Chapter 4

Modern Power Systems

There are many residential, commercial, and industrial customers
of electrical power systems in the United States today. To meet this vast
demand for electrical power, power companies work in combination to
produce tremendous quantities of electrical power. This vast quantity of
electrical power is supplied by power generating plants. Individual generat-
ing units that supply over 1000 megawatts of electrical power are now in
operation at some power plants.
Electrical power can be produced in many ways, such as from chemi-
cal reactions, heat, light, or mechanical energy. The great majority of our
electrical power is produced by power plants located throughout our coun-
try, which convert the energy produced by burning coal, oil, or natural
gas, by falling water, or by nuclear reactions into electrical energy. Electri-
cal generators at these power plants are driven by steam or gas turbines,
or by hydraulic turbines in the case of hydroelectrical plants. This chapter
will investigate the types of power systems that produce the great major-
ity of the electrical power used today.
Various other methods, some of which are in the experimental stages,
may become future power production methods. These include solar cells,
geothermal systems, wind-powered systems, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
systems, nuclear fusion systems, and fuel cells. These alternative power sys-
tems will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 5.

IMPORTANT TERMS

This chapter deals with modern electrical power production sys-
tems. After studying this chapter, you should have an understanding of
the following terms:

Fossil Fuel System
Electrical Power Plant
Steam Turbine
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