The Power Station at Detmarovice

April 10, 2016

We don’t often focus too much in industry, but since we drove past this place on our way to visit our great grandpa, we decided to do some research and post. The Dětmarovice Power Station is the largest classic power station in Moravia. It is situated near the town of Ostrava, in the immediate vicinity of the Polish border and the major railway line from Bohumín to Žilina.

Official Photo, CEZ GROUP

Construction began in 1971, individual units were successively phased-in to the power network between May 1975 and November 1976. The power station was designed by Energoprojekt Prague; the construction parts were supplied by VOKD Ostrava, and the technological equipment by Škoda Pilsen.

Official Photo, CEZ GROUP

The power station annually produces about 2.5 TW hrs of electric energy and over 800 TJ of heat, supplied mostly to the town of Orlová.

ČEZ, a. s., burns black coal with an average fuel efficiency of 22 MJ/kg and a sulphur content of under 0.5 %. Only coal from the Ostrava-Karviná Mines is used.

Official Photo, CEZ GROUP

Four production units are installed, each generating 200 MW of electric energy. Output of these production units is distributed to the near very high tension (VHT) switching stations.

The average daily consumption of fuel per one unit is about 1,600 tons of coal, this figure represents approx. 32 railway wagons.

Official Photo, CEZ GROUP

The coal, processed in a milling equipment to a very fine fraction, is burned in four boilers, each rated at 650 tons of steam per hour. The boilers were manufactured by Vítkovice, they are once-through, double-pass, equipped with dry bottom furnace. They operate with an average efficiency of 90 %, and the highest temperature inside the boiler is 1,400 °C.

Official Photo, CEZ GROUP

Each boiler has a milling equipment consisting of four milling cycles with 36 ton/hour ring mills. The boilers are started-up by natural gas, the gas burners are ignited with electric spark. In the rear part of the boiler, carried by a separate structure, are installed regenerative heaters Type Ljungstrom. Each boiler is equipped with four electrostatic separators Type Lurgi and two smoke ventilators.

Official Photo, CEZ GROUP

Desulphurizing equipment is supplied by Mitsubishi. It consists of two absorbers, one for each two production units. It has been put into operation in March 1998. Each boiler is 60 m high, and they produce steam with temperature 540 °C and pressure 17 MPa. The steam is carried to turbo-generators.

The turbo-generator, consisting of three stages, ensures conversion of the steam heatl energy to mechanical energy. At the common shaft, together with the individual turbine stages, there is also placed the main generator that generates power with a voltage of 15.75 kV. The generated electric energy is transformed to 110 kV voltage for transmission purposes.

The machine room of the power station is fitted with four turbines with the nominal output of 200 MW, and a rated speed of 3,000 r.p.m. The heat drop in each turbine is provided by a surface condenser. The inlet steam conditions are 16,18 MPa and 535 °C; the temperature of the reheated steam is 535 °C.

Technological equipment of the power station is cooled by the closed cooling circuits that are refilled with water from the Olše River. In addition to production of electric energy, The Dětmarovice Power Station also supplies heat in a hot water for heating of Orlová locality.

All gases pass through emission reducing equipment which remove nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and ash. The power station is also equipped with a modern system for measurement of turbine set vibrations.

Efficiency of all the equipment is independently and continuously monitored, and is subject to a regular inspections of state administration and environmental protection authorities. The power stations were awarded Environmental Management System Certificate and presently meets ISO 14001.

Dětmarovice Power Station, in addition to production of electric energy, also provides a significant supplies of heat. Combined production of electric energy and heat in one cycle, the so-called cogeneration, reduces fuel consumption per produced unit of energy, thus becoming environment-friendly.

The power station supplies heat mainly to the town of Orlová, and simultaneously with hot-water feeder it also operates primary distribution in the town. Moreover, it provides heat to consumers in the vicinity of the power station.

The total yearly supply represents approximately 800 TJ, installed capacity of the heat-exchange stations in the power station is 120 MWt. In the future, heat supplies can be considerably increased as the turbines, after modifications, can supply heat capacity of up to 400 MWt. Presently, supply of heat to town of Bohumín is considered.

Prices of heat, supplied by the power station, are reasonable and comparable with the possible competitive methods of heat supply. Also operating-technical and assumed price stability of supplies in the long-term outlook is an advantage.

Based on the burning processes that are realized in production of electricity and heat, there are generated the secondary power-producing products that become, under the assumed fulfilment of technical and legal conditions, a raw material for further processing and production.

The Dětmarovice Power Station produces annually approx. 400,000 tons of the secondary power-producing products. Out of this volume, 90% is ash that is certified and used in building industry, namely as additive to cement, concrete or porous concrete. The remaining 10 % represents energo-gypsum, a product of desulphurizing from wet limestone washing. In The Dětmarovice Power Station, it is used, together with a part of the ash, for recultivation purposes. Ash surplus is deposited at the power station disposal site.

Thanks to technology, you can now take a virtual tour of the power station.

And more thanks to photographer Páv Lučištník , we can see many images of the inside workings of this huge power machine.