5. ELECTRIC POWER STATIONS THAT USE NON-RENEWABLE SOURCES

There are two types:thermal power stations and nuclear power stations.

5.1.Thermal power stations that use fossil fuels

Thermal power stations use fossil fuels to produce thermal energy.Then the thermal energy is converted to mechanical energy, in order to generate electricity.

Combined-cycle power stations:

In combined-cycle or cogeneration power stations,electricity is generated in two systems.
The first system burns natural gas with compressed air.This produces superheated gases,which turn a turbine to generate electricity.
The second system uses the hot gases from the first system and uses them to produce steam in a heat recovery boiler.Then the steam turns a turbine to generate more elctricity.The cobined cycle stations are more efficient that single-cycle stations.

5.2.Nuclear power stations

A nuclear power station is a thermal poer station that uses a nuclear rector to produce heat.The reactor uses radioactive material as fuel.The most commonly used material are isotopes of uranium.