FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, ABEOKUTA

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MCE 508: POWER GENERATING PLANTS

Submit answers to Questions No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11 on or before 12.00 hour of Thursday,

September 28, 2023.
PROBLEM SET 2: DIESEL POWER PLANT
(1) John’s automobile has a three litre SI V6 engine that operates on a four-stroke cycle at
3600 rpm. The engine runs with an air-fuel ratio AF = 15, a fuel heating value of 44,000
kJ/kg and develops a brake output torque reading of 205 Nm when connected to a
dynamometer. The mechanical efficiency of the engine is 85% and a combustion
efficiency of 97% Calculate the: (i) rate of fuel flow into the engine, (ii) brake power, (iii)
brake thermal efficiency; (iv) indicated thermal efficiency, (v) volumetric efficiency, and
(vi) brake specific fuel consumption.

(2) A four-cylinder, two-stroke cycle diesel engine with 10.9 cm bore, 12.6 cm stroke and
compression ratio, rc, is 18:1 produces 88 kW of brake power at 2000 rpm.
Calculate:
(i) engine displacement in cm3 and in litre
(ii) brake mean effective pressure in kPa
(iii) torque (Nm), and
(iv) Clearance volume of one cylinder (cm3)
(3) A single cylinder 4-stroke diesel engine gave the following results while running on full
load:
Area of indicator card 300 mm2
Length of diagram 40 mm
Spring constant 1 bar/mm
Speed of the engine 400 rpm
Load on the brake 370 N
Spring balance reading 50 N
Diameter of brake drum 1.2 m

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 Fuel consumption 2.8 kg/h
Calorific value of fuel 41800 kJ/kg
Diameter of the cylinder 160 mm
Stroke of the piston 200 mm

Calculate: (i) Indicated mean effective pressure. (ii) Brake power and brake mean effective
pressure. (iii) Brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal and indicated thermal efficiencies.

PROBLEM SET 3: STEAM TURBINE POWER PLANT

(4) Steam power plant that operates on a reheat Rankine cycle with 80 MW of net output.
Steam enters the high pressure turbine at 10 MPa and 500 °C, and is reheated to and
enters the low pressure turbine at 1 MPa and 500 °C. Steam leaves the condenser as a
saturated liquid at 10 kPa. Isentropic efficiencies of the turbine and compressor are 80
percent and 95 percent, respectively. Find:a) quality or temperature of steam at turbine
exit, b) thermal efficiency of the cycle, c) mass flow rate of the steam, d) condenser
cooling water flow rate allowing a water temperature rise of 15C, e) cycle steam rate
kg/KW-hr, f} cycle heat rate KJ/KW – hr.

5(a) Steam is supplied to a two-stage turbine at 40 bar and 350 C. It expands in the first
turbine until it is just dry saturated, then it is re-heated to 350 C and expanded through
the second-stage turbine. The condenser pressure is 0.035 bar. Calculate the (i) pump
work, (ii) work output, and (iii) the heat supplied per kilogram of steam for the plant
assuming ideal processes. Calculate also the (iv) specific steam consumption and (v) the
cycle efficiency.

(b) If expansion processes in the turbines of Problem 5(a) have isentropic efficiencies of 84
and 78%, respectively in the first and second stages, calculate the work output and the
heat supplied per kilogram of steam, the cycle efficiency and the specific steam
consumption.

(6) Calculate the power plant efficiency and the net work for a steam power plant that has
turbine inlet conditions of 6 MPa and 500C, bleed steam to the heater occurring at 800

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 KPa and exhausted to the condenser at 15 KPa. The turbine and pump have an internal
efficiencies of 90%. The flow rate is 63 kg/sec.

(7) An ideal regenerative Rankine cycle has a steam generator outlet pressure of 10 MPa and
temperature of 550 C. The condenser pressure is 10 kPa, and extraction for one stage of
regenerative heating occurs at 1000 kPa. Determine the cycle efficiency and compare it to
the ideal Rankine cycle's efficiency.

PROBLEM SET 4: GAS TURBINE POWER PLANT

(8) An ideal gas-turbine cycle with two stages of compression and two stages of expansion
has an overall pressure ratio of 8. Air enters each stage of the compressor at 300 K and
each stage of the turbine at 1300 K. Determine the back work ratio and the thermal
efficiency of this gas-turbine cycle, assuming (a) no regenerators and (b) an ideal
regenerator with 75percent effectiveness.

(9) A Brayton cycle with regeneration using air as the working fluid has a pressure ratio of 7.
The minimum and maximum temperatures in the cycle are 310 and 1150 K. Assuming an
isentropic efficiency of 75 percent for the compressor and 82 percent for the turbine and
an effectiveness of 65 percent for the regenerator, determine (a) the air temperature at the
turbine exit, (b) the net work output, and (c) the thermal efficiency. Assume constant
properties.

PROBLEM SET 5: HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER PLANT

10(a) In what types of hydro-electric power installation is it best to use:
(i) Impulse turbine
(ii) Francis turbine and
(iii) Propeller turbine
(b) The mean diameter of the runner of an axial flow turbine is 2 m and it rotates at 15
rev/min. Water is supplied to it under a total head of 30 m. Water leaves the guide vanes
at 30° to the direction of runner rotation and at a mean radius the angle of the runner
blade at outlet is 28°. If 8 per cent of the total head is lost in the casing and guide vanes
and the relative velocity is reduced by 10 per cent due to friction in the runner, determine:

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 (i) The blade angle at mean radius at inlet, and
(ii) The hydraulic efficiency of the turbine.

11(a) Describe the general layout for a water power scheme using Pelton turbine.
(b) A Pelton wheel nozzle for which the nozzle coefficient is 0.97 is 102 m below the water
surface of a lake. The loss in the pressure pipe and penstock carrying water from the lake
to the nozzle is 5 per cent of the gross head available. The diameter of the bucket circle
of the Pelton wheel is 2 m and the deflecting angle of the bucket is 162°. If the jet is 165
mm diameter and the wheel rotates at 320 rev/min, find the power and the hydraulic
efficiency.