Question 1

A.
𝑇𝐿
Carnot efficiency is defined by: ɳCarnot = 1 − 𝑇ℎ

At 450℃, = 1− = 50. 9728

𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡
Thermal efficiency is defined by, ɳThermal = 𝑄𝑖𝑛
* 100
At 450℃,
𝑊𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 − 𝑊𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑊𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 − 𝑊𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒
= 𝑄𝑖𝑛
* 100 = 𝑄𝑖𝑛
= 29, 1981%

B.

Figure 1: Graph showing variation of Pressure and Enthalpy and Pressure, in regards to entropy.
 C.

Figure 2: Graph showing variation of Thermal, Carnot efficiency, and Quality in relation to temperature

Table 1: Variation Thermal, Carnot efficiency, and Quality in relation to temperature ℃

In Figure 1, we see the variation of thermal efficiency with the variation of boiler outlet
temperature, the higher the boiler temperature, the more amount water vaporized into steam we
have being produced as a result x (quality) is getting closer to 1 at 600℃, this also causes the a
more efficient way to produce steam, and leads into more power being produced. This increases
the net work being done in the system, increasing our thermal efficiency. In conclusion, the
increase in temperature provides adequate and positive results, at the cost of higher temperature
stress.
 D.

Figure 3: Graph showing variation of Thermal, Carnot efficiency, and Quality in relation to Condenser pressure

Table 2: Variation of Thermal, Carnot efficiency, and Quality in relation to Condenser Pressure

According to Table 2, we can see both Carnot and thermal efficiency go down with the increase
of condenser pressure. The reason for that is when we increase the condenser pressure the
pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet of the turbine goes down, which means the
turbine needs to do less work in order to lower the pressure of the steam that is going through it.
By doing less work and according to the Carnot and thermal efficiency formula (Wnet/Qin) if the
work decreases, that means the thermal efficiency decreases. The same logic applies to Carnot's
efficiency. When the condenser pressure increases the temperature at the outlet of the turbine
also increases which makes a much smaller temperature difference between the turbine inlet and
condenser exit and the Carnot efficiency formula proves this discussion (1-TL/TH). However,
also according to Table 2, the quality of the steam increases. That is because when condenser
pressure increases, the working fluid goes out at a higher pressure which decreases the amount of
liquid in the mixture which increases quality.

E.

Figure 4: Graph showing variation of Thermal, Carnot efficiency, and Quality in relation to Condenser outlet
Temperature

According to Figure 4, Thermal efficiency increases with the increase of condenser outlet
temperature because when the outlet temperature increases the temperature difference in the
turbine will increase which will increase the work done in the turbine which will also increase
the thermal efficiency. However, the Carnot efficiency decreases with the increase of the outlet
temperature because the temperature difference will decrease which will result in the decrease of
the Carnot efficiency.
 Figure 5: Graph showing variation of back work ratio in relation to condenser outlet temperature

Looking at Figure 5, the back work ratio increases slightly with the increase of the outlet
temperature. When the temperature increases in the condenser the pressure of it will increase
also and when the pressure increases the back work ratio also increases because the back work
ratio is the ratio of the work done in the pump and turbine, and when the pressure increases the
pump needs more work to pump the water in the boiler which increases the back work ratio.

F.

Figure 6: Graph showing variation of Thermal, Carnot efficiency, and Quality in relation to Condenser outlet
Temperature
As seen in Figure 6, as the turbine pressure increases thermal efficiency increases. It is because
when pressure increases in the turbine it means that more work should be generated to process
the steam. So larger pressure will cause a larger pressure drop in the turbine which increases the
thermal efficiency (Wnet/Qin). However, Carnot efficiency stays the same with the increase of
turbine pressure because the Carnot efficiency is calculated by using turbine inlet temperature
and condenser outlet temperature which is not affected by the turbine pressure change. However,
the steam quality decreases with the increase of turbine pressure that is because of the decrease
in the degree of superheating in the turbine which reduces the steam quality and increases the
moisture inside the turbine.

Question 2

A.

Figure 7: Ideal regenerative Rankine cycle from DWSIM

B.

Using the DWSIM software, an ideal regenerative Rankine cycle was created as demonstrated
above. The variation in the thermal efficiency was plotted against the pressure variations in the
feedwater heater. The following formula was used to calculate the thermal efficiency:
Below, the sample calculation for a feed water pressure of 200 kPa is shown. Note, all data were
retrieved similarly for the remaining pressure variance.

WTurbine 879.39
WPump1 2.97
WFWHPump 0.08
Wnet 876.34
Qin 1848.77
Qout 1152.37
nth 0.47401386760305
TH 723.15
TC 354.466736
nC 0.509829584461535

Table 3: Properties of the ideal regeneration Rankine cycle

Pressure [kPa] Thermal Efficiency

200 0.474013867603050
400 0.474027866906082
600 0.474073022355603
800 0.474073022355603
1000 0.471000641521230

Table 4: Pressure [kPa] and Thermal Efficiency Variation from the ideal regeneration Rankine cycle
 Figure 8: Thermal Efficiency vs. Variation in Feed Water Pressure [kPa]

Question 3
A.

Figure 9: DWSIM cycle diagram sketch of a 3-stage turbine steam power plant
 B. To successfully close the entire Rankine Cycle, the stream split ratio of the extractor
must be known. In other words, the stream proportion that goes through the condenser as
well as the open feedwater heater should be established. Additionally, the feed water is
stated to be isobaric, signifying that it is not ideal.
C. Based on our knowledge of the functions of a pump and a turbine, the stream split ratio
is unbalanced. Most of the stream flow is passed through the condenser, whereas only a
small portion, between 20-25% is recycled to the feedwater heater.
D. Below, the stream splitter ratio for the condenser is given with the corresponding thermal
efficiency of the open feedwater heater.

Stream Splitter Wout Win

Ratio Qin Boiler [kW] Turbine 3 [kW] Pump 2 Thermal Efficiency
80 2619.67 413.82 0 15.79664614
79 2526.01 408.64 0 16.17729146
78 2588.45 403.47 0 15.5873206
77 2557.23 398.3 0 15.57544687
76 2526.01 393.12 0 15.56288376
75 2494.78 387.95 0 15.55046938
Table 5: Values of the steam power plant with varying stream splitter ratios

Figure 10: Thermal Efficiency per Variation in Stream Splitter Ratio [%]
As shown above, when plotting the stream splitter ratio against the thermal efficiency, there is an
increase in the efficiency as the split increases to 80%. This is because the proportion of steam
extracted after Turbine 2 increases when the split is increased. This means less steam is passing
through to Turbine 3, which means that Turbine 3, Pump 2 and the Cooler will need less work.
Also, because the temperature after the FWH is increased, the main heater would also need less
work. Thus, increasing the stream splitter ratio increases the thermal efficiency.