Simple Ideal Vapor

Power Cycle
Objectives:
At the end of this topic, the student will be able to:
1. Outline the fundamentals of steam power plants.
2. Construct and examine thermodynamic models of steam power plants based
on the Rankine cycle and its modifications, including diagramming schematics
and related T-s diagrams.
3. Compute property data at significant states in the cycle using steam tables
and software.
4. Apply mass and energy balances for ideal steam power cycle processes.
5. Calculate performance parameters (thermal efficiency, back work ratio, heat
rate), net power output, and mass flow rates in the power cycle.
6. Explain how variations in key parameters impact Rankine cycle performance.

01/02/2023

[Engr. Angelo Acenas, MEE]

 ME232 Engineering Thermodynamics 2
Topic 2: Simple Vapor Power Cycle

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

The Tuoketuo Power Station in China is the largest coal-fired power station in the world. The plant is located
in Togtoh County, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. The plant is estimated to have been one of the ten most
carbon emitting coal-fired power plants in the world in 2018, at 29.46 million tons of carbon dioxide, and relative
emissions are estimated at 1.45 kg per kWh. The plant was commissioned in November 1995 by the Tuoketuo
Power Company, which currently owns and operates the power station. The power plant exploits coal from the
Junggar Coalfield approximately 50 km away, and meets its water requirements by pumping its needs from
the Yellow River, located 12 km away.

Introduction
One of the current engineering challenge is to responsibly meet our national power needs.
The challenge has its roots in the declining economically recoverable supplies of
nonrenewable energy resources, effects of global climate change, and burgeoning
population. In this lesson, we start our discussion on vapor power cycles in which the
working fluid is alternately vaporized and condensed. The continued quest for higher
thermal efficiencies has resulted in some innovative modifications to the simple ideal
vapor power cycle Among these, we will tackle in the succeeding lesson the reheat and
regenerative cycles, as well as combined gas–vapor power cycles.

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Steam Power Plants

Steam or vapor is the most common working fluid used in vapor power cycles because
of its many desirable characteristics, such as low cost, availability, and high enthalpy of
vaporization.
The components of four alternative vapor power plant such as fossil-fueled, nuclear-
fueled, solar thermal, and geothermal configurations are shown schematically in the
figures below. The principal difference in the four power plant configurations is the way
working fluid vaporization is accomplished. However, the steam goes through the same
basic cycle in all of them. Therefore, all can be analyzed in the same manner.
1. Fossil-fueled plants
Vaporization is accomplished by heat transfer to water passing through the boiler tubes
from hot gases produced in the combustion of the fuel. This is also seen in plants fueled
by biomass, municipal waste (trash), and mixtures of coal and biomass.

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2. Nuclear-fueled plants
Energy required for vaporizing the cycle working fluid originates in a controlled nuclear
reaction occurring in a reactor-containment structure. The pressurized water reactor has
two water loops: One loop circulates water through the reactor core and a boiler within
the containment structure; this water is kept under pressure so it heats but does not boil.
A separate loop carries steam from the boiler to the turbine. Boiling-water reactors have
a single loop that boils water flowing through the core and carries steam directly to the
turbine.

3. Solar thermal plants

Have receivers for collecting and concentrating solar radiation. A suitable substance,
molten salt or oil, flows through the receiver, where it is heated, directed to an
interconnecting heat exchanger that replaces the boiler of the fossil- and nuclear-fueled

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plants, and finally returned to the receiver. The heated molten salt or oil provides energy
required to vaporize water flowing in the other stream of the heat exchanger. This steam
is provided to the turbine.
4. Geothermal power plant
Also uses an interconnecting heat exchanger. In this case hot water and steam from deep
below Earth’s surface flows on one side of the heat exchanger. A secondary working fluid
having a lower boiling point than the water, such as isobutane or another organic
substance, vaporizes on the other side of the heat exchanger. The secondary working
fluid vapor is provided to the turbine.

Issues and concerns

One of the major difficulties in finding a site for a vapor power plant is access to sufficient
quantities of condenser cooling water. To reduce cooling-water needs, harm to aquatic
life in the vicinity of the plant, and other thermal pollution effects, large-scale power plants
typically employ cooling towers.

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Fuel processing and handling are significant issues for both fossil-fueled and nuclear
fueled plants because of human-health and environmental-impact considerations. Fossil-
fueled plants must observe increasingly stringent limits on smokestack emissions and
disposal of toxic solid waste. Nuclear-fueled plants are saddled with a significant
radioactive waste–disposal problem.
All four of the power plant configurations have environmental, health, and land-use issues
related to various stages of their life cycles, including how they are manufactured,
installed, operated, and ultimately disposed.

Why not Carnot Vapor Power Cycle?

Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle operating
between two specified temperature limits, however,
the Carnot cycle is not a suitable model for power
cycles. A Carnot vapor power cycle is illustrated in
the T-s diagram on the left.
The fluid is heated reversibly and isothermally in a
boiler (process 1-2), expanded isentropically in a
turbine (process 2-3), condensed reversibly and
isothermally in a condenser (process 3-4), and
compressed isentropically by a compressor to the
initial state (process 4-1).
Several impracticalities are associated with this
cycle:
1. Isothermal heat transfer to or from a two-phase system is not difficult to achieve in
practice since maintaining a constant pressure in the device automatically fixes the
temperature at the saturation value. Therefore, processes 1-2 and 3-4 can be approached
closely in actual boilers and condensers. Limiting the heat transfer processes to two-
phase systems, however, severely limits the maximum temperature that can be used in
the cycle (it has to remain under the critical-point value, which is 374°C for water). Limiting
the maximum temperature in the cycle also limits the thermal efficiency. Any attempt to
raise the maximum temperature in the cycle involves heat transfer to the working fluid in
a single phase, which is not easy to accomplish isothermally.
2. The isentropic expansion process (process 2-3) can be approximated closely by a well-
designed turbine. However, the quality of the steam decreases during this process, as
shown on the T-s diagram. Thus the turbine has to handle steam with low quality, that is,

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steam with a high moisture content. The impingement of liquid droplets on the turbine
blades causes erosion and is a major source of wear. Thus steam with qualities less than
about 90 percent cannot be tolerated in the operation of power plants. This problem could
be eliminated by using a working fluid with a very steep saturated vapor line.
3. The isentropic compression process (process 4-1) involves the compression of a
liquid–vapor mixture to a saturated liquid. There are two difficulties associated with this
process. First, it is not easy to control the condensation process so precisely as to end
up with the desired quality at state 4. Second, it is not practical to design a compressor
that handles two phases.

Rankine Cycle: The Ideal Cycle of Vapor Power Plants

The impracticalities associated with the Carnot vapor power cycle can be eliminated by
superheating the steam in the boiler and condensing it completely in the condenser. The
cycle that results is the Rankine cycle.
Referring to the table below, seven of the power plant types listed require a
thermodynamic cycle, and six of these are identified with the Rankine cycle. The Rankine
cycle is the basic building block of vapor power plants.

Large-Scale Electric Power Generation through 2050 from Renewable and Nonrenewable Sources

WWW.ENERGY. GOV/ ENERGYSOURCES

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Ideal Rankine Cycle

If the working fluid passes through the various components of the simple vapor power
cycle without irreversibilities, frictional pressure drops would be absent from the boiler
and condenser, and the working fluid would flow through these components at constant
pressure. Also, in the absence of irreversibilities and heat transfer with the surroundings,
the processes through the turbine and pump would be isentropic. A cycle adhering to
these idealizations is the Ideal Rankine cycle. The schematic and T-s diagram of ideal
rankine cycle is shown below.

The ideal Rankine cycle consists of the following four processes:

1 - 2 Isentropic compression in a pump
Water enters the pump at state 1 as saturated liquid and is
compressed isentropically to the operating pressure of the boiler.
The water temperature increases somewhat during this isentropic
compression process due to a slight decrease in the specific volume
of water.

2 - 3 Constant-pressure heat addition in a boiler

Water enters the boiler as a compressed liquid at state 2 and leaves
as a superheated vapor at state 3. The boiler is basically a large
heat exchanger where the heat originating from combustion gases,
nuclear reactors, or other sources is transferred to the water
essentially at constant pressure. The boiler, together with the
section where the steam is superheated (the super-heater), is often
called the steam generator. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM
3 - 4 Isentropic expansion in a turbine
The superheated vapor at state 3 enters the turbine, where it
expands isentropically and produces work by rotating the shaft
connected to an electric generator. The pressure and the
temperature of steam drop during this process to the values at state
4, where steam enters the condenser.

4 - 1 Constant-pressure heat rejection in a condenser

At this state, steam is usually a saturated liquid–vapor mixture with a
high quality. Steam is condensed at constant pressure in the
condenser, which is basically a large heat exchanger, by rejecting
heat to a cooling medium such as a lake, a river, or the atmosphere.
Steam leaves the condenser as saturated liquid and enters the T-S D IAGRAM
pump, completing the cycle.

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The expressions for the energy transfers through each component:

1. PUMP

The liquid condensate leaving the condenser at 1 is pumped from the condenser into
the higher-pressure boiler. Taking a control volume around the pump and assuming no
heat transfer with the surroundings, mass and energy rate balances give
wpump,in = h2 − h1 (kJ/kg)
Because the pump is idealized as operating without irreversibilities, an alternative for
evaluating the pump work is
wpump,in = v1 (P2 − P1 )
2. BOILER

The liquid leaving the pump at 2, called the boiler feedwater, is heated to saturation and
evaporated in the boiler. Taking a control volume enclosing the boiler tubes and drums
carrying the feedwater from state 2 to state 3, mass and energy rate balances give
qin = h3 − h2 (kJ/kg)
3. TURBINE

Vapor from the boiler at state 3, having an elevated temperature and pressure, expands
through the turbine to produce work and then is discharged to the condenser at state 4
with relatively low pressure. Neglecting heat transfer with the surroundings, the mass and
energy rate balances for a control volume around the turbine reduce at steady state to
give
wturbine,out = h3 − h4 (kJ/kg)
4. CONDENSER

In the condenser there is heat transfer from the working fluid to cooling water flowing in a
separate stream. The working fluid condenses and the temperature of the cooling water
increases. At steady state, mass and energy rate balances for a control volume enclosing
the condensing side of the heat exchanger give
qout = h4 − h1 (kJ/kg)

If we multiply the results for the work and heat transfer with unit kJ/kg with mass flow rate with
unit kg/s, we will obtain another quantity called power with unit of kiloWatt (kW).

