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120-544: The Tilbury power stations were two thermal power stations on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex. The 360 MW dual coal- and oil-fired Tilbury A Power Station operated from 1956 until 1981 when it was mothballed, prior to demolition in 1999. The 1,428 MW Tilbury B Power Station operated between 1968 and 2013 and was fueled by coal , as well as co-firing with oil and, from 2011, biomass . Tilbury B

240-451: A steam drum , and the furnace with its steam generating tubes and superheater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at suitable points to protect against excessive boiler pressure. The air and flue gas path equipment include: forced draft (FD) fan , air preheater (AP), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly ash collectors ( electrostatic precipitator or baghouse ), and the flue-gas stack . The boiler feed water used in

360-435: A vacuum of about −95 kPa (−28 inHg) relative to atmospheric pressure. The large decrease in volume that occurs when water vapor condenses to liquid creates the vacuum that generally increases the efficiency of the turbines. The limiting factor is the temperature of the cooling water and that, in turn, is limited by the prevailing average climatic conditions at the power station's location (it may be possible to lower

480-533: A 300 MW peaking plant comprising open cycle gas turbines (OCGT); and batteries with a capacity of 100 MW. The centre will also have the capability to act as a combined heat and power facility and will be provided with carbon capture readiness capability. The flue stacks of the CCGT will be 95 metres in height and the OCGT stack(s) will 45 metres high. In November 2018 RWE evaluated its UK energy options and decided to freeze

600-695: A V2 exploded at Ripple Lane. Following nationalisation on 1 January 1948 the LTS line was split so that Fenchurch Street to Gas Factory Junction became part of the Eastern Region whilst the rest of the LTS Line became part of the London Midland Region. This arrangement did not last long and on 20 February 1949 the whole of the LTS line was bought under Eastern Region control. November 1949 saw platforms 1 and 2 at Fenchurch Street electrified through to Bow Junction on

720-744: A clean coal power station at Blyth but they have since postponed both schemes. Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners were the civil consulting engineers and architects of Tilbury A; the main consulting engineers were Merz & McLellan . The A station was built on the 226 acre (91.5 hectare) site and was a steel framed construction with elevations in London stock brick . The integrated boiler house and turbine hall were lit by tall rectangular windows, with ancillary buildings by smaller square windows. The A station had two 100 metre high concrete chimneys. Tilbury A had six 60 MW steam turbo-alternators three were manufactured by English Electric and three by Parsons giving

840-498: A combination of the two. The efficiency of a thermal power station is determined by how effectively it converts heat energy into electrical energy, specifically the ratio of saleable electricity to the heating value of the fuel used. Different thermodynamic cycles have varying efficiencies, with the Rankine cycle generally being more efficient than the Otto or Diesel cycles. In the Rankine cycle,

960-591: A design operational life of 35 years. The Tilbury Green Power plant is an operational electricity generating facility which uses wood as a fuel source. The plant is owned and operated by Tilbury Green Power Limited. The plant is located within the Port of Tilbury , Essex. There are two phases of development: Phase 1 is a 40 MW waste wood power plant; and Phase 2 is a 20 MW Solid Recovered Fuel power plant. Only Phase 1 has currently been developed; construction started in August 2015 and

1080-600: A distance of 39 miles 40 chains (63.6 km). A loop line between Barking and Pitsea provides an alternative route via Rainham (Essex), Grays and Tilbury. Finally, there is a short branch line connecting the main line at Upminster with the loop line at Grays via Ockendon . The line has a maximum speed limit of 75 mph (121 km/h), although the Class 357 and Class 720 electric trains which run on it are capable of speeds of 100 mph (161 km/h). The line forms part of Network Rail's strategic route 6 . It

1200-570: A few minor raids between 1942 and early 1944. Incidents elsewhere in London also affected the LTS Line, For example, the Metropolitan line services were suspended 9 December 1940 – March 1941 due to air raid damage at Kings Cross. Some service cuts were made during the blitz including the end of the LNER Fenchurch Street to North Woolwich services (via Bromley and Abbey Mills Junction). 1941 saw

1320-403: A fuel storage area of the station on the morning of 27 February 2012. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service mobilised over 120 firefighters to the fire, which involved some 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes of fuel in storage cells, two of which were described as "well alight". Essex Chief Fire Officer David Johnson reported that firefighting operations were hindered by the fact that the blaze was high up in

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1440-660: A gas turbine, in the form of hot exhaust gas, can be used to raise steam by passing this gas through a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The steam is then used to drive a steam turbine in a combined cycle plant that improves overall efficiency. Power stations burning coal, fuel oil , or natural gas are often called fossil fuel power stations . Some biomass -fueled thermal power stations have appeared also. Non-nuclear thermal power stations, particularly fossil-fueled plants, which do not use cogeneration are sometimes referred to as conventional power stations . Commercial electric utility power stations are usually constructed on

1560-442: A gas turbine. The steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator. Geothermal plants do not need boilers because they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains excessive suspended solids. A fossil fuel steam generator includes an economizer ,

1680-410: A generator on a common shaft. There is usually a high-pressure turbine at one end, followed by an intermediate-pressure turbine, and finally one, two, or three low-pressure turbines, and the shaft that connects to the generator. As steam moves through the system and loses pressure and thermal energy, it expands in volume, requiring increasing diameter and longer blades at each succeeding stage to extract

