2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012
Improving Steam Power Plant Efficiency
Through Exergy Analysis: Ambient
Temperature
Vosough Amir
Abstract— In this paper, the useful concept of energy and exergy
utilization is analyzed, and applied to the boiler system. Energy and
exergy flows in a boiler have been shown in this paper. The energy
and exergy efficiencies have been determined as well. In a boiler, the
energy and exergy efficiencies are found to be 89.21% and 45.48%,
respectively. A boiler energy and exergy efficiencies are compared
with others work as well. It has been found that the combustion
chamber is the major contributor for exergy destruction followed by
heat exchanger of a boiler system. Furthermore, Modifications are
examined to increase gas-fired steam power plant efficiency by
reducing irreversibilities in the steam generator, including Decreasing
the fraction of excess combustion air, and/or the stack-gas
temperature. Overall-plant energy and exergy efficiencies both
increase by 0.19%, 0.37% respectively when the fraction of excess
combustion air decreases from 0.4 to 0.15, and by 0.84%, 2.3% when
the stack-gas temperature decreases from 137°C to 90°C..
Keywords—Energy analysis, Exergy analysis, Ambient
temperature, Thermal power plant
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE general energy supply and environmental situation
requires an improved utilization of energy sources.
Therefore, the complexity of power-generating units has
increased considerably. Plant owners are increasingly
demanding a strictly guaranteed performance. This requires
thermodynamic calculations of high accuracy. As a result, the
expenditure for thermodynamic calculation during design and
optimization has grown tremendously [1]. The most
commonly-used method for evaluating the efficiency of an
energy-conversion process is the first-law analysis. However,
there is increasing interest in the combined utilization of the
first and second laws of thermodynamics, using such concepts
as exergy (availability, available energy), entropy generation
and irreversibility (exergy destruction) in order to evaluate the
efficiency with which the available energy is consumed.
Exegetic analysis allows thermodynamic evaluation of energy
conservation, because it provides the tool for a clear
distinction between energy losses to the environment and
internal irreversibilities in the process. A thermal power plant
is a good example of the utilization of exergy analysis.
According to energy (first-law) analysis, energy losses
Vosough Amir, Department of Mechanics, Mahshahr Branch, Islamic
Azad University, mahshar, Iran, Vosoogh_amir@yahoo.com
209
associated with the condenser are carried into the environment
by the cooling water and are significant because they represent
about half of the energy input to the plant. An exergy (second-
law) analysis, however, shows that virtually none of the
exergy (resource which went into the power plant) is lost in
that water. The real loss is primarily back in the boiler where
entropy was produced. Thus, it is not reasonable to attempt to
take advantage of the energy lost in the condenser [2].
Recently, exergy analysis has become a key aspect in
providing a better understanding of the process, to quantify
sources of inefficiency, to distinguish quality of energy (or
heat) used [1,3–13]. Exergy is defined as the maximum
theoretical useful work (or maximum reversible work)
obtained as a system interacts with an equilibrium state.
Exergy is generally not conserved as energy but destructed in
the system. Exergy destruction is the measure of irreversibility
that is the source of performance loss. Therefore, an exergy
analysis assessing the magnitude of exergy destruction
identifies the location, the magnitude and the source of
thermodynamic inefficiencies in a thermal system [14].
Boiler efficiency therefore has a great influence on
heating- related energy savings. It is therefore important to
maximize the heat transfer to the water and minimize the heat
losses in the boiler. Heat can be lost from boilers by a variety
of methods, including hot flue gas losses, radiation losses and,
in the case of steam boilers, blow-down losses [15] etc. To
optimize the operation of a boiler plant, it is necessary to
identify where energy wastage is likely to occur. A significant
amount of energy is lost through flue gases as all the heat
produced by the burning fuel cannot be transferred to water or
steam in the boiler. As the temperature of the flue gas leaving
a boiler typically ranges from 150 to 250 1C, about10–30%of
the heat energy is lost through it. A typical heat balance in a
boiler is shown in Fig. 1. Since most of the heat losses from
the boiler appear as heat in the flue gas, the recovery of this
heat can result in substantial energy saving [16].This indicates
that there is huge savings potentials of a boiler energy savings
by minimizing its losses. Having been around for centuries,
the technology involved in a boiler can be seen as having
reached a plateau, with even marginal increase in efficiency
painstakingly hard to achieve [17] In this study, several
measures to improve efficiency, primarily developed based on
exergy analysis, are considered in this paper. The
modifications considered here, which increase efficiency by
reducing the irreversibility rate in the steam generator, are
 2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012

