ME211B: Thermodynamics
Instructor: Joon Sang Kang
Chapter 10 (10-1~10-5)
VAPOR AND COMBINED
POWER CYCLES
Objectives
• Analyze vapor power cycles in which the working fluid is
alternately vaporized and condensed.
• Investigate ways to modify the basic Rankine vapor power
cycle to increase the cycle thermal efficiency.
• Analyze the reheat vapor power cycles.
THE CARNOT VAPOR CYCLE
1-2 isothermal heat addition in a boiler
2-3 isentropic expansion in a turbine
3-4 isothermal heat rejection in a condenser
4-1 isentropic compression in a compressor
THE CARNOT VAPOR CYCLE
The Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle operating between two specified
temperature limits but it is not a suitable model for power cycles. Because:
Process 1-2 Limiting the heat transfer processes to two-phase systems
severely limits the maximum temperature that can be used in the cycle (374°C
for water)
Process 2-3 The turbine cannot handle steam with a high moisture content
because of the impingement of liquid droplets on the turbine blades causing
erosion and wear.
Process 4-1 It is not practical to design a compressor that handles two phases.
The cycle in (b) is not suitable since it requires isentropic compression to
extremely high pressures and isothermal heat transfer at variable pressures.
RANKINE CYCLE: THE IDEAL CYCLE
FOR VAPOR POWER CYCLES
Many of the impracticalities can be
eliminated by superheating the steam in
the boiler and condensing it completely in
the condenser.
The cycle that results is the Rankine cycle,
which is the ideal cycle for vapor power
plants.
The ideal Rankine cycle: no internal
irreversibilities.
Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle
Steady-flow energy equation
Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle
The thermal efficiency can be interpreted
as the ratio of the area enclosed by the
cycle on a T-s diagram to the area under
the heat-addition process
n
DEVIATION OF ACTUAL VAPOR POWER
CYCLES FROM IDEALIZED ONES
The actual vapor power cycle differs from the ideal Rankine cycle as a result of
irreversibilities in various components.
Fluid friction and heat loss to the surroundings are the two common sources of
irreversibilities.
Isentropic efficiencies
(a) Deviation of actual vapor power cycle from the ideal Rankine cycle.
(b) The effect of pump and turbine irreversibilities on the ideal Rankine
cycle.
HOW CAN WE INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY
OF THE RANKINE CYCLE?
nM tn
-
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
Tn λ
transferred to the working fluid in the boiler
- Decrease the average temperature at which heat is Tu ↓
rejected from the working fluid in the condenser.
Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)
To take advantage of the
increased efficiencies at low
'
pressures, the condensers of
√
steam power plants usually
operate well below the
atmospheric pressure. There is
a lower limit to this pressure
depending on the temperature of
the cooling medium
Side effect: Lowering the
condenser pressure increases
the moisture content of the
steam at the final stages of the
turbine.
β ncisture
4 mixture
7 blade
Superheating the Steam to High
Temperatures (Increases Thigh,avg)
- Both qin and wout increase.
- Thermal efficiency is increased
since the average temperature at
which heat is added increases.
- Superheating to higher
temperatures decreases the
moisture content of the steam
which is desirable.
- The temperature is limited by
choice of materials Presently the
highest steam temperature allowed
at the turbine inlet is about 620°C.
Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,avg)
For a fixed turbine inlet temperature, the
cycle shifts to the left and the moisture
content of steam at the turbine exit
increases.
This side effect can be corrected by
reheating the steam.
Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,avg)
Today many modern steam
power plants operate at
supercritical pressures
(P > 22.06 MPa) and have
thermal efficiencies of about
40% for fossil-fuel plants and
34% for nuclear plants.
THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE
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?
1. Superheat the steam to very high temperatures. It is limited by materials.
2. Expand the steam in the turbine in two stages, and reheat it in between (reheat)
yh
=
inturman
THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE
- The single reheat in a modern power
plant improves the cycle efficiency by 4 to
5% by increasing the average temperature
- The average temperature 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 isothermal process The use of more
than two reheat stages is not practical. The
theoretical improvement in efficiency from
the second reheat is about half of that
which results from a single reheat.
- The reheat temperatures are very close
or equal to the turbine inlet temperature.
THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE
ex lo 4
)
-
Summary
• The Carnot vapor cycle
• Rankine cycle: The ideal cycle for vapor power cycles
• Deviation of actual vapor power cycles from idealized ones
• How can we increase the efficiency of the Rankine cycle?
• The ideal reheat Rankine cycle