1800-480: A large scale and designed for continuous operation. Virtually all electric power stations use three-phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz . Large companies or institutions may have their own power stations to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if steam is created anyway for other purposes. Steam-driven power stations have been used to drive most ships in most of

1920-439: A link on to the London and Blackwall line, heading towards Blackwall. The GER ran a short-lived Palace Gates to Blackwall service via Stratford but this only lasted a year and there were some Backwall – Southend excursion trains run in 1890. Primary use of the line was to offer another goods route into the docks. Under the management of civil engineer Arthur Lewis Stride, the line was extended from Southend to Shoeburyness . There

2040-474: A listed building The site was entirely cleared in 2019 for the construction of the Tilbury2 port. The CEGB began construction of the larger 1,428 MW Tilbury B station in 1961. This was commissioned in 1968 and was operating at full capacity by 1969. On privatisation of the electricity industry in 1990 it was assigned to National Power , and was later operated by RWE npower . In May 2011, RWE began converting

2160-476: A more direct route from London to Barking was constructed through Bromley , Plaistow and East Ham , connecting with the London and Blackwall Extension Railway a very short distance north east of Gas Factory Junction, and the service from Bishopsgate was withdrawn. Under the management of the LT&;SR lessees from 1856 to 1875 little additional work was done to the LT&S lines. After some degree of independence

2280-559: A set of tubes in the furnace. Here the steam picks up more energy from hot flue gases outside the tubing, and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the valves before the high-pressure turbine. Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially saturated conditions. Experimental nuclear plants were equipped with fossil-fired superheaters in an attempt to improve overall plant operating cost. The condenser condenses

2400-523: A specific type of large heat exchanger used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to thermally connect the primary (reactor plant) and secondary (steam plant) systems, which generates steam. In a boiling water reactor (BWR), no separate steam generator is used and water boils in the reactor core. In some industrial settings, there can also be steam-producing heat exchangers called heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) which utilize heat from some industrial process, most commonly utilizing hot exhaust from

2520-423: A stationary stator and a spinning rotor , each containing miles of heavy copper conductor. There is generally no permanent magnet , thus preventing black starts . In operation it generates up to 21,000 amperes at 24,000 volts AC (504 MWe) as it spins at either 3,000 or 3,600 rpm , synchronized to the power grid . The rotor spins in a sealed chamber cooled with hydrogen gas, selected because it has

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2640-455: A total of 19 LMS trains per hour during the peak. The Fenchurch Street plan saw a comprehensive rebuild and lengthening of the platforms as well as additional approach tracks (which used part of one of the goods depots) as well as the provision of a new signal box and signalling. The platform rebuild and associated infrastructure was completed by the summer of 1935. The new signalling which gave 90 second headways from Stepney to Gasworks Junction

2760-463: A total of 600 MW of electricity. In addition, batteries will store up to 600 MWh and export up to 150 MW of electricity. The engines will not run continuously but will start up for short periods several times a day as the National Grid requires, it is envisaged that they will run for up to 4000 hours per year, i.e. less than half the year. Electrical transformers and switchgear step-up the voltage from

2880-519: A total output of 360 MW. It was designed as a coal-fired station with coal delivered to the jetty on the Thames and stored initially to the east and later to the north of the building. Soon after completion in 1958 the station was adapted to also burn oil. The total steam capacity of the John Thompson boilers was 3,240,000 lb/hr (408 kg/s). The steam pressure and temperature at the turbine stop-valve

3000-406: A trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting the coal. The steam drum (as well as the superheater coils and headers) have air vents and drains needed for initial start up. Fossil fuel power stations often have a superheater section in the steam generating furnace. The steam passes through drying equipment inside the steam drum on to the superheater,

3120-478: A typical late 20th-century power station, superheated steam from the boiler is delivered through 14–16-inch-diameter (360–410 mm) piping at 2,400 psi (17 MPa; 160 atm) and 1,000 °F (540 °C) to the high-pressure turbine, where it falls in pressure to 600 psi (4.1 MPa; 41 atm) and to 600 °F (320 °C) in temperature through the stage. It exits via 24–26-inch-diameter (610–660 mm) cold reheat lines and passes back into

3240-404: Is a planned natural gas Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station which also includes a peaking plant and a battery energy storage unit. The centre is owned and will be operated by RWE Generation UK plc. It is located on the site of the demolished Tilbury B power station. The Tilbury Energy Centre will comprise three gas-fired CCGT generating units with a total output capacity of 2500 MW;

3360-429: Is also dosed with pH control agents such as ammonia or morpholine to keep the residual acidity low and thus non-corrosive. The boiler is a rectangular furnace about 50 feet (15 m) on a side and 130 feet (40 m) tall. Its walls are made of a web of high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches (58 mm) in diameter. Fuel such as pulverized coal is air-blown into the furnace through burners located at

3480-530: Is classified as a London and South East commuter line. Passenger services form the Essex Thameside franchise that is currently operated by train operating company c2c . The first part of the line was built by the London and Blackwall Railway whose line from Blackwall opened in 1840 with a terminus at Minories and intermediate stations on the route at Shadwell and Stepney. The line had two independent tracks which were initially worked by cable haulage and it

3600-473: Is expensive and has seldom been implemented. Government regulations and international agreements are being enforced to reduce harmful emissions and promote cleaner power generation. Almost all coal-fired power stations , petroleum, nuclear , geothermal , solar thermal electric , and waste incineration plants , as well as all natural gas power stations are thermal. Natural gas is frequently burned in gas turbines as well as boilers . The waste heat from

