Open University Malaysia

Faculty Science and Technology

Diploma in Mechanical Engineering
Subject Advance Fluid Mechanics For Mechanical Engineering
Code EDMFS3103
Semester September Date: 19/10/08

A. Information on Students


























EXPERIMENT 1: PERFORMANCE OF A STEAM POWER PLANT

OBJECTIVE OF EXPERIMENT:

This experiment is to acquire experience on the operation of a functional steam turbine
power plant and understanding of simple Rankine cycle. A comparison of a real world
operating characteristics to that of the ideal Rankine power cycle will be made and
identification factors and parameters affecting the cycle efficiency. In this experiment, we
will determine:
a a) ) Thermodynamics properties (entropies, enthalpies, quality, etc). Draw a
schematic of the cycle in a T-S diagram.
b b) ) Thermal efficiency of the cycle.
c c) ) Mass flow rate steam in the turbine.








Theory
The Rankine cycle is the most common of all power generation cycles as shown in
Figures 1 and 2. The Rankine cycle was devised to make use of the characteristics of
water as the working fluid. The cycle begins in a boiler (State 3 in figure 1), where the
water is heated until it reaches saturation- in a constant-pressure process. Once
saturation is reached, further heat transfer takes place at a constant temperature, until
the working fluid reaches a quality of 100% (State 4). At this point, the high-quality
vapor is expanded isoentropically through an axially bladed turbine stage to produce
shaft work. The steam then exits the turbine at State 5.
The working fluid, at State 5, is at a low-pressure, but has a fairly high quality, so it is
routed through a condenser, where the steam is condensed into liquid (State 1). Finally,
the cycle is completed via the return of the liquid to the boiler, which is normally
accomplished by a mechanical pump. Figure 2 shows a schematic of a power plant
under a Rankine cycle.

Figure 1: Diagrams for a simple ideal Rankine cycle:
a) P-V diagram, b) T-S diagram


1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
The area under the process curve in the T s diagram represents the heat
transfer for an internally reversible process. The area under the process curve from
state 2 to state 4 is the heat transferred to the water in the boiler. The area under the
process curve from state 5 to state 1 is the heat rejected in the condenser. The
difference between the two (the area within the process cycle) represents the net work
produced by the cycle.
To perform the thermodynamic analysis on the ideal cycle each component is
modeled as a control volume. All processes are executed in steady-flow sections and
can be analyzed as a steady-flow process, expressed on a basis of unit mass as q w =
h
exit
h
inlet
. The boiler and condenser do not involve work and the turbine is considered
to be isentropic. Additionally, there is one flow in to each device and one flow out of
each device. Under consideration of all of these conditions the specific first law analysis
for each device is:
Pump (q = 0): w
in,PUMP
= h
2
h
1

Boiler (w = 0): q
in
= h
4
h
3

Turbine (q = 0): w
out,TURB
= h
4
h
5

Condenser (w = 0): q
out
= h
4
h
1

The thermal efficiency of the Rankine cycle is determined from:
in
out
in
net
th
q
q
q
w
= = 1 q

Where w
net
= q
in
q
out
= w
out,TURB
w
in,PUMP















Figure 2: Diagrams for a Typical Steam Plant cycle










EQUIPMENT SET UP:
The set-up consists of :

1. Fire tube boiler
2. Feed water pump
3. Distillate auxiliary
4. Superheater burner
5. Condensing steam turbine and gland sealing system
6. 5kW Generator ; single phase 240 Volts
7. Water cooled Condenser
8. Cooling tower
9. Associate steam and blow down pipings and valves.

