Heat Engine

1.
Definition and principle of equipment
Heat engine is a system that function convert heat or thermal energy and chemical
energy to become mechanical energy, which it can be used to do mechanical work. It works by
bringing a working substance from a higher state temperature to a lower state temperature. A
heat source generates thermal energy that brings the working substance to the high
temperature state. The working substance generates work in the working body of the engine
while transferring heat to the colder sink until it reaches a low temperature state. During this
process some of the thermal energy is converted into work by exploiting the properties of the
working substance. The working substance can be any system with a non-zero heat capacity,
but it usually is a gas or liquid. During this process, a lot of heat is lost to the surroundings and
so cannot be converted to work (Abdo, E.,2011). In generally, an engine converts energy to
mechanical work. Heat engines distinguish themselves from other types of engines by the fact
that their efficiency is fundamentally limited by Carnot's theorem. Although this efficiency
limitation can be a problem, an advantage of heat engines is most of energy can be easily
converted to heat by processes like exothermic reactions such as combustion, absorption of
light or energetic particles, friction, dissipation and resistance. Since the heat source that
supplies thermal energy to the engine can thus be powered by virtually any kind of energy, heat
engines are very versatile and have a wide range of applicability (Abdo, E.,2011).
2. Heat Integration Characteristic of Equipment
Figure 1: Thermodynamic concept behind it
The synthesis of heat and power systems involves appropriately combining power producing
and power consuming systems with heat recovery networks so as to minimize costs and
maximize efficiency. Some of important heat engines are steam turbine Rankin cycles, open-
cycle gas turbines, closed-cycle gas turbines, organic Rankin cycles, and Diesels engines.
A heat engine, shown in figure 1, is a device which accepts heat Q1 from a source at
temperature T1, rejects heat Q2 to a sink at a lower temperature T2, and generate work W.
From thermodynamics,
W = Q1 – Q2 First law
W / Q1 ≤ ηc Second law
ηc = 1-T2 / T1 Carnot efficiency
Because real heat engines are irreversible, an equation introducing machine efficiency, ηmech,
for the heat engines may be written as,
Figure 2: Heat engine without integration with process
3. Placement of equipment in GCC
It is a known fact that, the process acts as a heat sink above the pinch and as a heat source
below the pinch and the heat engine takes heat from a higher temperature level and rejects heat
at a lower temperature level. While doing so it produces work. The appropriate placement of
heat engine is discussed below:
Placement of Heat Engine Above pinch
When the engine exhaust(𝑄2 ) is hotter than pinch temperature and above the pinch, the engine
takes heat 𝑄1 and rejects heat (𝑄2 = 𝑄1 -W) into the sink. Thus, the integrated system uses W
units of additional heat in excess of the process requirements. However, it produces an equal
amount of work also at the same time. In other words, heat is converted to shaft work at almost
a efficiency of 100 % because of the integration. Moreover, the heat 𝑄2 rejected by the engine
substitutes an equal amount of hot utility and the hot utility requirement of process reduces to,
𝑄ℎ𝑢 -𝑄2 . Thus, the placement is proper.
Placement of Heat Engine across pinch
When the engine exhaust is colder than pinch temperature and the engine is across the pinch ,
the engine rejects heat (𝑄2 = 𝑄1 -W) into a process source. This heat simply cascades through
the below-pinch region and increases the cold utility requirement for its satisfaction. Thus, it is
improper placement.
Placement of Heat Engine below pinch
Below the pinch, the engine is placed such that it absorbs heat 𝑄1 from the process source and
thereby reduces the cold utility demand; again, the engine is properly placed and has a marginal
efficiency of 100 % as it converts the excess process heat into work rather than waste heat.
Figure 1 shows that the exhaust heat 𝑄2 from an engine integrated above the pinch can at best
replace all the hot utility requirement of the process (𝑄ℎ𝑢 ), and the maximum heat 𝑄1 absorbed
by an engine integrated below the pinch can equal the cold utility requirement (𝑄𝑐𝑢 ).
Figure 1: Heat engine placement below the pinch Figure 2: Heat engine placement above the
pinch
Figure 3: Heat engine placement across the pinch

4. Example of Placement
Figure 4: Placement of equipment in GCC
References
Abdo, E. (2011). Power equipment engine technology. Clifton Park: Delmar/Cengage Learning
Senft, J. R. (2010). Mechanical efficiency of heat engines. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

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1.

Definition and principle of equipment

Figure 1: Thermodynamic concept behind it

ηc = 1-T2 / T1 Carnot efficiency

3. Placement of equipment in GCC

Placement of Heat Engine Above pinch

Placement of Heat Engine across pinch

Placement of Heat Engine below pinch

Figure 3: Heat engine placement across the pinch

Figure 4: Placement of equipment in GCC

Senft, J. R. (2010). Mechanical efficiency of heat engines. Cambridge: Cambridge

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