Thermodynamics II

A. Boiler:
Boiler is an instrument or combustion system used in industries for heating the water to
producing steam. The heat which is generated through a boiler is used for drying, power
generation, humidification, etc.
A simple boiler which is commonly used in industries consists of four parts.
I. Burner
II. Combustion chamber
III. Heat exchanger
IV. Pluming apparatus

 Steam generator: It works as a heat exchanger. It is used to convert water into steam by
the heat which is obtained from nuclear reactor core.
 Super heater: It is used in a boiler. It converts the saturated steam into supersaturated
steam which is used by turbines to generate electricity and used in other processes such as
in steam engines and in steam reforming. There are three types of super heaters:
1. Radiant
2. Convection
3. Separately fired

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 Economizer: It is an important part of steam power plant. It is used to collect waste heat
from boiler flue gases and transfer it to the boiler feed water.

B. Condenser:
It is used in a steam power plant. It is used to condense exhaust steam from the turbine for
reuse in the cycle to increase the efficiency of turbine by maintaining the vacuum.

C. Steam Turbine:
It is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from supersaturated steam and convert
it into mechanical work. The steam is then sent through a steam turbine that rotates the shaft
of a generator to create electricity.

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D. Pumps:
1. Boiler circulating pump: This is the pump is used in circulation type boiler. It is used to
protect the cooling pipe of the furnace.
2. Boiler feed water pump: The boiler feed pump function is to supply pressurized feed
water to the boilers maintain the water inventory at various operating loads. Boiler feed
water pumps are commonly centrifugal pumps.
3. Condensate pump: This is the pump for pumping condensate from the condenser. This is
the important pump that should be regarded, so to speak, as the starting point of the main
cycle of the power plant.

 Working principle of steam power plant: Rankine cycle is the process which is used by
power plant such as steam power plant. Following is the flow diagram of Rankine cycle.

Rankine cycle exists there when the water can move from four components or process
without irreversibility, all four process are;
 In first process fluid is pumped from low pressure to high pressure, as fluid is liquid here,
pump needs little energy here.
 High pressure liquid enters the boiler to become dry saturated vapor after being heated
under same pressure.
 Then these dry vapors are expanded with turbine, some condensation presents here because
of lower temperature and pressure.
 They enter condenser after being wet. Here they are provided constant pressure to become
liquids.

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 Rankine cycle (PV and TS diagrams):

This cycle is shown on PV and TS diagram.
1. PV diagram: When the Rankine cycle is plotted on pressure volume axis then it is known as
PV diagram of Rankine cycle the isobaric processes and adiabatic processes are satisfied and
the area under the complete cycle path represents the total work done of one cycle.

2. TS diagram: Similarly, when the Rankine cycle is plotted on temperature and enthalpy basis,
it is known as TS diagram. Ts diagrams are a useful and common tool, particularly because it
helps to visualize the heat transfer during a process. For reversible (ideal) processes, the area
under the T-s curve of a process is the heat transferred to the system during that process.

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