Question

When 1 tonne of bituminous coal is burnt, 3.1 × 10¹⁰ J are released. In a 1.6 GW coal generating plant, where the thermal efficiency is 21%, how many tonnes are needed for one day (24 hours) of operation?

Answer 1

Solution:

Let there be n tonnes of bituminous coal to produce the required output.

1 tonne of coal produces .

So, if we have n tonnes of coal it will produce .

Thus the input is,

.

The power of the plant is 1.6GW. So, in 24hrs operation, the required output is,

  .

The efficiency of the plant is . i.e, 0.21.

Thus, 5.9 tonnes of coal are required.