3720-474: Is limited, and governed by the laws of thermodynamics . The Carnot efficiency dictates that higher efficiencies can be attained by increasing the temperature of the steam. Sub-critical pressure fossil fuel power stations can achieve 36–40% efficiency. Supercritical designs have efficiencies in the low to mid 40% range, with new "ultra critical" designs using pressures above 4,400 psi (30 MPa) and multiple stage reheat reaching 45–48% efficiency. Above

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3840-476: Is returned to the downcomers and the steam is passed through a series of steam separators and dryers that remove water droplets from the steam. The dry steam then flows into the superheater coils. The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot blowers , water lancing, and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after

3960-464: Is separated from the water inside a drum at the top of the furnace. The saturated steam is introduced into superheat pendant tubes that hang in the hottest part of the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Here the steam is superheated to 1,000 °F (540 °C) to prepare it for the turbine. Plants that use gas turbines to heat the water for conversion into steam use boilers known as heat recovery steam generators (HRSG). The exhaust heat from

4080-465: Is the air-cooled condenser . The process is similar to that of a radiator and fan. Exhaust heat from the low-pressure section of a steam turbine runs through the condensing tubes, the tubes are usually finned and ambient air is pushed through the fins with the help of a large fan. The steam condenses to water to be reused in the water-steam cycle. Air-cooled condensers typically operate at a higher temperature than water-cooled versions. While saving water,

4200-628: The Central Electricity Generating Board . Construction of Tilbury A was sanctioned in 1950 and began in 1951 and was initially commissioned in 1956 by the Central Electricity Authority. After operating for 25 years the A station was mothballed by the CEGB in 1981 and eventually demolished in 1999, mostly everything including the turbine hall was demolished. The waste water and a small part of the station remained due to being

4320-575: The City of London which is served by Fenchurch Street, and areas in east London including the Docklands financial district via London Underground and Docklands Light Railway connections at Limehouse and West Ham . The line is also heavily used by leisure travellers, as it and its branches serve a number of seaside resorts, shopping areas and countryside destinations. Additionally, the Tilbury Loop portion of

4440-557: The East London line and to terminate at Barking instead. The provision of a flyover to remove goods trains from crossing the layout was not proceeded with but other changes to improve the flexibility at Barking were made. In addition a bay platform and stabling siding were put in at Dagenham and stabling increased at Upminster. The new Metropolitan line service began on 4 May 1936 and an additional eight hourly services worked in with 27 District Line services. The impact of World War II on

4560-626: The Eastern Counties Railway at Bow but there was a dispute and the junction was never completed. A short lived interchange station at Victoria Park & Bow was built at the junction but saw little traffic which led to a temporary closure of the line in September 1850. In January 1853 a new junction was built at Gas Factory Junction enabling the North London Railway to operate a new service into Fenchurch Street. The construction of

4680-471: The London and Blackwall Railway and the Eastern Counties Railway companies – the railway was authorised in 1852, with the first section opening in 1854. The route was extended in phases and partnerships were formed with the Midland Railway and District Railway to provide through-services. The railway serves three main routes. The main line runs from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Basildon over

4800-464: The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway was a joint enterprise between the LBR and ECR and was authorised by Parliament on 17 June 1852. The first section, built by Peto and Grissell , was opened between Forest Gate Junction on the Eastern Counties Railway main line and Tilbury , via Barking and Grays on 13 April 1854. The junction at Bow was finally completed and as part of the deal and this enabled

4920-786: The Manhattan Elevated Railway . Each of seventeen units weighed about 500 tons and was rated 6000 kilowatts; a contemporary turbine set of similar rating would have weighed about 20% as much. The energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station is defined as saleable energy produced as a percent of the heating value of the fuel consumed. A simple cycle gas turbine achieves energy conversion efficiencies from 20 to 35%. Typical coal-based power plants operating at steam pressures of 170 bar and 570 °C run at efficiency of 35 to 38%, with state-of-the-art fossil fuel plants at 46% efficiency. Combined-cycle systems can reach higher values. As with all heat engines, their efficiency

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5040-403: The critical point for water of 705 °F (374 °C) and 3,212 psi (22.15 MPa), there is no phase transition from water to steam, but only a gradual decrease in density . Currently most nuclear power stations must operate below the temperatures and pressures that coal-fired plants do, in order to provide more conservative safety margins within the systems that remove heat from

5160-552: The steam boiler is a means of transferring heat energy from the burning fuel to the mechanical energy of the spinning steam turbine . The total feed water consists of recirculated condensate water and purified makeup water . Because the metallic materials it contacts are subject to corrosion at high temperatures and pressures, the makeup water is highly purified before use. A system of water softeners and ion exchange demineralizes produces water so pure that it coincidentally becomes an electrical insulator , with conductivity in

5280-409: The vapor pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works under vacuum . Thus leaks of non-condensible air into the closed loop must be prevented. Typically the cooling water causes the steam to condense at a temperature of about 25 °C (77 °F) and that creates an absolute pressure in the condenser of about 2–7  kPa (0.59–2.07  inHg ), i.e.

