POWER PLANT ENGINEERING (ME350)

End Semester Examination (Spring) 2017-18

National Institute of Technology Rourkela
Time: 3 Hrs Full Mark: 50

(Figure in the bracket indicate marks)

(Steam Table and Mollier Diagram are allowed)
The following data may be used.
Thermodynamic properties of saturated mercury (By pressure)
P (bar) T (oC) Specific volume Enthalpy entropy
vf vg hf hg sf sg
(m3/kg) (m3/kg) (kj/kg) (kj/kg) (kj/kgK) (kj/kgK)
0.08 245.76 0.0000784 2.77 34.08 339.17 0.0888 0.682
4.5 459.89 0.0000815 0.0693 64.18 362.99 0.1377 0.5501
Section A (Answer to the point and in short; limited to few words or lines)
(2×10 = 20 marks)
1. What is the effect of varying pressure of boiler on the efficiency of a power plant? What is
the disadvantage of increasing boiler pressure? What should be done along with increasing
boiler pressure to overcome this disadvantage and increase efficiency of the power plant?
Explain using a T-S diagram.
2. Define Dalton’s law of partial pressure. Define vacuum efficiency of a condenser. The
vacuum in the condenser is 700 mm of Hg when the barometer reads 750 mm of Hg. Find
absolute pressure in mm.
3. Half-life of an element is 90 hrs. Calculate its radioactive decay constant? What will be the
mass of this element present after 30 day if initially 2500 kg is present?
4. What is the difference between a pressurized water reactor and a boiling water reactor?
State advantages of both the reactors.
5. What is the function of a steam turbine? Explain the principle of working of a turbine with
the help of suitable diagram.
6. What is super saturation and what is Wilson line? Explain with the help of a T-s diagram.
7. What is boiler efficiency? A boiler generates steam at a pressure of 10 bar and temperature
of 250 oC from feed water at 80 oC. The equivalent evaporation from and at 100 oC is
found to be 4500 kg/hr. Heating value of coal is 30500 kj/kg and consumption of coal is
555 kg/hr. Find rate of steam generated per hour and thermal efficiency of boiler.
8. What is the difference between impulse and reaction turbine. What is De Laval turbine?
Write name of two impulse turbines.
9. Explain the working of a steam condenser with the help of a schematic diagram. What is
the difference between a jet and a surface condenser?
P.T.O

1
10. A steam turbine exhausts 104 kg of steam/hr into a jet condenser where vacuum is 572.3
mm of Hg. The barometer reads 760 mm Hg. The cooling water supplied is at 20 oC. If
2993 kj of heat is to be removed from each kg of steam, determine the quantity of cooling
water required in the condenser per hour?
Section B (Answer any three from the following) (10×3 = 30 marks)

11. In an ideal binary turbine installation, the mercury turbine works between 0.08 bar and 4.5
bar and the steam turbine works between 0.1 bar and 30 bar. Mercury enters into the
mercury turbine in the dry saturated state whereas steam enters the steam turbine at 250
o
C. Calculate (a) mass of mercury used per kg of steam used (b) power developed by each
turbine (c) overall thermal efficiency of the plant when 5000 kg of steam is generated per
hour. Neglect work done on the steam and mercury by the feed pumps.
12. Steam issues from nozzles of a simple impulse turbine with a velocity of 1000 m/s. the
nozzles are inclined at an angle of 20o to the plane of the wheel. The actual blade velocity
is 85% of the blade velocity for maximum efficiency. The diagram efficiency is 78.3% and
the axial thrust per kg of steam flow per second on the bearing is 70 N. Determine (a)
Blade angles (b) Absolute velocity of the steam at exit (c) Blade velocity coefficient (d)
power developed by the turbine when the rate of flow of steam per second is 2.75 kg.
13. (a) Derive an expression of the condition for maximum efficiency in a single stage impulse
turbine. [5]
(b) A steam turbine exhausts 30,000 kg of steam of quality 0.9 per hour into a surface
condenser fitted with wet extraction pump. The vacuum in the condenser is 715 mm of Hg
(while barometer reading 760 mm of Hg) and the temperature of the steam in the
condenser is 25 oC. The air leakage is estimated at 0.8 kg per 1000 kg of steam in the
condenser. The rise in temperature of the circulating water through the condenser is 16 oC.
Assuming the volumetric efficiency of the pump as 0.85, determine (i) capacity of the wet
extraction pump in m3/min (ii) mass rate flow of circulating water per minute. Neglect
mass of steam-vapor that may escape with air. [5]
14. Steam at 10 bar, 200 oC after expansion in a group of convergent-divergent nozzles to a
pressure of 0.25 bar flows in an impulse turbine which develops 1300 kW of power with a
steam consumption of 8.0 kg/kWh. The diameter of the throat of each nozzle is 15 mm. If
the loss of energy due to friction in the divergent part of the nozzle is 10% of the total
enthalpy drop, compute the number of nozzles and the diameter of each nozzle at the exit.

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