Installed sensor list includes:

1. Feed water Pressure (P1)
2. Feed water Temperature (T1)
3. Boiler Pressure (P2)
4. Boiler Temperature (T2)
5. Superheater Pressure (P3)
6. Superheater Temperature (T3)
7. Turbine Inlet Pressure (P4)
8. Turbine Inlet Temperature (T4)
9. Turbine Exit Pressure (P5)
10. Turbine Exit Temperature (T5)
11. Fuel Flow
12. Generator Voltage output


Figure 3: Schematic of Rankine cycle steam turbine apparatus

Turbine Exit
pressure &Temp (P5
& T5)

Turbine Inlet
pressure &Temp (P4
& T4)

Feed water pressure
/Temp (P2 & T2)

Superheater
Fuel oil /
Diesel

Water tank

Feed water pressure
/Temp (P1 & T1)

Boiler pressure &Temp
(P3 & T3)


PROCEDURE:

- Start the closed circuit cooling tower system which supplied cooling water
to the vacuum condenser.
- Fill the gravity feed water tank which supply water to feed water pump and
delivers it to the boiler, the boiler was then startup until sufficient steam
pressure and temperature obtained.
- Open the steam cock valve from boiler to the steam turbine via pipings
which runs through the superheater.
- The steam turbine shaft will starts to rotates once superheated steam is
emitted in the steam chest and directed by the nozzle to the turbine blades
via the governor throttle valve.
- Open the steam cock valve for the gland sealing system.
- Slowly increased the steam turbine speed to 3000rpm (50hz) and lightly
loaded the generator with 1kW bulb.
- Repeat the loading of the generator incremental of 1kW until full load at
5 kW.
- Record the fuel flow for 3 mins for each loading
- Record reading as per table and calculate the followings:
1. Mass flow of steam.
2. Rankine Efficiency.












Result:

Electrical power demand (kW) 1 2 3 4 5
Voltage(V) 225 210 215 210 170
Current(I) 5.1 10.1 15 17.6 18.5
Power output(P=V x I) Watt 1147.5 2121 3225 3696 3145
Fuel Consumption in boiler (kg) / 10
mins 1.7 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.8
P
1
(bar) 1 1 1 1 1
P
2
(bar) 10.3 10.3 8 8 8
P
3
(bar) 8 7.5 7 7 6.5
P
4
(bar) 2.55 3 4.7 6 5.5
P
5
(bar) -0.25 -0.15 0 0.25 0.15
T
1
(c) 29 29 29 29 29
T
2
(c) 170 174 171 170 170
T
3
(c) 170 174 171 170 170
T
4
(c) 300 302 280 259 264
T
5
(c) 58 64 74 82 80
h
1
(kJ/kg) 417.4365 417.4365 417.4365 417.4365 417.4365
h
2
(kJ/kg) 417.4365 417.4365 417.4365 417.4365 417.4365
h
3
(kJ/kg) 2768.302 2765.641 2762.749 2762.749 2759.595
h
4
(kJ/kg) 3070.7249 3073.6852 3024.1257 2976.5448 2988.5986
h
5
(kJ/kg) 2605.359 2615.784 2632.909 2646.351 2643.014
h
2
- h
1
(kJ/kg) Work done by pump is neglected
h
4
- h
5
(kJ/kg) 465.3656 457.9017 391.2167 330.1933 345.5843
h
4
- h
2
(kJ/kg) 2605.3592 2656.2487 2606.6892 2559.1083 2571.1622
Mass flow rate of steam, m
s
(x 10
-3

kg/s) 2.465803 4.631999 8.243512 11.19344 9.100529
Mass flow rate of diesel, m
f
(x 10
-3

kg/s) 2.833333 3.500000 3.833333 4.000000 4.666667
Rankine efficiency (%) 17.86186 17.23866 15.00819 12.90267 13.44078

















Figure 4: T-S diagram
Diagrams for a experiment Rankine cycle:

