Lecture 4

Power Cycle, Oil, Coal and

Natural gas
Introduction to the Rankine
Steam Cycle and Carnot
Efficiency
 What is a Power Cycle ?
A thermodynamic cycle consists of a
linked sequence of thermodynamic
processes that involve transfer of heat
and work into and out of the system,
while varying pressure, temperature,
and other state variables within the
system, and that eventually returns
the system to its initial state.[1]

[1]Cengel, Yunus A.; Boles, Michael A. (2002). Thermodynamics: an engineering approach.

Boston: McGraw-Hill.
 What is a Power Cycle ?

➢ In the process of passing through a cycle, the working fluid

(system) may convert heat from a warm source into useful
work, and dispose of the remaining heat to a cold sink,
thereby acting as a heat engine.
➢ Conversely, the cycle may be reversed and use work to
move heat from a cold source and transfer it to a warm sink
thereby as a heat pump.
 Lower and Higher Heating Values of Fuels
➢ The lower heating value (LHV): (also known as net calorific value)
of a fuel is defined as the amount of heat released by combusting a
specified quantity (initially at 25°C) and returning the temperature
of the combustion products to 150°C, which assumes the latent
heat of vaporization of water in the reaction products is not
recovered.
➢ The higher heating value (HHV): (also known gross calorific value
or gross energy) of a fuel is defined as the amount of heat released
by a specified quantity (initially at 25°C) once it is combusted and
the products have returned to a temperature of 25°C, which takes
into account the latent heat of vaporization of water in the
combustion products.
 The 4 Laws of Thermodynamics

Before we look at the 4 laws we need to define Entropy.

Entropy is a very important thing in thermodynamics. It’s the
core idea behind the second and third laws and shows up all
over the place. Essentially entropy is the measure of disorder
and randomness in a system.
www.physicsforidiots.com
 Entropy
Here are 2 examples

1. Let’s say you have a container of gas molecules. If all the molecules are in
one corner then this would be a low entropy state (highly organised). As the
particle move out and fill up the rest of the container then the entropy
(disorder) increases.

2. If you have a ball flying through the air then it will start off with its energy
organised i.e. the kinetic energy of motion. As it moves through the air
however, some of the kinetic energy is distributed to the air particles so the
total entropy of system has increased (the total energy is conserved however,
due to the first law)
Videos on Entropy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2iTCm0xpDc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM-uykVfq_E
Thermodynamics Laws
 The First Law of
Thermodynamic

▪ Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

▪ Whenever energy is transformed from one form

to another, the total quantity of energy remains
the same.
 nd
2 Law of Thermodynamics
❑ The Second Law of Thermodynamics is about the quality of energy.
❑ It states that as energy is transferred or transformed, more and more of it is wasted.
❑ The Second Law also states that there is a natural tendency of any isolated system
to degenerate into a more disordered state.
As a results of these concepts, we can concludes the followings:
➢The overall energy quality decreases with each conversion step.
➢The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the state of entropy of the entire
universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time. The second law also
states that the changes in the entropy in the universe can never be negative.
➢It is impossible to construct a device which produces no other effect than transfer of
heat from lower temperature body to higher temperature body,” Heat cannot of
itself pass from a colder to a hotter body”.
 The Third Law of Thermodynamics
➢ The Third Law of Thermodynamics is concerned with the limiting behavior of systems
as the temperature approaches absolute zero Kelvin (0 K).
➢ The third law of thermodynamics says that the entropy of a perfect crystal at absolute
zero Kelvin (0 K) is exactly equal to zero. Absolute zero is the temperature at which
molecules stop moving or vibrating at all.
➢ So the third law of thermodynamics makes a lot of sense: when molecules stop moving,
things are perfectly ordered.
➢ The Third Law of Thermodynamics refers to a state known as "absolute zero." This is the
bottom point on the Kelvin temperature scale.
➢ Third Law of Thermodynamics relates the entropy (randomness) of matter to its
absolute temperature.
Summary of The
Thermodynamics
Laws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL9NfiJjV14
A Basic Heat Engine
 Heat Engine
➢ Work can easily be converted to other forms of
energy, but converting other forms of energy to work
is not that easy.
➢ The mechanical work done by the shaft, for example,
is first converted to the internal energy of the water.
This energy may then leave the water as heat.
➢ We know from experience that any attempt to
reverse this process will fail. That is, transferring heat
to the water does not cause the shaft to rotate.
➢ From this and other observations, we conclude that
work can be converted to heat directly and
completely, but converting heat to work requires the
use of some special devices. These devices are called
heat engines.
Heat engines differ considerably from one another,
but all can be characterized by the following:
1. They receive heat from a high-temperature source
(solar energy, oil furnace, nuclear reactor, etc.).
2. They convert part of this heat to work (usually in
the form of a rotating shaft).
3. They reject the remaining waste heat to a low-
temperature sink (the atmosphere, rivers, etc.).
4. They operate on a cycle.
Heat engines and other cyclic devices usually
involve a fluid to and from which heat is transferred
while undergoing a cycle. This fluid is called the
working fluid.
The heat engine extracting mechanical
power from the heat sources (oil, coal,
natural gas or solar).

