How electricity is generated through coal

A coal power station turns the chemical energy in coal into electrical energy that can be used in homes and businesses.
First the coal (1) is ground to a fine powder and blown into the boiler (2), where it is burned, converting its chemical energy into heat energy. Grinding the coal into powder increases its surface area, which helps it to burn faster and hotter, producing as much heat and as little waste as possible.
As well as heat, burning coal produces ash and exhaust gases. The ash falls to the bottom of the boiler and is removed by the ash systems (3). It is usually then sold to the building industry and used as an ingredient in various building materials, like concrete.
The gases enter the exhaust stack (4), which contains equipment that filters out any dust and ash, before venting into the atmosphere. The exhaust stacks of coal power stations are built tall so that the exhaust plume (5) can disperse before it touches the ground. This ensures that it does not affect the quality of the air around the station.
Burning the coal heats water in pipes coiled around the boiler, turning it into steam. The hot steam expands in the pipes, so when it emerges it is under high pressure. The pressure drives the steam over the blades of the steam turbine (6), causing it to spin, converting the heat energy released in the boiler into mechanical energy.
A shaft connects the steam turbine to the turbine generator (7), so when the turbine spins, so does the generator. The generator uses an electromagnetic field to convert this mechanical energy into electrical energy.
After passing through the turbine, the steam comes into contact with pipes full of cold water. In coastal stations this water is pumped straight from the sea (8). The cold pipes cool the steam so that it condenses back into water. It is then piped back to the boiler, where it can be heated up again, turn into steam again, and keep the turbine turning.
Finally, a transformer converts the electrical energy from the generator to a high voltage. The national grid uses high voltages to transmit electricity efficiently through the power lines (9) to the homes and businesses that need it (10). Here, other transformers reduce the voltage back down to a usable level.
 

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