Classification of electrical power plants

It can be classified into two types of power plants: conventional plants, renewable energy.

One of the most popular types of conventional power plants:

• Thermal Power Stations
• Gas Turbine & Combined cycle
• Diesel Power Stations
• Nuclear Power Stations
• Hydroelectric Power stations

The most famous types of new and renewable power plants:

• Wind Power stations
• Solar Power stations
• Tidal Power stations
• Geothermal Power Stations
• Biomass Power Stations
• Wave Power stations
• Conversion Ocean Thermal Energy
• Fuel Cells Power Plants

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Power measurement units

   Since power generation is a process of energy conversion, we should refer here to energy measurement units. Energy is generally (mechanical, electrical, or thermal) measured by the Joule unit.

In the case of mechanical energy 
Mechanical energy can be expressed in three different images (all images of the same energy but with different transformations):

1. Potential Energy, PE = mass x gravity acceleration x height
2. Kinetic Energy, KE= 0.5 mass x velocity ²
3. Work,: the final achievement of this mechanical energy, which is moving something for a certain distance, Work = Force x distance

All of them are measured by the unity of the joule. 

   The joule expresses the amount of work done by a force of one Newton when you push a object to a distance of one meter: Joules = Work = Mechanical Energy (J) = Force (N) x Distance (mt)

And in the case of electric power

The same unit (joule) represents the electricity consumed in the second within any electrical device with a power of one Watt:

   Electrical Energy = Power (watt) × time (sec) = Volt × Amp × Sec = Joules

Since this unit represents a small amount of energy, we can use larger units such as kWatt-Hour

1 (KWH) = 1000 x 60 x 60 = 36 x 10⁵ Joule

^{1 W.H = 3600 Joule}

^{Note: joule is also equivalent Electrically:}

• The energy obtained by an electric charge of 1 colum when moving between voltages of 1 volt.
• Energy required to conduct an electric current of 1 amp between the difference voltage of 1 volt during 1 second.

   The origin of electrical energy can be chemical as in batteries, or mechanically as in generating plants, or as in solar cells. What is important here is to emphasize that electric energy comes only from other energy.

In the case of thermal energy

Energy is often measured in a unit called calorie in the English system measured in another unit, (the British Thermal Unit, BTU),one Joule represents the energy consumed Q to raise the temperature of one gram of water to one degree Celsius.

𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡=𝑄=𝑚(𝑘𝑔) × 𝑐(𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡)× Δ𝑇(℃)

The relationship between Joule and Calorie is:

1 Calorie = 4.18 Joule

The temperature degrees can be expressed in three different ways:

1. Using degrees Celsius. 
2. Using Kelvin scale K₀ (Temperature Absolute), And we get added 273 to degrees Celsius.
3. Fahrenheit measurement (the most commonly used in America), the following equation shows the method of conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit.

F = 32 + 1.8 times ° C

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The most important sources of energy

The sources of energy are two types:

1- Fossil Fuel: is the remains of organisms from plants and animals that have been buried deep underground for many years and It was subjected to very high temperatures and pressure, which led to the concentration of carbon in it and its transformation into fossil fuels. One of the most important examples of fossil fuels is coal, oil, and natural gas.

    Fossil fuel has been named by this name either because it is extracted from fossils (fossils are organisms that died millions of years ago and buried in the ground), or because they need drilling tools to be used from the ground.

    Fossil fuels account for 90% of the total energy used in our daily lives. One of the most important that has made fossil fuels an important source of energy production is that it has a high energy density, easy transport and storage, and when it is processed chemically, we get different types of fuel that have multiple uses.

    In spite of all these benefits and improvements in fossil fuels, it is one of the main reasons for the destruction of the environment. It is one of the main reasons that led to the phenomenon of (global warming), air pollution due to harmful gases and volatile substances resulting from Burn it.

2-  Renewable energies:  such as solar, wind and energy extracted from Geothermal and biomass energy, and others.

We can say that the origin of all these sources (both traditional and renewable) is the sun, which is almost the source of all energies on the surface of the earth. Winds move only from high pressure to low pressure, and the sun controls this pressure. And the same think the rest of the energies sources  such as tides, and the energy of the waves and the energy of the ground, etc.

      The plant as we mentioned its origin of the fossil fuel. The source of the energy that is placed in the plant is the sun, and then you will always find a direct relationship between the source of energy and the sun.

3- Nuclear power: perhaps exception to the previous rule of specific types such as nuclear power, this has nothing to do with the sun.

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