South Valley University

Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

Sheet (4) Cogeneration Rankine Cycle

1. What is the difference between cogeneration and regeneration? Explain with neat sketch different
types of cogeneration?

2. How is the utilization factor 𝜖u for cogeneration plants defined? Could 𝜖u be unity for a
cogeneration plant that does not produce any power?

3. Consider a cogeneration plant for which the utilization factor is 1. Is the irreversibility associated
with this cycle necessarily zero? Explain.

4. Consider a cogeneration plant for which the utilization factor is 0.5. Can the exergy destruction
associated with this plant be zero? If yes, under what conditions?

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

5. provides steady-state operating data for a cogeneration cycle that generates electricity and
provides heat for campus buildings. Steam at 1.5 MPa, 280°C, enters a two-stage turbine with
a mass flow rate of 1 kg/s. A fraction of the total flow, 0.15, is extracted between the two stages
at 0.2 MPa to provide for building heating, and the remainder expands through the second stage
to the condenser pressure of 0.1 bar. Condensate returns from the campus buildings at 0.1 MPa,
60°C and passes through a trap into the condenser, where it is reunited with the main feedwater
flow. Saturated liquid leaves the condenser at 0.1 bar. Determine a. the rate of heat transfer to
the working fluid passing through the boiler, in kW. b. the net power developed, in kW. c. the
rate of heat transfer for building heating, in kW. d. the rate of heat transfer to the cooling water
passing through the condenser, in kW.

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

6. Consider a cogeneration system operating as shown. Steam enters the first turbine stage at 6
MPa, 540°C. Between the first and second stages, 45% of the steam is extracted at 500 kPa and
diverted to a process heating load of 5 × 108 kJ/h. Condensate exits the process heat exchanger
at 450 kPa with specific enthalpy of 589.13 kJ/kg and is mixed with liquid exiting the lower-
pressure pump at 450 kPa. The entire flow is then pumped to the steam generator pressure. At
the inlet to the steam generator the specific enthalpy is 469.91 kJ/kg. Saturated liquid at 60 kPa
leaves the condenser. The turbine stages and the pumps operate with isentropic efficiencies of
82% and 88%, respectively. Determine a. the mass flow rate of steam entering the first turbine
stage, in kg/s. b. the net power developed by the cycle, in MW. c. the rate of entropy production
in the turbine, in kW/K.

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

7. A cogeneration cycle that provides power and process heat. In the steam cycle, superheated vapor
enters the turbine at 40 bar, 440°C and expands isentropically to 1 bar. The steam passes through
a heat exchanger, which serves as a boiler of the Refrigerant 134a cycle and the condenser of the
steam cycle. The condensate leaves the heat exchanger as saturated liquid at 1 bar and is pumped
isentropically to the steam generator pressure. The rate of heat transfer to the working fluid
passing through the steam generator of the steam cycle is 13 MW. The Refrigerant 134a cycle is

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

an ideal Rankine cycle with refrigerant entering the turbine at 16 bar, 100°C. The refrigerant
passes through a heat exchanger, which provides process heat and acts as a condenser for the
Refrigerant 134a cycle. Saturated liquid exits the heat exchanger at 9 bar. Determine a. the mass
flow rate of steam entering the steam turbine, in kg/s. b. the mass flow rate of Refrigerant 134a
entering the refrigerant turbine, in kg/s. c. the percent of total power provided by each cycle. d.
the rate of heat transfer provided as process heat, in kW.

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

8. Consider the cogeneration plant shown. Steam enters the turbine at 7 MPa and 500°C. Some
steam is extracted from the turbine at 500 kPa for process heating. The remaining steam continues
to expand to 5 kPa. Steam is then condensed at constant pressure and pumped to the boiler
pressure of 7 MPa. At times of high demand for process heat, some steam leaving the boiler is
throttled to 500 kPa and is routed to the
process heater. The extraction fractions
are adjusted so that steam leaves the
process heater as a saturated liquid at 500
kPa. It is subsequently pumped to 7 MPa.
The mass flow rate of steam through the
boiler is 15 kg/s. Disregarding any
pressure drops and heat losses in the
piping and assuming the turbine and the
pump to be isentropic, determine (a) the
maximum rate at which process heat can
be supplied, (b) the power produced and
the utilization factor when no process
heat is supplied, and (c) the rate of
process heat supply when 10 percent of
the steam is extracted before it enters the
turbine and 70 percent of the steam is
extracted from the turbine at 500 kPa for
process heating.

