Download Barford Power Station - Antonine Education

Barford Power Station
St Neots Community College Sixth
Form Visit, May 2008
Key Points
• The combined cycle power station is on the
site of the old Barford A station, about 1.5 km
from the school.
• Two gas turbines drive generators.
• The waste heat from the turbines is used to
heat water in a boiler. This drives a steam
turbine.
• These are some pictures of what is there.
The back up
This is a turbine from a jet
aeroplane that can provide
the power for a “black start.
Where the electricity leaves
Closer up to the black start turbine.
Air intake for the turbine
Filters
Transformers
High voltage
wires
Really thick
wires
Output Transformers
• They are huge.
• The electricity comes in
at 25 000 V, 15000 A.
• It leaves at 132 000 V,
2800 A.
• With the lower current
and the bigger voltage,
the wires don’t get so
hot.
Fuel
• The power station is
fired using North Sea
gas.
• You can see the massive
pipes through which the
gas comes.
• Thousands of cubic
metres are used every
day.
Water Supply
The water comes from the St Neots supply
Dimineralisation
• The water has to be
very pure, otherwise it
will damage the boiler
and the turbines
• St Neots water is very
hard, and the minerals
have to be removed
completely.
Cooling Water
• The water in the boilers
is recycled lots of times.
• It is cooled by cold river
water.
• You can see the huge
pumps that pump the
river water.
• The river water is
returned to the river.
• It does not get dirty.
Huge pumps
Big wires carrying electricity from the
generators
Under the Boilers
• The boilers are huge
boxes in which there
are lots of pipes
carrying water.
• The green pipes carry
cool, clean water to the
boiler.
• The boiler is heated by
the hot exhaust gases
from the turbine.
The Condenser
• This condenses the
steam under the
turbine.
• This gets even more
energy from the steam.
• It makes the power
station more efficient.
The Turbines
• The turbines turn at
3000 rpm.
• They have lots of blades
that turn in the steam.
• Each blade costs about
£10 000.
• If they break, the
turbine “has a haircut”.
This is very expensive.
The Generator
• You can see how big it is.
• The electricity is
generated in coils that
surround a rotating
electromagnet.
• The voltage is 25 000 V;
the current is 15 000 A.
• The power is equivalent
to 100 electric
locomotives