Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya.

Class Test, Time Allocation 1 Hour. 4th May 2018.

KQE7011, Power Plant Engineering

Question No. 1
1(a). Discuss the followings:
(i). Regenerative Gas Turbines with Reheat and Intercooling.
(ii). Utility of Gas Turbines for Aircraft Propulsion
(iii). Combined Gas Turbine-Vapor Power Cycle

1(b). The equipment in a power station costs $ 1,560,000 and has a salvage value of $
60,000 at the end of 25 years. Determine the depreciated value of the equipment at the
end of 20 years on the following methods:
(i) Straight line method. (ii) Diminishing value method. (iii) Sinking fund method at 5%
compound interest annually.

Question No. 2
2(a). Present the effects of boiler and condenser pressures on the Rankine Cycle.

2(b). Steam is the working fluid in a Rankine cycle. Saturated vapor enters the turbine at
8.0 MPa and saturated liquid exits the condenser at a pressure of 0.008 MPa. The turbine
and the pump each have an isentropic efficiency of 85%. The net power output of the
cycle is 100 MW. Determine the followings for the cycle:
(i) Thermal efficiency. (ii) Mass flow rate of steam, in kg/h, for the net power output of 100
MW. (iii) Rate of heat transfer into the working fluid as it passes through the boiler in MW.
(iv) Rate of heat transfer from the condensing steam as it passes through the condenser
in MW. (v) Mass flow rate of the condenser cooling water in kg/h, if cooling water enters
the condenser at 15 OC and exits as 35 OC. Discus; the effects on the vapor cycle of
irreversibilities within the turbine and pump. (Necessary Thermodynamic Tables are
Supplied).
Answer to Question No. 1(a):

2.4 Regenerative Gas Turbines with Reheat and Intercooling

Two modifications of the basic gas turbine that increase the network developed are
multistage expansion with reheat and multistage compression with intercooling. When
used in conjunction with regeneration, these modifications can result in substantial
increases in thermal efficiency. The concepts of reheat and intercooling are introduced in
this section.

2.5 Gas Turbines for Aircraft Propulsion

Gas turbines are particularly suited for aircraft propulsion because of their favorable
power to weight ratios. The turbojet engine is commonly used for this purpose. As
illustrated in Figure9.20, this type of engine consists of three main sections: the diffuser,
the gas generator, and the nozzle. The diffuser placed before the compressor decelerates
the incoming air relative to the engine. A pressure rise known as the ram effect is
associated with this deceleration. The gas generator section consists of a compressor,
combustor, and turbine, with the same functions as the corresponding components of a
stationary gas turbine power plant. In a turbojet engine, the turbine power output need
only be sufficient to drive the compressor and auxiliary equipment, however. The gases
leave the turbine at a pressure significantly greater than atmospheric and expand through
the nozzle to a high velocity before being discharged to the surroundings. The overall
change in the velocity of the gases relative to the engine gives rise to the propulsive force,
or thrust. Some turbojets are equipped with an afterburner, as shown in Figure2.14. This
is essentially a reheat device in which additional fuel is injected into the gas exiting the
turbine and burned, producing a higher temperature at the nozzle inlet than would be
achieved otherwise. As a consequence, a greater nozzle exit velocity is attained, resulting
in increased thrust.
2.6 Combined Gas Turbine-Vapor Power Cycle
A combined power cycle couples two power cycles such that the energy discharged by
heat transfer from one cycle is used partly or wholly as the input for the other cycle. The
binary vapor cycle introduced in previous chapter is an example of a combined power
cycle. In the present section, a combined gas turbine-vapor power cycle is considered.
The stream exiting the turbine of a gas turbine is at a high temperature. One way the
potential (exergy) of this high-temperature gas stream can be used, thereby improving
overall fuel utilization, is by a regenerator that allows the turbine exhaust gas to preheat
the air between the compressor and combustor (Sec 2.5). Another method is provided by
the combined cycle shown in Figure 2.16, involving a gas turbine cycle and a vapor power
cycle. The two power cycles are coupled so that the heat transfer to the vapor cycle is
provided by the combined gas turbine cycle, which may be called the topping cycle. The
combined cycle has the gas turbine's high average temperature of heat addition and the
vapor cycle's low average temperature of heat rejection, and thus a thermal efficiency
greater than either cycle would have individually. For many applications combined cycles
are economical, and they are increasingly being used worldwide for electric power
generation.
Answer to Question No. 1(b):
Answer to Question No. 2(a):
Answer to Question No. 2(b):