Chapter – 08

Unit-I

Eastop & McConkey

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists
Vapour Power Cycles

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

1

Chapter – 08
Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey
 THE CARNOT VAPOR CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle operating between
two specified temperature limits.
• If we could, we would certainly adopt it as the ideal cycle.
• However, the Carnot cycle is not a suitable model for power
cycles.

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

• Consider a steady-flow Carnot cycle with steam as working
fluid executed within the saturation dome of a pure
substance.
Several impracticalities are associated with

Chapter – 08
this cycle:
1. Isothermal heat transfer to or from a
two-phase system.
2. Turbine has to handle steam with low
quality. 2
3. Compression of a liquid–vapor mixture
to a saturated liquid.
 RANKINE CYCLE: THE IDEAL CYCLE FOR VAPOR POWER

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

CYCLES
Many of the impracticalities associated with the Carnot cycle
can be eliminated by superheating the steam in the boiler and
condensing it completely in the condenser, as shown
schematically on a T-s diagram in Fig.
The cycle that results is the Rankine cycle, which is the ideal
cycle for vapor power plants. The ideal Rankine cycle does not

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involve any internal irreversibilities and consists of the
following four processes:
1-2 Isentropic compression in a pump
2-3 Constant pressure heat addition in a boiler

Chapter – 08
3-4 Isentropic expansion in a turbine
4-1 Constant pressure heat rejection in a condenser
3
 RANKINE CYCLE: THE IDEAL CYCLE FOR VAPOR POWER

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

CYCLES

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

Water enters the pump at state 1 as saturated liquid and is compressed isentropically to
the operating pressure of the boiler.

Chapter – 08
Water enters the boiler as a compressed liquid at state 2 and leaves as a superheated
vapor at state 3.
The superheated vapor at state 3 enters the turbine, where it expands isentropically and
produces work by rotating the shaft connected to an electric generator. At this state, steam 4
is usually a saturated liquid–vapor mixture with a high quality.
Steam is condensed at constant pressure in the condenser. Steam leaves the condenser as
saturated liquid and enters the pump, completing the cycle.
 Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

All four components associated with the Rankine cycle (the
pump, boiler, turbine, and condenser) are steady-flow devices, and
thus all four processes that make up the Rankine cycle can be
analysed as steady-flow processes.
The kinetic and potential energy changes of the steam are usually small
relative to the work and heat transfer terms and are therefore usually
neglected.

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Then the steady-flow energy equation per unit mass of steam
reduces to:

Chapter – 08
The boiler and the condenser do not involve any work, and the
pump and the turbine are assumed to be isentropic. Then the
conservation of energy relation for each device can be expressed
as follows: 5

Pump ():
 And
where,
Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

6

Chapter – 08
Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey
DEVIATION OF ACTUAL VAPOR POWER CYCLES FROM IDEALIZED
ONES

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

The actual vapor power cycle differs from the ideal Rankine
cycle, as illustrated in Fig., as a result of irreversibilities in
various components.
Fluid friction and heat loss to the surroundings are the two
common sources of irreversibilities.
• Fluid friction causes pressure

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

drops in the boiler, the
condenser, and the piping
between various
components.

Chapter – 08
• The other major source of
irreversibility is the heat loss
from the steam to the
surroundings as the steam 7
flows through various
components.
Irreversibilities Occurring Within Pump And Turbine

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

A pump requires a greater work input, and a turbine produces a
smaller work output as a result of irreversibilities.
Under ideal conditions, the flow through these devices is
isentropic. The deviation of actual pumps and turbines from the
isentropic ones can be accounted for by utilizing isentropic
efficiencies, defined as

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

Chapter – 08
where states 2a and 4a are the actual exit
states of the pump and the turbine, 8
respectively, and 2s and 4s are the
corresponding states for the isentropic
case
HOW CAN WE INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE RANKINE CYCLE?

