ICPE15- Instrumentation and

Control in Power Plants

Lec-3: Steam Cycles

29-01-2024
Dr. Sri Ram Shankar R.
Assistant Professor, Dept. of ICE,
Chamber No. 204-A, First Floor, Dept. Main Building
NIT-Tiruchirappalli.
E-mail: srir@nitt.edu
 • Conversion of heat energy into mechanical energy.
Carnot Cycle
• If this process were to be made reversible, heat
could be converted into work and then extracted
and re-used to make a closed loop.
• A piston moves freely without encountering any
friction inside a cylinder made of some perfectly
insulating material. The piston is driven by a
'working fluid’.
• The cylinder has a head at one end that can be
switched at will from being a perfect conductor to
being a perfect insulator.
• Outside the cylinder are two bodies, one of which
can deliver heat without its own temperature ( T1 )
falling, the other being a bottomless cold sink at a
temperature (T2) which is also constant.
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 Carnot Cycle
A: cylinder head allows heat from the hot source to enter the
cylinder.
A → B: Isothermal expansion: the medium begins to expand,
and if it is allowed to expand freely, the temperature will not
rise, but will stay at its initial temperature (T1).

B: the cylinder head is switched from being a perfect

conductor to being a perfect insulator.
B→ C: Adiabatic expansion: the medium allowed to continue its expansion with no heat
being gained or lost.

C: the cylinder head is switched back to being a perfect conductor, but the external heat
source is removed and replaced by the heat sink.
C-> D: Isothermal compression: The piston is driven towards the head, compressing the
medium. Heat flows through the head toLecture-3:
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the heat sink
Steam Cycles 3
Carnot Cycle …
D: the cylinder head is once again switched to
become a perfect insulator.
D-> A: Adiabatic compression: the medium is compressed
until it reaches its starting conditions of pressure and
temperature.
The cycle is then complete, having taken in and rejected
heat while doing external work.
The thermal efficiency () of Carnot cycle as
 = (T1 – T2)/T1
where, T1 = Temperature of heat source
T2 = Temperature of receiver/heat sink

The Carnot cycle is only theoretically possible!

It postulates a cylinder with perfectly insulating walls and a head which can be switched
at will from being a conductor to beingLecture-3:
29/01/2024 an insulator.
Steam Cycles 4
 Rankine Cycle
The Rankine cycle is an ideal thermodynamic cycle involving a constant pressure heat
engine which converts heat into mechanical work. The heat is supplied externally in this
cycle in a closed loop, which uses either water or organic fluids (Pentane or Toluene) as a
working fluid.
Steam engine and steam turbines in which steam is
used as working medium follow Rankine cycle.

A -> B: Isobaric expansion

B -> C : Adiabatic Expansion
C -> D: Isobaric Compression
https://testbook.com/mechanical-engineering/rankine-cycle-process-diagram-and-applications
29/01/2024 Lecture-3: Steam Cycles D -> A : Adiabatic compression
5
 Power Plant components – Rankine Cycle
(1) Pump: They can be centrifugal pumps in industrial applications. Water as saturated liquid
enters the pump and is compressed.

(2) Boiler: Boilers are generally heat exchangers as in thermal power plants. The compressed
liquid enters the boiler to be converted to superheated steam.

(3) Turbines: Turbines or steam turbines are machines that use pressurised steam to produce
mechanical work. The superheated steam entering the turbine expands and rotates the shaft
to produce work which generates electricity.

(4) Condenser: Condenser has a set of tubes with a cooling medium (air or water)
surrounding it. Steam, in a saturated liquid-vapour state, is condensed at constant pressure
and the heat is rejected to the cooling medium.

Dry cooling: The power plants are cooled by air in areas where the water supply is limited.
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 Thermodynamic Processes in typical Rankine Cycle

• Four thermodynamic processes

• Cycle is operating at temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 400 °C.
Process 1-2: Isentropic compression : The working fluid (saturated liquid) entering the
pump, is pumped from a low to high pressure. The input energy is needed at this stage.

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 Thermodynamic Processes …

•Process 2-3: Isobaric Evaporation : Liquid at a high pressure entering the boiler is heated
by an external heat source at a constant pressure. The liquid is converted to dry saturated
steam by constant pressure heat addition in the boiler.
•Process 3-4: Isentropic expansion : The dry saturated steam from the boiler expands as it
enters the turbine. Due to this, the temperature and pressure of the steam decrease.

