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Rankine Cycle

The Rankine cycle is a model that is used to predict the performance of steam turbine systems,
though the theoretical principle also applies to reciprocating engines such as steam locomotives.
The Rankine cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle of a heat enginethat converts heat into
mechanical work while undergoing phase change. The heat is supplied externally to a closed
loop, which usually uses water as the working fluid. It is named after William John Macquorn
Rankine, a Scottish polymath and Glasgow University professor.

Description

The Rankine cycle closely describes the process by which steam-operated heat
engines commonly found in thermal power generation plants generate power.

Power depends on the temperature difference between a heat source and a cold source. The
higher the difference, the more mechanical power can be efficiently extracted out of heat energy,
as per Carnot's theorem.

The heat sources used in these power plants are usually nuclear fission or the combustion of
fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil, or concentrated solar power. The higher the
temperature, the better.

The efficiency of the Rankine cycle is limited by the high heat of vaporization of the working
fluid. Also, unless the pressure and temperature reach super critical levels in the steam boiler, the
temperature range the cycle can operate over is quite small: steam turbine entry temperatures are
typically around 565 °C and steam condenser temperatures are around 30 °C. This gives a
theoretical maximum Carnot efficiency for the steam turbine alone of about 63.8% compared
with an actual overall thermal efficiency of up to 42% for a modern coal-fired power station.
This low steam turbine entry temperature (compared to a gas turbine) is why the Rankine (steam)
cycle is often used as a bottoming cycle to recover otherwise rejected heat in combined-cycle gas
turbine power stations.

The cold source (the colder the better) used in these power plants are usually cooling towers and
a large water body (river or sea). The efficiency of the Rankine cycle is limited on the cold side
by the lower practical temperature of the working fluid.

The working fluid in a Rankine cycle follows a closed loop and is reused constantly. The
water vapor with condensed droplets often seen billowing from power stations is created by the
cooling systems (not directly from the closed-loop Rankine power cycle). This 'exhaust' heat is
represented by the "Qout" flowing out of the lower side of the cycle shown in the T/s diagram
below. Cooling towers operate as large heat exchangers by absorbing the latent heat of
vaporization of the working fluid and simultaneously evaporating cooling water to the
atmosphere.
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While many substances could be used as the working fluid in the Rankine cycle, water is usually
the fluid of choice due to its favorable properties, such as its non-toxic and unreactive chemistry,
abundance, and low cost, as well as its thermodynamic properties. By condensing the working
steam vapor to a liquid the pressure at the turbine outlet is lowered and the energy required by
the feed pump consumes only 1% to 3% of the turbine output power and these factors contribute
to a higher efficiency for the cycle. The benefit of this is offset by the low temperatures of steam
admitted to the turbine(s). Gas turbines, for instance, have turbine entry temperatures
approaching 1500°C. However, the thermal efficiency of actual large steam power stations and
large modern gas turbine stations are similar.

The four processes in the Rankine Cycles

There are four processes in the Rankine cycle. These states are identified by numbers (in brown)
in the above T-s diagram.
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Process 1-2: The working fluid is pumped from low to high pressure. As the fluid is a liquid at
this stage, the pump requires little input energy.

Process 2-3: The high pressure liquid enters a boiler where it is heated at constant pressure by an
external heat source to become a dry saturated vapour. The input energy required can be easily
calculated graphically, using an enthalpy-entropy chart (aka h-s chart or Mollier diagram), or
numerically, using steam tables.

Process 3-4: The dry saturated vapour expands through a turbine, generating power. This
decreases the temperature and pressure of the vapour, and some condensation may occur. The
output in this process can be easily calculated using the chart or tables noted above.

Process 4-1: The wet vapour then enters a condenser where it is condensed at a constant pressure
to become a saturated liquid.

In an ideal Rankine cycle the pump and turbine would be isentropic, i.e., the pump and turbine
would generate no entropy and hence maximize the net work output. Processes 1-2 and 3-4
would be represented by vertical lines on the T-s diagram and more closely resemble that of the
Carnot cycle. The Rankine cycle shown here prevents the vapor ending up in the superheat
region after the expansion in the turbine, [1] which reduces the energy removed by the
condensers.

