10-04-2017, 08:54 PM
internship in thermal power plant tuticorin
TUTICORIN: Power generation in one unit of the 5x210 MW Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (TTPS) was hit after a fire broke out in the plant on Saturday.The accident is one among many such fire accidents that have occurred in the several thermal power plants in the state, in recent months. In August this year, a fire in a conveyor belt at a private thermal power plant in Tuticorin killed four employees and brought down precious power resources. Saturday's accident comes at a time when the state is facing acute power shortage and forcing the residents to face several hours of outages everyday.A senior official from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) said that the fire broke out in the power line supplying electricity to boiler in the third unit of TTPS. He said that the cause of the fire was not confirmed but was suspected to be due to a short circuit in the electricity supply line to the boiler of the unit.The fire broke out around 6am in the power supply line and the employees attempted to put off the fire. But sensing that it could be dangerous to continue their efforts they immediately rushed out to safety. "They switched off the power supply line to the unit. By that time, fire and rescue service personnel arrived and put off the fire. The damage was not extensive," said the official.As against the 1050 MW, TTPS could generate only 840 MW. However, officials said that power generation was resumed in the evening after the damaged cables and certain parts of the units were replaced.The frequency of the fire accidents and technical snags has become alarming in TTPS hitting electricity generation in the power-starved state. On October 10, power production was hit in one unit due to a puncture in the boiler tube while another unit was detected to have a puncture in the condenser tube.Earlier, on June 19, units I and II were shut down for three days due to water scarcity. Then on July 3, all five units were shut down for two days due to a major fire caused by friction at the coal conveyor belt, incurring a heavy loss of Rs 12 crore to the thermal power station.Another fire reported at the conveyor belt connecting the first and second coal crusher units on July 16, however, it reportedly had no impact on power generation.