• TH = Temperature of the high

temperature heat source
• QH = Heat in of the working fluid
• QC = Heat out of the working fluid
• W = mechanical work done
• TC = Temperature of the low
temperature heat sink
 Internal combustion (gas turbines and car engines)
➢ The term heat engine is often used in a broader sense to
include work producing devices that do not operate in a
thermodynamic cycle.
➢ Engines that involve internal combustion such as gas turbines
and car engines fall into this category. These devices operate in
a mechanical cycle but not in a thermodynamic cycle since the
working fluid (the combustion gases) does not undergo a
complete cycle.
➢ Instead of being cooled to the initial temperature, the exhaust
gases are purged and replaced by fresh air and-fuel mixture at
the end of the cycle.
 steam power plant
The work-producing device that best fits into the definition of a heat engine is the steam
power plant, which is an external-combustion engine. That is, combustion takes place
outside the engine, and the thermal energy released during this process is transferred to
the steam as heat:
Qin: amount of heat supplied to steam in boiler from a high temperature source (furnace)
Qout: amount of heat rejected from steam in condenser
to a low temperature sink (the atmosphere, a river, etc.)
Wout: amount of work delivered by steam as it expands
in turbine
Wi: amount of work required to compress water to
boiler pressure
Notice that the directions of the heat and work
interactions are indicated by the subscripts in and out.
Therefore, all four of the described quantities are always
positive. Qin = W turbine + W pump + Qout
Heat Engine Layout
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=BA77fu3zAbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdPTuwKEfmA
Which is the rate of energy transfer or convert
 Mount Piper Power Station
Mount Piper Power
Station is a coal powered
power station with two
steam turbines with a
combined generating
capacity of 1,400 MW of
electricity. It is located
near Portland, in the
Central West of New South
Wales, Australia and
owned by Energy
Australia, a subsidiary of
CLP Group.
https://utilitymagazine.com.au/new-legislation-secures-mt-piper-power-station/
 Thermal Efficiency
A portion of the work output of a heat engine is
consumed internally to maintain continuous operation.

For heat engines, the desired output is the net work output, and the required
input is the amount of heat supplied to the working fluid. Then the thermal
efficiency of a heat engine can be expressed as

or
 The thermal efficiencies of work-producing devices are relatively low.

➢ Ordinary spark-ignition automobile engines have a

thermal efficiency of about 25 percent. That is, an
automobile engine converts about 25 percent of the
chemical energy of the gasoline to mechanical work.
➢ This number is as high as 40 percent for diesel
engines and large gas-turbine plants and as high as
60 percent for large combined gas-steam power
plants.
➢ Thus, even with the most efficient heat engines
available today, almost one-half of the energy
supplied ends up in the rivers, lakes, or the
atmosphere as waste or useless energy.
EXAMPLE: Net Power Production of a Heat Engine

Solution
EXAMPLE: Fuel Consumption Rate of a Car

Solution
 Power cycles
➢ Thermodynamic cycles which are used in devices producing
power are called power cycles.
➢ Power production can be had by using working fluid either in
vapor form or in gaseous form.
➢ When vapor is the working fluid then they are called vapor
power cycles, whereas in case of working fluid being gas
these are called gas power cycles.
➢ Thus, power cycles shall be of two types,
(a) Vapor power cycle,
(b) Gas power cycle.
Vapor power cycles can be further classified as,
1. Carnot vapor power cycle
2. Rankine cycle
3. Reheat cycle
4. Regenerative cycle.

