6/16/2020 RANKINE CYCLE

Figure 5. Regenerative feed liquid heating.

Superheating and reheating

The irreversibility of any process is reduced if it is performed as close as possible to the tem
temperature and low temperature reservoirs. This is achieved by operating the condenser at sub
The temperature in the boiler is limited by the saturation pressure. Further increase in temp
superheating the saturated vapor, see Figure 4.

This has the additional advantage that the vapor quality after the turbine is increased and, ther
turbine blades is reduced. It is quite common to reheat the vapor after expansion in the high
expand the reheated vapor in a second, low pressure turbine.

Feed water preheating

The cold liquid leaving the feed pump is mixed with the saturated liquid in the boiler and/or r
temperature. The resulting irreversibility reduces the efficiency of the boiler. According to th
highest efficiency is reached if heat transfer occurs isothermally. To preheat the feed li
temperature, bleed vapor from various positions of the turbine is passed through exte
(regenerators), as shown in Figure 5.

Ideally, the temperature of the bleed steam should be as close as possible to the temperature of t

Combined cycles
The high combustion temperature of the fuel is be er utilized if a gas turbine or Brayton engi
cycle" in conjunction with a Rankine cycle. In this case, the hot gas leaving the turbine is used
input to the boiler. In co-generation systems, the energy rejected by the Rankine cycle is used for
steam or other low temperature applications.

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