Power Plants Course Full – 2021 Dr.

Abdo-almonaim Alghlam

Tutorials (1)

Answer these questions:

1) Why is the Carnot cycle not a realistic model for steam power plants?
2) Consider a simple ideal Rankine cycle with fixed turbine inlet conditions. What is the effect
of lowering the condenser pressure on: (Please use  for the right answer)?
Increases Decreases Remains the same
Pump work input:
Turbine work output:
Heat supplied:
Heat rejected:
Cycle efficiency:
Moisture content at turbine exit:

3) Consider a simple ideal Rankine cycle with fixed turbine inlet temperature and condenser
pressure. What is the effect of increasing the boiler pressure on: (Please use  for the right
answer)?
Increases Decreases Remains the same
Pump work input:
Turbine work output:
Heat supplied:
Heat rejected:
Cycle efficiency:
Moisture content at turbine exit:

4) Consider a simple ideal Rankine cycle with fixed boiler and condenser pressures. What is
the effect of superheating the steam to a higher temperature on: (Please use  for the right
answer)?
Increases Decreases Remains the same
Pump work input:
Turbine work output:
Power Plants Course Full – 2021 Dr. Abdo-almonaim Alghlam

Heat supplied:
Heat rejected:
Cycle efficiency:
Moisture content at turbine exit:

5) How do actual vapor power cycles differ from idealized ones?

6) The entropy of steam increases in actual steam turbines as a result of irreversibilities. In an
effort to control entropy increase, it is proposed to cool the steam in the turbine by running
cooling water around the turbine casing. It is argued that this will reduce the entropy and
the enthalpy of the steam at the turbine exit and thus increase the work output. How would
you evaluate this proposal?
7) Is it possible to maintain a pressure of 10 kPa in a condenser that is being cooled by river
water entering at 20oC?
8) Show the ideal Rankine cycle with three stages of reheating on a T-s diagram. Assume the
turbine inlet temperature is the same for all stages. How does the cycle efficiency vary with
the number of reheat stages?
9) How do the following quantities change when a simple ideal Rankine cycle is modified
with reheating? Assume the mass flow rate is maintained the same. (Please use  for the
right answer)?
Increases Decreases Remains the same
Pump work input:
Turbine work output:
Heat supplied:
Heat rejected:
Cycle efficiency:
Moisture content at turbine exit:

10) Consider a simple ideal Rankine cycle and an ideal Rankine cycle with three reheat stages.
Both cycles operate between the same pressure limits. The maximum temperature is 700oC
in the simple cycle and 450oC in the reheat cycle. Which cycle do you think will have a
higher thermal efficiency?
Power Plants Course Full – 2021 Dr. Abdo-almonaim Alghlam

Solve the following problems:

1) A steady-flow Carnot cycle uses water as the working fluid. Water changes from saturated
liquid to saturated vapor as heat is transferred to it from a source at 250oC. Heat rejection
takes place at a pressure of 20 kPa. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram relative to the
saturation lines, and determine (a) the thermal efficiency, (b) the amount of heat rejected,
and (c) the network output.
2) Consider a steady-flow Carnot cycle with water as the working fluid. The maximum and
minimum temperatures in the cycle are 350 and 60oC. The quality of water is 0.891 at the
beginning of the heat-rejection process and 0.1 at the end. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram
relative to the saturation lines, and determine (a) the thermal efficiency, (b) the pressure at
the turbine inlet, and (c) the network output. Answers: (a) 0.465, (b) 1.40 MPa, (c) 1623
kJ/kg
3) A steam power plant operates on a simple ideal Rankine cycle between the pressure limits
of 3 MPa and 50 kPa. The temperature of the steam at the turbine inlet is 300oC, and the
mass flow rate of steam through the cycle is 35 kg/s. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram with
respect to saturation lines, and determine (a) the thermal efficiency of the cycle and (b) the
net power output of the power plant.
4) Refrigerant-134a is used as the working fluid in a simple ideal Rankine cycle which
operates the boiler at 2000 kPa and the condenser at 24oC. The mixture at the exit of the
turbine has a quality of 93 percent. Determine the turbine inlet temperature, the cycle
thermal efficiency, and the back-work ratio of this cycle.
5) A simple ideal Rankine cycle which uses water as the working fluid operates its condenser
at 40oC and its boiler at 300oC. Calculate the work produced by the turbine, the heat
supplied in the boiler, and the thermal efficiency of this cycle when the steam enters the
turbine without any superheating.
Power Plants Course Full – 2021 Dr. Abdo-almonaim Alghlam

6) Consider a 210-MW steam power plant that operates on a simple ideal Rankine cycle.
Steam enters the turbine at 10 MPa and 500oC and is cooled in the condenser at a pressure
of 10 kPa. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram with respect to saturation lines, and determine
(a) the quality of the steam at the turbine exit, (b) the thermal efficiency of the cycle, and
(c) the mass flow rate of the steam. Answers: (a) 0.793, (b) 40.2 percent, (c) 165 kg/s
7) Repeat Prob. 6 assuming an isentropic efficiency of 85 percent for both the turbine and the
pump. Answers: (a) 0.874, (b) 34.1 percent, (c) 194 kg/s
8) A binary geothermal power plant uses geothermal water at 160oC as the heat source. The
cycle operates on the simple Rankine cycle with isobutane as the working fluid. Heat is
transferred to the cycle by a heat exchanger in which geothermal liquid water enters at
160oC at a rate of 555.9 kg/s and leaves at 90oC. Isobutane enters the turbine at 3.25 MPa
and 147oC at a rate of 305.6 kg/s, and leaves at 79.5oC and 410 kPa. Isobutane is condensed
in an air-cooled condenser and pumped to the heat exchanger pressure. Assuming the pump
to have an isentropic efficiency of 90 percent, determine (a) the isentropic efficiency of the
turbine, (b) the net power output of the plant, and (c) the thermal efficiency of the cycle.
The properties of isobutane may be obtained from EES.

9) An ideal reheat Rankine cycle with water as the working fluid operates the boiler at 15,000
kPa, the re-heater at 2000 kPa, and the condenser at 100 kPa. The temperature is 450oC at
the entrance of the high-pressure and low-pressure turbines. The mass flow rate through
the cycle is 1.74 kg/s. Determine the power used by pumps, the power produced by the
cycle, the rate of heat transfer in the re-heater, and the thermal efficiency of this system.
10) Consider a steam power plant that operates on the ideal reheat Rankine cycle. The plant
maintains the boiler at 5000 kPa, the reheat section at 1200 kPa, and the condenser at 20
kPa. The mixture quality at the exit of both turbines is 96 percent. Determine the
Power Plants Course Full – 2021 Dr. Abdo-almonaim Alghlam

temperature at the inlet of each turbine and the cycle’s thermal efficiency. Answers: 327oC,
481oC, 35.0 percent

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