Rankine cycle analysis
This experiment has an important difference with the cycle shown in Figure 2. The
difference is that there is no pump to complete the cycle. This is not exactly a cycle.
Instead, it is an open system. The steam crossing the condenser i.e condensate is
stored in a tank as show in Figure 3, but the principle of Rankine cycle studied in
Thermodynamic is still valid.
The boiler will be filled with water before the experiment and the experiment will be
ended when the water is reaches the minimum level of correct operation, given by the
demonstrator.
Another important difference is that between the boiler and turbine there is a valve that
generates a throttling effect. The throttling process is analyzed as an isenthalpic
process. Also, the boiler generates a superheated vapor.
S

1
2
3
4
5

T
I I. . Mass flow rate in the turbine
From the generated amperage and voltage:
VI W
t
=

so, the mass flow rate in the turbine is:
( )
5 4
h h
VI
m
t

=
q

Where
t
q
is the efficiency of the turbine. Here, we will assume this efficiency equal to
one.
I II I. . Rankine Efficiency of Cycle
The net work of the cycle is defined by the difference between the turbine work and the
pump work:
( ) ( )
1 2 5 4
h h m h h m W W W
water water p t cycle
= =


If the pump work is neglected, the net work of the cycle reduces to:
( )
5 4
h h m W
water cycle
=

Then the thermal efficiency of this system is defined by the rate between the net work
and heat transfer from the boiler:
( )
( )
2 4
5 4
h h
h h
Q
W
in
t

= =

q






Assumption:
1. Each component of the cycle is analyzed at steady state.
2. Constant pressure heat rejection.
3. The turbine and pump operate adiabatically (Constant pressure heat addition).
4. Kinetic and potential energy effects are negligible.
5. Superheated vapor enters the turbine.
6. Condensate exits the condenser as saturated liquid.
7. x =1


Analysis:
State 1, condenser outlet - pump inlet:
kg
m
v v
kg
kJ
h h abs bar psig p
f f
3
1 1 1
001049 . 0 , 3 . 448 _ 291 . 1 042 . 4 = = = = = =
State 3, boiler outlet - turbine inlet:
K kg
kJ
s
kg
kJ
h C T abs bar psig p

= = = = = 202 . 7 , 1 . 2727 5 . 129 , _ 903 . 1 924 . 12

3 3 3 3

State 4, turbine outlet condenser inlet:
kg
kJ
h C T abs bar p p 4 . 2722 3 . 124 , _ 291 . 1
4 4 1 4
= = = =
Process 1-2, pump:
abs bar p p _ 903 . 1
3 2
= =
Because the pump is assumed isentropic
( ) ( ) kW kPa kPa
kg
m
s
kg
p p v m W
PUMP in net
06420 . 0 1 . 129 3 . 190 001049 . 0 00 . 1
3
1 2 1 , ,
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
= =

kg
kJ
s
kg
kW
kg
kJ
s
kg
m
W h m
h
in net
4 . 448
00 . 1
06420 . 0 3 . 448 00 . 1
, 1
2
=

|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=

Process 2-3, boiler:

( ) kW
kg
kJ
kg
kJ
s
kg
h h m Q
BOILER in net
7 . 2278 4 . 448 1 . 2727 00 . 1
2 3 , ,
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
= =

Process 3-4, turbine:
( ) kW
kg
kJ
kg
kJ
s
kg
h h m W
TURB out net
6181 . 4 4 . 2722 1 . 2727 00 . 1
4 3 , ,
=
(

|
.
|

\
|
= =

Process 4-1, condenser:
( ) kW
kg
kJ
kg
kJ
s
kg
h h m Q
COND in net
1 . 2274 4 . 2722 3 . 448 00 . 1
4 1 , ,
=
(

|
.
|

\
|
= =

Generator power
( )( ) W V Amp IV P
gen
756 . 0 032 . 2 372 . 0 = = =
Net work
kW kW kW W W W
PUMP in net TURB out net out net
5539 . 4 06420 . 0 6181 . 4
, , , , ,
= = =


