Vapour Power Cycles 12.1 Simple Steam Power Cycle A power cycle continuously converts heat (energy released by the burning of fuel) into work (shaft work), in which a working fluid repeatedly performs a succession of processes. In the vapour power cycle, the working fluid, which is water, undergoes a change of phase. Figure 12.1 gives the schematic ofa simple steam power plant working on the vapour power cycle. Heat is transferred to water in the boiler from an external source (furnace, where fuel is continuously bumt) to raise steam, the high pressure, high temperature steam leaving the boiler expands in the turbine to produce shaft work, the steam leaving the turbine condenses into water in the condenser (where cooling water circulates), rejecting High pressure, high temperature steam Laas High pressure water Fig. 12.1 Simple steam power plant458 —— Basic and Applied Thermodynamics heat, and then the water is pumped back to the boiler. Figure 12.2 shows how a unit mass of the working fluid, sometimes in the liquid phase and sometimes in the vapour phase, undergoes various extenal heat and work interactions in executing a power cycle. Since the fluid is undergoing a cyclic process, there will be no net change in its inernal energy over the cycle, and consequently the net energy transferred to the unit mass of the fluid as heat during the cycle must equal the net energy transfer as work from the fluid. Figure 12.3 shows the cyclic heat engine operating on the vapour power cycle, where the working substance, water, follows along the B-T-C-P(Boiler-Turbine-Condenser-Pump) path, interacting Qe We State change State rae State change ‘State change from 4 to 1 from 2 to 3 from 3 10.4 {in boiler) (artubing} {in condenser) (in pump) Fig. 12.2. One kg H,0 executing a heat engine cycle i Source -| Q; Q& Sink (Fumace) | |—>— [——| (River or sea) ts Te lle Cyclic heat engine Fig. 12.3 Cyclic heat engine with water as the working fluid externally as shown, and converting net heat input to net work output continuously. By the first law mo” oyele or I= O- ‘Wy where Q; = heat transferred to i working fluid (kJ/kg) Q, = heat rejected from the working fluid (kI/kg) = work transferred from the working fluid (ki/kg) Wy = work transferred into the working fluid (Ki/kg) The efficiency of the vapour power cycle would be given by a1. @ ali 12.1 2 =aVapour Power Cycles — 459 12.2 Rankine Cycle For each process in the vapour power cycle, it is possible to assume a hypothetical or ideal process which represents the basic intended operation and involves no extraneous effects. For the steam boiler, this would be a reversible constant pressure heating process of water to form steam, for the turbine the ideal process would be a reversible adiabatic expansion of steam, for the condenser it would be areversible constant pressure heat rejection as the steam condenses till it becomes saturated liquid, and for the pump, the ideal process would be the reversible adiabatic compression of this liquid ending at the initial pressure. When all these four processes are ideal, the cycle is an ideal cycle, called a Rankine cycle. This is a reversible cycle. Figure 12.4 shows the flow diagram of the Rankine cycle, and in Fig. 12.5, the cycle has been plotted on the pv, T-s, and A-s planes. The numbers on the plots correspond to the numbers on the flow diagram. For any given pressure, the steam approaching the turbine may be dry saturated (state 1) wet (state 1’), or superheated (state1”), but the fluid approaching the pump is, in each case, saturated liquid (state 3). Steam expands reversibly and adiabiatically in the turbine from state 1 to state 2 (or I’ to 2’, or 1” to 2”), the steam leaving the turbine condenses to water in the condenser reversibly at constant pressure from state 2 (or 2’, or 2’) to state 3, the water at state 3 is then pumped to the boiler at state 4 reversibly and adiabatically, and the water is heated in the boiler to form steam reversibly at constant pressure from state 4 to state 1 (or 1’ or 1”). 