Energy and exergy analyses of thermal power plants: A review

The energy supply to demand narrowing down day by day around the world, the growing demand of power has made the power plants of scientific interest, but most of the power plants are designed by the energetic performance criteria based on first law of thermodynamics only. The real useful energy loss cannot be justified by the fist law of thermodynamics, because it does not differentiate between the quality and quantity of energy. The present study deals with the comparison of energy and exergy analyses of thermal power plants stimulated by coal and gas. This article provides a detailed review of different studies on thermal power plants over the years. This review would also throw light on the scope for further research and recommendations for improvement in the existing thermal power plants. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.