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

The basic idea behind all the modifications to increase the
thermal efficiency of a power cycle is the same:
Increase the average temperature at which heat is transferred to the
working fluid in the boiler, or decrease the average temperature at which
heat is rejected from the working fluid in the condenser. That is, the
average fluid temperature should be as high as possible during heat
addition and as low as possible during heat rejection.

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(a) lowering condenser pressure (b) superheating the steam (c) increasing boiler pressure

Chapter – 08
9
THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

Increasing the boiler pressure increases the thermal efficiency of
the Rankine cycle, but it also increases the moisture content of
the steam to unacceptable levels. Then it is natural to ask the
following question:
How can we take advantage of the increased efficiencies at higher boiler
pressures without facing the problem of excessive moisture at the final
stages of the turbine?

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Two possibilities come to mind:
• Superheat the steam to very high temperatures before it enters
the turbine.
• This is not a viable solution, however, since it requires raising the
steam temperature to metallurgically unsafe levels.

Chapter – 08
• Expand the steam in the turbine in two stages, and reheat it in
between.
• Modify the simple ideal Rankine cycle with a reheat process.
10
Reheating is a practical solution to the excessive moisture
problem in turbines, and it is used in steam power plants.
THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

The T-s diagram of the ideal reheat Rankine cycle and the
schematic of the power plant operating on this cycle are shown.

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

Chapter – 08
The ideal reheat Rankine cycle differs from the simple ideal
Rankine cycle in that the expansion process takes place in two
stages. 11
THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

In the first stage (the high pressure turbine), steam is expanded
isentropically to an intermediate pressure and sent back to the
boiler where it is reheated at constant pressure, usually to the
inlet temperature of the first turbine stage.
Steam then expands isentropically in the second stage (low-
pressure turbine) to the condenser pressure.
Thus the total heat input and the total turbine work output for a

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reheat cycle become:

Chapter – 08
Incorporation of the single reheat in a modern power plant
improves the cycle efficiency by 4 to 5 percent by increasing the
average temperature at which heat is transferred to the steam.
Remember that the sole purpose of the reheat cycle is to reduce the 12
moisture content of the steam at the final stages of the expansion
process. If we had materials that could withstand sufficiently
high temperatures, there would be no need for the reheat cycle.
THE PRACTICAL LIMIT TO REHEATING IN AN IDEAL REHEAT
RANKINE CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

The average temperature during
the reheat process can be increased
by increasing the number of
expansion and reheat stages.
As the number of stages is
increased, the expansion and
reheat processes approach an

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isothermal process at the
maximum temperature.
The use of more than two reheat stages, however, is not practical. The
theoretical improvement in efficiency from the second reheat is about half of

Chapter – 08
that which results from a single reheat. If the turbine inlet pressure is not high
enough, double reheat would result in superheated exhaust. This is
undesirable as it would cause the average temperature for heat rejection to
increase and thus the cycle efficiency to decrease. Therefore, double reheat is
used only on supercritical-pressure (P > 22.06 MPa) power plants. A third 13
reheat stage would increase the cycle efficiency by about half of the
improvement attained by the second reheat. This gain is too small to justify
the added cost and complexity.
THE IDEAL REGENERATIVE RANKINE CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems
Chapter – 08
A careful examination of the T-s diagram of the Rankine cycle redrawn in Figure
reveals that heat is transferred to the working fluid during process 2-2’ at a 14
relatively low temperature. This lowers the average heat addition temperature
and thus the cycle efficiency.
THE IDEAL REGENERATIVE RANKINE CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• To remedy this shortcoming, we look for ways to raise the
temperature of the liquid leaving the pump (called the
feedwater) before it enters the boiler.
• One such possibility is to transfer heat to the feedwater from the
expanding steam in a counterflow heat exchanger built into the
turbine, that is, to use regeneration.
• This solution is also impractical because it is difficult to design
such a heat exchanger and because it would increase the

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moisture content of the steam at the final stages of the turbine.
• A practical regeneration process in steam power plants is
accomplished by extracting, or “bleeding,” steam from the
turbine at various points.