4 “rm koe S| 4) Condenser Fig. 12.4 A simple steam plant For purposes of analysis the Rankine cycle is assumed to be carried out in a steady flow operation. Applying the steady flow energy equation to each of the processes on the basis of unit mass of fluid, and neglecting changes in kinetic and potential energy, the work and heat quantities can be evaluated in terms of the properties of the fluid.460 —— Basic and Applied Thermodynamics Fig. 12.5 Rankine cycle on p-v, T-s and h-s diagrems For 1 kg fluid The S.F.E.E. for the boiler (control volume) gives y+ = hy : OQ, =h, hy The S.F-E.E. for the turbine as the control volume gives hy =Wyt hy o Wy =hy— hy Similarly. the S.F.E.E. for the condenser is hy = Qa + hy : Q,=hy-hy "and the S.F-E.E. forthe pump gives y+ i hy =hy- hy "The efficiency ofthe Rankine cycle is then given by = Moe. Wr = We OG hah Wo _ (hy ~hn)~(hy ~ hy) (12.2) (12.3) (12.4) (12.5) (12.6)Vapour Power Cycles = 461 The pump handles liquid water which is incompressible, i.e., its density or specific volume undergoes little change with increase in pressure. For reversible adiabatic compression, by the use of the general property relation Tas = dh - vdp; ds =0 and dh = vdp Since change in specific volume is negligible Ah=v dp or hg — hy = 03 (2, ~ P2) Ifv is in m’/kg and p is in bar hg — hy = 05(p, — pp) * 10° Vg (12.7) The work ratio is defined as the ratio of net work output to positive work output. workratio = Mos. . r= Me W W Usually, the pump work is quite small compared to the turbine work and is sometimes neglected. Then h, = h3, and the cycle efficiency approximately becomes hy —hy hy hy The efficiency ofthe Rankine cycle is presented graphically in the 7-s plot in Fig. 12.6. Thus Q, is proportional to area 1564, Q, is proportional to area 2563, and Wye, (=Q, — Q;) is proportional to area 1 2 3 4 enclosed by the cycle. ne Fig. 12.6 Q), Wya and Q, are proportional to areas The capacity of a steam plant is often expressed in terms of steam rate, which is defined as the rate of steam flow (kg/h) required to produce unit shaft output (1 kW). Therefore kg LkI/s kJ 1kW 1 kg 3600 kJ Ti We WWa Wi, We Whe 28) Steam rate =462 —— Basic and Applied Thermodynamics The cycle efficiency is sometimes expressed alternatively as heat rate which is the rate input (Q,) required to produce unit work output (1 kW) Heat rate = 20000, _ 3600 _kJ_ (12.9) 2 From the equation W,., =~ | v dp, it is obvious that the reversible steady-flow 1 work is closely associated with the specific volume of fluid flowing through the device. The larger the specific volume, the larger the reversible work produced or consumed by the steady-flow device. Therefore, every effort should be made to keep the specific volume of a fluid as small as possible during a compression process to minimize the work input and as large as possible, during an expansion process to maximize the work output. In steam or gas power plants (Chapter 13), the pressure rise in the pump or compressor is equal to the pressure drop in the turbine if we neglect the pressure losses in various other components. In steam power plants, the pump handles liquid, which has.a very small specific volume, and the turbine handles vapour, whose specific volume is many times larger. Therefore, the work output of the turbine is much larger than the work input to the pump. This is one of the reasons for the overwhelming popularity of steam power plants in electric power generation. If we were to compress the steam exiting the turbine back to the turbine inlet pressure before cooling it first in the condenser in order to “save” the heat rejected, we would have to supply all the work produced by the turbine back to the compressor. In reality, the required work input would be still greater than the work output of the turbine because of the irreversibilities present in both processes (see Example 12.1). 