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The expressions for the performance parameters:

1. Thermal efficiency
The thermal efficiency gauges the extent to which the energy input to the working fluid
passing through the boiler is converted to the net work output. The thermal efficiency of
the power cycle
wcycle qin − qout qout
ηth = = = 1−
qin qin qin
Where the net work of the cycle is
wcycle = wnet,out
wnet,out = qin − qout
The net work output equals the net heat input
qin − qout = wturbine,out − wpump,in
wnet,out = wturbine,out − wpump,in
In terms of enthalpies, the thermal efficiency is
qout h4 − h1
ηth = 1 − =1−
qin h3 − h2
2. Heat rate
The heat rate is the amount of energy added by heat transfer to the cycle, usually in BTU,
to produce a unit of net work output, usually in kWh. Accordingly, the heat rate, which is
inversely proportional to the thermal efficiency, has units of Btu/kWh.
BTU
BTU 3412 (kWh)
Heat rate ( =
kWh) ηth
As illustration, a heat rate of 11,363 Btu/kWh is equivalent to 30 percent efficiency.

3. Back work ratio

Another parameter used to describe power plant performance is the back work ratio, or
bwr, defined as the ratio of the pump work input to the work developed by the turbine.
wpump,in h2 − h1
bwr = =
wturbine,out h3 − h4

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How Can We Increase the Efficiency of the Rankine Cycle?

Steam power plants are responsible for the production of most electric power in the world,
and even small increases in thermal efficiency can mean large savings from the fuel
requirements. Therefore, every effort is made to improve the efficiency of the cycle on
which steam power plants operate.
The basic idea behind all the modifications to increase the thermal efficiency of a power
cycle is the same: Increase the average temperature at which heat is transferred to the
working fluid in the boiler, or decrease the average temperature at which heat is rejected
from the working fluid in the condenser.
That is, the average fluid temperature should be as high as possible during heat addition
and as low as possible during heat rejection.
How can we accomplish this for the simple ideal Rankine cycle?
• Is it by lowering the condenser pressure?
• Is it by increasing the condenser pressure
• Is it by superheating the steam to high temperatures?
• Is it by superheating the steam to low temperatures?
• Is it by increasing the boiler pressure?
• Is it by decreasing the boiler pressure?
(This will be our group activity)

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Guided Problem Solving

Consider a steam power plant operating on the Simple Ideal Rankine cycle. Steam enters
the turbine at 3 MPa and 350 C and is condensed in the condenser at a pressure of 75
kPa. The mass flow rate of steam through the cycle is 35 kg/s. Show the cycle on a T-s
diagram and schematic diagram with respect to the saturation lines and determine the
following:
a) pump work (in kJ/kg & MW)
b) heat input in the boiler (in kJ/kg & MW)
c) heat output in the condenser (in kJ/kg & MW)
d) thermal efficiency (in percent)
e) turbine work output (in kJ/kg & MW)
f) net power output of the power plant (MW)
g) heat rate (in BTU/kWh)
h) back work ratio
(You may see the solution to the guided problem solving in the recorded lecture video)

Practice Problem Solving

1. A simple ideal Rankine cycle which uses water as the working fluid operates its
condenser at 40 C and its boiler at 300 C. 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.
kJ
Ans. wturbine,out = 974.5 kJ/kg, qin = 2573.4 , thermal efficiency = 37.5%
kg

2. Consider a 210-MW steam power plant that operates on a simple ideal Rankine cycle.
Steam enters the turbine at 10 MPa and 500 C 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.
kg
Ans. x = 0.793, 𝜂𝑡ℎ = 40.2%, 𝑚𝑠 = 165 s

3. Steam is the working fluid in an ideal Rankine cycle. Saturated vapor enters the turbine
at 8.0 MPa and saturated liquid exits the condenser at a pressure of 0.008 MPa. The net
power output of the cycle is 100 MW. Determine for the cycle (a) the thermal efficiency,
(b) the back work ratio, (c) the mass flow rate of the steam, in kg/h, (d) the rate of heat
transfer, Qin, into the working fluid as it passes through the boiler, in MW, (e) the rate of

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heat transfer, Qout, from the condensing steam as it passes through the condenser, in
MW, (f) the mass flow rate of the condenser cooling water, in kg/h, if cooling water enters
the condenser at 15°C and exits at 35°C.
kg
Ans. η = 37% , bwr = 0.84%, m = 3.77 x 105 hr , Q in = 270 MW, Q out = 170 MW, mcw =
kg
7.3 x 106 hr
(Practice problem solving are left for students as enrichment activity)

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References:
Thermodynamics, An Engineering Approach 9th Edition by Cengel, Boles, and Kanoglu
Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics 9th Edition by Moran, Shapiro, Boettner,
and Bailey

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