Thermal Power Plant Simulator (2D)

Fire the boiler, open the turbine valves and follow the grid. Watch steam turn heat into 300 MW of electricity.

0:00
Net electric power
0MW
0150300
Drum pressure
0MPa
0816
Main steam temperature
0°C
0300600
Condenser pressure
0kPa
012 warn25
Net plant efficiency
0%
02045

Control deskOnline

Grid demand180 MW
Fuel master60%
Governor valve60%
Steam temperature set540 °C
Cooling-water pumps80%
Cooling-tower fans80%
ReheatFeed heater
Electric power vs demand
Pressure (red) and level (blue)
Condenser pressure
Cycle on the T-s diagram

Missions

Alarms and plant data

Outdoor wet-bulb temperature15 °C
Condenser tube fouling0 %
Feed pump A

Independent numerical checks

Each check compares the in-page model with a value computed outside it (IAPWS-IF97 reference library) or with a closed-form formula.

What to try

  1. Raise the grid demand to 300 MW and watch the fuel master, drum pressure and valve respond. Which lags, and why?
  2. Switch the reheat off at full load and watch the LP exhaust dryness and the wetness alarm.
  3. Switch the feed heater off: the cycle efficiency drops by several points, the fuel burn rises.
  4. Set the wet-bulb temperature to 32 °C and fouling to 30 %: how far can you lower the vacuum loss with more water and fan?
  5. Press Open grid breaker at high load and watch the governor catch the turbine speed.
The science: equations and simplifications
Rankine cycle (per kg of steam) w_t = sum of (h_in - h_out), h_out = h_in - eta_t (h_in - h_out,s) Pump work w_p = v_f (p_boiler - p_cond) / eta_p Thermal efficiency eta = (w_t - w_p) / (q_boiler + q_reheat) Feed heater (open, 1 extraction) y = (h_f,x - h_pump) / (h_x - h_pump) (mass fraction bled from the turbine) Throttle flow (Stodola-like) m = M0 * valve * p / p0 Drum energy balance C_b dp/dt = eta_B Q_fuel - (m + m_sv + m_leak) q_in Condenser (epsilon-NTU) eps = 1 - exp(-UA/(m_cw c_p)), T_sat = T_in + Q_c / (eps m_cw c_p), p_c = p_sat(T_sat) Swing equation (islanded) 2 H dn/dt = (P_shaft - P_loss) / n Cooling-tower make-up m_evap = 0.85 Q_c / h_fg

Steam properties are tabulated from IAPWS-IF97 (bilinear in ln p and superheat), accurate to about 0.1 % in enthalpy and entropy. Honest simplifications: one lumped boiler drum, one open feed heater, a single isentropic efficiency (88 %) applied to each expansion segment, quasi-steady condenser with first-order lag, constant boiler and generator efficiencies, no frequency model of the grid (the breaker is either closed or open), no combustion or flue-gas chemistry. The plant is generic and not modelled on any particular station.

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