5400-482: The 18th century, with notable improvements being made by James Watt . When the first commercially developed central electrical power stations were established in 1882 at Pearl Street Station in New York and Holborn Viaduct power station in London, reciprocating steam engines were used. The development of the steam turbine in 1884 provided larger and more efficient machine designs for central generating stations. By 1892

5520-743: The 20th century . Shipboard power stations usually directly couple the turbine to the ship's propellers through gearboxes. Power stations in such ships also provide steam to smaller turbines driving electric generators to supply electricity. Nuclear marine propulsion is, with few exceptions, used only in naval vessels. There have been many turbo-electric ships in which a steam-driven turbine drives an electric generator which powers an electric motor for propulsion . Cogeneration plants, often called combined heat and power (CHP) facilities, produce both electric power and heat for process heat or space heating, such as steam and hot water. The reciprocating steam engine has been used to produce mechanical power since

5640-494: The B station to burn biomass only. They hoped the conversion would allow 750 MW of electricity to be generated from burning wood pellets imported from a pelleting plant in Georgia, USA, and other sources from Europe by the winter of 2011. This conversion made the station the biggest biomass generating site in the world. In July 2013 RWE npower announced they were halting the conversion due to difficulty in converting and financing

5760-488: The District Railway at Whitechapel . The connection allowed through-running of District Railway trains from Central London to provide local services to Upminster from 2 June 1902. A new station was provided at West Ham in 1901 which was built with four platforms in anticipation of quadrupling to East Ham. The track quadrupling progressed in stages between 1902 and 1905 on the south side of the existing lines which became

5880-666: The ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by amalgamation. In 1866 the LBR was taken over by the GER and all the stations between Fenchurch Street and Stepney became GER stations. On 5 April 1880 the Limehouse Curve opened with a new junction called Salmon Lane Junction, located between Gas Factory Junction and Stepney it provided

6000-702: The Eastern Counties Railway to also start operating into Fenchurch Street. At the same time a third track was opened on the Fenchurch Street approaches and the station expanded to four platforms. LT&SR Services initially ran from Fenchurch Street and Bishopsgate stations over existing lines to Stratford where they were coupled together and then via Forest Gate Junction to Tilbury for ferry connections to Gravesend . Further extensions opened in late 1854 to Horndon , to Leigh-on-Sea on 1 July 1855 and finally to Southend on 1 March 1856. In 1858

6120-431: The GER became part of the London and North Eastern Railway . A new service for workers from Tilbury and East Tilbury to Thames Haven began on 1 January 1923 – the last service had run in 1909. There were four intermediate halts at Mayes Crossing, Curry Marsh, London & Thames Haven Oil Wharves and Thames Haven. A new halt called Gale Street Halt was opened between Barking and Dagenham station on 28 June 1926 to serve

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6240-490: The Great Eastern Main Line on the 1500v DC system. No regular electric services worked this line and it was primarily for diversion and emergency usage although regular empty trains ran to ensure the system worked. These were formed of AM6 electric multiple units. During the brief period of London Midland Region control the little used Purfleet Rifle Range Halt was closed on 31 May 1948. During 1949 East Horndon

6360-527: The LTS line was far greater than the first world war as a result of the London Blitz of 1940/1941 and the later deployment of the V1 and V2 flying bombs. The first big event was the evacuation of children from the area and a number of trains were run in late 1939 although many children returned when the extensive aerial bombardment did not materialise. During 1940 a lot of people moved out of towns such as Southend as it

6480-518: The Local Lines whilst the newly laid southern lines (known as the Through Lines) were for longer distance services. The Local Lines were electrified allowing District line services to be extended to East Ham. West of Barking, additional tracks and sidings were provided and the electrified tracks were extended to Barking and that section opened on 1 April 1908. There were three new stations opened in

6600-532: The National Grid via a 4.5 km underground cable to the existing 132 kV substation at Tilbury. Flue gases from the boiler are treated by emissions control technology including Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR), fabric filters, and dry lime and activated carbon injection. Exhaust gases are discharged via a 100 metre high stack. Thermal power station The majority of the world's thermal power stations are driven by steam turbines, gas turbines, or

6720-562: The Through Lines would also have been electrified (the Local Lines being electrified in 1905) and electric trains to Southend were envisaged. In parallel with this the GER was proposing improvements to Fenchurch Street and a plan was agreed that saw: This agreement was the end of the Merz & Mclellan scheme, although the Midland Railway still wanted to quadruple Bromley to Stepney and this

6840-659: The Tilbury Energy Centre development. The Thurrock Flexible Generation Plant is a planned natural gas engine and battery energy electricity supply facility. The plant will be developed, owned and operated by Thurrock Power Limited, a subsidiary of Statera Energy. It is located immediately north of the former Tilbury A & B power station site and south of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. The main site occupies an area of 18.5 hectares. The plant will comprise up to 60 fast-starting gas engines fuelled by natural gas connected to electricity generators which will generate

6960-554: The United States are about 90 percent efficient in converting the energy of falling water into electricity while the efficiency of a wind turbine is limited by Betz's law , to about 59.3%, and actual wind turbines show lower efficiency. The direct cost of electric energy produced by a thermal power station is the result of cost of fuel, capital cost for the plant, operator labour, maintenance, and such factors as ash handling and disposal. Indirect social or environmental costs, such as

7080-486: The air in the air preheater for better economy. Secondary air is mixed with the coal/primary air flow in the burners. The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the furnace, maintaining slightly below atmospheric pressure in the furnace to avoid leakage of combustion products from the boiler casing. A steam turbine generator consists of a series of steam turbines interconnected to each other and

