STEAM POWER CYCLES

Power industry still largely relies on steam power. For example,

in nuclear plants the radioactive material is only used to obtain
heat energy, which is then used to heat water to obtain steam and
expand through steam turbines to obtain electrical energy. The
prototype steam power cycle is:
Rankine cycle.

1-2 isentropic compression in pump

2-2’-3 constant pressure heat addition in boiler
3-4 isentropic expansion in turbine
4-1 constant pressure heat rejection in condenser
Steam is converted to liquid in condenser to reduce the pump work
(remember from last semester). Condensers may take many forms,
including large cooling towers (in coal and nuclear plants for
example).
A major point to consider is the quality of steam in the turbine;
too much condensation would be damaging (corrosion) to turbine
blades.
Kinetic and potential energy changes are wholly neglected.
Obviously, the efficiency of Rankine cycle is lower than that of
Carnot; the high temperature heat addition is not isothermal.
Superheating, reheating and regeneration are some of the
techniques used to increase the efficiency.
As I tried to stress many times, from a problem-solving point of
view, this is quite simple. Write all the equations for each
element in the cycle and solve for the unknowns.
Of course, from an engineering point of view, nothing is known;
that is the design problem. You simply guess, rely on previous
experience, and refine your design by trial and error, while
keeping an eye for the whole physics of the matter at hand. For
example, high and low temperatures are more or less known: low
temperature is the ambient temperature, and the high temperature
is the temperature at the exit of the boiler which is limited by
the mechanical and thermal properties of the boiler. (Note that
in the basic Rankine cycle the point 3 is right on the x=1
curve, that will change later).
Here are some of the equations
x 1=x 2' =0 , x 3=1

w 34=h3 −h4

s 4−s 4 l
s4 =s3 → x 4 = → h4=h4 l + x 4 h 4 lg
s 4 lg
s2=s 1

q 23=T 2 (s3−s 2' )

'

q 22' =h2' −h2

w 12=v 1 ( p 1− p2 ) pump

h2 =h1−w12

q 23=q 22' +q2 ' 3

q 23=h3−h2

w34 +w 12
η=
q 23
(w 12 is negative).
Example.
Rankine cycle (working on water, of course) Temperatures are 20
and 100 ° C. Efficiency?
In the table below some values are given, the others are read
directly from the water tables.
state p (kPa) T (° C) v(m3 /kg) h(kJ /kg) s( kJ /kg K ) x
1 2.34 20 0.001002 83.835 0.2962 0.0
2 101.32 -- -- -- s1 --
2’ 101.32 100 0.001043 419.06 1.3069 0.0
3 101.32 100 1.6736 2675.7 7.3545 1.0
4 2.34 20 -- -- s3 --

w 34=h3 −h4

s 4−s 4 l
s4 =s3 → x 4 = =0.8434
s 4 lg
h 4=h 4 l + x 4 h4 lg =2153.0

w 34=522.7

q 23=T 2 ( s 3−s2 )=( 100+ 273.15 )( 7.3545−1.3069 )=2256.7

' '

q 22' =h2' −h2

w 12=v 1 ( p 1− p2 )=0.001002 ( 101.32−2.34 )=−0.099

h2 =h1−w12=83.835+0.099=83.93

q 22' =419.06−83.93=335.13

q 23=q 22' +q2 ' 3=2591.8

q 23=h3−h2=2591.9 checked

w34 +w 12 522.7−0.099
η= = =0.202
q 23 2591.9
(Carnot cycle between these temperatures would have
η=1−293/373=0.214 )
Example.
The same problem with non-ideal turbine and pump
ηt =0.70 , η p =0.60

The only difference is 2, 2s and 4, 4s points.

state p (kPa) T (° C) v(m3 /kg) h(kJ /kg) s( kJ /kg K ) x
1 2.34 20 0.001002 83.835 0.2962 0.0
2s 101.32 -- -- -- s1 --
2 101.32 -- -- 84.0 -- --
2’ 101.32 100 0.001043 419.06 1.3069 0.0
3 101.32 100 1.6736 2675.7 7.3545 1.0
4s 2.34 20 -- -- s3 --
4 2.34 20 -- 2309.8 -- 0.9073

w 34 s=522.7 w34=0.7 w34 s=365.9

h 4=h 3−w 34=2309.8

h 4−h4 l
x4 = =0.9073
h4 lg
w 12 s=−0.099

w 12=w12 s /0.6=−0.165

h2 =h1−w12=84.0
q 22' =h2' −h2=335.06

w34 +w 12
η= =0.141
q22 ' +q 2 ' 3
Down from 0.202.

Superheating.
The steam is heated into the vapor region.

Besides an increase in efficiency (due to high temperature

increasing) this is good for turbine blades since the quality of
steam leaving the turbine is higher.

Reheating.
The steam in turbine is diverted to boiler and heated again. The
advantage compared to superheating is that the high temperature
is lower. But more expensive due to two stage turbine (and more
complicated boiler).