Chapter – 08
• This steam, which could have produced more work by
expanding further in the turbine, is used to heat the feedwater
instead.
• The device where the feedwater is heated by regeneration is 15
called a regenerator, or a feedwater heater (FWH).
Advantages of regeneration

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• Regeneration not only improves cycle efficiency, but also
provides a convenient means of deaerating the feedwater
(removing the air that leaks in at the condenser) to prevent
corrosion in the boiler.

• It also helps control the large volume flow rate of the steam at
the final stages of the turbine (due to the large specific volumes

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at low pressures).

• A feedwater heater is basically a heat exchanger where heat is

transferred from the steam to the feedwater either by mixing the

Chapter – 08
two fluid streams (open feedwater heaters) or without mixing
them (closed feedwater heaters).

16
Open Feedwater Heaters
Open (or direct-contact) feedwater heater is basically a mixing

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

chamber, where the steam extracted from the turbine mixes with
the feedwater exiting the pump.
Ideally, the mixture leaves the heater as a saturated liquid at the
heater pressure.
The schematic of a steam power plant with one open feedwater
heater (also called single-stage regenerative cycle) and the T-s
diagram of the cycle are shown in Fig.

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

Chapter – 08
17
Analysis of steam power plants with Open Feedwater Heaters

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

In this case, it is convenient to work with quantities expressed
per unit mass of the steam flowing through the boiler.
• For each 1 kg of steam leaving the boiler, y kg expands
partially in the turbine and is extracted at state 6.
• The remaining (1 - y) kg expands completely to the condenser
pressure.
Therefore, the mass flow rates are different in different

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components. If the mass flow rate through the boiler is , for
example, it is (1 - y)through the condenser.

Chapter – 08
18
Closed Feedwater Heaters

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

In this type of feedwater heater, heat is transferred from the
extracted steam to the feedwater without any mixing taking
place.

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

Chapter – 08
19
The two streams now can be at different pressures, since they
do not mix. The schematic of a steam power plant with one
closed feedwater heater
Closed Feedwater Heaters

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• In an ideal closed feedwater heater, the feedwater is heated
to the exit temperature of the extracted steam, which ideally
leaves the heater as a saturated liquid at the extraction
pressure.
• In actual power plants, the feedwater leaves the heater below
the exit temperature of the extracted steam because a
temperature difference of at least a few degrees is required

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for any effective heat transfer to take place.
• The condensed steam is then either pumped to the feedwater
line or routed to another heater or to the condenser through a
device called a trap.

Chapter – 08
• A trap allows the liquid to be throttled to a lower pressure
region but traps the vapor. The enthalpy of steam remains
constant during this throttling process. 20
Steam power plant with one open & three closed FWHs

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems
Chapter – 08
• For each OFWH, however, a pump is required to handle the
feedwater.
• CFWH do not require a separate pump for each heater since the
extracted steam and the feedwater can be at different pressures. 21
• Therefore, most steam power plants use a combination of open and
closed feedwater heaters.
Steam power plant with one open & three closed FWHs

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems
Chapter – 08
• For each OFWH, however, a pump is required to handle the
feedwater.
• CFWH do not require a separate pump for each heater since the
extracted steam and the feedwater can be at different pressures. 22
• Therefore, most steam power plants use a combination of open and
closed feedwater heaters.
Problem

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

Consider a steam power plant operating on the ideal regenerative
Rankine cycle with one open feedwater heater. Steam enters the
turbine at 15 MPa and 600°C and is condensed in the condenser at a
pressure of 10 kPa. Some steam leaves the turbine at a pressure of 1.2
MPa and enters the open feedwater heater. Determine the fraction of
steam extracted from the turbine and the thermal efficiency of the
cycle.