decreasing the fraction of excess combustion air and/or TABLE I: OPERATING VALUES OF THE POWER
decreasing the stack-gas temperature. The impact of Gas mass flow rate PLAN 16.76 kg/s
implementing these measures on efficiencies and losses is Gas lower heat value 48500 kJ/kg
investigated. This work aims to identify and assess methods Air mass flow rate 320.7 kg/s
for increasing efficiencies of steam power plants, to provide Maximum gas temperature in boiler 2000 ºC
Gas exit temperature from boiler 137 ºC
options for improving their economic and environmental
Feed water mass flow rate 1017.5 ton/hr
performance
Feed water pressure 24 MPa
Feed water inlet temperature 282.5 kg/s
II. EXERGY ANALYSIS Steam temperature 540 ºC
The process flow diagram for the boiler and power plant is Extraction steam pressure 4.48 MPa
shown in Figure. 1 and 2. The process parameters for the Extraction steam temperature 303 ºC
power plant and boiler are shown in Table 1 and 2. The Extraction steam mass flow 255.8 kg/s
Reheated steam temperature 540 ºC
following thermodynamic analysis of the power plant will
Cooling water mass flow rate 10000 kg/s
consider the balances of mass, energy, entropy and exergy.
Unless otherwise specified, the changes in kinetic and
potential energies will be neglected and steady state flow will
be assumed. For a steady state process, the mass balance for a III. MODELING AND SIMULATION OF BOILER
control volume system in Figure. 1 can be written as . Fuel of boiler is natural gas including CH 4 ،C 2 H 6 ،C 3 H 6 ، R R R R R R R R R R

� 𝑚̇ 𝚤 = � 𝑚̇ 𝑒 C 4 H 10 ،ISO-C 4 H 10 ،n-C 4 H 10 ،ISO-C 5 H, n-C 5 H 12 ،CO 2 , N 2.

R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

𝑖 𝑖 (1) The energy and exergy analysis of the cycle has been made
R

using the 'EES' software. The combustion process is assumed

The energy balance for a control volume system is written as to be complete as follows [21]:
� 𝐸̇𝚤 + 𝑄̇ = � 𝐸𝑜𝑢𝑡
̇ + 𝑊̇
𝑖 𝑜𝑢𝑡 (2) 𝑙
𝑚𝑖 𝑚𝑖
� �𝑓𝑖 𝐶𝑛𝑖 𝐻𝑚𝑖 + 𝛼𝑓𝑖 �𝑛𝑖 + � 𝑂2 + 3.76𝛼𝑓𝑖 �𝑛𝑖 + � 𝑁2 �
4 4
The entropy balance for a control volume system is 𝑖=1

+𝑐 𝐶𝑂2 + 𝑑𝑁2 + 𝑛𝑣,𝑎 + 𝐻2 𝑂 → �(𝑓𝑖 𝑛𝑖 + 𝑐) 𝐶𝑂2

𝑄̇ 𝑄̇
� 𝑆̇ + � ̇ = �𝑆 +
+ 𝑆𝑔𝑒𝑛 ̇ � 𝑚𝑖 𝑓𝑖 𝑚𝑖 (8)
𝑇 𝑇 (3) +�� + 𝑛𝑣,𝑎 � 𝐻2 𝑂 + (𝛼 − 1) �� 𝑓𝑖 �𝑛𝑖 + �� 𝑂2
𝑖 𝑖 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡
2 4
𝑚𝑖
The exergy balance for a control volume system is written as + �� 3.76𝛼𝑓𝑖 �𝑛𝑖 + � + 𝑑� 𝑁2
4
𝑇
̇ + � �1 −
� 𝐸𝑥,𝚤 � 𝑄 ̇ + 𝑄̇
𝑇𝑘 𝑘
𝑖 𝑘 (4)
̇ + 𝑊 ̇ + 𝐸𝑥,𝑑
= � 𝐸𝑥,𝑜𝑢𝑡 ̇ Where α is the percentage of the excess air, f i is the R R

𝑜𝑢𝑡
molar fraction of the fuel components parts and n v,a is the R R

number of moles of the humidity entering the combustion

Where the exergy rate of a stream is
chamber with dry air. The unknown coefficients can be
𝐸𝑥,𝑖 = 𝑚̇ 𝑒𝑥 (5) calculated by a molar balance and then the energy and exergy
𝑚̇ 𝑒𝑥 = 𝑚̇(𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑚 + 𝑒𝑥𝑐ℎ ) (6) balance of the combustion gases can be performed. For
different components of the cycle, the exergy destruction and
The above exergy balance is written in a general form. For the the exergy efficiency can be obtained by applying exergy
combustion process, the heat input will be included when balance as follows:
calculating the chemical exergy of gas. The heat exergy term
in Eq. (4) will be used to calculate the exergy loss associated
with heat loss to the surroundings. The specific exergy is 𝐸̇𝑥,𝑏
𝑑 𝑐ℎ
= 𝑚̇𝑓 𝑒𝑥,𝑓 + 𝑊̇𝑖𝑛,𝑏 + 𝑚̇𝑎 𝑒𝑥,𝑎 − 𝑚̇𝑔 𝑒𝑥,𝑔 (9)
given by
𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑚 = (ℎ − ℎ0 ) − 𝑇0 (𝑆 − 𝑆0 ) + � 𝑚̇𝑤 𝑒𝑥,𝑤 − � 𝑚̇𝑤 𝑒𝑥,𝑤
(7) 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑡
∑𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑏 𝑚̇𝑤 𝑒𝑥,𝑤 − ∑𝑖𝑛,𝑏 𝑚̇𝑤 𝑒𝑥,𝑤 (10)
𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑏 = 𝑐ℎ
𝑚̇𝑓 𝑒𝑥,𝑓 + 𝑚̇𝑎 𝑒𝑥,𝑎 + 𝑤̇𝑖𝑛,𝑏
∑𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑏 𝑚̇𝑤 ℎ𝑤 − ∑𝑖𝑛,𝑏 𝑚̇𝑤 ℎ𝑤 (11)
𝜂𝐼,𝑏 =
𝑚̇𝑓 𝐿𝐻𝑉 + 𝑚̇𝑎 ℎ𝑎 + 𝑤̇𝑖𝑛,𝑏

