Vapor Power Systems

Power plants work on a cycle that produces net work

from a fossil fuel (natural gas, oil, coal) nuclear, or solar
input.

For Vapor power plants the working fluid, typically
water, is alternately vaporized and condensed.

Consider the following Simple Vapor Power Plant



Consider subsystem A, each unit of mass periodically
undergoes a thermodynamic cycle as the working fluid
circulates through the four interconnected components
155
For the purpose of analyzing the performance of the
system, the following cycle describes the basic system



Consider each process separately applying conservation
of energy

For steady-state, neglecting KE and PE effects,
conservation of energy applied to a CV yields

) ( ) ( 2 / 1 ) (
1
2 2
out in out in out in
CV CV
z z g V V h h
m
W
m
Q
dt
dE
m
+ + + =
&
&
&
&
&


) ( 0
out in
CV CV
h h
m
W
m
Q
+ =
&
&
&
&


156
12 Turbine (adiabatic expansion)

) ( 0
2 1
h h
m
W
m
Q
out
+ =
&
&
&
&


) (
2 1
h h
m
W
w
out
out
= =
&
&




23 Condenser (no work)

) ( 0
3 2
h h
m
W
m
Q
out
+

=
&
&
&
&

1
) (+
out
W
&

2
) (
out
Q
&
2

) (
3 2
h h
m
Q
q
out
out
= =
&
&

3
157

34 Pump (Adiabatic)

) ( 0
4 3
h h
m
W
m
Q
in
+

=
&
&
&
&

3
4
) (
in
W
&

) (
3 4
h h
m
W
w
in
in
= =
&
&



41 Steam Generator (no work)

) (+
in
Q
&
1
) ( 0
1 4
h h
m
W
m
Q
in
+ =
&
&
&
&


) (
4 1
h h
m
Q
q
in
in
= =
&
&

4


Rankine Cycle Thermal Efficiency

( ) ( )
in
in out
in
in out
q
w w
m Q
m W m W
=

= =
&
&
&
&
&
&
/
/ /
input heat
out net work


4 1
3 4 2 1
) ( ) (
h h
h h h h
Rankine

=
158
Back Work Ratio (bwr)

2 1
3 4
/
/
(turbine) output work
(pump) input work
h h
h h
bwr
w
w
m W
m W
bwr
out
in
out
in

=
= = =
&
&
&
&


Ideal Rankine Cycle - no irreversibilities present in any
of the processes: no fluid friction so no pressure drop, and
no heat loss to surroundings

1. Steam generation occurs at constant pressure 41
2. Isentropic expansion in the turbine 12
3. Condensation occurs at constant pressure 23
4. Isentropic compression in the pump 34


P
boiler

With superheating
P
condenser

159
Note: For an ideal cycle no irreversibilities present so the
pump work can be evaluated by

4
3 int
vdP
m
W
rev
p
&
&


if the working fluid entering the pump at state 3 is pure
liquid, then
( )

= =

=
4
3
3 4 3
int
P P v vdP
m
W
w
rev
p
in
&
&


The negative sign has been dropped to be consistent with
previous use of w
in


160
Factors Affecting Cycle Efficiency

in
out
in
out in
in
in out
q
q
q
q q
q
w w
=

= 1

Recall: for a reversible heat addition process

= Tds q

Consider q
in
at the boiler and q
out
at the condenser




area shaded
1
4
1 4
=
= =

Tds q q
in T


in

q
in

1
4
T
s

Define mean temperature for process 4 1

4 1
1
4
s s
Tds
T
in

=



( )
4 1
1
4
1
4
s s T ds T Tds q
in in in
= = =




161
( )
area shaded

3 2
3
2
3 2
=
=
= =

s s T
Tds q q
out
out


3 2
q
out

T
T
out

s

Noting , the Ideal Rankine cycle thermal
efficiency is
4 1 3 2
s s s s =

in
out
in
out
in
out
Rankine
Ideal
T
T
s s T
s s T
q
q
=

= = 1
) (
) (
1 1
4 1
3 2



Note: this is identical to the Carnot Engine efficiency
which is also a reversible cycle


The back work ratio is

( )
( )
s out
in
Rankine
Ideal
h h
P P v
w
w
bwr
2 1
3 4 3

= =




162
Increase Rankine Cycle Efficiency

in
out
Rankine
Ideal
T
T
=1

Cycle efficiency can be improved by either:
- increasing the average temperature during heat
addition (
in
T )
- decreasing the condenser temperature (T
out
)

Increase the amount of superheat (41)



1

2
Amount of superheating is limited by metallurgical
considerations of the turbine (T
1
< 670C)
Added benefit is that the quality of the steam at the
turbine exit is higher
163
Increase boiler pressure (4 1)




Disadvantages:

- Requires more robust equipment

- Vapor quality at 2 lower than at 2

164
Decrease Condenser Pressure (2 3)




T
out
is limited to the temperature of the cooling medium
(e.g., lake at 15C need 10C temperature difference for
heat transfer so T
out
>25C)

Disadvantages:

- Note: for water P
sat
(25C)= 3.2 kPa lower than
atmospheric, possible air leakage into lines

- Vapor quality lower at lower pressure not good for
turbine

165
The most common method to increase the cycle thermal
efficiency is to use a two-stage turbine and reheat the
steam in the boiler after the first stage



( )
( )
3 2 1 6
6 5 4 3 2 1
input heat
out net work


+
+
=

= =
q q
w w w
q
w w
in
in out



( ) ( )
2 3 6 1
5 6 4 3 2 1
/
) ( ) ( ) (
h h h h
h h h h h h
reheat w
Rankine
+
+
=
166