1. Why is steam not an ideal working fluid for vapor power cycles?

 Because it has low critical temperature and condenser pressure and not ideal
saturation line.
 Steam critical pressure is low, if the critical temperature is high, the cycle
approaches the carnot cycle and thus increases the efficiency.
 Steam condenser pressure is low so it has the probability of air-leakage
problems due to low pressure.
 In vapor power cycles if steam is used then increased moisture content effects
the turbine.

2. What is a binary power cycle? What is its purpose?

 The binary cycle is a process designed to overcome the imperfections of
water as a working fluid. The cycle uses two fluids in an attempt to approach
an ideal working fluid.

3. What is the difference between the binary vapor power cycle and the combined gas–steam
power cycle?
 In binary vapor power cycles, both cycles are vapor cycles. In the combined gas-steam
power cycle, one of the cycles is gas cycle and other is steam cycle. Even though both
increase thermal efficiency combined gas steam power plant is preferred since cost and
installation of binary vapor power plant is high.

4. Why is mercury a suitable working fluid for the topping portion of a binary vapor cycle but not
for the bottoming cycle?
 The critical temperature of mercury is 898 C (well above the current metallurgical limit),
and its critical pressure is only about 18 MPa. This makes mercury a very suitable
working fluid for the topping cycle. Mercury is not suitable as the sole working fluid for
the entire cycle, however, since at a condenser temperature of 32 C its saturation
pressure is 0.07 Pa. A power plant cannot operate in this vacuum because of air-leakage
problems. At an acceptable condenser pressure of 7 kPa, the saturation temperature of
mercury is 237 C, which is too high as the minimum temperature in the cycle. Therefore,
the use of mercury as a working fluid is limited to the high-temperature cycles. Other
disadvantages of mercury are its toxicity and high cost. The mass flow rate of mercury in
binary vapor cycles is several times that of water because of its low enthalpy of
vaporization.

5. By writing an energy balance on the heat exchanger of a binary vapor power cycle, obtain a
relation for the ratio of mass flow rates of two fluids in terms of their enthalpies.
 ppt