5.

0 Vapour Power Cycles

5.1 The Rankine cycle
T he Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle for given temperatures of the source and
sink, and applies to both gases and vapours. However,the Carnot cycle is not normally
used in steam plants. One reason is that it has a low work ratio,
net work
work ratio =
gross work
For the steam cycle of Fig. 4.10, per unit mass of substance,

net work = wout − win

= (h2 − h3 ) − (h1 − h4 )
gross work = wout = (h2 − h3 )

therefore,
(h2 − h3 ) − (h1 − h4 ) h1 − h4
work ratio = = 1−
(h2 − h3 ) h2 − h3
compression work
= 1− (5.1)
expansion work
The other reason for not using the Carnot cycle in the steam plants is because, at state
4, the steam is wet. It is difficult to stop condensation at point 4 and then compress
it to state 1, Fig. 4.10. It is more convenient to allow the condensation process to
proceed to completion, i.e. to the saturated liquid line, as in Fig. 5.1.
The working fluid is now water at state 4, Fig. 5.1, and is conveniently pumped
to the boiler at state 1. The pump is now smaller and compression work input, h1 − h4 ,
is now reduced as compared to that of Fig. 4.10. When compression work is reduced,
then from Eq. (5.1) the work ratio is increased. This modified cycle represented by
Fig. 5.1 is the Rankine cycle.
The disadvantage is that more heat input is now required (h2 − h1 ) as opposed to
that of the Carnot cycle in Fig. 4.10. From Eq. (4.20), the thermal efficiency of the
cycle is thus reduced.
For the Rankine cycle, per unit mass,

• Heat input in the boiler, qin = h2 − h1

• Isentropic steam expansion in the turbine does work, wout = h2 − h3

• Heat rejection from the steam in the condenser, qout = h3 − h4

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 Figure 5.1: T-s diagram for the Rankine cycle

• Isentropic compression in the pump, win = h1 − h4 ≈ vf,p4 (p1 − p4 ), NB:p1 =

p2 and p3 = p4

5.2 Rankine cycle with superheat

Between states 2 and 3 of Fig. 5.1, the turbine has to handle low-quality steam,
which has a lot of moisture content. The moisture leads to erosion and corrosion of
the turbine blades.
But since the heating occurs at constant pressure, then one way of reducing the
moisture that the turbine has to handle is by superheating the steam at state 2, as
shown in Fig. 5.2. A typical value of the temperature of the steam at state 2 is 500-
6000 C. Metallurgical limitations prevent attainment of higher values. A wide range of
pressures can be used though.
EXAMPLES 7

1. A steam power plant operates on the ideal Rankine cycle with superheat. The
steam enters the turbine at 7 Mpa and 5500 C. It discharges to the condenser at
20 kPa. Determine the cycle thermal efficiency [37.7%]

2. Steam is supplied dry saturated at 40 bar to a turbine, and the condenser pressure
is 0.035 bar. If the plant operates on the ideal Rankine cycle, calculate the work
output from the turbine, neglecting the feed pump work [986 kJ/kg].
Without neglecting feed pump work, determine

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 Figure 5.2: Rankine cycle with superheat

(a) the heat supplied [2685 kJ/kg], and

(b) the Rankine efficiency [36.6%]

Tutorial Problems 5

1. Why is the Carnot cycle not used as the ideal model for steam power plants?

2. What are the processes that make up the ideal Rankine cycle?

3. Explain the effect of lowering the condenser pressure in an ideal Rankine cycle
on; turbine work, heat added, and thermal efficiency.

4. A Carnot cycle uses steam as the working substance and operates between pres-
sures of 7 Mpa and 7 kPa. Determine

(a) the thermal efficiency [44.2%]

(b) the turbine work [968.4 kJ/kg]
(c) the compressor work [303.7 kJ/kg]
(d) the work ratio [0.686]

5. A steam power plant operates between a boiler pressure of 42 bar and a condenser
pressure of 0.035 bar. Assuming ideal conditions, calculate the cycle efficiency
when the steam enters the turbine superheated at 5000 C. Neglect the feedpump
work [39.9%]

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5.3 Isentropic efficiencies
Irreversibilities are associated with each of the components of the Rankine cycle. Fluid
friction and heat loss to the surroundings are the most common causes of irreversibility.

5.3.1 Turbine
In the turbine, the ideal expansion process is isentropic, but as the steam flows through
the turbine blading, fluid friction occurs, increasing the steam’s entropy. Fluid flow
irreversibilities significantly reduce the useful turbine work output. The turbine inter-
nal or isentropic efficiency is what accounts for the irreversibility losses. The turbine
isentropic efficiency is thus a determination of how well the available energy is used.
The value is determined experimentally by the turbine manufacturer and once known,
it may be used to compute the actual work the steam does in the turbine. Denoting
the turbine efficiency as ηT , then referring to Fig. 5.3,
h 2 − h 3
ηT = (5.2)
h2 − h3
Process 2 − 3 is the actual steam expansion in the turbine while process 2 − 3 is the
isentropic expansion.