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 Thermodynamic Processes …

•Process 4-1: Isobaric Condensation : The wet vapour entering the condenser is condensed at
a constant pressure. It is then converted to saturated liquid. This process is also known as
constant pressure heat rejection in the condenser. This saturated liquid is again circulated back
to the pump, and the cycle continues.

The heat rejected or the exhaust heat after the final stage is represented as Qout.

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 Efficiency of Rankine Cycle
Let us consider these terms to calculate the efficiency of
the cycle.

Q = Rate of heat flow in the system (towards or away)

WT = Mechanical work done by the turbine
WP = Mechanical work done by the pump
ℎ1, ℎ2, ℎ3, and ℎ4 = Specific enthalpies of water at states
1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively referring to the T-s diagram.
ℎf = Specific enthalpy of water = h (In this cycle)

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 Efficiency of Rankine Cycle …
Applying steady flow energy equation (SFEE) to pump,
boiler, turbine, and condenser,

Rankine cycle efficiency with pump :

𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑊𝑇 − 𝑊𝑃 ℎ3 − ℎ4 − (ℎ2 − ℎ1 )
𝜂𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒 = = =
𝑄𝑖𝑛 𝑄𝑖𝑛 (ℎ3 − ℎ2 )
Rankine cycle efficiency without pump :
𝑄𝑜𝑢𝑡 (ℎ4 − ℎ1 )
𝜂𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒 = 1 − =1−
𝑄𝑖𝑛 (ℎ3 − ℎ2 )

In real applications, the efficiency falls below the ideal efficiency of the Rankine cycle.
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 Real or Non-Ideal Rankine Cycle
• Actual power plants do not undergo isentropic
compression and expansion by pump and turbine
respectively.
• These processes are irreversible compared to the
ideal cycle, and there is an increase in entropy.
• Also the real cycle has pressure drops in the
condenser and boiler.

• These conditions increase the required power and

decrease the generated power.

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 Rankine Cycle
A → B : Water is heated in feed heaters using
steam extracted from the turbine.
B → C: Within the boiler itself, heat is used to
further prewarm the water (in the economiser)
before it enters the evaporative stages (C) where
it boils.
C → D: Evaporation
At D superheat is added until the conditions at E
are reached at the turbine inlet.

The steam expands in the turbine to the conditions at point F, after which it is condensed and
returned to the feed heater.

The energy in the steam leaving the boiler is converted to mechanical energy in the turbine,
which then spins the generator to produce electricity.
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 Rankine Cycle
Energy delivered to the turbine is maximised
if point E is at the highest possible value and
F is at the lowest possible value

➢ Temperature of the steam leaving the boiler

is superheated
➢ Turbine condenser operates at very low
pressures, which correspond with low
temperatures.

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 Thermal Efficiency
The efficiency of a power plant is the measure of its effectiveness in converting fuel into
electrical energy or process heat.
This factor sets the cost per unit of electricity or heat generated.

Although several steps may be taken to reduce losses, some heat is inevitably lost in the
flue gases and in the cooling water that leaves the condenser.
A realistic limit for the efficiency of such a plant is just over 40%.

Combined Cycle: Heat wasted in one cycle could be used by the other cycle to attain
enhanced efficiency

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 Combined Cycle Power Plant
• Combined-cycle technology uses
both a gas turbine and a steam
turbine to generate electricity
burning natural gas, a fuel with a
lower environmental impact than
other fossil fuels.
• The exhaust heat from the gas
turbine is used to generate steam,
generating electricity twice and
minimizing waste.

https://power.mhi.com/group/msc/business/products/combined
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Combined Power Plant
• High thermal efficiency
Steam turbine operating alone: 43%
Gas turbine operating alone: 40%
Combined cycle: 60% or higher
A2% improvement in generating efficiency equates to an annual reduction of about
35,000 tons of CO2.
• Environmentally friendly: Low NOX, SO2 , CO2 emissions released into the air
• Lower fuel costs, reflecting lower resource use

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Steam based Power Plant
1. A furnace to burn the fuel.
2. Steam generator or boiler containing water. Heat generated in the
furnace is utilized to convert water to steam.
3. Main power unit such as an engine or turbine to use the heat energy
of steam and performwork.
4. Piping system to convey steam and water

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More reading

Rankine Cycle:
https://www.thermopedia.com/content/1072/#:~:text=The%20Rankine%20cycle%20operates%20in,to%2
0saturated%20steam%20(3).

Ref:
Chapter -1: David Lindsley

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