12.3 Actual Vapour Cycle Processes The processes of an actual cycle differ from those of the ideal cycle. In the actual cycle conditions might be as indicated in Figs 12.7 and 12.8, showing the various losses. The thermal efficiency of the cycle is Weer a where the work and heat quantities are the measured values for the actual cycle, which are different from the corresponding quantities of the ideal cycle. Ths = 12.3.1 Piping losses Pressure drop due to friction and heat loss to the surroundings are the most important piping losses. States 1’ and 1 (Fig. 12.8) represent the states of the steam leaving the boiler and entering the turbine respectively, 1’ — 1” represents the frictional losses, and 1-1 shows the constant pressure heat loss to theVapour Power Cycles —= 463 > pe OE] ae ® Turbine=+-> W, < (hy — hy) (cae) < (hy — fig) Ae +@ o a | o a, L—_~__, ¢ We > (hy ~ fg) > (Rag ~ Ma) Fig. 12.7 Various losses in a steam plant —s Fig. 12.8 Various losses on T-s plot surroundings. Both the pressure drop and heat transfer reduce the availability of steam entering the turbine. ‘A similar loss is the pressure drop in the boiler and alsoin the pipeline from the pump to the boiler. Duc to this pressure drop, the water entering the boiler must be pumped toa much higher pressure than the desired steam pressure leaving the boiler, and requires additional pump work. 12.3.2 Turbine Losses The losses in the turbine are those associated with frictional effects and heat lossto the surroundings. The steady flow energy equation for the turbine in Fig. 12.7 gives hy = hy + Wyt Qioss “ Wy = hy — hy - Qioss (12.10) For the reversible adiabatic expansion, the path will be 1-2s. For an ordinary real turbine the heat loss is small, and Wy is hy - hp, with Q, equal to zero. Since464 — Basic and Applied Thermodynamics actual turbine work is less than the reversible ideal work output, h is greater than Jy. However, if there is heat loss to the surroundings, h, will decrease, accompanied by a decrease in entropy. If the heat loss is large, the end state of steam from the turbine may be 2’. It may so happen that the entropy increase due to frictional effects just balances the entropy decrease due to heat loss, with the result that the initial and final entropies of steam in the expansion process are equal, but the expansion is neither adiabatic nor reversible. Except for very small turbines, heat loss from turbines is generally negligible. The isentropic effi- ciency of the turbine is defined as _% _h-b They hah where W; is the actual turbine work, and (J, —/,,) is the isentropic enthalpy drop in the turbine (i.¢., ideal output). 12.3.3 Pump Losses The losses in the pump are similar to those of the turbine, and are primarily due to the irreversibilities associated with fluid friction. Heat transfer is usually negligible. The pump efficiency is defined as (12.11) = lay Ne (12.12) where Wp is the actual pump work. 12.3.4 Condenser Losses The losses in the condenser are usually small. These include the loss of pressure and the cooling of condensate below the saturation temperature, 12.4 Comparison of Rankine and Carnot Cycles Although the Camot cycle has the maximum possible efficiency for the given limits of temperature, itis not suitable in steam power plants. Figure 12.9 shows the Rankine and Camot cycles on the 7-s diagram. The reversible adiabatic expansion in the turbine, the constant temperature heat rejection in the condenser, and the reversible adiabatic compression in the pump, are similar characteristic features of both the Rankine and Camot cycles, But whereas the heat addition process in the Rankine cycle is reversible and at constant pressure, in the Carnot cycle it is reversible and isothermal. In Figs 12.9(a) and 12.9(c), , is the same in both the cycles, but since Q, is more, Ticamot iS greater thaN Thpankine- The two Carnot cycles in Figs 12.9(a).and 12.9(b) have the same thermal efficiency. Therefore, in Fig. 12.9(b) also, Ticamot > Tankine: But the Carnot cycle cannot be realized in practice because the pump work [in all the three cycles (a), (b), and (©)] is very large. Whereas in (a) and (c) it is impossible to add heat at infinite pressures and at constant temperature from state 4c to state 1, in (b), itis difficultVapour Power Cycles —— 465 * Jac, A 4R} “3 2 : Bi (@) ©) Fig. 12.9 Comparison of Carnot and Rankine cycles to control the quality at 3c, so that isentropic compression leads to a saturated liquid state. 