Making Electricity essays

Making Electricity essays About eleven years ago I was employed by Georgia Power Company. I thought that it would be just another job. I have come to the realization that a job is just a job, if that is what it is allowed to be. My job is more than just a place of employment, it has turned out to be an educational experience. I have learned a lot of things that the average citizen takes for granted. We all wake up in the morning and turn on lights, start the air conditioner, or just simply use a blow dryer. We never consider what goes into the making of that small amount of electricity that it takes to power all those luxuries. I am one of the people that never really gave it much thought. When I found out how it was made it really amazed me. The making of electricity simply involves turning water into megawatts. The whole electricity process starts with water. The water is pumped into the plant from a near-by water supply. This supply may be from a lake, pond, or river, or maybe from a combination of these. The volume of water must be in great supply, because a power plant uses a large quantity of water. I always wondered why most power plants were built near water. Most of the water that I know of is really polluted; therefore, the water must be chemically cleaned before it can be used. This has to happen so that when it passes through the turbine it does not damage the fragile components that make up the turbine. Chemicals are added to the water while it is held in a storage tank. From the storage tank the water is pumped through tubes inside the boiler. Fire is an essential part of the electricity making process. Coal is Georgias primary fuel for making electricity. Coal burning plants are called fossil fuel plants, because coal is considered a fossil fuel. The term fossil merely means that the coal is derived from dinosaurs. The coal arrives at the plants primarily by train. When the coal i ...