Steam power plant

In a multi-stage steam power plant, a combustion chamber, a steam generator associated with said combustion chamber, a plurality of steam turbine stages including a first high pressure turbine and a last low pressure turbine, means to apply the steam from said steam generator to said steam turbine stages, steam bleeds from at least some of said stages and a condenser for receiving the steam output from said last low pressure turbine and having a water condensate output, a duct for providing combustion air to said combustion chamber and a flue for extracting combustion gases from said combustion chamber, a first steam to air heat exchanger in said duct for transferring a portion of the heat from the steam from at least one of said steam bleeds to the combustion air in said duct, a first water to gas heat exchanger in said duct upstream of said first steam to air heat exchanger for transferring a portion of the heat from said condensate output to the combustion air in said duct, a second water to gas heat exchanger in said flue for transferring a portion of the heat from said combustion gases to the condensate output from said first water to gas heat exchanger and a third water to gas heat exchanger in said duct downstream of said first water to gas heat exchanger for transferring a portion of the heat from the condensate output from said second water to gas heat exchanger to the combustion air in said duct.