Gas power cycles can be classified as,

1. Carnot gas power cycle
2. Otto cycle – petrol engine
3. Diesel cycle
4. Dual cycle
5. Stirling cycle - uses external heat source
6. Ericsson cycle
7. Brayton cycle
 THE CARNOT CYCLE
➢ The heat engines are cyclic devices
➢ The working fluid of a heat engine returns to its initial state at the end of each cycle.
➢ Work is done by the working fluid during one part of the cycle and on the working
fluid during another part.
➢ The difference between these two is the net work delivered by the heat engine.
➢ The efficiency of a heat-engine cycle greatly depends on how the individual processes
that make up the cycle are executed.
➢ The net work, thus the cycle efficiency, can be maximized by processes that require
the least amount of work and deliver the most, that is, by using reversible processes.
Therefore, it is no surprise that the most efficient cycles are reversible cycles, that is,
cycles that consist entirely of reversible processes.
➢ The best known reversible cycle is the Carnot cycle, first proposed in 1824 by French
engineer Sadi Carnot. The theoretical heat engine that operates on the Carnot cycle is
called the Carnot heat engine. The Carnot cycle is composed of four reversible
processes—two isothermal and two adiabatic
 THE CARNOT HEAT ENGINE
The hypothetical heat engine that operates on the reversible Carnot cycle is called the
Carnot heat engine. The thermal efficiency of any heat engine, reversible or
irreversible, is given by

Where:
QH: is heat transferred to the heat engine from a high-temperature reservoir at TH,
QL: is heat rejected to a low-temperature reservoir at TL.
For reversible heat engines, the heat transfer ratio in the above relation can be
replaced by the ratio of the absolute temperatures of the two reservoirs.
Then the efficiency of a Carnot engine, or any reversible heat engine, becomes

Note that TL and TH are absolute temperatures. Using °C or °F for temperatures in this
relation gives results grossly in error, Temperature must be in Kelvin = degrees C + 273
➢ The Carnot heat engine is the most efficient of all heat engines operating between the
same high- and low temperature reservoirs.
➢ The Carnot Efficiency is the theoretical upper limit for efficiency for a heat engine
working between 2 temperatures Th & Tc. In practice it is NEVER obtained due to
practical limitations
➢ The thermal efficiencies of actual and
reversible heat engines operating between
the same temperature limits compare as
follows
➢ This illustrates a very important fact that the upper limit of efficiency for a heat
engine operating between two temperature limits TH and Tc is dependant on the
ratio of the two temperatures such that the greater the temperature difference, the
greater the potential efficiency.
➢ This means that if you have a very low temperature difference to work with then
you can only achieve a very low efficiency.

EXAMPLE 1:
A heat engine operates between two heat sources at 550 C and 90 C. Calculate the
Carnot efficiency.
Solution:
Convert the temperatures to K before calculating the efficiency.
So: TH = 550+273 = 823K, Tc = 90+273 = 363K
ηth = 1- TL /TH = 1- 363/823 = 0.56 = 56%
EXAMPLE: 2

From previous example, calculate the temperature required to achieve a Carnot

efficiency of 70% with Tc remaining the same.

Solution:

0.7 = 1 – TL/TH So TL/TH = 0.3.

TH = TL/0.3 = 363/0.3 = 1210 K = 937 C

This example indicates the rapid increase in temperature required in order to

achieve a higher Carnot efficiency. The following chart shows how the Carnot
efficiency varies with increasing values of TH.
Chart showing the Carnot Efficiency vs TH with Tc constant at 90 C.
➢ As you can see from the previous graph that as the Carnot efficiency rises, the
additional temperature requires to achieve a small increase in efficiency
becomes huge.

➢ For example, at Th = 1500o C the Carnot efficiency = 80%. To achieve a Carnot

efficiency increase of 5% to 85% would require an increase in temperature of
800o C. This is not practical in most cases.

Class Exercises
Calculate the Carnot Efficiencies for the following.
1/ car engine Th = 800 C and Tc = 200 C
2/ coal fired power station Th = 1200 C Tc = 90 C
 Rankine cycle
The Rankine cycle or Rankine Vapor Cycle is the process widely used by power plants
such as coal-fired power plants or nuclear reactors.
In this mechanism, a fuel is used to produce heat within a boiler, converting water
into steam which then expands through a turbine producing useful work.
The Rankine cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle of a heat engine that converts
heat into mechanical work while undergoing phase change. ... The heat is supplied
externally to a closed loop, which usually uses water as the working fluid.

