Why Do We Use Oxygen In A Thermal Power Plant

By Author: Universal Boschi
Total Articles: 4
Comment this article

Oxygen is a very important non-metallic element both for maintaining life and industrial activity. Though there are many applications of oxygen but we will confine the discussion to the use of oxygen in thermal power plants. The non-metallic element is used for various reasons in a thermal power plant. For the present article, we will discuss only the most important applications of O2 in a thermal power plant. So our focus will be why the highly reactive gas is injected in a stream of water for converting it into steam.

Before we discuss further mechanism, it is pertinent that we understand a bit about oxygen. It is said to constitute around 21% of earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, it is vital for sustaining human and animal life on the planet. And, it is odorless, colorless, tasteless and highly reactive. The air we breathe contains molecular oxygen, which is present only in the atmosphere. And, there are number of applications in industries that need use of oxygen for running their operations.

Use of O2 in Thermal Power Plant

And, running a thermal power plant is one such requirement. Thermal plants ...
... make use of a technique called oxygen dozing or oxygenated treatment (OT). This technique is used for minimizing corrosion in a boiler and the corresponding feed water system in flow-through boilers. However, let me remind you that this process is employed in supercritical boilers. For other boilers that are not so important oxygen dozing is not used.

Process of Oxygenated Treatment

Oxygen treatment is an extensively used process in the thermal sector. O2 is introduced in the feed water to maintain the oxygen between 30-50ppb. The most used points for injecting O2 are after the condensate polisher or the condensate system. And we can also use it at the de-aerator outlet or Boiler feed Pump Suction line.

As a result, there forms a thicker protective layer of hematite (Fe2O3) on the surface of magnetite. It is a denser film that offers little resistance to the movement of water. Besides, oxygen dosing decreases the likelihood of flow-accelerated corrosion. Apart from the use of the O2 in oxygenated treatment, we also use the odorless gas as a secondary air for burning fuel inside the furnace. We also use air in the aerators of the Pre Treatment plant of raw water for achieving aeration of raw water.

How Thermal Plant Get Oxygen

Thermal power plant need continuous supply of oxygen for uninterrupted operations. To ensure constant supply, the thermal stations use oxygen gas plants for onsite generation of the non-metallic element for meeting their needs. Typically, they use large capacity LOX plants since their requirements are big.

O2 gas plants have the capacity to generate oxygen with purity up to 997%, which is sufficient for both industrial applications. They produce high purity oxygen after processing the atmospheric air using cryogenic distillation technique. There are other techniques available as well such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA), membrane separation, etc. However, the requirements of thermal sector are ideally met only by the use of cryogenic oxygen plants.

Universal Boschi is the author of this article. We are trusted oxygen plant manufacturer that performs seamlessly using high quality materials and the advanced technology.