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

9. An ideal cogeneration steam plant is to generate power and 8600 kJ/s of process heat. Steam
enters the turbine from the boiler at 7 MPa and 500°C. One-fourth of the steam is extracted from
the turbine at 600-kPa pressure for process heating. The remainder of the steam continues to
expand and exhausts to the condenser at 10 kPa. The steam extracted for the process heater is
condensed in the heater and mixed with the feedwater at 600 kPa. The mixture is pumped to the
boiler pressure of 7 MPa. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram with respect to saturation lines, and
determine (a) the mass flow rate of steam that must be supplied by the boiler, (b) the net power
produced by the plant, and (c) the utilization factor.

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

10. Steam is generated in the boiler of a cogeneration plant at 10 MPa and 450°C at a steady rate of
5 kg/s. In normal operation, steam expands in a turbine to a pressure of 0.5 MPa and is then
routed to the process heater, where it supplies the process heat. Steam leaves the process heater
as a saturated liquid and is pumped to the boiler pressure. In this mode, no steam passes through
the condenser, which operates at 20 kPa. (a) Determine the power produced and the rate at which
process heat is supplied in this mode. (b) Determine the power produced and the rate of process
heat supplied if only 60 percent of the steam is routed to the process heater and the remainder is

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

expanded to the condenser pressure.

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

11. Consider a cogeneration power plant modified with regeneration. Steam enters the turbine at 9
MPa and 400°C and expands to a pressure of 1.6 MPa. At this pressure, 35 percent of the steam
is extracted from the turbine, and the remainder expands to 10 kPa. Part of the extracted steam
is used to heat the feedwater in an open feedwater heater. The rest of the extracted steam is used
for process heating and leaves the process heater as a saturated liquid at 1.6 MPa. It is
subsequently mixed with the feedwater leaving the feedwater heater, and the mixture is pumped
to the boiler pressure. Assuming the turbines and the pumps to be isentropic, show the cycle on
a T-s diagram with respect to saturation lines, and determine the mass flow rate of steam through

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

the boiler for a net power output of 25 MW.

12. A textile plant requires 4 kg/s of saturated steam at 2 MPa, which is extracted from the turbine
of a cogeneration plant. Steam enters the turbine at 8 MPa and 500°C at a rate of 11 kg/s and
leaves at 20 kPa. The extracted steam leaves the process heater as a saturated liquid and mixes

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

with the feedwater at constant pressure. The mixture is pumped to the boiler pressure. Assuming
an isentropic efficiency of 88 percent for both the turbine and the pumps, determine (a) the rate
of process heat supply, (b) the net power output, and (c) the utilization factor of the plant.

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

13. Consider a cogeneration power plant that is modified with reheat and that produces 3 MW of
power and supplies 7 MW of process heat. Steam enters the high-pressure turbine at 8 MPa and
500°C and expands to a pressure of 1 MPa. At this pressure, part of the steam is extracted from
the turbine and routed to the process heater, while the remainder is reheated to 500°C and
expanded in the low-pressure turbine to the condenser pressure of 15 kPa. The condensate from
the condenser is pumped to 1 MPa and is mixed with the extracted steam, which leaves the
process heater as a compressed liquid at 120°C. The mixture is then pumped to the boiler
pressure. Assuming the turbine to be isentropic, show the cycle on a T-s diagram with respect to
saturation lines, and disregarding pump work, determine (a) the rate of heat input in the boiler

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 South Valley University
Faculty Of Engineering
Power Mechanical Engineering Department
4 th Academic Year
Power Plants Technology (MPEP412)

and (b) the fraction of steam extracted for process heating.

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