Mean temperature of heat reception as applied to the Rankine cycle

P. E. Liley 3608 Mulberry Drive, Lafayette, IN. 47905-3937, USA E-mail: eandpliley@insightbb.com
Abstract An alternative, possibly simpler, thermodynamic analysis of Rankine cycles is proposed. Keywords Rankine cycle; vapor cycles; irreversibility; availability; thermodynamic efciency

Nomenclature f h i P Q s t T Th v W x saturated liquid specic enthalpy, kJ/kg specic irreversibility, kJ/kg pressure, bar heat transfer, kJ/kg specic entropy, kJ/kg.K Celsius temperature, C absolute temperature, K mean temperature of heat reception, K specic volume, m3/kg specic work, kJ/kg quality of liquidvapor mixture

Subscripts c condition at condenser C condition at dead state surrounding h condition at boiler inlet H condition at source o dead state reference condition h thermodynamic efciency

Introduction This paper considers the application of the concept of the mean temperature of heat reception, i.e., the effective temperature of energy input in a cycle, as contrasted with the varying temperatures which actually occur. It will be presumed that the reader will have a knowledge of the basic Rankine cycle and of superheating and reheating, concepts explained in nearly all undergraduate engineering thermodynamic textbooks.
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Fig. 1

Temperatureentropy diagram for Rankine cycles.

Analysis Fig. 1 illustrates a Rankine cycle in which the uid is isentropically compressed from point 1 to point 2, heated to condition 3 and isentropically expanded from point 3 to point 4, nally being condensed from point 4 back to the original condition, point 1. The heat added in the cycle is 2 3 Tds, which is the area under the Ts diagram from point 2 to point 3. In the present analysis this is equated to the area of the rectangle of height T h and width Ds, where T h is dened as the mean temperature of heat input. The use of this concept has, to the best of the authors knowledge, been considered by only two authors. Haywood [1] gives a denition of T h similar to that above but then remarks that it would not be sensible to use it in numerical computation. Surprisingly, in another publication [2] he uses it in two calculations. Cole [3] gives a descriptive account of the concept without any numerical calculations. In all the following, a Rankine cycle with a condenser pressure of 0.04 bar and a boiler pressure of 40 bar will be considered. The feed pump work is Wp =
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TABLE 1
Point Cycle t (C) T (K) P (bar) h (kJ/kg) s (kJ/kg.K) x Cycle T h (K) h 1 all 28.97 302.12 0.04 121.28 0.4220 0.0

Thermodynamic properties and results for Rankine cycles

2 all 28.97 302.12 40 125.29 0.4220 3 1 250.39 523.54 40 2800.6 6.0689 1.0 4 1 28.97 302.12 0.04 1827.2 6.0689 0.7014 1234 473.76 0.3623 5 2 500.00 773.15 40 3445.4 7.0902 6 2 28.97 302.12 0.04 2135.9 7.0902 0.8283 1256 497.90 0.3932 7 3 123.71 396.86 2.24 2711.5 7.0902 1.0 8 3 500.00 773.15 2.24 3486.9 8.4643 9 3 28.97 302.12 0.04 2 551.1 8.4643 0.9990 125 789 509.24 0.4067

Cycle identication: 1 = simple Rankine cycle, points 14; 2 = Rankine cycle with superheat, points 1, 2, 5, 6; 3 = Rankine cycle with superheat and reheat, points 1, 2, 79.

vf(P2 - P1) = 4.01 kJ/kg so that h2 = h1 + Wp = 125.3 kJ/kg.1 The turbine work is WT = h4 - h3 = 973.4 kJ/kg, so that the net work output per cycle is 969.4 kJ/kg. The energy input in the boiler is Qh = h3 - h2 = 2675.3 kJ/kg and the heat removed in the condenser is Qc = h1 - h4 = 1705.9 kJ/kg for a net heat transfer of 969.4 kJ/kg into the system. The thermodynamic efciency of the cycle is h = Wnet/Qh = 0.3624. All the above is the standard cycle analysis. Alternatively, as the heat supplied in the cycle is Qh = Tds, if a mean temperature of heat reception, T h, is assumed, then Qh = T hDs = T h(s3 - s2). Using s3 = 6.0689 kJ/kg.K and s2 = s1 = 0.4220 kJ/kg.K with Qh = h3 - h2 = 2675.3 kJ/kg enables T h to be calculated as 473.76 K. Since the cycle is now a rectangle on the Ts diagram, the cycle efciency, using an absolute temperature of 302.12 K for Tc, is 1 - Tc/Th = 0.3623. This result agrees with that obtained above. Calculations made in this manner only require a knowledge of the cycle parameters at points 2 and 3. Table 1 lists values of thermodynamic properties for points 19 of Fig. 1 and of values derived therefrom. Points 14 refer to the cycle analyzed above. The cycle 1256 is for the steam to be superheated to 40 bar, 500 C, and cycle 125 789 is for the steam to be superheated and then reheated to 500 C. These results may be compared to those which will be obtained by the standard analysis and excellent agreement is obtained. As a further check on the validity of using the mean temperature of heat addition, similar calculations were made for boiler pressures of 20, 60, 80 and 100 bar, and all the results are summarized in Table 2. Except possibly for the cases of superheat with and without reheat at 100 bar, the agreement seems to be satisfactory.
1. After this paper was prepared, recalculation using the IAPWS formulation 1995 [4] steam tables resulted in negligible changes in the results listed here, which were obtained using the Haar et al. [5] tables.
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TABLE 2

Rankine cycle data for cycles operated between condenser pressure of 0.04 bar and stated boiler pressures
Boiler pressure (bar)

