We live in a time where electricity holds fundamental importance in our routine lives. All the essential equipment, devices, and tools are operated on electricity. In other words, life without electricity is impossible today. Next, to provide for that, power plants are constructed.
These can be hydro, solar, atomic, geothermal, gas-fired, coal-fired, and wind power plants. As they are named as per their main fuel, these come with various constituents that differ from each other. (For that MEP estimating services can be of great help. With these, the required MEP systems are constructed in the plant and the production is facilitated.) All these contribute to the power production for the needed electricity.
Main Fuel for Power Production
Electricity or power is generated through some fuel that can be used as an energy source. These include water, sun, coal, petroleum gas, wind, nuclear energy, and steam. All these work in different ways to generate electricity.
Water
It is one of the renewable energy sources. It stores potential energy and that energy is then used to run the turbines that run the power generator. Dams are built to store water. This stored water later stores the potential energy. This way hydro water power plants generate electricity.
Sun
We rely on the Sun for our day and night. But more importantly to the light, it provides heat. This heat is transformed into electricity. For that, solar cells are used. These cells change the rays of the Sun into electricity. Solar parks are made for power generation at a large scale.
Petroleum Gas
Petroleum products are used in a number of ways to provide the facilities we require in life. The gases such as methane, ethane, propane, etc. are combustible gases. They produce a substantial amount of energy on burning. Gas-fired power plants are constructed to generate electricity from these gases.
Coal
This too comes from fossil fuels like petroleum products. Coal too produces enormous heat on burning. The heat turns the turbines and generates electricity.
Wind
Air is an essential constituent of the environment. Wherever it becomes winds due to the right reasons, it comes with a strong force. This force is used to run wind turbines. This way wind turbine generates electricity. On a larger scale, wind parks are constructed.
Nuclear energy
Nuclear fission is a great source to generate power as it is a way to cause destruction and wage war. The nuclear power plant is perhaps the most complex and tricky power generation. It includes primary and backup electrical systems to properly operate the plan. (Electrical estimating services assist in this regard).
Steam
Water is changed into steam. As it is boiled, the water absorbs a tremendous amount of heat in it. Next, a special turbine is used to conduct the heat to rotate it. This turbine, in turn, rotates the generator, and electricity is generated.
Turbine
The main part of any power plant, with exception of solar, is the turbine. The turbine is simply a wheel that regulates the working of the power generation. Its paddles or wings are specific to the fuel involved. It takes in the force and moves in a rotary motion. This force can be heath pressure, potential energy, or wind.
The force turns the wheel and regulates the power plant. This mainly includes the driving motion of the generator.
Generator
This is where the actual power generation takes place. The generator is simply a magnet suspended between a coil. The rotary motion of the magnet generates the current. The capacity of the generator is subject to the movement of the turbine attached.
This magnet is connected to the turbine’s axis and the turbine rotates the generator.
Fail-Safe Systems
Electricity is a dangerous material. As it holds crucial importance in lives for what it is capable of, so does it carry great danger. To make sure that everything goes as safely as possible, fail-safe systems are constructed.
This simply is a way to trigger alarms and sirens, and break the circuit to keep any and every sort of danger.
Their Application
Finally, the generated power is offered to users. This way, a number of different electrical systems are constructed in all sorts of buildings. These provide for a variety of necessary requirements of life. In other words, electricity provides for essential needs.
Conclusion
Power plants are an important part of the societies. These provide for power generation that in turn vital to day-to-day operations. These power plants can be of different sources such as gas, coal, water, steam, solar, and wind. All these provide energy that is then changed into electricity. Later the end user installs different MEP systems to use that electricity. (Services such as duct takeoff services assist in the installation.)
