Fossil Fuel Power Generation
A fossil-fuel power plant is a power plant that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum (oil) to produce electricity. Fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation. In many countries, such plants provide most of the electrical energy used. A fossil fuel power plant always has some kind of rotating machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, which then operates an electrical generator. The prime mover may be a steam turbine, a gas turbine or in small isolated plants, a reciprocating internal combustion engine. Fossil fueled power stations are major emitters of greenhouse gases which according to the consensus of scientific organizations are very likely to be the cause of most of the global warming over the last 50 years. Efforts exist to use carbon capture and storage of emissions but problems remain with making these technologies available on a commercial scale and in an economically viable manner.
By-products of power plant operation need to be considered in both the design and operation. Waste heat due to the finite efficiency of the power cycle must be released to the atmosphere, often using a cooling tower, or river or lake water as a cooling medium. The flue gas from combustion of the fossil fuels is discharged to the air; this contains carbon dioxide and water vapor, as well as other substances such as nitrogen, nitrous oxides, sulfur oxides, and (in the case of coal-fired plants) fly ash and mercury. Solid waste ash from coal-fired boilers must also be removed, although some coal ash is recycled for building materials.