The energy balance equation for calculating adiabatic flame

temperature is

� 𝑁𝑟 �ℎ�𝑓0 + ℎ� − ℎ�0 � = � 𝑁𝑝 �ℎ�𝑓0 + ℎ� − ℎ�0 � (12)

𝑟 𝑝

The destroyed exergy due to combustion process and heat

transfer can be expressed as

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 2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012

1%
𝐸̇𝑥,𝑑,𝑐 = 𝑚̇𝑓 𝑒𝑥,𝑓
𝑐ℎ
+ 𝑚̇𝑎 𝑒𝑥,𝑎 − 𝑚̇𝑝 𝑒𝑥,𝑝,𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 (13) 1%
5%
6%
𝐸̇𝑥,𝑑,ℎ𝑡 = 𝐸̇𝑥,𝑑,𝑏 − 𝐸̇𝑥,𝑑,𝑐 (14) Condenser
Net powers
: Products energy
The second law efficiency of combustion process, heat Boiler
50%
transfer process of boiler and power plant can be expressed as: Turbins
37% Others
𝑚̇𝑝 𝑒𝑥,𝑝,𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 (15)
𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑐 = 𝑐ℎ
𝑚̇𝑓 𝑒𝑥,𝑓 + 𝑚̇𝑎 𝑒𝑥,𝑎

∑𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑤 ̇ 𝑒𝑥,𝑤 − ∑𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑤 ̇ 𝑒𝑥,𝑤 (16)

𝜂𝐼𝐼,ℎ𝑡 =
𝑚̇𝑝 𝑒𝑥,𝑝,𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 − 𝑚̇𝑝 𝑒𝑥,𝑝,𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐
Fig 4: Present ratio of heat balance in power plant component
𝐸̇𝑥,𝑑,𝑝𝑝 (17)
𝜂𝐼𝐼,𝑝𝑝 = 1 − 𝑐ℎ
𝑚̇𝑓 𝑒𝑥,𝑓
Table II shows the result of exergy analyses for the process
of boiler. It has been found that the combustion process is the
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3B
major contributor for exergy destruction followed by heat
exchanger of a boiler system.
Figure 3 shows that the boiler has the most exergy losses in
power plant and figure.4 shows that the condenser has the
most energy losses in power plant. These figures illustrate the
difference between energy and exergy analyses.
TABLE II: THE RESULT OF EXERGY ANALYSES FOR THE BOILER
Destroyed Destroyed Second
exergy exergy to total law
exergy efficiency
(MW) destroyed (%)
1% (%)
2% 5%
Combustion 253.37 34.23 69.94
1% Boiler process
7% Turbins Boiler
Heat transfer 187.63 45.53 69.42
Heaters process

Condenser Total 441.00 80.45 41.12

Pumps
Stack gas and etc
V. THE EFFECT OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE TO POWER PLANT
4B

EFFICIENCY
Figure 5 shows the effect of ambient temperature on the
84%
energy and exergy efficiencies of the power plant when
constant condenser pressure approach is used. Figure 6 shows
the same results but when variable condenser pressure
Fig 3: Present ratio irreversibility in power plant component approach is taken into account. As shown, the energy
efficiency is constant in the case of using constant pressure in
the condenser but it decreases with ambient temperature when
variable condenser pressure is taken into account. The exergy
efficiencies decrease in both cases but the rate of reduction is
higher when variable condenser pressure approach is taken
into account. Actual data from the power plant agree with
variable pressure approach in the condenser.

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 2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012

0.45 R Gas universal constant (kJ/kmol K)

S Specific entropy (kJ/kg K)
0.43  th, pp T Temperature (ºC)
To Ambient temperature (ºC)
0.41
t Turbine net output work (MW)

Greek Symbols
0.39 Φ Relative Humidity
ηth Thermal Efficiency
 II, pp
0.37
ηII Exergy Efficiency
Subscripts
0.35
a Air
b Boiler
0.33
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 c combustion
Ambiant temperature (°C) d Destroyed
Fig 5: Effect of ambient temperature on the energy and exergy f Fuel
efficiencies at constant pressure fwp Feed Water Pump
g Product gas
0.42 he Heater
ht Heat exchanger
ipc Medium-Pressure Turbine
0.4
in Inlet
 th, pp
NG Natural Gas
0.38 out Outlet
 pp Power Plant
0.36  II, pp
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