MODULE-1
INTRODUCTION
CONVENTIONAL & NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCE
Conventional Energy Resource
Conventional energy sources are naturally present and have been in use for
many years these are also known as non-renewable energy sources, which
are present in a limited quantity and take over hundreds of years to form.
Ex: Coal, petroleum, firewood, fossil fuels , straw etc.
Non-Conventional Energy Resource
The Non-Conventional energy sources are the sources of energy which are
used as the alternative of conventional energy sources. These are also known
as renewable energy sources. Which are available abundance in nature and
being regularly generated in short time.
Ex: Solar, wind, tidal, biomass energy etc.
Difference between Conventional and Non-Conventional Energy Resource
Conventional Energy Non-Conventional Energy
• The sources of energy that • The energy sources whose
have been used all around evolution has been done the
the world for a long time are recent years are known as non-
called conventional energy conventional energy sources.
sources.
• Non-conventional sources are
• Conventional sources of available in abundance in
energy available are limited nature.
quantity in nature.
• Ex: coal, petroleum, natural • Ex: sun, wind, tides, water,
gas, firewood, etc. biofuels, etc.
• These sources are mainly • These sources are used at small
used at large scale in scale in domestic and specific
commercial and industrial commercial and industrial
applications such in thermal applications such as solar power
power plants, fuel in for houses, offices, etc.
vehicles, etc. • These
• Theseare Non are renewable and pollution
renewable and are not free
pollution free.
GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEMS
The electrical power supply system consists of 3 divisions:
1. Generation
2. Transmission
3. Distribution
The power is generated in generating station. The transmission system is to
deliver power from generating station to centers and to large industrial
consumers. The distribution system is to deliver from centers to various
consumers.
The single line diagram is as shown below
Single line diagram
▪ The block diagram and single line diagram is as shown in fig.
▪ The electrical power is generated by alternators in generating stations.
▪ Usually the generated voltage is 11KV in certain cases 33KV also.
▪ In order to reduce the copper loss and for economy reasons the voltage is
stepped up from 11KV to 220KV using step up transformers.
▪ The Primary transmission lines transmit the power from generating station to
various substations.
▪ At this substation the voltage is step down from 220KV to 33KV by using
step down transformer.
▪ Then the secondary transmission lines transmit the power to various
substations and to large Industries.
▪ In primary distribution station the voltage is step down to 33KV to 11KV
using step down Transformer.
▪ These substations transmit the power to various areas and to the medium
scale industries.
▪ In each area using step down transformer the voltage is step down to 11KV
to 415V
▪ The most of domestic, commercial and small scale industries are supplied
power at low voltage i,e 415V to 3-Phase load and 230V to single phase
loads.
POWER GENERATION
Hydro power generation
Hydro power plants convert the potential energy of falling water into electricity.
The block diagram of a hydro power station is as shown below.
General Layout of Hydro power plant
Block diagram of Hydro power plant
In Hydroelectric power stations the water can be store in a man-made lake,
or reservoir. When water is released through the gates of reservoir, it spins a
turbine which is placed below and water turbine captures the energy of the
falling water. This turbine is coupled with the armature of an alternator which
converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. The controller controls the
flow of water so that the turbine rotates at constant speed.
Hydroelectric power stations are becoming very popular because the reserves of
fuels (i.e., coal and oil) are depleting day by day. They have the added
importance for flood control, storage of water for irrigation and water for
drinking purposes.
Nuclear power generation
Nuclear Power plants is a thermal power plant where heat generated by
nuclear fission is used to drive the turbine. The block diagram is as shown
below.
General Layout of Nuclear power plant
Block diagram of Nuclear power plant
Nuclear fission inside the Nuclear reactor generates heat. The coolant in the
circuit gets heated by observing the heat and enters into a steam generator. In
this feed water is heated and converted to steam. The steam from the steam
generator enters into the turbine and rotates the turbine. This turbine is coupled
with the armature of an alternator which converts mechanical energy into
electrical energy. After that the steam will moved to the condenser and
converted to water which is pumped back to steam generator. The cycle is
repeated continuously for generation of power.
Wind power generation
In wind power generation the wind energy is used to generate electricity. The
wind energy is converted into mechanical energy by an aero turbine. The block
diagram is as shown below.
The mechanical power is transferred through gears to the generator to increase
its speed. Since rotor speeds are low, a gear system is necessary to match the
synchronous speed of the generator. Due to fluctuations in wind speed, it not
possible to obtain a power supply of a fixed frequency from windmills. To
overcome this problem, the output of generator is rectified and converted into
AC with the help of inverter.
Solar power generation
In a Solar power plant the electricity is generated using photo voltaic system
consists of PV array. The block diagram is as shown below
Solar power is harnessed using Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology that
converts sunlight into electricity by using semiconductors.
When the sun hits the semiconductor within the PV cell, electrons are freed and
bus bars collect the running electrons which results in electric current.
When the Solar panels are placed in the sunlight in a calculated manner, they
start producing current and voltage in the form of Direct current (DC) but in
most of the countries the appliances and equipment runs on Alternative current
(AC) so the Solar panels are connected to an Inverter which then converts DC
into AC for home use.