The actual vapor power cycle differs from the ideal Rankine cycle because of irreversibilities in
the inherent components caused by fluid friction and heat loss to the surroundings; fluid friction
causes pressure drops in the boiler, the condenser, and the piping between the components, and
as a result the steam leaves the boiler at a lower pressure; heat loss reduces the net work output,
thus heat addition to the steam in the boiler is required to maintain the same level of net work
output

Variables Equations
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Equations

In general, the efficiency of a simple rankine cycle can be written as:

Each of the next four equations[1] is derived from the energy and mass balance for a control

volume. defines the thermodynamic efficiency of the cycle as the ratio of net power output
to heat input. As the work required by the pump is often around 1% of the turbine work output, it
can be simplified.

When dealing with the efficiencies of the turbines and pumps, an adjustment to the work terms
must be made.

Real Rankine cycle (non ideal)

In a real power plant cycle (the name 'Rankine' cycle is used only for the ideal cycle), the
compression by the pump and the expansion in the turbine are not isentropic. In other words,
these processes are non-reversible and entropy is increased during the two processes. This
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somewhat increases the power required by the pump and decreases the power generated by the
turbine.

In particular the efficiency of the steam turbine will be limited by water droplet formation. As
the water condenses, water droplets hit the turbine blades at high speed causing pitting and
erosion, gradually decreasing the life of turbine blades and efficiency of the turbine. The easiest
way to overcome this problem is by superheating the steam. On the Ts diagram above, state 3 is
at a border of the two phase region of steam and water so after expansion the steam will be very
wet. By superheating, state 3 will move to the right (and up) in the diagram and hence produce a
drier steam after expansion.

Variation of the basic Rankine cycle

The overall thermodynamic efficiency can be increased by raising the

average heat input temperature of that cycle. Increasing the temperature

of the steam into the superheat region is a simple way of doing this. There are also variations of
the basic Rankine cycle which are designed to raise the thermal efficiency of the cycle in this
way; two of these are described below.
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Reheat Rankine Cycle

What is Reheat Rankine cycle?

In simple rankine cycle, after the isentropic expansion in turbine , steam is directly fed into
condenser for condensation process. (Refer this article for better understanding). But in reheat
system, two turbines (high pressure turbine and low pressure turbine) are employed for
improving efficiency. Steam, after expansion from high pressure turbine, is sent again to boiler
and heated till it reaches superheated condition. It is then left to expand in low pressure turbine to
attain condenser pressure.

h-s diagram of Reheat Rankine Cycle:

Reheat Rankine cycle can be understood well if you refer the following h-s diagram:

Processes in Reheat Rankine Cycle:

Six processes take place in reheat Rankine cycle. They are explained in detail below:

Process: 1-2 (high pressure turbine)

Here, dry saturated steam from the boiler is allowed to expand in a turbine isentropically i.e.,
Entropy remains constant.

Let h1 be the enthalpy of steam entering the turbine

Let h2 be the enthalpy of steam leaving the turbine

Finally, the workdone by turbine is given by

WT = h1 − h2

Calculation of h1 and h2 :
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Using the pressure and temperature values at point 1, values for entropy (S1) and enthalpy (h1)
can be calculated from superheated steam table or from Mollier diagram for steam.

After finding h1 and S1 ,dryness fraction (x2) can be calculated using the formula given below,

S1=S2=Sf2+x2×Sfg2

Substitute the value of x2 in the following equation to find h2,

h2=hf2+x2×hfg2

Process: 2-3 (boiler)

The expanded steam is made to attain the required temperature i.e., reheated in low pressure
boiler at constant pressure level. The enthalpy (h3) and entropy (S3) are calculated by the same
method that we followed in process 1 to 2.

Process: 3-4 (Low pressure Turbine)

After attaining required temperature, steam is passed into low pressure turbine to carry out the
remaining expansion. The enthalpy (h4) and entropy (S4) values are calculated by the same
method that we followed in process 1 to 2 .

Process: 4-5 (condenser)

After expansion in turbine, steam is passed into condenser to preform condensation process.
Here the remaining heat in the steam is rejected into atmosphere.

Let h4 be the enthalpy of steam entering the condenser.

Let h5 be the enthalpy of water leaving the condenser.

Heat rejected from condenser is given by

QR = h4 − h5 J or QR = h2 − hf4 J

hf4 = h4 (Since, the output from condenser is a fluid and graphically, the enthalpy at point 4 and
point 5 are same.)

Process: 5-6 (Pump)

Water from the condenser is pumped into the boiler using an external pump. During this process,
pressure increases P5 to P6 isentropically (The enthalpy and temperature of water also increase
due to pump work).

Let P5 ,h5 be the pressure and enthalpy at stage 5 respectively.

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Let P6 ,h6 be the pressure and enthalpy at stage 6 respectively.

