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How do turbines turn steam from coal combustion into electricity?
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coal utilization
Cross-regenerative coke oven. (A) Cross section, showing the alternating arrangement of flue walls and ovens; (B) longitudinal section, showing (left) a series of combustion flues in a single flue wall and (right) part of a long, slotlike oven.
In coal-fired power plants, the process of converting heat into electricity relies on the interaction between steam and turbines. The process functions as follows:
- Steam Generation: Coal is burned to generate heat, which is used to produce high-pressure, high-temperature steam in a steam generator.1
- Energy Conversion: This steam is directed through a system of stationary vanes and finlike blades attached to a rotor. As the steam passes through, it exerts a tangential force, or torque, on the rotor blades.23
- Mechanical Motion: This force causes the rotor to turn, effectively converting the thermal energy of the steam into mechanical energy in the form of rotary shaft motion.23
- Electricity Production: The rotating shaft is coupled to an electric generator. The generator converts this mechanical energy into electricity, which is then transmitted over power lines for distribution.4
By utilizing the enthalpy change of the steam as it expands through the turbine, power plants can efficiently extract work to drive the generator.2