Rankine cycle Exercise
Let assume the Rankine cycle, which is the one of most
common thermodynamic cycles in thermal power
plants. In this case assume a simple cycle without
reheat and without with condensing steam turbine
running on saturated steam (dry steam). In this case
the turbine operates at steady state with inlet
conditions of 6 MPa, t = 275.6°C, x = 1 (point 3). Steam
leaves this stage of turbine at a pressure of 0.008 MPa,
41.5°C and x = ??? (point 4).
Calculate:
1/the vapor quality of the outlet steam
2/the enthalpy difference between these two states (3
→ 4), which corresponds to the work done by the
steam, WT.
3/the enthalpy difference between these two states (1
→ 2), which corresponds to the work done by pumps,
WP.
4/the enthalpy difference between these two states (2
→ 3), which corresponds to the net heat added in the
steam generator
5/the thermodynamic efficiency of this cycle and
compare this value with the Carnot’s efficiency
The vapor quality of the outlet steam
Since we do not know the exact vapor quality of the
outlet steam, we have to determine this parameter.
State 4 is fixed by the pressure p4 = 0.008 MPa and the
fact that the specific entropy is constant for the
isentropic expansion (s3 = s4 = 5.89
??? kJ/kgK for 6 MPa).
The specific entropy of saturated liquid water (x=0) and
dry steam (x=1) can be picked from steam tables. In
case of wet steam, the actual entropy can be
calculated with the vapor quality, x, and the specific
entropies of saturated liquid water and dry steam:
s4 = sv x + (1 – x ) sl
Where:
s4 = entropy of wet steam (J/kg K) = 5.89 kJ/kgK
sv = entropy of “dry” steam (J/kg K) = 8.227
??? kJ/kgK (for 0.008 MPa)
sl = entropy of saturated liquid water (J/kg K) = 0,592
???? kJ/kgK (for 0.008 MPa)
From this equation the vapor quality is:
x4 = (s4 – sl) / (sv – sl) = (5.89 – 0.592) / (8.227 – 0.592) = 0.694 = 69.4%
2/ ENTHALPY 3-4
The enthalpy for the state 3 can be picked directly from
steam tables, whereas the enthalpy for the state 4 must be
calculated using vapor quality:
h3, v = 2785
??? kJ/kg
h4, wet = h4,v x + (1 – x ) h4,l = 2576 . 0.694 + (1 – 0.694) . 174 = 1787 + 53.2 = 1840 kJ/kg
Then the work done by the steam, WT, is
WT = Δh = 945 kJ/kg
3/ ENTHALPY 1-2
Enthalpy for state 1 can be picked directly from steam tables:
h1, l = 174
??? kJ/kg
State 2 is fixed by the pressure p2 = 6.0 MPa and the fact
that the specific entropy is constant for the isentropic
compression (s1 = s2 = 0.592 kJ/kgK for 0.008 MPa). For this
entropy s2 = 0.592 kJ/kgK and p2 = 6.0 MPa we find h2,
subcooled in steam tables for compressed water (using
interpolation between two states).
h2, subcooled = 179,7
??? kJ/kg
Then the work done by the pumps, WP, is
??? kJ/kg
WP = Δh = 5,7
4/ ENTHALPY 2-3
The enthalpy difference between (2 → 3), which corresponds to the net heat added in the
steam generator, is simply:
Qadd = h3, v – h2, subcooled = 2785 – 179.7 = 2605.3 kJ/kg
Note that, there is no heat regeneration in this cycle. On the other hand most of the heat
added is for the enthalpy of vaporization (i.e. for the phase change).
5/ Thermodynamic efficiency
In this case, steam generators, steam turbine, condensers and feedwater pumps constitute a
heat engine, that is subject to the efficiency limitations imposed by the second law of
thermodynamics. In the ideal case (no friction, reversible processes, perfect design), this heat
engine would have a Carnot efficiency of:
ηCarnot = 1 – Tcold/Thot = 1 – 315/549 = 42.6%
where the temperature of the hot reservoir is 275.6°C (548.7 K), the temperature of the
cold reservoir is 41.5°C (314.7K).
5/ Thermodynamic efficiency
The thermodynamic efficiency of this cycle can be calculated by the following formula:
thus
ηth = (945 – 5.7) / 2605.3 = 0.361 = 36.1%