7200-484: The answer and in 1913 a report by Merz & Mclellan suggested electrification and four tracking between Campbell Road Junction (west of Bromley station) and Stepney station. West of Stepney a new junction at Ratcliff Square would see six lines as far as Cannon Street Road where the line would then drop underground and either run to Aldgate or via two subterranean additional platforms at Fenchurch Street and onto Bank. The lines would have been electrified and east of Bromley

7320-400: The atmosphere, or once-through cooling (OTC) water from a river, lake or ocean. In the United States, about two-thirds of power plants use OTC systems, which often have significant adverse environmental impacts. The impacts include thermal pollution and killing large numbers of fish and other aquatic species at cooling water intakes . The heat absorbed by the circulating cooling water in

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7440-459: The batteries and generators to match the 275 kV National Grid voltage at Tilbury substation. The flue stacks from the engines may be grouped together; the stacks will be 40 metres tall. The engine building will be 20 metres high and the battery building up to 10 metres high. It is envisaged that advance works will start in 2020; main construction work will start in 2021 and take 18 months to six years in total over several phases. The plant will have

7560-433: The boiler, where the steam is reheated in special reheat pendant tubes back to 1,000 °F (540 °C). The hot reheat steam is conducted to the intermediate-pressure turbine, where it falls in both temperature and pressure and exits directly to the long-bladed low-pressure turbines and finally exits to the condenser. The generator, typically about 30 feet (9 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter, contains

7680-459: The closure of Burdett Road (bomb damage), Shadwell and Leman Street. The latter briefly acted as the London terminal of the line when Fenchurch Street had been put out of service due to bomb damage in September 1940. The V weapons bombardment first affected the LTS line on 30 June 1944 when a V1 hit the LMS single line at Romford station. A further ten incidents followed with the last on 17 March 1945 when

7800-419: The coal store for both stations was then relocated to the north of the site. The B station was a steel framed construction with unfenestrated elevations of concrete cladding. The taller boiler house block was orientated north–south to the west of the adjoining turbine hall; control rooms and offices were at the south end. Tilbury B comprised four generating units each of 350 MW. When all four units were available

7920-450: The combined output capacity was 1428 MW, enough power for 1.4 million people, approximately 80% of the population of Essex. The boiler steam pressure was 158.58 bar at a temperature of 566 °C. Discharge from the HP turbine was returned to the boilers for reheat to 566 °C. The boilers had a capacity of 4 × 296 kg/s. The station had two 168 metre high concrete chimneys. One unit

8040-443: The condenser tubes must also be removed to maintain the ability of the water to cool as it circulates. This is done by pumping the warm water from the condenser through either natural draft, forced draft or induced draft cooling towers (as seen in the adjacent image) that reduce the temperature of the water by evaporation, by about 11 to 17 °C (52 to 63 °F)—expelling waste heat to the atmosphere. The circulation flow rate of

8160-519: The cooling water in a 500 MW unit is about 14.2 m /s (500 ft /s or 225,000 US gal/min) at full load. The condenser tubes are typically made stainless steel or other alloys to resist corrosion from either side. Nevertheless, they may become internally fouled during operation by bacteria or algae in the cooling water or by mineral scaling, all of which inhibit heat transfer and reduce thermodynamic efficiency . Many plants include an automatic cleaning system that circulates sponge rubber balls through

8280-721: The design of large turbines, since they are highly optimized for one particular speed. The electricity flows to a distribution yard where transformers increase the voltage for transmission to its destination. London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line , also known as Essex Thameside , is a commuter railway line on the British railway system . It connects Fenchurch Street station , in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex , including Barking , Upminster , Basildon , Grays , Tilbury , Southend and Shoeburyness . Its main users are commuters travelling to and from London, particularly

8400-465: The early hours of 16 November 1977 a fire broke out at Tilbury B. It spread from the control room along cable ducts and caused severe cracks in the £70 million building. The site was evacuated but three engineers who had stayed behind to shut down the plant were taken to hospital after inhaling fumes. Foam equipment was brought from other power stations and by the evening the fire had been contained. On 1 July 2008, an engineer servicing an offline boiler at

8520-411: The economic value of environmental impacts, or environmental and health effects of the complete fuel cycle and plant decommissioning, are not usually assigned to generation costs for thermal stations in utility practice, but may form part of an environmental impact assessment. Those indirect costs belong to the broader concept of externalities . In the nuclear plant field, steam generator refers to

8640-472: The efficiency of the cycle is reduced (resulting in more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity). From the bottom of the condenser, powerful condensate pumps recycle the condensed steam (water) back to the water/steam cycle. Power station furnaces may have a reheater section containing tubes heated by hot flue gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high-pressure turbine is passed through these heated tubes to collect more energy before driving

8760-421: The four corners, or along one wall, or two opposite walls, and it is ignited to rapidly burn, forming a large fireball at the center. The thermal radiation of the fireball heats the water that circulates through the boiler tubes near the boiler perimeter. The water circulation rate in the boiler is three to four times the throughput. As the water in the boiler circulates it absorbs heat and changes into steam. It

8880-403: The gas turbines is used to make superheated steam that is then used in a conventional water-steam generation cycle, as described in the gas turbine combined-cycle plants section. The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer . From the economizer it passes to the steam drum and from there it goes through downcomers to inlet headers at the bottom of