2-3 Heat-in at High Temperature (Isothermal)

3-4 Work-out (Adiabatic Expansion)
4-1 Heat-out (rejected) at low temperature (Isothermal) Ideal Rankine cycle on T-S diagram
1-2 Work-in (Adiabatic compression)
Video on Rankin cycle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFZN71MY71o
 Combined Cycle machine
➢ The principle of a combined cycle is to operate in cascade (one or more gas turbines),
followed by a steam power plant whose heat source is the cold source of gas
turbines.
➢ Under these conditions, the gas turbine exhaust gas is recovered in a recovery boiler
that produces steam that is then expanded in a condensing turbine.
➢ The combined cycle thus obtained is a particularly successful marriage in the search
for improved thermal performance: with currently available machines, efficiencies
exceed 55% and are higher than those we can hope, even in the medium term, of the
most advanced future steam plants.
Temperature–Entropy diagram of the vapor-compression cycle.
 Otto cycle (Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engine)
The Otto cycle is a set of processes used by spark ignition internal combustion engines
(2-stroke or 4-stroke cycles).
These engines a) ingest a mixture of fuel and air, b) compress it, c) cause it to react, thus
effectively adding heat through converting chemical energy into thermal energy, d) expand
the combustion products, and then e) eject the combustion products and replace them with
a new charge of fuel and air. The different processes are shown in the Figure:
1.Intake stroke, gasoline vapor and air drawn into engine ( 5-1 ).
2.Compression stroke (P, T) increase ( 1-2 ).
3.Combustion (spark), short time, essentially constant volume
( 2-3 ).
4.Power stroke: expansion ( 3-4 ).
5.Valve exhaust: valve opens, gas escapes ( 4-1 ).
6.Exhaust stroke, piston pushes remaining combustion products
out of chamber (1-5 ).
Stirling Engine
 Stirling Engine
The Stirling engine is quiet an interesting Heat Engine for a number of reasons.

1. It can operate from many diverse heat sources, burning fuels, solar, waste heat.

2. They will work with very low temperature differences where other heat engines will
laugh at you but of course the Carnot limit will mean the efficiency will be very very
low.

3. Very reliable as they have minimal moving parts compared to all other heat engines.
 Stirling Engine
How they Work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taDHMw38aE0

Sterling Engine Boat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAaXmAsEGV4
 What about RE in all of the above ?
➢ Any of these cycles may be used with RE, currently the most favoured is to use
an Organic Rankin Cycle (ORC) using a low temp medium at very low efficiency.

➢ Use of the Stirling cycle is being developed for use with Concentrated Solar
Power (CSP) Stirling-engine.
➢ Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants use mirrors to concentrate the energy
from the sun to drive traditional steam turbines or engines that create
electricity. The thermal energy concentrated in a CSP plant can be stored and
used to produce electricity when it is needed, day or night.

➢ Rankin cycle is currently being used with CSP with thermal salt storage.
Video of Rankin cycle with CSP with thermal salt storage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbJ7AVHBQfs
CONCENTRATING SYSTEMS CSP DISH STIRLING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oAIhBvyirA
 Tutorial Questions Lecture 4
The Power Cycle
Q1. State the first and second laws of thermodynamics?
What is the zeroth law ??

Q2. White Cliffs solar powered Rankine Cycle power station ran (shutdown now) on steam at
550 degrees C which is fed through a piston engine and rejected at 155 degrees C.
Calculate the station’s Carnot efficiency?

Q3. Draw the theoretical Carnot Cycle on a P-V diagram.

Q4. Draw a more realistic thermodynamic for a heat engine. Identify the area for work done.
Q5. The cycle has 4 parts
➢ Work for compression
➢ Heat intake
➢ Work from expansion
➢ Heat rejection
❖ Write an expression for the work taken out?
❖ What is the purpose of heat intake Purpose of compression.
Q6. Research the terms isothermal and iso-entropic, what do they mean? Adiabatic AND
reversible
Q7. Aside from the examples given in the lecture provide other examples of heat cycles in
everyday use.