Overall thermal efficiency
% 200 . 0 100
7 . 2278
5539 . 4
100
, ,
,
= = =
kW
kW
Q
W
BOILER in net
out net

q

Observation:
The thermal efficiency of this Rankine cycle is very small compared to the
efficiencies obtained in power plants that use the Rankine cycle. The thermal
efficiencies for the cycle ranged from 0.123% to 0.200%, whereas a power plant might
have efficiencies of around 25-30%. The generator efficiency was even smaller than the
thermal efficiency, suggesting that the generator is not producing much power from the
shaft rotation. The turbine isentropic efficiencies were around 5-7%, suggesting that
there is much heat loss and friction in the turbine, resulting in much irreversibility. There
are many other possible explanations for the small efficiencies obtained. It may not be
accurate to compare a Rankine cycle of this size to a power plant cycle. The small size
of the Rankine cycle test device is probably not the proper or ideal size for a practical
Rankine cycle plant. It is possible that much of the heat of the propane combustion is
wasted since the boiler may not be large enough to facilitate the efficient transfer of heat
from the combustion to the water and steam. Heat and pressure losses from the boiler
are probably significant, although there was no apparent way to measure these losses,
so the analysis assumes that they do not occur. It is also likely that the fuel may not
entirely combust, or the density and heating value of the propane used in the experiment
may be different from the values used in the analysis. Significant pressure losses
probably also occur in the cooling tower, although constant pressure heat rejection is
assumed in the analysis. The assumption that the water leaves the condenser as a
saturated liquid may not be valid if the cooling tower does not efficiently reject the heat.
The large steam loss from the cooling tower and other components decreases the mass
flow rate, which decreases the work produced by the turbine and reduces the thermal
efficiency of the cycle. The lower mass flow rate is probably not the optimum flow for
the boiler or turbine, resulting in irreversibilities and less efficiency for the components.
The steam loss made it difficult to achieve the desired generator power output since the
turbine was producing less shaft work. Heat and pressure losses also likely occur in the
pipes and valves connecting the prime movers. The significant drop in temperature from
the boiler outlet to the turbine inlet exemplifies these losses, which result in lost work
potential and lower efficiency. The steam loss rate is probably smaller than the
calculated value since the cycle was losing steam before data collecting began. The
cycle had to achieve a relatively steady state before the data collecting could begin.
Contaminants in the water, such as oil, may have altered the properties of the water,
affecting the work output and efficiencies.
Other possible sources of error may relate to the calculation or measuring
instruments. Precision limitations of the thermocouples, fuel flow sensor, or graduated
cylinders limited the accuracy of the first-law calculations and the steam loss rate.
Interpolations and rounding of values using property tables also contribute to precision
errors.

1. The experiment conducted was not so accurate due to leakage during
collection of water in the metering hydraulic bench. As a result collection time
was extended and this cause uncertainty in Re due to the uncertainty in both
volume and time measurements to calculate the average flow velocity which
was use for Re numbers calculation.
2. The uncertainty in the friction factor is similarly related to measurement of
volume and time because velocity is used in its calculation, and also affected
by the measured pressure difference.
3. There was error in the collection of pressure measurements, as the level in the
manometer not stabilized and the instantaneous reading made inaccurate and
also made the simultaneous reading of both pressure impossible.

Conclusion

- Graph log
L
H versus log Q
From graph log
L
H versus log Q we can know the minor loss in the pipe system
due to sudden change in flow direction as in the entrance flow. The friction loss is
proportional to the pipe length, while minor losses can be emulated by sudden
pressure drop. In this case, we can summarize that minor losses represent
pressure losses in developing flow which is experiencing disturbances and
changes in internal pipe geometry.
- Comparison of the graph.
From the graph we understand that the high flow and slow flow along a pipe. The
case that can cause minor loss is valve. The valve may only have two positions,
either open or close, or may be able to vary the flow rate. In valve, minor loss is
only generated when it is at lease partially open. It reduces the flow rate of a fluid
by reducing the opening. With combination of it internal geometry as radius, the
reduction of the opening generates a high pressure loss and thus reducing the
flow velocity.