9000-673: The height of the land using soil from civil engineering works along the River Thames and restore the site to high quality arable farmland. Inert construction material is transported in barges to the wharf at Goshems Farm. The first barge was unloaded in 2011 and the restoration works are ongoing. A public footpath will be created along the riverside. Tilbury Ash Disposal Site is operated by Ingrebourne Valley Ltd. In addition to Tilbury A and B there are three other power stations in Tilbury that are planned or are now operational. The Tilbury Energy Centre

9120-611: The highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its low viscosity , which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during startup, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with hydrogen. This ensures that a highly explosive hydrogen– oxygen environment is not created. The power grid frequency is 60 Hz across North America and 50 Hz in Europe , Oceania , Asia ( Korea and parts of Japan are notable exceptions), and parts of Africa . The desired frequency affects

9240-428: The intermediate and then low-pressure turbines. External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The Primary air fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warms the air in the air preheater for better economy. Primary air then passes through the coal pulverizers, and carries the coal dust to the burners for injection into the furnace. The Secondary air fan takes air from the atmosphere and, first warms

9360-533: The line in 1935. Quadrupling and Electrifying the line was first considered in the Midland Railway Act of 1914 and the LMS presented plans in 1928/1929 to extend the four track section to Upminster. There was no mention of the curve to the Romford line. Upminster station had to be completely rebuilt as a result and additional platforms were added for terminating District Line services. The engine shed at Upminster

9480-450: The local economy by creating jobs in construction, maintenance, and fuel extraction industries. On the other hand, burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases (contributing to climate change) and air pollutants such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides (leading to acid rain and respiratory diseases). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil-fuel-based thermal power stations, however it

9600-842: The low-pressure exhaust from the turbine enters a steam condenser where it is cooled to produce hot condensate which is recycled to the heating process to generate even more high pressure steam. The design of thermal power stations depends on the intended energy source. In addition to fossil and nuclear fuel , some stations use geothermal power , solar energy , biofuels , and waste incineration . Certain thermal power stations are also designed to produce heat for industrial purposes, provide district heating , or desalinate water , in addition to generating electrical power. Emerging technologies such as supercritical and ultra-supercritical thermal power stations operate at higher temperatures and pressures for increased efficiency and reduced emissions. Cogeneration or CHP (Combined Heat and Power) technology,

9720-488: The main structure of the station, which was also heavily smoke-logged. In addition to 15 pumping appliances , crews used three aerial ladder platforms, one major rescue tender, three bulk foam tenders and a thermal-imaging camera in a helicopter to help tackle the fire. Support crews were drafted in from the London Fire Brigade . Despite initial reports, another fire in the adjacent Tilbury docks which started around

9840-417: The middle of this series of feedwater heaters, and before the second stage of pressurization, the condensate plus the makeup water flows through a deaerator that removes dissolved air from the water, further purifying and reducing its corrosiveness. The water may be dosed following this point with hydrazine , a chemical that removes the remaining oxygen in the water to below 5 parts per billion (ppb). It

9960-466: The nearby Becontree Estate although initially the station was not connected by road. This plan was to see comprehensive investment in new facilities to improve operations as well as additional stations on the LTS Line. Fenchurch Street was not part of the scheme (even though proposals had been made in 1914 and 1924) but a scheme was adopted and agreed with the LNER in 1931/32 as part of the works which would see

10080-444: The nuclear fuel. This, in turn, limits their thermodynamic efficiency to 30–32%. Some advanced reactor designs being studied, such as the very-high-temperature reactor , Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor , and supercritical water reactor , would operate at temperatures and pressures similar to current coal plants, producing comparable thermodynamic efficiency. The energy of a thermal power station not utilized in power production must leave

10200-459: The period 1957-1987 was as follows. Tilbury A annual electricity output GWh. Tilbury B annual electricity output GWh. The steam turbo-alternators of B station were not commissioned until 1968; the output of B station before this date was from the gas-turbine sets commissioned in February 1965. The maximum thermal efficiency of the A station was 30.84%; and for the B station was 32.19%. In

10320-630: The plant in the form of heat to the environment. This waste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of with cooling water or in cooling towers . If the waste heat is instead used for district heating , it is called cogeneration . An important class of thermal power station is that associated with desalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with large supplies of natural gas , and in these plants freshwater production and electricity are equally important co-products. Other types of power stations are subject to different efficiency limitations. Most hydropower stations in

10440-407: The plant was commissioned in early 2019. The plant utilises about 270,000 tonnes of waste wood to produce up to 319,000 MWh of renewable electricity each year. Wood is processed onsite to produce wood-chip which is burned in a single travelling grate boiler to produce high pressure steam. This steam passes through a single steam turbine to generate electricity. Electricity (at 132 kV) is supplied to

10560-448: The plant. It was mothballed after failing to receive a government grant and was decommissioned and subsequently demolished during 2016–9. In early 2007, npower announced plans to replace the B station with a 1,600 MW 'cleaner' coal-fired power station . The station would have cost £1 billion to build and was hoped to be operational by 2014. The plans were supported by the Port of London Authority . RWE had also planned to build

10680-405: The range of 0.3–1.0 microsiemens per centimeter. The makeup water in a 500 MWe plant amounts to perhaps 120 US gallons per minute (7.6 L/s) to replace water drawn off from the boiler drums for water purity management, and to also offset the small losses from steam leaks in the system. The feed water cycle begins with condensate water being pumped out of the condenser after traveling through

