Neyveli Lignite Corp (NLC)

 

Hello dear reader! Thank you for the love you all showed to my previous blogs. I hope to write a lot more in the future. With that note, let's proceed to the blog.

I woke up at 3 in the morning. I got ready hastily , and we set down to the car. Dad started the car, and off we went moving closer to Neyveli. The window rolled open. I beamed, breathing in the brisk morning air. The buildings clouded in my eyes as I collapsed on my seat and drifted to sleep.

I woke up about an hour later. I stretched in my accommodation when suddenly I felt my stomach grumble. I called out to my dad, enquiring about our breakfast stop. We were heading to a hotel called Aishwarya Bhavan. They are famous for their Sambar, for which they have an induction stove on the table! It is situated on the NH45 highway, next to the Tindivanam entrance. We were meeting our Grandma there since we were taking her to Neyveli too. Grandma arrived with Grandpa about 10 minutes after we arrived. I ate Idly, Dosa, and a bit of Puri as well. We finished our breakfast and set out on the black, wide tar road once more. 

We discussed my previous blogs, food, family and played a few word games to pass the time. Dad broke off from the NH road and took a state highway. The road's condition was far worse than that we had expected. The road was full of numerous potholes and stray rocks, making the ride as bumpy as a roller coaster. Even with the state of the road, we still managed to enjoy the ride as we spotted countless species of birds, goats, cows, and even ducks. 

About halfway to Neyveli, dad showed us a large water pipe. It was a pipe that took Cauveri water and transported all the wat to Chennai's Puzhal lake. Imagine a long tube, travelling about 250 km to deliver water! Insane right! 

We reached Neyveli at 10. As we entered NLC workers quarters, I could see many features such as solar panels, old thermal plants, lignite deposits and lots of trees. We have a few relatives living in Neyveli as one of them worked there. We reached their house and had a hearty meal consisting of Sundal, Fried rice, Sambar rice, Curd rice, Appalam, and Potato chips. We visited two temples around the area, a temple for Murugan and another for Shiva.

In the Shiva temple, we saw a lot of indigenous trees and plants, such as the Bilva. There was a unique tree there. It had bulbous fruit and a strange flower. It had multiple anthers clumped together in a curve, facing the ground, and five bright baby pink petals turning upwards. 

All the plants do follow the Fibonacci number series. In the Murugan temple, we saw many banyan trees. It was a sight to behold. Banyan trees are endangered, since they require a lot of space to grow. We made makeshift swings out of the airborne roots and climbed on top.

We had a lot of fun, whilst I found it terrifying due to my build and weight. 

At 2:30, we set out to visit the NLTP. This power plant produces about 2 * 500 MW per day! The plant works with four simple principles:

1. Water is boiled at high amounts using Lignite (a type of coal) to form steam. This process occurs in the boiler.

1. The steam is sent through various pipes to increase pressure.

1. As the steam passes through the turbine, the turbine starts to spin at high speed.

1. The generator turns the mechanical energy of the turbines into electricity.

We had to wear white safety helmets to protect our skulls from any disasters. It was awkward on my head, yet I was determined to enjoy the experience. We rode a lift and walked a flight of stairs until we reached the turbine and generator room. My first impression was the immense heat and sound. I instinctively plugged my ears with my fingers. I was so glad that I had a light sleeveless top on as the heat was scorching! The grandpa mentioned to me that the sound was coming from one power plant. I shuddered, imagining the sound of two. My ears would explode.

The turbines were humongous Aluminium pipes that stuck out of the level metal floor like a scar. Many tiny tubes seemed to regulate the amount of pressure going into the turbine. The grandpa beckoned us to follow into a room. He and one of his colleagues accompanied us. Mr Rajkumar gave a thorough explanation about all the happenings inside and outside the power plant.

The room we were in was the operator room. It monitors all of the happenings in the turbine and boiler. The fuel used to boil the coal is Lignite. It is the inferior variety of the three main coal types: Anthracite, Bituminous and Lignite. Lignite is brown coloured and very moisture absorbent. So, they dry it and transport it using pulverizers and conveyor belts. Good quality Lignite only needs six of the eight grinders to be broken down. The gas released from the burning process gets purified before it is sent into the atmosphere to dissipate. The water is recycled by twin condensation units that convert the steam back into the water. We proceeded into the next room. It was the electrical room.

It is a large computer with many input and processing units. The output is displayed on the large screens in the operator room. The next room was the engineering room. The people working here control the computer like electrical room. Mr Rajkumar took us to the 12th floor of the skeletal metal building for a bird's eye view of the whole compound. It was cold and cloudy as we were about 12 storeys above the surface! We could see the mines, condensation units, water reservoirs, solar panels, conveyor belts, boiler, chimney and a lot more!

We clicked a few pictures, enjoyed the weather and came back down. We went to see the large piles of Lignite just next to the main building. Flakes of Lignite fell on my dress, making it a deep brown.

My white-soled shoes got ruined, but the experience and the memories we created

 were worth everything. After a quick stop for the canteen's scrumptious food, we all headed straight home.

 

P.S. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into explaining everything to a kid Mr Rajkumar. Thanks a lot! (●ˇ∀ˇ●)