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RANKINE POWER CYCLE- SOLVED EXAMPLES
1- The simple ideal Rankine cycle
Assumptions: 1 Steady operating conditions exist. 2 Kinetic and potential energy changes are
negligible.
Analysis We note that the power plant operates on the ideal Rankine cycle. Therefore, the pump
and the turbine are isentropic, there are no pressure drops in the boiler and condenser, and steam
leaves the condenser and enters the pump as saturated liquid at the condenser pressure.
(a) From the steam tables (Tables A-4, A-5, and A-6),
h1 = hf@75kPa = 384.44 kJ/kg
𝜐1 = 𝜐𝑓@75kPa = 0.001037 m3 /kg
wp = 𝜐1 ×(𝑃2 − 𝑃1 )
= (0.001037m3 /kg)(3000 − 75)kPa
= 3.03 kJ/kg
h2 = h1 + wp = 384.44 + 3.03 = 387.47 kJ/kg
𝑃3 = 3 MPa ℎ3 = 3116.1 kJ/kg
}
𝑇3 = 350 ℃ 𝑠3 = 6.7450 kJ/kgK
𝑃4 = 75 kPa 𝑠4 − 𝑠𝑓@75kPa 6.7450 − 1.2132
} 𝑥4 = = = 0.886
𝑠4 = 6.7450 kJ/kgK 𝑠𝑓𝑔@75kPa 6.2426
ℎ4 = ℎ𝑓@75kPa + 𝑥4 ℎ𝑓𝑔@75kPa = 384.44 + (0.886)(2278.0)
= 2402.75 kJ/kg
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Thus,
𝑞𝑖𝑛 = ℎ3 − ℎ2 = 3116.1 − 387.47 = 2728.63 kJ/kg
𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡 = ℎ4 − ℎ1 = 2402.75 − 384.44 = 2018.31 kJ/kg
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑞𝑖𝑛 − 𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 2728.63 − 2018.31 = 710.32 kJ/kg
and
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡 2018.31
𝜂𝑡ℎ = =1− =1− = 𝟐𝟔%
𝑞𝑖𝑛 𝑞𝑖𝑛 2728.63
It is also interesting to note the thermal efficiency of a Carnot cycle operating between the same
temperature limits
𝑇𝑚𝑖𝑛 (91.76 + 273)K
𝜂𝑡ℎ,Carnot = 1 − =1− = 41.5%
𝑇𝑚𝑎𝑥 (350 + 273)
The difference between the two efficiencies is due to the large external irreversibility in Rankine
cycle caused by the large temperature difference between steam and combustion gases in the
furnace.
2- Actual Rankine cycle
Assumptions: 1 Steady operating conditions exist. 2 Kinetic and potential energy changes are
negligible.
(a) The thermal efficiency of a cycle is the ratio of the net work output to the heat input, and it is
determined as follows:
Table A-4:
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ℎ𝑓@35 ℃ = 146.64 kJ/kg
} → Interpolate → ℎ𝑓@38 ℃
ℎ𝑓@40 ℃ = 167.53 kJ/kg
(167.53 − 146.64 kJ/kg)
ℎ1 = ℎ𝑓@38 ℃ = (146.64 kJ/kg) + × (38 − 35 ℃) = 159.2 kJ/kg
(40 − 35 ℃)
𝜐𝑓@35 ℃ = 0.001006 m3 /kg
} → Interpolate → 𝑣𝑓@38 ℃
𝜐𝑓@40 ℃ = 0.001008 m3 /kg
m3
m 3 (0.001008 − 0.001006 )
kg
𝑣1 = 𝑣𝑓@38 ℃ = (0.001006 )+ × (38 − 35 ℃)
kg (40 − 35 ℃)
⇒ 𝑣1 ≈ 0.001007 m3 /kg
Pump work input:
𝑤𝑠,pump,in 𝑣1 × (𝑃2 − 𝑃1 ) (0.001007 m3 /kg)(16000 − 9 kPa)
𝑤pump,in = = = = 18.98 kJ/kg
𝜂𝑝 𝜂𝑝 0.85
𝑃5 = 15 MPa ℎ = 3583.1 kJ/kg
} → Table − A6 → 5
𝑇5 = 600 ℃ 𝑠5 = 6.6796 kJ/kgK
𝑠1𝑠 = 𝑠𝑓@10 kPa = 0.6492 kJ/kgK, 𝑠𝑓𝑔@10 kPa = 7.4996 kJ/kgK
𝑠6𝑠 = 𝑠5 = 6.6796 kJ/kgK
𝑠6𝑠 − 𝑠1𝑠 (6.6796 − 0.6492 kJ/kgK)
𝑥6𝑠 = = = 0.804
𝑠𝑓𝑔@10 kPa (7.4996 kJ/kgK)
ℎ6𝑠 = ℎ𝑓@10 kPa + 𝑥6𝑠 ℎ𝑓𝑔@10 kPa = (191.81 kJ/kg) + (0.804)(2392.1 kJ/kg) = 2115.06 kJ/kg
Turbine work output:
𝑤turb,out = 𝜂 𝑇 𝑤𝑠,turb,out = 𝜂 𝑇 (ℎ5 − ℎ6𝑠 ) = 0.87(3583.1 − 2115.06 kJ/kg) = 1277.2 kJ/kg
Boiler heat input:
ℎ3 ≈ ℎ𝑓@35 ℃ = 146.64 kJ/kg (For compressed liquids, effect of pressure can be neglected.)
ℎ4 ≈ ℎ@15 MPa,625 ℃ = 3647.6 kJ/kg
𝑞𝑖𝑛 = ℎ4 − ℎ3 = 3647.6 − 146.64 = 3500.96 kJ/kg
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑤turb,out − 𝑤pump,in = 1277.2 − 18.98 = 1258.22 kJ/kg
𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 1258.22 kJ/kg
𝜂𝑡ℎ = = ≅ 0.36 or 36%
𝑞𝑖𝑛 3500.96 kJ/kg
(b) The power produced by this power plant is
𝑊̇𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚̇(𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑡 ) = (15 kg/s)(1258.22 kJ/kg) = 18873 kW ≅ 18.9 MW
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3- Effect of boiler pressure and temperature on efficiency of Rankine cycle
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4- The ideal reheat Rankine cycle
Assumptions: 1 Steady operating conditions exist. 2 Kinetic and potential energy changes are
negligible.
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Discussion This problem was solved in Example 3c for the same pressure and temperature limits
but without the reheat process. A comparison of the two results reveals that reheating reduces the
moisture content from 19.6 to 10.4 percent while increasing the thermal efficiency from 43.0 to
45.0 percent.
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5- The ideal regenerative Rankine cycle
Assumptions: 1 Steady operating conditions exist. 2 Kinetic and potential energy changes are
negligible.
Analysis We note that the power plant operates on the ideal regenerative Rankine cycle.
Therefore, the pumps and the turbines are isentropic; there are no pressure drops in the boiler,
condenser, and feedwater heater; and steam leaves the condenser and the feedwater heater as
saturated liquid. First, we determine the enthalpies at various states:
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