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

Chapter – 08
23
SUPERCRITICAL RANKINE CYCLE

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

Operating pressures of boilers have gradually increased over the years
from about 2.7 MPa (400 psia) in 1922 to over 30 MPa (4500 psia)
today,
generating enough steam to produce a net power output of 1000 MW
or more in a large power plant.
Today many modern steam power plants operate at supercritical
pressures (P = 22.06 MPa) and have thermal efficiencies of about 40
percent
There for
are fossil-fuel plants and 34 percent for nuclear plants.

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over 150 supercritical-
pressure steam power plants in
operation in the United States. The
lower efficiencies of nuclear power
plants are due to the lower maximum

Chapter – 08
temperatures used in those plants for
safety reasons.
The T-s diagram of a supercritical
Rankine cycle as shown.
24
COGENERATION

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• In all vapour power cycles, the sole purpose was to convert a
portion of the heat transferred to the working fluid to work,
which is the most valuable form of energy.
• Remaining portion of the heat is rejected as waste heat, because
its quality (or grade) is too low to be of any practical use.
• Many industrial systems or devices, however, require energy
input in the form of heat, called process heat.
• Process heat in these industries is usually supplied by steam at

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5 to 7 atm and 150 to 200°C (300 to 400°F). Energy is usually
transferred to the steam by burning coal, oil, natural gas, or
another fuel in a furnace.
• The temperature in furnaces is
typically very high (around

Chapter – 08
1400°C), resulting in very high
quality energy.
• However, steam produce at about
200°C or below (a highly 25
• irreversible process results in low-
quality energy.
IDEAL COGENERATION PLANT

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• Industries that use large amounts of process heat also
consume a large amount of electric power.
• Therefore, it makes economical as well as engineering sense to
use the already-existing work potential to produce power
instead of letting it go to waste.
• The result is a plant that produces
electricity while meeting the process-

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heat requirements of certain industrial
processes.
• Such a plant is called a cogeneration
plant.
• In general, cogeneration is the

Chapter – 08
production of more than one useful
form of energy (such as process heat
and electric power) from the same
energy source. 26
COGENERATION

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• Probably the most striking feature of the ideal steam-turbine
cogeneration plant shown in Fig. is the absence of a
condenser.
• Thus, no heat is rejected from this plant as waste heat. In
other words, all the energy transferred to the steam in the
boiler is utilized as either process heat or electric power.
• Thus, it is appropriate to define a utilization factor for a

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cogeneration plant as:

Chapter – 08
27
where Qout represents the heat
rejected in the condenser.
COGENERATION

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• Strictly speaking, Qout also includes all the undesirable heat
losses from the piping and other components, but they are
usually small and thus neglected.
• It also includes combustion inefficiencies such as incomplete
combustion and stack losses when the utilization factor is defined on
the basis of the heating value of the fuel.
• The utilization factor of the ideal steam-turbine cogeneration

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plant is obviously 100 percent.
• Actual cogeneration plants have utilization factors as high as 80
percent. Some recent cogeneration plants have even higher utilization
factors.
• Notice that without the turbine, we would need to supply

Chapter – 08
heat to the steam in the boiler at a rate of only 100 kW instead
of at 120 kW. The additional 20 kW of heat supplied is
converted to work.
• Therefore, a cogeneration power plant is equivalent to a process- 28
heating plant combined with a power plant that has a thermal
efficiency of 100 percent.
ACTUAL COGENERATION PLANT

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• Ideal steam-turbine cogeneration
plant is not practical because it
cannot adjust to the variations in
power and process-heat loads.
• The schematic of a more practical
(but more complex) cogeneration
plant is shown in Fig.
• Under normal operation, some

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

steam is extracted from the turbine
at predetermined intermediate
pressure P6.
• The rest of the steam expands to the

Chapter – 08
condenser pressure P7 and is then
cooled at constant pressure.
• The heat rejected from the
condenser represents the waste heat 29
for the cycle.
ACTUAL COGENERATION PLANT

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

The rates of heat input, heat rejected, and process heat supply as well
as the power produced for this cogeneration plant can be expressed
as follows:

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

Under optimum conditions, a cogeneration plant simulates the ideal
cogeneration plant. That is, all the steam expands in the turbine to the
extraction pressure and continues to the process-heating unit.