The work done by pump is given by

Wp = h6 – h5 = Vf5 (P6 – P4) × 100 J

Note :

All the values of pressure here are substituted in N/m² and all values of enthalpy are substituted
in Joules.

Process: 6-1 (boiler)

Here the saturated water from the pump is heated by using a constant heat source (such as
furnace). The input saturated water is heated till it reaches super-heated condition. Temperature
and enthalpy of saturated water raise to a great extent, but its pressure remains constant. The
change of phase from liquid to vapour occurs in boiler.

Let h6 be the enthalpy of saturated water entering the boiler.

Let h1 be the enthalpy of super-heated steam coming out of boiler.

Heat supplied is given by

QS = h − h6 J

h6 can be calculated by means of pump workdone formula.

h6 = h5 + Wp J

All processes can be understood well if you refer the h-s diagram above.

Efficiency of Reheat Rankine Cycle:

As we know, efficiency is the ratio between output and input. Here, the output is workdone and
input is heat energy.

Net workdone = workdone in turbine (both H.P. turbine and L.P. turbine) + workdone in pump .

Net heat transfer = heat supplied in boiler + heat rejected in condenser.

Efficiency of reheat Rankine cycle is given by:

ηreheat=(h1−h2)+(h3−h4)−WPh1−(h5+Wp)+(h3−h2)

It is 30 to 40% greater than simple Rankine cycle.

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Reheat Cycle

As has been already mentioned in Secs. 11.1 and 11.2, if very wet steam flows through a turbine,
the hydrodynamic conditions for the turbine blades and nozzles deteriorate sharply, causing a
reduction of the internal relative efficiency of the turbine, ; this in turn leads to a reduction of
the effective (thermal) efficiency of the power plant as a whole. For modern turbines the
admissible dryness fraction of exhaust steam (at the turbine exit) should be not less
than x = 0.86 to 0.88.

As has already been mentioned, one of the ways to reduce the wetness of exhaust steam at the
turbine exit is to superheat the steam in the boiler. Superheating leads to an increase in the
thermal efficiency of the cycle realized, and at the same time, on the T-s diagram it shifts the
point corresponding to the conditions of exhaust steam to the right, into the region of greater
dryness fractions, as illustrated in Fig. 11.20a.

We have also found that with the same superheat temperature the use of high pressures increases
the cycle areas ratio and, consequently, the thermal efficiency of the cycle, but simultaneously a
higher pressure diminishes the dryness fraction of the exhaust steam and the internal relative
efficiency of the turbine.

Fig. 11.20

One solution could be to further increase the superheat temperature (the dotted line in
Fig. 11.206). However, as was already mentioned, further temperature increases are restricted by
the properties of construction materials. The economic advantage of this undertaking should also
take into consideration increased investments involved in building such a plant.

One way to reduce the final wetness of exhaust steam is to reheat the steam. After the flow of
steam, performing work in the turbine, expands to some pressure p* > p2, it is extracted from the
turbine and directed to flow into an additional superheater, or reheater, installed, for instance, in
the boiler flue. In this reheater, steam temperature rises to T*, and then the steam flows back into
the turbine, in which it expands to the pressure p2. As can be seen from the T-s diagram, shown
in Fig. 11.20c, the final wetness of steam diminishes.
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The diagram of a power plant with steam reheating is shown in Fig. 11.21, in which the
reheat superheater, or reheater, is designated by RS. When reheating the steam, the turbine is a
two-cylinder unit, comprising a high-pressure turbine and a low-pressure turbine[1] arranged on a
common shaft along with a generator.

Figure 11.22 shows on a T-s diagram an internally reversible reheat cycle of the steam power
plant, practising superheating. It is clear that this cycle can be visualized as consisting of two
individual cycles, the conventional Rankine cycle (main) 5-4-6-1-2-3-5 and an additional
cycle 2-7-8-9-2 (the line 7-8 is an isobar p* = const). It can be assumed that the work done along
the section 7-2 of the expansion adiabat in the main cycle is spent to ensure adiabatic
compression of the working medium on the section 2-7 of the additional cycle.

Fig. 11.21 Fig. 11.22

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Regenerative Cycle

As in gas-turbine plants, the thermal efficiency of a steam power plant is raised by means of heat
regeneration.

If a steam power plant is operated on a Rankine cycle without steam reheating and if complete
regeneration of heat is accomplished, then the thermal efficiency of this Rankine cycle will be
equal to the thermal efficiency of a Carnot cycle. Figure 11.25 shows the Rankine wet-steam
cycle with full regeneration on a T-s diagram (it is understood that we are speaking of internally
reversible cycles).