10800-507: The remaining energy. The entire rotating mass may be over 200 metric tons and 100 feet (30 m) long. It is so heavy that it must be kept turning slowly even when shut down (at 3 rpm ) so that the shaft will not bow even slightly and become unbalanced. This is so important that it is one of only six functions of blackout emergency power batteries on site. (The other five being emergency lighting , communication , station alarms, generator hydrogen seal system, and turbogenerator lube oil.) For

10920-551: The rise in traffic and house building at Southend was paused until the 1920s. The nature of traffic at Fenchurch Street was changing as passenger numbers fell on the GER Blackwall and North Woolwich services. As these services declined and were withdrawn, the LT&SR was allowed to run additional trains in their stead. The 1921 Railways Act saw the Midland Railway become part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway whilst

11040-570: The route provides an artery for freight traffic to and from Dagenham Dock and the Tilbury and London Gateway ports. Freight traffic can also travel further using the connection to the Gospel Oak to Barking line and the Great Eastern Main Line at Forest Gate Junction, allowing access to other main routes. Built by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Company – a joint venture between

11160-428: The same time was not connected to the larger blaze at the power station. It took firefighters several hours to bring the power station fire under control, and relief crews remained at the site for days afterward dousing and removing embers. The chimneys of the B station were demolished on 28 September 2017. In March 2019, the 14th and final explosive demolition took place. Ash from the boilers at Tilbury power station

11280-686: The simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat from the same fuel source, improves the overall efficiency by using waste heat for heating purposes. Older, less efficient thermal power stations are being decommissioned or adapted to use cleaner and renewable energy sources. Thermal power stations produce 70% of the world's electricity. They often provide reliable, stable, and continuous baseload power supply essential for economic growth. They ensure energy security by maintaining grid stability, especially in regions where they complement intermittent renewable energy sources dependent on weather conditions. The operation of thermal power stations contributes to

11400-429: The station fell 20 ft (6.1 m) from scaffolding into the boiler. Crews used an internal staircase in the boiler to rescue him. A fire broke out at the power station on 29 July 2009 shortly after 3 pm, with the failure of one of the station's high-pressure turbine units. Workers were evacuated immediately and the fire was reported to be under control by 5:30 pm. There were no casualties. A major fire broke out in

11520-460: The steam from the exhaust of the turbine into liquid to allow it to be pumped. If the condenser can be made cooler, the pressure of the exhaust steam is reduced and efficiency of the cycle increases. The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is circulated through the tubes. The exhaust steam from the low-pressure turbine enters the shell, where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over

11640-420: The steam turbines. The condensate flow rate at full load in a 500 MW plant is about 6,000 US gallons per minute (400 L/s). The water is usually pressurized in two stages, and typically flows through a series of six or seven intermediate feed water heaters, heated up at each point with steam extracted from an appropriate extraction connection on the turbines and gaining temperature at each stage. Typically, in

11760-433: The temperature beyond the turbine limits during winter, causing excessive condensation in the turbine). Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning . The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to reject waste heat to

11880-455: The tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary motor -driven exhausts for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to maintain vacuum . For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 °C where

12000-452: The tubes to scrub them clean without the need to take the system off-line. The cooling water used to condense the steam in the condenser returns to its source without having been changed other than having been warmed. If the water returns to a local water body (rather than a circulating cooling tower), it is often tempered with cool 'raw' water to prevent thermal shock when discharged into that body of water. Another form of condensing system

12120-432: The turbine was considered a better alternative to reciprocating engines; turbines offered higher speeds, more compact machinery, and stable speed regulation allowing for parallel synchronous operation of generators on a common bus. After about 1905, turbines entirely replaced reciprocating engines in almost all large central power stations. The largest reciprocating engine-generator sets ever built were completed in 1901 for

12240-400: The water walls. From these headers the water rises through the water walls of the furnace where some of it is turned into steam and the mixture of water and steam then re-enters the steam drum. This process may be driven purely by natural circulation (because the water is the downcomers is denser than the water/steam mixture in the water walls) or assisted by pumps. In the steam drum, the water

12360-533: The way for through passenger trains from St Pancras to Southend although most trains terminated at Barking. The approaches to Fenchurch Street were further improved in 1895 with the addition of a fourth track from Stepney to Fenchurch Street. In 1902, the Whitechapel and Bow Railway was constructed as a joint venture with the District Railway , connecting the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway at Bromley with

12480-491: The years before sale to the Midland Railway which were Dagenham Dock (1908) Thorpe Bay (1910) and for military use only Purfleet Rifle Range Halt in 1911. One of, if not the biggest problem, the Midland Railway (MR) faced when it bought the LT&SR was the rising Southend traffic. Additionally traffic was rising on stations between Plaistow and Barking and there were plans to extend more trains out to Upminster. The Midland Railway saw extension of electrification as part of

12600-473: Was 900 psi (62 bar) and 482 °C. The alternators generated current at 11.4 kV. Cooling water was drawn from, and returned to, the Thames via caissons in the fueling jetty. The station connected to the National Grid at the nearby 275 kV Tilbury substation . Tilbury A had several railway sidings accessed via a connection to the London, Tilbury and Southend railway between the former Tilbury Riverside and Low Street railway stations . In 1963 Tilbury A

12720-471: Was achieved in 1875 the LT&SR started to take steps to becoming an organisation that could stand on its own two feet. One of the first steps was building its own works/engine shed facility at Plaistow followed by ordering its first locomotives. A station at Upton Park was opened in 1877 largely funded by a developer. By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to

