Fuel handling

(fuel handling section of power plant)    Return to How a coal-fired power plant generates electricity.

(1) Rotary dumper
Four 115-car unit trains are unloaded weekly in the rotary dumper. The automated unloading process takes only 2 minutes per car and requires only 1 operator.

(2) Storage building
From the rotary dumper, an underground conveyor moves the coal to the storage building which is capable of holding a 72-hour supply.

(3) Alternate fuel-handling facility
When appropriate, tire- or refuse-derived fuel in the alternate fuel-handling facility is conveyed to the transfer house to be mixed with the coal.

(4) Transfer house
A 550-ton-per-hour rotary plow feeder at the bottom of the storage building loads a conveyor belt that brings the coal to the transfer house. There, the coal is crushed to 3/4-inch diameter before entering the plant.

Areas of power plant

Fuel handling
(1) Rotary dumper
(2) Storage building
(3) Alternate fuel-handling facility
(4) Transfer house
Furnace
(5) Silos
(6) Cyclone furnaces
(7) Boiler furnace
(8) Forced-draft fans
Electric generation
(9) Turbine
(10) Generator
Electric transmission
(11) Transformer
(12) Substation
Environmental equipment
(13) Fans
(14) Precipitator
(15) Ash silo
(16) Stack
(17) Emission monitors
Water handling
(18) Cooling pond
(19) Condenser
(20) Brine concentrator

Return to How a coal-fired power plant generates electricity.