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Chapter8a:IdealRankineandReheatSteamPowerCycles(revised4/25/10)

Chapter8:SteamPowerCycles
a)IdealRankineandReheatCycles
WeintroducedthebasicSteamPowerPlantinChapter4b,howeverwecouldonlyevaluatethe
turbineandfeedwaterpumpafterweintroducedtheconceptofentropyinChapter6a.Inthis
Chapterwewillconsideridealsteampowercyclesincludingisentropicturbinesandpumps.This
willallowustodeterminethemaximumperformanceofthesesystems,andevaluatethe
influenceofvariouscomponentsonthisperformance.
Thepressureenthalpy(Ph)diagram
ThecommonmethodofdescribingsteampowerplantsystemsisbyplottingthemonaTs
(temperatureentropy)diagramforsteam.Thisisdoneexclusivelyinallthermodynamictext
booksthatIhaveevaluatedovermanyyears.Wefindthisapproachcumbersome,nonintuitive
andevenincorrectinthedescriptionoffeedwaterpumps.WewillmakeexclusiveuseofPh
(pressureenthalpy)diagrams(whichweinroducedinChapter4b)todescribethevarioussteam
powersystemsandwewillrequirethatallproblemstobesolvedshouldfirstbedrawnontheP
hdiagram.
AtypicalPhdiagramforsteamisshownbelow.Oneaspectofthediagramthatwehaveignored
untilnowarethevariousconstantentropylinesdrawninthesuperheatedandhighquality
sectionofthediagram.Wewillusetheselinestoindicatethepathofanisentropicturbineforthe
idealcyclesdescribedbelow.Wedonotrequirethisforthefeedwaterpumpssince,aswe
determinedinChapter6a,theisentropicpumpfollowstheconstanttemperatureline.

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Chapter8a:IdealRankineandReheatSteamPowerCycles(revised4/25/10)

AnIdealRankineHighPressure(15MPa)SteamPowerCycle
ThisisshownbelowasanIdealRankinecycle,whichisthesimplestofthesteampowercycles.
WehavespecificallysplittheturbineintoaHighPressure(HP)turbineandaLowPressure(LP)
turbinesinceitisimpracticalforasingleturbinetoexpandfrom15MPato10kPa.

Asstatedabove,ourapproachisthatpriortodoinganyanalysiswewillalwaysfirstsketchthe
completecycleonaPhdiagrambasedexclusivelyonthepressureandtemperaturedata
presented,asfollows:

Noticethatsincebothturbinesareconsideredideal,theyfollowtheisentropiccurve(1)(2).
FromthePhdiagramweseethattheLPturbineoutput(station(2))hasaqualityof80%.Thisis
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unacceptable.Thecondensedwaterwillcauseerosionoftheturbineblades,andweshould
alwaystrytomaintainaqualityofabove90%.Oneexampleoftheeffectsofthiserosioncanbe
seenonthebladetipsofthefinalstageoftheGavinLPturbine.During2000,allfourLP
turbinesneededtobereplacedbecauseofthereducedperformanceresultingfromthiserosion.
ThusoncewehavedeterminedfromthePhdiagramthatthiscycleisimpracticalwehaveno
reasontocontinuewiththeanalysis,andprefertoextendthisintoanIdealReheatsteampower
cycleasfollows.

AHighPressureIdealReheatSteamPowerCycle
WeextendtheaboveexampletothemorepracticalIdealReheatcycleasshownbelow.Inthis
exampletheHPturbineexpandsthesteamfrom15MPato1MPa,andthesteamissubsequently
reheatedbackto600CbeforebeingexpandedintheLPturbineto10kPa.

AgainweplotthiscycleonthePhdiagramandcompareittotheprevioussituationofno
reheat,asshownbelow:

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Chapter8a:IdealRankineandReheatSteamPowerCycles(revised4/25/10)

WenoticethatreheatingtheoutputoftheHPturbinebackto600C(process(2)(3))allowsboth
significantlymorepoweroutputaswellasincreasingthequalityattheLPturbineoutput(4)to
98%.
ThemethodofanalysisissimilartothatdevelopedinChapter4b,inwhichweconsidereach
componentasaseparatecontrolvolume.
1)Assumingbothturbinesareisentropic(adiabaticandreversible),andneglectingkinetic
energyeffectsweusethesteamtablestodeterminethecombinedworkoutputofboth
turbines.

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Chapter8a:IdealRankineandReheatSteamPowerCycles(revised4/25/10)

2)Inthisidealcycleweassumethatthefeedwaterpumpisisentropic.Furthermore,since
thesuctiontemperatureofthewateris46C,weassumethatitbehavesasan
incompressibleliquid,evenat15MPa.RecallfromChapter4bwherewederivedthe
energyequationforanincompressibleliquid.

3)Thetotalheattransfertotheboiler,includingthereheatsystem:

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4)ThethermalefficiencyoftheidealRankinereheatsystem,definedasthenetworkdone
(turbines,pump)dividedbythetotalheatsuppliedtotheboiler:

Noticethatwecouldhavealsodeterminedthethermalefficiencybythesimplermethodof
evaluatingthecondenserheattransferredtothecoolingwater,thus:

Thisisanexcellentcheckandshouldalwaysbedonetovalidateyouranswer.Thereasonwhy
wehavepreferredtoevaluatetheoutputpowerdirectlyisthatitistheprimarypurposeofa
steampowerplant,thuswearealwaysinterestedinthevariouscomponents(turbines,pumps)
thatdirectlyinfluenceitsvalue.Thermalefficiencyisimportantinitsownright,howeveronly
onconditionthatwecansatisfytheoutputpowerrequirementsofthesteampowerplant.

OntoSectionb)ofSteamPowerCycles
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