12840-430: Was also a direct line built between Barking and Pitsea, with new stations at Hornchurch and Upminster opening in 1884, An intermediate station at Dagenham opened in 1885 and the line extended east to East Horndon and later the same year to a re-sited Pitsea in 1886. Two years later a new station between East Horndon and Pitsea was opened at Laindon . A new station was opened in 1886 at Tilbury Town railway station which

12960-430: Was built in conjunction with the building of the rail connected docks next door. A single-track branch was constructed between Grays and Upminster and opened on 1 July 1892 with an intermediate station at Ockendon, The Upminster to Romford section was opened the following year. The Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway was a joint venture between the Midland Railway and LT&SR and opened on 9 July 1894. This opened

13080-415: Was commissioned by April 1935 and consisted of three and four aspect colour light signalling. This part of the work was carried out by the LNER who were responsible for the line with the LMS paying 2/3 of the cost. Other works along with the electrification described below, included: To support this improvement the LMS built 37 new 3-Cylindered Stanier 2-6-4Ts for the line in 1934 and these were working

13200-454: Was demolished and rebuilt at this time. New stations were opened and existing stations had additional platforms added. The stations were staffed by the LMS and from west to east were:- The London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) was founded in 1932 and bought the management of the different underground lines under one roof. Discussions between the LMS and LPTB resulted in a decision to route Metropolitan Hammersmith & City trains away from

13320-609: Was demolished in 2016–19. Since 2013 three other power stations have been proposed or constructed in Tilbury. Tilbury A power station was planned from 1947 by the County of London Electricity Supply Company Limited. Following the nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948 the plans were taken forward successively by the British Electricity Authority , the Central Electricity Authority and from 1958

13440-408: Was deposited on the low lying marshland to the east of the site. The land at Goshems Farm East Tilbury had also been subject to other landfill activity over the years and the fill comprised a mixture of ash and glass bottles. The site had been poorly restored and had little topsoil cover and was uneven and littered with debris. In 2003 a plan was inaugurated to restore the site. This would entail raising

13560-521: Was later decommissioned and was used for spare parts for maintenance of the remaining 3 generating units. In addition to the steam generating sets Tilbury power station had auxiliary gas turbines for peak-shaving. This comprised four 17.5 MW gas turbines, the oldest set was commissioned in February 1965. Two 800 tonne coal unloaders were installed on the jetty in 1990. The jetty was enlarged in 2004 to accommodate ships carrying up to 65,000 tons of coal. Electricity output for Tilbury A & B stations over

13680-400: Was not until 1848 that steam locomotives were deployed. The line was extended to the current London terminus at Fenchurch Street and operations commenced on 20 July 1841. A short-lived station opened on the route at Cannon Street Road in 1842 but this closed by 1848. The L&BR built an extension, known as the London and Blackwall Extension Railway, from Stepney station to a junction with

13800-513: Was one of the areas expected, by the population at least, to be under threat of invasion. The LMS had to deal with a mass evacuation of children and on 2 June 1940 with 12 trains running to destinations in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The timetable was reduced with through District services being cut and other services being cut back but these were minor compared to other areas in the UK. The service

13920-516: Was presented in a parliamentary bill passed on 7 August 1914. The bill also covered the quadrupling of Barking to Upminster and a curve at Horndon that would have seen a direct link from Barking to Romford built. Although land between Barking and Upminster was purchased the ongoing strain of World War I saw the collapse of all three schemes. During the war additional day tripper trains to Southend declined (but did not totally disappear). Military supplies ran to Shoeburyness and Dagenham Dock and Tilbury

14040-748: Was renamed West Horndon (where it actually was), Heathway was renamed Dagenham Heathway and Dagenham renamed Dagenham East. The catastrophic North Sea flood of 1953 flooded parts of the LTS line on 1 February 1953. The affected areas on the LTS line were: The last section cut the Southend end of the line off from the London end and a significant number of locomotives and carriages were effectively marooned. Additional services were put in from Southend Victoria to Shenfield where passengers could then change to additional express EMU worked services to Fenchurch Street. This later changed to direct services which saw former GE and LNE tender engines visit Fenchurch Street, normally

14160-517: Was slowed down as the Stanier 3-cylinder 2-6-4Ts were transferred away, and haulage was put back in the hands of the LT&SR and LMS 4-4-2Ts. The first serious incident was recorded on 18 August 1940 when Shoeburyness station and signal box were bombed and a signalman, Charles Walter Speller, was killed on 18 August 1940. The London Blitz lasted until Saturday 10 May/Sunday 11 May 1941 and Kay records 26 serious incidents between those two dates. There were

14280-496: Was the arrival point for many American servicemen between 1917 and 1918. They were moved to camps all over the country by rail. After the end of the war Purfleet was a major demobilisation centre and rail was again used to disperse the former troops throughout the country. Records show that LT&SR locomotives worked as far as Wood Green (Alexandra Palace) on the Great Northern line from London Kings Cross. The war slowed down

14400-408: Was used in experiments by the CEGB on the behaviour of pollutants (principally sulphur dioxide ) in flue gas plumes emitted from the power station chimneys. The results showed that the maximum pollutant concentrations occurred 2.4 km downwind of the station in strong winds and 9.6 – 13 km downwind in light winds. The B station was built on the site of coal store to the east of the A station;

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