SRI KRISHNA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Kuniamuthur, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India

An Autonomous Institution, Affiliated to Anna University,
Accredited by NAAC with “A” Grade & Accredited by NBA (CSE, ECE, IT, MECH ,EEE, CIVIL& MCT)

20EE303 - Electric Power Generation

Module 1: Thermal and Hydro power plants
Basic Rankine cycle and its
modifications
by

Mr. S.KARTHIKEYAN,
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

www.skcet.ac.in karthikeyans@skcet.ac.in
S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET
 Rankine Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Vapor Power Cycles
 Steam Engine and Steam Turbines in which steam is used as working medium follow Rankine cycle
 Ideal Rankine Cycle does not involve any Internal Irreversibilities and consists of the following 4 processes

1-2: Isentropic Compression in a pump (ΔQ=0 ΔS=0) Win

2-3: Isobaric Heat Addition in a boiler (ΔP=0) Qin
3-4: Isentropic Expansion in a (ΔQ=0 ΔS=0)
turbine
4-1: Isobaric Heat Rejection in a condenser
Wout(ΔP=0) Qout

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET

 Rankine Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Vapor Power Cycles
 Area under the process curve on a T-S Diagram represents the heat transfer for internally reversible
processes

o Area under process curve 2-3: heat transferred to the

water in the boiler

o Area under process curve 4-1: Heat rejected in the

Condenser

o Difference between these two (the area enclosed by

the cycle curve) is the Net Work produced during the
cycle

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET

 Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle
o All four components are steady-flow devices & all four processes are steady-flow processes.

o Boiler and the Condenser do not involve any work, and the Pump and the Turbine are assumed to be Isentropic.

• Considering 1 kg of fluid :

o Applying Steady Flow Energy Equation (S.F.E.E.) to Boiler, Turbine, Condenser and Pump:

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET

 Thermal Efficiency of the Ideal Rankine Cycle

o Thermal Efficiency of the Rankine cycle is

OR
 The ratio of the area enclosed by the cycle on a t-s diagram to the area under the heat-addition process.
S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET
 Methods To Increase The Efficiency Of The Rankine Cycle

 Basic Idea behind all the modifications to increase the thermal efficiency of a power cycle is:

o Av. Fluid Temperature should be as high as possible during Heat Addition and
o as low as possible during Heat Rejection

1 Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)

 Colored area on this diagram represents increase in net

work output as a result of lowering the condenser pressure
from P4 to P4/ .

 Heat Input requirements also increase (represented by the

area under curve 2/-2), but this increase is very small.

 Overall Effect of lowering the Condenser Pressure (lowers

temperature at which heat is rejected) S.KARTHIKEYAN,
is an increase AP/EEE,
in η. SKCET
 Methods To Increase The Efficiency Of The Rankine Cycle
1- Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)

 To take advantage of the increased η at low pressures, the

condensers of steam power plants usually operate well below the
Atmospheric Pressure

 Pcond cannot be lower than the saturation pressure corresponding to

the temperature of the cooling medium

 Lower Pcond creates the possibility of air leakage into the condenser

 Lower Pcond increases the moisture content of the steam at the final
stages of the turbine

 presence of large quantities of moisture is highly undesirable in

turbines because it decreases the turbine efficiency and erodes the
turbine blades

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET

 Methods To Increase The Efficiency Of The Rankine Cycle
2-Superheating the Steam to High Temperatures (Increases Thigh,av)

 Av.Temp at which heat is transferred to steam can be increased without

increasing the boiler pressure by superheating the steam to high
temperatures

 Colored Area on TS-diagram represents increase in the network

 Total Area under the process curve 3-3’ represents the inc: in Heat Input

 Overall effect is an increase in Thermal Efficiency, due to increased Tm

 Superheating of steam decreases the moisture content of the steam at

the turbine exit (4 vs 4’)

 Temp. to which steam can be superheated is limited, by Metallurgical

Considerations

 Presently, Highest Steam Temperature allowed at the turbine inlet is

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET
about 620°C (1150ᵓF).
 Methods To Increase The Efficiency Of The Rankine Cycle
3 Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,av)

 Increasing the operating pressure of the boiler automatically

raises the temperature at which boiling takes place

 It raises the average temperature at which heat is transferred

to the steam and thus raises ηcycle

 For a Fixed Turbine Inlet Temp., cycle shifts to the left and the
moisture content of steam at the turbine exit increases →
Undesirable (side effect can be corrected, by reheating).
Superheat → metallurgically unsafe.

 Max Moisture Content at Turbine Exhaust is not allowed to

exceed 12% or the quality of steam to fall below 88 %
S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET
 Methods To Increase The Efficiency Of The Rankine Cycle
3- Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,av)

 Max Steam Temp. at Turbine inlet is fixed by the Materials used

 Min Temp. of Heat Rejection is fixed by the Ambient Conditions

 Min Quality of Steam at the Turbine Exhaust is fixed by Turbine

Blade Erosion

⇒Max Steam Pressure at the Turbine Inlet also gets fixed

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET

Regenerative Rankine Cycle: with Open FWH
Examples of closed feedwater
heaters
Regenerative Rankine Cycle: with Closed FWH with a pump
Closed
feedwater
heater with
TRAP
MODIFIED RANKINE CYCLE
MODIFIED RANKINE
•Questions…???

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET

Thank you 

S.KARTHIKEYAN, AP/EEE, SKCET