Politecnico di Milano

Department of Energy
School of Industrial and Information Engineering
Course Energy Systems
Ing. M. GATTI - Academic Year 2020/21

Written Exam 15 January 2021 - Numerical problem to be solved in Excel and sent via MS Forms
The following information is known about the gas turbine of a combined cycle power plant:
Net electric power output of the gas turbine 36 MW
Ambient air temperature 10 °C
Fuel supply temperature 25 °C
Fuel lower heating value 50 MJ/kg
Specific heat capacity of air at constant pressure, cp 1 kJ/kg/K
Mass flow rate of fuel 2 kg/s
Flue gases discharge temperature from gas turbine 450°C
Specific heat capacity of flue gases at constant pressure, cp 1.03 kJ/kg/K
Thermal losses in gas turbine combustor 0.8% of FUEL LHV input
Other gas turbine losses (electrical, mechanical, etc.) 2500 kW

Flue gases discharged by the gas turbine are used to produce superheated steam (point 7) at 15 bar, 420°C
(enthalpy h7 = 3299.8 kJ/kg, entropy s7 = 7.3343 kJ/kg-K) in a heat recovery generator with a single
evaporation level. The HRSG is fed with subcooled liquid at 15 bar and enthalpy equal to 175.7 kJ/kg (point
6, temperature equal to 41.6 °C). The liquid at the outlet of the economizer has an enthalpy of 800 kJ/kg
and it is subcooled (DTsc =10 °C). The outlet from the steam turbine (point 8) is at 0.08 bar and h8 = 2400
kJ/kg. The steam cycle condenser operates at 0.08 bar and produces saturated liquid. Relevant water
properties are reported in the table below.
Saturation Saturation Saturated Saturated Saturated Saturated
Temperature Pressure Liquid Enthalpy Vapor Enthalpy Liquid Entropy Vapor Entropy
°C bar kJ/kg kJ/kg kJ/kg-K kJ/kg-K
41.5 0.08 173.84 2576.2 0.59249 8.2273
198.3 15 844.56 2791 2.3143 6.443

The minimum temperature difference between the gas and the saturated water in the HRSG (pinch point
ΔT) is 10°C. Heat losses from the HRSG and pressure drops are negligible. The steam turbine electro-
mechanical efficiency is 96%, while the pump electro-mechanical efficiency is 92%.

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 Politecnico di Milano
Department of Energy
School of Industrial and Information Engineering
Course Energy Systems
Ing. M. GATTI - Academic Year 2020/21

It is required to:
1) Determine the mass flow rate of air and the net electric efficiency of the gas turbine.
2) Calculate the mass flow rate of steam generated by the HRSG.
3) Evaluate the isoentropic efficiency of the steam turbine.
4) Calculate the net electric efficiency of the combined cycle.
5) Calculate the flue gas temperature at the stack and draw the T-Q diagram of the HRSG.

Now assume that the HRSG has post-firing burners which can increase the hot gas temperature (after point
3 in the scheme) by burning methane (LHV = 50 MJ/kg, Tsupply = 25°C).

6) Calculate the mass flow rate of methane burned in the post-firing burners to achieve a flue gas
temperature after post-firing of 650°C. Assume for simplicity that the specific heat capacity at
constant pressure of flue gases downstream of the post-firing burners remains equal to 1.03
kJ/kg/K.

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