Figure 5.3: Isentropic efficiencies

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5.3.2 Pump
In the pump, frictional effects mean more work is required than the ideal case to raise
the water’s pressure to a higher value. These frictional effects in fluid flow through the
pump and between the pump’s impeller and the water increase the entropy. Heat loss
in the pump may be considered negligible. Let the pump isentropic efficiency be ηC .
With reference to Fig. 5.3,
h1 − h4
ηC = (5.3)
h 1 − h 4
In Rankine cycles, the pump work is much smaller than the turbine work, so the net
effect of pump inefficiency on cycle efficiency is small [3].
Tutorial Problems 6

1. The maximum steam temperature is 5600 C and the lowest cycle temperature is
300 C.

(a) What is the thermal efficiency of an ideal Rankine cycle operating with a
maximum pressure of 3.5 MPa? [39.6%]
(b) For the same temperatures and pressure above, recalculate the thermal ef-
ficiency for a Rankine cycle with a turbine efficiency of 80% [31.65%]

2. Discuss the Clausius inequality in the context of the second law of thermody-
namics

3. (a) If the condenser pressure in a Rankine cycle is 1 psia and the maximum
pressure in the cycle is 600 psia, calculate the efficiency of the ideal cycle if
the steam at 600 psia is dry saturated vapour. Use the Mollier chart and
neglect pump work. [34.9%]
(b) If the vapour above has 2000 F superheat, calculate the efficiency of the ideal
Rankine cycle.

4. In a Rankine cycle, the lower operating and condenser pressure is 3 bar. What
is the specific work output for an isentropic efficiency of expansion of 80%, if the
steam is generated at 30 bar and 3250 C? [379 kJ/kg]

5. In a steam power plant, steam leaves the boiler at a pressure of 16 MPa and a
temperature of 10000 F. The steam passes through a chest of throttle valves where
the pressure drops by 3%. The steam then expands in a high pressure turbine
at an isentropic efficiency of 80%, to 2 bar. Use steam tables to determine the
enthalpy of the steam at the exit from the turbine. [2947 kJ/kg]

44
5.4 Steam Turbines in Cogeneration
Cogeneration is defined as the production of more than one useful form of energy from
the same energy source, e.g., electric power and process heat obtained from steam [1].
Some industries that normally rely quite heavily on process heat include chemical,
pulp and paper, oil production and refining, steel making, food processing, and textile
industries. This heat is usually supplied by steam at 5 - 7 atm and 150 - 2000 C.
Ordinarily, this steam is produced by burning coal, natural gas etc in a furnace. The
temperatures in furnaces is normally very high (around 14000 C), meaning that the
energy in the furnace is high quality energy. Yet, this high-quality is only utilized to
produce steam at around 2000 C or less. It thus makes more economical and engineering
sense to produce the process steam using low-quality energy, thus the cogeneration
plant.
A typical example of a cogeneration plant is a steam-turbine cogeneration plant,
shown schematically in Fig. 5.4 with typical operating conditions. The plant produces
net work output Ẇnet via the turbine, and then the exhaust energy from the turbine is
used to generate the process heat Q̇p . The pump work is usually very small and may
be safely neglected. Notice also that the plant does not have a condenser; no heat is
rejected from the plant as waste heat, i.e., all the energy transferred to the steam in
the boiler is utilized as either process heat or electric power. We may then define a
utilization factor u for the cogeneration plant as
net work output + process heat delivered Ẇnet + Q̇p
u = = , (5.4)
total heat input Q̇in
or
Q̇out
u = 1 − , (5.5)
Q̇in
where besides the heat lost in the condenser, Q̇out includes all the undesirable heat
losses, even from the piping and other system components (these losses are normally
neglected).
The plant represented above is ideal though. In a typical practical steam co-
generation plant (see Fig. 5.5), some steam is extracted from the turbine at some
predetermined pressure, say p6 and used for process heating. The rest of the steam
expands to the condenser pressure, p7 and is then cooled at constant pressure. The
heat rejected from the condenser represents the waste heat for the cycle.
NOTES

• In times of high demand for process heat, all the steam leaving the turbine is
routed towards process-heating and none goes to the condenser (ṁ7 = 0).

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 Figure 5.4: An ideal steam-turbine cogeneration plant

• Maximum process heating is realized when all the steam leaving the boiler passes
through the expansion (throttle) valve. In that case, ṁ5 = ṁ4 and no power is
produced.

• When there is no demand for process heat, all the steam passes through the
turbine and the condenser such that ṁ5 = ṁ6 = 0. In that case, the cogeneration
plant operates as an ordinary steam power plant.

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 Figure 5.5: A practical cogeneration plant

• Pertinent equations

Q̇in = ṁ3 (h4 − h3 ), (5.6)

Q̇out = ṁ7 (h7 − h1 ), (5.7)
Q̇p = ṁ5 h5 + ṁ6 h6 − ṁ8 h8 , (5.8)
Ẇturb = (ṁ4 − ṁ5 )(h4 − h6 ) + ṁ7 (h6 − h7 ). (5.9)

ASSIGNMENT 2
Consider the steam cogeneration plant shown in Fig. 5.6. Steam enters the turbine
at 7 MPa and 5000 C. Some steam is extracted from the turbine at 500 kPa for process
heating. The remaining steam continues to expand to 5 kPa. The exhaust steam from

47
the turbine is subsequently condensed at constant pressure and pumped to the boiler
pressure of 7 MPa. At times of high demand for process heat, some heat leaving the
boiler is throttled to 500 kPa and then routed to the process heater. The extraction
fractions are adjusted so that the steam leaves the process heater as a saturated liquid
at 500 kPa and subsequently pumped to 7 MPa. The mass flow of steam through
the boiler is 15 kg/s. Neglecting the changes in potential and kinetic energies, and
disregarding the pressure drops and heat losses in the piping, and assuming the turbine
and pump work to be isentropic, determine:

1. The specific enthalpy of the steam at each of the states 1 through to 10

2. The maximum rate at which process heat can be supplied

3. The power produced and the utilization factor when no process heat is supplied

Figure 5.6: Schematic diagram for the cogeneration plant

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