How A Power Station Works
A single large power plant can generate enough electricity about 2 gigawatts 2 000 megawatts or 2 000 000 000 watts to supply a couple of hundred thousand homes and that s the same amount of power you could make with about 1000 large wind turbines working flat out.
How a power station works. The magical science of power plants. Electrical power starts at the power plant. A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel such as coal or natural gas to produce electricity fossil fuel power stations have 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 plants a reciprocating gas engine. Video how a power station works this video works alongside the links to information and worksheets written below direct link to relevant materials on this.
But in most cases the thing spinning the generator is a steam turbine the steam might be created by burning coal oil or natural gas. At a nuclear power station the energy released by nuclear fission reactions is used to drive these turbines. One key to a turbine s fuel to power efficiency is the temperature at which it operates. As of year 2005 nuclear power provided about 15 of the world s electricity.
A coal fired power plant uses steam to turn the turbine blades. But the splendid science behind this amazing trick has less to do with the power plant. How do we convert nuclear energy into usable energy. At electrical power stations turbines turn their rotors to produce electricity by electromagnetic induction.
Gas flowing through a typical power plant turbine can be as hot as 2300 degrees f but some of the critical metals in the turbine can withstand temperatures only as hot as 1500 to 1700 degrees f. Many power stations contain one or more generators a rotating machine that converts mechanical power into three phase electric power. Higher temperatures generally mean higher efficiencies which in turn can lead to more economical operation. In both cases a power source is used to turn a propeller like piece called a turbine which then turns a metal shaft in an electric generator which is the motor that produces electricity.