Fig. 11.25

The efficiency of the Rankine cycle with steam reheating, even with maximum regeneration, will
be inferior to the thermal efficiency of the Carnot cycle in the same temperature interval: as it
follows from the T-s diagram shown in Fig. 11.26, with the thermal efficiency of the reheat
Rankine cycle increasing appreciably, compared with the cycle without regeneration.

Fig. 11.26
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The regenerative cycle shown in Fig. 11.26 is represented as an ideal cycle: as was shown in Sec.
10.2 equidistant heat addition and heat rejection lines (line 3-4 and line 7-2r, respectively, in Fig.
11.26) can be ensured provided an ideal regenerator is used.

(11.110)

In actual steam power cycles regeneration is effected with the aid of surface-type or direct-
contact regenerative feed-water heaters, either of which is supplied with steam from intermediate
turbine stages (the regenerative takeoff). The steam condenses in the regenerative feed-water
heaters FWH 1 and FWH 2 heating the feed water which is delivered to the boiler. Heating steam
condensate is also delivered to the boiler or mixes with the main flow of feed water (Fig. 11.27).
Strictly speaking, the regenerative cycle of a steam power plant cannot be represented on a two-
dimensional T-s diagram, since this diagram is plotted for a constant amount of working
medium, whereas in a regenerative cycle, involving the use of regenerative feed-water heaters,
the quantity of the working medium varies along the turbine blading. Therefore, in
investigating the cycle plotted on a flat T-s diagram (Fig. 11.28), the hypothetical nature of this
representation should be borne in mind; for emphasis, a diagram representing the rate of steam
flow through the turbine along its blading is shown adjacent to the T-s diagram. This new
diagram pertains to line 1-2 on the T-s diagram, the line of adiabatic expansion of steam in the
turbine. Thus, on the section 1-2 of the cycle, shown on the T-s diagram, the quantity of the
working medium diminishes with a drop in pressure, and along the section 5-4 the quantity of the
working medium increases with rising pressure (heating steam condensate is added to the feed
water).

Fig. 11.27
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Fig. 11.28

Ideally, the regenerative cycle should be represented in a three-dimensional system of

coordinates: T, s, D. Figure 11.29 shows a regenerative cycle with two heating stages on a T-s-
D diagram. The T-s diagrams of the cycles realized by three fractions of the steam flow are
shown in the same illustration: the fraction of steam bled into the first heating stage ( ), the
fraction of steam bled from the turbine into the second heating stage ( ) and the fraction
passing into the condenser [ ]. Since it is rather difficult to make use of the three-
dimensional system of coordinates, they find no practical application.

Fig. 11.29

When not surface-type but direct-contact regenerative heaters are used, in accordance with the
layout of the steam power plant shown in Fig. 11.27, several pumps must be installed, since
water pressure should be increased in steps: the pressure of the water flowing into a direct-
contact heater should be equal to the pressure of the steam bled for this heater. In the diagram the
number of pumps exceeds the number of steam bleeding points by one.
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Let us consider in detail the cycle of the regenerative steam power plant with two direct-contact
feed-water heaters, depicted in Fig. 11.27 (an internally reversible cycle is considered). Denote
the fraction of the working medium bled from the turbine by α. If the rate of steam flow at the
turbine entry is denoted by D, then kg/h of steam is bled from the turbine and directed into
the first regenerative heater FWH1, and kg/h of steam is bled into the second regenerative
heater FWH2.

Hence, up to the first bleeding point D kg/h of steam performs work in the turbine, downstream
from this point kg/h of steam performs work, and downstream from the second
bleeding point kg/h of steam performs work.

Correspondingly, kg/h of exhaust steam passes into the condenser;

kg/h of water (condensate) from the condenser and kg/h of steam from the
second bleeding point are delivered into the second regenerative heater. As a result of the mixing
of bled steam and condensate kg/h of heated feed water leaves the second
regenerative heater. Directed into the first regenerative heater is kg/h of water from
the second heater and kg/h of steam from the first bleeding point; the water and steam mix
and D kg/h of heated feed water leaves this heater. The feed water flows to the feed pump which
delivers it to the boiler. Let us find out on what basis the values of and are selected.
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Thermodynamics II

Submitted by: Jasper Van B. Arrieta

Submitted to: Engr. Marilou S. Tomentos