Chapter – 08
No steam passes through the expansion valve or the condenser; thus,
no waste heat is rejected:
i.e.
&
30
This condition may be difficult to achieve in practice because of the
constant variations in the process-heat and power loads.
PROBLEM
Consider the cogeneration plant shown in Fig. 10–24. Steam enters the turbine at 7 MPa

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

and 500°C. Some steam is extracted from the turbine at 500 kPa for process heating. The
remaining steam continues to expand to 5 kPa. Steam is then condensed at constant
pressure and pumped to the boiler pressure of 7 MPa. At times of high demand for
process heat, some steam leaving the boiler is throttled to 500 kPa and is routed to the
process heater. The extraction fractions are adjusted so that steam leaves the process
heater as a saturated liquid at 500 kPa. It is subsequently pumped to 7 MPa. The mass
flow rate of steam through the boiler is 15 kg/s. Disregarding any pressure drops and
heat losses in the piping and assuming the turbine and the pump to be isentropic,
determine (a) the maximum rate at which process heat can be supplied, (b) the power
produced and the utilization factor when no process heat is supplied, and (c) the rate of

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

process heat supply when 10 percent of the steam is extracted before it enters the
turbine and 70 percent of the steam is extracted from the turbine at 500 kPa for process
heating.

Chapter – 08
31
COMBINED GAS-VAPOUR CYCLE POWER PLANT

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

• Popular modification for improvement in the efficiency of a
power plant involves a gas power cycle topping a vapor
power cycle, which is called the combined gas–vapor cycle,
or just the combined cycle.
• The combined cycle of greatest interest is the gas-turbine (Brayton)
cycle topping a steam turbine (Rankine) cycle, which has a higher
thermal efficiency than either of the cycles executed individually.
• Gas-turbine cycles typically operate at considerably higher

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems

temperatures than steam cycles. The maximum fluid
temperature at the turbine inlet is about 620°C for modern
steam power plants, but over 1425°C for gas-turbine power
plants.

Chapter – 08
• The gas leaving the gas turbine is at very high temperatures (usually
above 500°C). The use the high temperature exhaust gases as the
energy source for the bottoming cycle such as a steam power cycle is
advantageous. The result is a combined gas–steam cycle.
32
COMBINED GAS-VAPOUR CYCLE POWER PLANT

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

EME-322 Energy Conversion Systems
Chapter – 08
In this cycle, energy is recovered from the exhaust gases by transferring
it to the steam in a heat exchanger that serves as the boiler. In general,
more than one gas turbine is needed to supply sufficient heat to the 33
steam. Also, the steam cycle may involve regeneration as well as
reheating. Energy for the reheating process can be supplied by burning
some additional fuel in the oxygen-rich exhaust gases.
PROBLEM

Applied Thermodynamics for Engineering Technologists, Eastop & McConkey

Consider the combined gas–steam power cycle shown in Fig. The
topping cycle is a gas-turbine cycle that has a pressure ratio of 8. Air
enters the compressor at 300 K and the turbine at 1300 K. The
isentropic efficiency of the compressor is 80 %, and that of the gas
turbine is 85 %. The bottoming cycle is a simple ideal Rankine cycle
operating between the pressure limits of 7 MPa and 5 kPa..
Steam is heated in a heat exchanger
by the exhaust gases to temperature

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of 500°C. The exhaust gases leave
the heat exchanger at 450 K.
Determine:
(a) the ratio of the mass flow rates
of the steam and the

Chapter – 08
combustion gases and
(b) (b) the thermal efficiency of the
combined cycle.
34