ABSTRACT
The auxiliary power (AP) is on the higher side in Indian thermal power plants compared with other developed countries due to poor equipment performance, the use of suboptimal coal quality, excessive steam and water flow, internal leakage in equipment, inefficient and obsolete drives, aging of equipment without proper maintenance, design constraints like oversizing of equipment, and so on. The average AP of coal-fired thermal power plants for developed countries (subcritical technology with motor-driven boiler feed pump) is about 7.6% and is lower than Indian power plants due to the use of low ash and higher calorific value coal. Energy conservation is the technique to save and optimize energy consumption through enhancing the energy efficiency of equipment and processes. Energy conservation consists of two phases: the first phase is the conduct of an energy audit and the second phase is the implementation of energy conservation measures derived from the energy audit work.
