enough to supply 7% of the country's electricity need or in other words it can independently power a major city like Leeds and its surrounding counties.
The power stations' main source of fuel is coal; to turn this coal into electricity involves a long and complicated process. I will now talk about the main steps in the procedure from when the coal arrives at the site until the electricity is produced.
. Rail Unloading House
The coal arrives at the station in coal trains of a 1400 tonne average capacity, it is emptied via the discharged through bottom hoppers. These open automatically whilst the train is still moving in order to make the process less time consuming (DRAXPOWER 2009).
2. Boiler Coal Bunker
Coal is held in coal bunkers before it reaches the pulverising mills. Each bunker is able to hold 1000 tonnes of coal which is enough to supply two pulverising mills. There are 5 bunkers in each unit (DRAXPOWER 2009).
3. Coal Feeder
The coal feeder transfers the coal from the bunkers to the pulverising mill through a 450mm diameter pipe. The speed of the feeder can be adjusted which allows it to be slowed down in times of low demand and vice versa (DRAXPOWER 2009).
4. Pulverising Mill
Pulverisation is currently the preferred method of preparing coal for burning. This is because the pulverisation process transforms coal from large solids pieces into a fine powder which allows it to be burned like a gas resulting in more efficient combustion (PALL 2009). There are 60 pulverising fuel mills at Drax, with each being able to pulverise 36 tonnes of coal per hour. Once the coal is inside the pulveriser, ten enormous hollow steel balls, each weighing 1.4 tonnes and with a diameter of approximately 730 millimetres crush the coal into the fine powder required for the combustion process (DRAXPOWER 2009).
5. Primary Air Fan
The powdered coal needs to be transferred to the boiler; this is done by using primary air which blows the powder from the mill to the boiler. The primary air is generated by a large fan which is powered by a 3300 volts motor (DRAXPOWER 2009).
6. Boiler Burner
The fuel used to light the burner is propane. The propane is supplied to the burner where it is then ignited by a spark plug. This flame is then used to burn the fuel oil which is also supplied to the burner. The next step is to blow the primary air and coal mixture through the burner where the mixture spontaneously lights, once this occurs the propane and oil supply is shut off (DRAXPOWER 2009).
STUDENT NO.20476217
DRAX POWER STATION VISIT REPORT
PEME 1080
Introduction
For our trip we visited Drax power station. Drax was ''originally built, owned and operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), Drax Power Station was constructed and commissioned in two stages. Stage one (units 1, 2 and 3) was completed in 1974, some 12 years later in 1986 stage two (units 4, 5 and 6) was completed. It is the newest and most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK.'' (DRAXPOWER 2009). The station has 6 generators which when working to maximum capacity can produce up to 4,000 megawatts of power which is enough to supply 7% of the country's electricity need or in other words it can independently power a major city like Leeds and its surrounding counties.
The power stations' main source of fuel is coal; to turn this coal into electricity involves a long and complicated process. I will now talk about the main steps in the procedure from when the coal arrives at the site until the electricity is produced.
. Rail Unloading House
The coal arrives at the station in coal trains of a 1400 tonne average capacity, it is emptied via the discharged through bottom hoppers. These open automatically whilst the train is still moving in order to make the process less time consuming (DRAXPOWER 2009).
2. Boiler Coal Bunker
Coal is held in coal bunkers before it reaches the pulverising mills. Each bunker is able to hold 1000 tonnes of coal which is enough to supply two pulverising mills. There are 5 bunkers in each unit (DRAXPOWER 2009).
3. Coal Feeder
The coal feeder transfers the coal from the bunkers to the pulverising mill through a 450mm diameter pipe. The speed of the feeder can be adjusted which allows it to be slowed down in times of low demand and vice versa (DRAXPOWER 2009).
4. Pulverising Mill
Pulverisation is currently the preferred method of preparing coal for burning. This is because the pulverisation process transforms coal from large solids pieces into a fine powder which allows it to be burned like a gas resulting in more efficient combustion (PALL 2009). There are 60 pulverising fuel mills at Drax, with each being able to pulverise 36 tonnes of coal per hour. Once the coal is inside the pulveriser, ten enormous hollow steel balls, each weighing 1.4 tonnes and with a diameter of approximately 730 millimetres crush the coal into the fine powder required for the combustion process (DRAXPOWER 2009).
5. Primary Air Fan
The powdered coal needs to be transferred to the boiler; this is done by using primary air which blows the powder from the mill to the boiler. The primary air is generated by a large fan which is powered by a 3300 volts motor (DRAXPOWER 2009).
6. Boiler Burner
The fuel used to light the burner is propane. The propane is supplied to the burner where it is then ignited by a spark plug. This flame is then used to burn the fuel oil which is also supplied to the burner. The next step is to blow the primary air and coal mixture through the burner where the mixture spontaneously lights, once this occurs the propane and oil supply is shut off (DRAXPOWER 2009).
