Coal-fired power station

A power plant that burns coal to produce electricity, usually by heating water into steam that drives a turbine connected to a generator.

Pulverized coal-fired boiler: A boiler that burns finely ground coal in a suspended flame to heat water. Grinding coal increases its surface area, enabling rapid combustion in many large stations.
Carbon dioxide emissions: The release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from natural processes and human activities. Coal combustion produces substantial carbon dioxide, a long-lived greenhouse gas.
Electric power system: The interconnected infrastructure that generates, transmits, distributes, and consumes electrical energy. A station operates as one generator within a wider network balancing supply and demand.
Industrial Revolution: A period of major economic and technological transformation beginning in Britain in the late eighteenth century. Coal-powered steam technology developed within the industrial expansion that this period drove.
Steam turbine: A rotary engine that extracts energy from expanding steam through rows of blades. High-pressure steam from the boiler spins the shaft that drives the generator.
Particulate matter: A mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in air. Escaped soot and ash can worsen air pollution and harm human health.
Baseload power: The minimum level of electricity demand on a power system over a given period. Coal plants have often been scheduled to provide sustained output, though operating patterns vary.
Steam engine: A heat engine that converts the energy of steam into mechanical work. The steam engine established the technology lineage behind turbine-based coal generation.
Electrical generator: A machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy through electromagnetic induction. The turbine’s rotating shaft induces an electric current in the generator.
Coal ash: The mineral residues left after coal combustion, including fly ash and bottom ash. Stations must manage ash that can contain toxic trace elements.

Linked from 19 pages