Power Plant Engineering: Problem Set - 1
Problem - 1
A steam power plant operates on a reheat Rankine cycle with a net power output of 80
MW. Steam enters the high-pressure turbine at 10 MPa and 500 °C, and the low pressure turbine
at 1 MPa and 500 °C. Steam leaves the condenser at saturated liquid state at a pressure of 10 kPa.
The isentropic efficiency of the turbines is 80 % and that of the pump is 95 %. Determine the
following.
(a) Quality of steam (or temperature, if superheated) at the exit of the low pressure
turbine.
(b) Thermal efficiency of the cycle.
(c) Mass flow rate of steam.
Problem - 2
Consider a steam power plant operating on an ideal reheat-regenerative Rankine cycle with
a net power output of 80 MW. Steam enters the high-pressure turbine at 10 MPa and 550 °C and
leaves at 0.8 MPa. Some steam is extracted at this pressure to heat the feedwater in an open
feedwater heater. The rest of the steam is reheated to 500 °C and is expanded in the low pressure
turbine to the condenser pressure of 10 kPa. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram and determine the
following.
(a) Mass flow rate of steam through the boiler.
(b) Thermal efficiency of the cycle.
Problem - 3
An ideal Rankine cycle operates between a boiler pressure of 10 MPa and a condenser
pressure of 10 kPa. The maximum temperature of steam in the cycle is 450 °C. The cycle contains
one closed feedwater heater operating at 1 MPa with drain cascaded backward. The feedwater
heater has TTD = 3 °C and DC (Drain cooler temperature difference) = 5 °C. Show the cycle on a
T-s diagram and find the following:
(a) Net work output.
(b) Boiler heat addition and condenser heat rejection.
(c) Thermal efficiency of the cycle.
Problem - 4
An ideal Rankine cycle operates between a boiler pressure of 10 MPa and a condenser
pressure of 10 kPa. The maximum temperature of steam in the cycle is 500 °C. The cycle contains
6 feedwater heaters. Find the optimum pressure and inlet temperature for the high and the low
pressure feedwater heaters.
Problem - 5
For a thermal power plant based on Rankine cycle, the thermal efficiency of the cycle, the
boiler efficiency, turbine mechanical efficiency, generator efficiency and auxiliary efficiency are
0.4, 0.87, 0.95, 0.95 and 0.9 respectively. If the net power produced by the power plant is 80 MW,
find the Rankine cycle power output.
Problem - 6
Steam enters the turbine of a cogeneration plant at 4 MPa and 500 °C. One-fourth of the
steam is extracted from the turbine at 1200 kPa pressure for process heating. The remaining steam
continues to expand to 10 kPa. The extracted steam is then condensed and mixed with feedwater
at constant pressure and the mixture is pumped to the boiler pressure of 4 MPa. The mass flow rate
of steam through the boiler is 55 kg/s. Disregarding any pressure drops and heat losses in the
piping, and assuming the turbine and the pump to be isentropic, show the cycle on a T-s diagram
and determine the net power produced and the utilization factor of the plant.
Problem - 7
A combined power plant has a gas-turbine cycle as the topping cycle and a simple ideal
Rankine cycle as the bottoming cycle. The gas-turbine cycle has a pressure ratio of 8. Air enters
the compressor at 300 K and the turbine at 1300 K. The isentropic efficiency of the compressor is
80 percent, and that of the gas turbine is 85 percent. The Rankine cycle operates between 7 MPa
and 5 kPa pressure. Steam is heated in a heat exchanger by the gas turbine exhaust gases to a
temperature of 500 °C. The exhaust gases leave the heat exchanger at 450 K. Determine the
following.
(a) Ratio of the mass flow rates of the steam and the combustion gases.
(b) Thermal efficiency of the combined cycle.