12.5 Mean Temperature of Heat Addition In the Rankine cycle, heat is added reversibly at a constant pressure, but at infinite temperatures. If Ty, is the mean temperature of heat addition, as shown in Fig. 12.10, so that the area under 4s and | is equal to the area under 5 and 6, then heat added Q) = hy ~ bigs = Trot (51 ~ Sas) Fig. 12.10 Mean temperature of heat additionVapour Power Cycles — 193 Z (ayy 1 =e Fig. Ex. 12.1 Compression of steam isentropically Tds = dh—vdp =0 or odp=dh 2 2 Wry =— | vdp=— | dh=hy-hy 1 1 From steam tables, hy = (hg) shar = 2675.5 kI/kg 51 = (Sg)ypar = 7:3594 kivkg K = 52 For p= 10 bar = 1 MPa and s = 7.3594 ki/kg K, by interpolation hy = 3195.5 kJ/kg, Weey = 2615.5 ~ 3195.5 = ~ 520 kJ/kg Itis thus observed that compressing steam in vapour form would require over 500 times more work than compressing it in liquid form for the same pressure tise, Example 12.2 Steam at 20 bar, 360°C is expanded in a steam turbine to 0.08 bar. It then enters a condenser, where it is condensed to saturated liquid water. The pump feeds back the water into the boiler. (a) Assuming ideal processes, find per kg of steam the net work and the cycle efficiency. (b) If the turbine and the pump have each 80% efficiency, find the percentage reduction in the net work and cycle efficiency. Solution The property values at different state points (Fig. Ex. 12.2) found from the steam tables are given below. hy = 3159.3 ki/kg 5, = 6.9917 ki/kg K hy = hiya = 173.88 kJ/kg 55 = 5p, = 0.5926 kVkg K agp, = 2403.1 KIKE. Spy, = 8.2287 ki/kg K. Vipn = 0.001008 m°/kg Siyp, = 7.6361 ki/kg K Now $1 = 535 = 6.9917 = Sapp +25 Stypy = 0.5926 + x,-7.6361494 Basic and Applied Thermodynamics Fig. Ex. 12.2 x, = £3991 < 0.938 7.6361 ing = Ip, + Xpq hegyy = 173.88 + 0.838 x 2403.1 = 2187.68 kirkg m? kN @ Wy = hag —hy = Yn (Ps ~ Pa) = 0.0010085 x 19.92 x 100-7 m = 2,008 ki/kg Figg = 175.89 kk Wey = hy It = 3159.3 — 2187.68 = 971.62 kI/kg, Wey = Wy — Wp = 969.61 kI/kg Q, = hy ~ gg = 3159.3 — 175.89 Ans. = 2083.41 kirkg If Tp = 80%, and ny = 80% Ans. = 2.008 _ Wy = 20 = 2.51 kilkg W, = 0.8 971.62 = 777.3 kikg Wey = Wy Wy = 774.8 kiikg <. % Reduction in work output 969.61 774.8 969.61 gg = 173.88 + 2.51 = 176.39 kI/kg, Q, = 3159.3 — 176.39 = 2982.91 kivkg TABS 0.2597, or 25.97% 748 2982.91 x 100 = 20.1% Ans. Myete =Vapour Power Cycles = 495 s. % Reduction in cycle efficiency _ 0325 - 0.2597 * 100 = 20.1% Ans, 0.325 Example 12.3. A cyclic steam power plant is to be designed for a steam temperature at turbine inlet of 360°C and an exhaust pressure of 0.08 bar. After isentropic expansion of steam in the turbine, the moisture content at the turbine exhaust is not to exceed 15%. Determine the greatest allowable steam pressure at the turbine inlet, and calculate the Rankine cycle efficiency for these steam conditions. Estimate also the mean temperature of heat addition. Solution As state 2s (Fig. Ex. 12.3), the quality and pressure are known. ——>T Fig. Ex. 12.3 Sag = Se + X35 51g = 0.5926 + 0.85 (8.2287 — 0.5926) 0833 kJ/kg K 25 = 7.0833 ki/kg K Atstate 1, the sinners and entropy are thus known. At 360°C, s, = 5.0526 ki/kg K, which is less than s,. So from the table of superheated steam, at 1, = 360°C and s, = 7.0833 kl/kg K, the pressure is found to be 16.832 bar (by interpolation). :. The greatest allowable steam pressure is Py = 16.832 bar Ans. Ay = 3165.54 kJ/kg Ay, = 173.88 + 0.85 x 2403.1 = 2216.52 kJ/kg, hy = 173.88 kI/kg. fgg — hy = 0.001 x (16.83 — 0.08) x 100 = 1.675 kI/kg ” Iyg = 175.56 kI/kg O, = hy ~ hg = 3165.54 — 175.56 = 2990 kI/kg Since496 —— Basic and Applied Thermodynamics We = hy — hy, = 3165.54 ~ 2216.52 = 949 kI/kg Wp = 1.675 kifkg Weer _ 247.32 : Neycto = 3955 7 03168 or 31.68% Ans. Mean temperature of heat addition iy has ____2990 51-54, 7.0833 — 0.5926 = 460.66 K = 187.51°C. Example 12.4 A steam power station uses the following cycle: Steam at boiler outlet—150 bar, 550°C Reheat at 40 bar to 550°C Condenser at 0.1 bar. Using the Mollier chart and assuming ideal processes, find the (a) quality at turbine exhaust, (b) cycle efficiency, and (c) steam rate. Solution The property values at different states (Fig. Ex. 12.4) are read from the Mollier chart. Tt = Fig. Ex. 12.4 hy = 3465, hy, = 3065, hy = 3565, hig, = 2300 ki/kg x,, = 0.88, h,(steam table) = 191.83 ki/kg Quality at turbine exhaust = 0.88 Ans. (a) =v Ap= 10° x 150 x 10? = 15 kJ/kg 206.83 ki/kg Qs = (hy ~ hey) + (ts ~ hss) = (3465 — 206.83) + (3565 — 3065) = 3758.17 ki/kg We, = (Ih, — hg) + (hy — hs) = (3465 — 3065) + (3565 — 2300) = 1665 kI/kg