They burn coal, but how does that turn into energy?
In: Engineering
They burn the coal under big vats of water. When the water boils, the steam pressure turns the turbines that generate the electricity.
It’s not much different than a steam locomotive except it’s turning a generator instead of wheels.
Put very simply: Steam engines.
They boil water using the coal. That water steam makes a big turbine spin and produce electricity, then depending on the model, either is let out in the atmosphere, and new water is brought in, or left to cool down and return to the reservoir to be reused.
Generally:
1. Smash up the coal so it’s a fine powder
2. Shoot coal powder into a giant furnace
3. Use heat from furnace to boil cold water into piping hot steam at a high pressure
4. Force rushing steam through turbines (like a fan), which drives an electricity generator
They boil water, that steam is used to drive a something conductive back and forth through a magnetic field (This is called a “Turbine”). This creates electricity
Almost all powerplants generate heat, use that heat to boil water into steam, then use the pressure from that steam to spin a generator. Coal, gas, and oil powerplants do this by burning the fuel.
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