Item qh (kJ/kg) Wnet (kJ/kg) h T (K) h qh (kJ/kg) Wnet (kJ/kg) h T (K) h qh (kJ/kg) Wnet (kJ/kg) h T (K) h P7 (bar) t7 (C)

Case 1a 1a 1a 1b 1b 2a 2a 2a 2b 2b 3a 3a 3a 3b 3b 3 3

20 2675.4 -887.6 0.3318 452.11 0.3318 3344.4 -1226.6 0.3668 477.10 0.3668 4167.2 -1576.1 0.3782 489.40 0.3827 0.04 113.39

40 2675.3 -969.4 0.3623 473.76 0.3624 3320.1 -1305.5 0.3939 497.90 0.3932 4095.5 -1665.7 0.4067 509.24 0.4067 2.235 123.71

60 2656.6 -1005.0 0.3783 485.96 0.3783 3295.0 -1349.8 0.4078 510.18 0.4078 4040.2 -1732.7 0.4220 521.48 0.4206 4.192 145.36

80 2628.5 -1020.9 0.3884 493.98 0.3884 3269.2 -1365.2 0.4176 518.73 0.4176 3990.0 -1714.8 0.4298 529.82 0.4298 6.671 168.05

100 2593.2 -1024.6 0.3951 500.67 0.3951 3242.7 -1377.1 0.4278 525.13 0.4247 3945.1 -1732.7 0.4392 536.33 0.4367 9.682 178.51

Case identication: 1 = simple Rankine cycle, 2 = Rankine cycle with superheat, 3 = Rankine cycle with superheat and reheat. a = actual cycle parameters from usual calculation, b = Mean temperature of heat reception parameters.

Availability (exergy) and irreversibility analysis With the usual assumption of negligible kinetic or potential energy changes, the ow or stream availability may be dened as y = (h - ho) - To(s - so), where the subscript o refers to the surrounding or dead state. If a heat transfer occurs with a system at temperature T, the availability is y = q(1 - To/T). For further details the summary by Black and Hartley [6] seems to be particularly cogent. For a simple Rankine cycle operating between 0.04 and 40 bar, cycle 1234, with heat owing from a heat reservoir at 750 C and the sink or dead space temperature being 20 C, Dyboil = (h3 - h2) - To(s3 - s2) = 1019.9 kJ/kg, where To = 293.15 K. Dycond = (h4 - h1) - To(s4 - s1) = 50.5 kJ/kg. Since s3 - s2 = s4 - s1, Dyboil - Dycond = (h3 - h2) (h4 - h1) = Qh - Qc. This is also (h3 - h4) - (h2 - h1) = WT - Wp. So that 1019.9 - 50.5 = 969.4 kJ/kg, which checks. Since the pump and the turbine are considered to be reversible, the total irreversibility in the cycle is icyc = iboil + icond = To(s3 - s1 - Qh/TH) To(s1 - s3 - Qc/TC) = To(Qc/TC - Qh/TH) = 939.37 kJ/kg, where TH = 1023.15 K and TC = 293.15 K. The available part of the heat from the high-temperature reservoir is Qh(1 - To/TH) = 1908.8 kJ/kg. Adding the net work output per cycle, 969.4 kJ/kg, to the total irreversibility in the cycle, 939.37 kJ/kg, yields 1908.8 kJ/kg, the available part of the heat input. This is the standard cycle analysis.
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Using the mean temperature of heat input concept, iboil = To(1 - T h/TH)Ds = 293.15(1 - [473.76/1023.15])5.6469 = 888.88 kJ/kg and icond = To(Tc/TC - 1)Ds = 50.65 kJ/kg for a total irreversibility of 939.57 kJ/kg. An additional check is provided by the relation icyc = Qh (hCarnot - hactual) = 2675.3(1 - 0.2865 - 0.3624) = 939.25 kJ/kg, again in agreement. To summarize the proposed method, determine the initial enthalpy, h1, and entropy, s1, values, also the enthalpy, h2, after isentropic compression, the maximum enthalpy value, hm, and the maximum entropy, sm, reached in the cycle. Then the heat added in the cycle is Qh = hm - h2, the mean temperature of heat reception is T h = (hm - h2)/(sm - s1), the thermodynamic efciency is 1 - Tc/Th, where Tc is the condenser temperature = T1, the net work per cycle is (T h - T1)(sm - s1) or hQh. The irreversibility in the boiler is To(1 - T h/TH)(sm - s1) where To and TH are the temperatures of the heat sink and the heat source respectively. The irreversibility of the condenser is To(Tc/TC - 1)(sm - s1). The simplicity of the proposed method does not hold where reheating occurs, as one has to determine interstage pressures, enthalpies and entropies, but the method can be used as a check. References
[1] R. W. Haywood, Equilibrium Thermodynamics for Engineers and Scientists (Wiley, New York, 1980), section 14.1.7, pp. 205206. (This book has been reprinted by Krieger Publishing, Malabar, FL.) [2] R. W. Haywood, Analysis of Engineering Cycles. Worked Problems (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1991), see problem 7.6. [3] G. H. A. Cole, Thermal Power Cycles (Arnold, London, 1991), section 11.6, pp. 149150. [4] A. H. Harvey, Thermodynamic Properties of Water (NISTIR 5078, Boulder, CO, 1998). [5] L. Haar, J. S. Gallagher, et al., NBS/NRC Steam Tables (Hemisphere, Washington, DC, 1984). [6] W. Z. Black and J. G. Hartley, Thermodynamics, 3rd edn (Harper Collins, New York, 1996), see table 6.1, p. 324, and relevant text.

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