MCE552 Lecture 4a
MCE552 Lecture 4a
MCE552 Lecture 4a
• A Steam thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven.
• Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine, which either drives an electrical generator
or does some mechanical work.
• After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed and recycled to where it was heated before;
• This cycle is known as the Rankine Cycle.
• Steam is the most common working fluid used in vapour power cycles because of its many desirable
characteristics, such as:
• low cost, availability, stability at the temperature required in the plant and high enthalpy of
vaporization.
• Steam power plants are commonly referred to as coal plants, nuclear plants, or natural gas plants,
depending on the type of fuel used to supply heat to the steam.
• However, the steam goes through the same basic cycle in all of them.
• Therefore, all can be analyzed in the same manner.
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Components of a simple vapour power plant
2
ESSENTIALS OF STEAM POWER PLANT EQUIPMENT
3
Main Circuits of Steam Power Plant
• The flow sheet of a thermal power plant consists of the
following four main circuits :
Feed water and steam flow circuit
Coal and ash circuit/ Solid Circuit
Air and gas circuit
Cooling water circuit.
4
Systems and components used in steam power plant
• The different types of systems and components used in steam power plant are as
follows:
High pressure boiler
Prime mover
Condensers and cooling towers
Coal handling system
Ash and dust handling system
Draught system
Feed water purification plant
Pumping system
Air preheater, economizer, super heater, feed heaters.
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Schematic Diagram of Steam Power Plant
6
STEAM TURBINE GENERATORS
• The steam turbine generator is the primary power conversion component of the power
plant.
• The function of the steam turbine generator is to convert the thermal energy of the steam
from the steam generator to electrical energy.
• Two separate components are provided: the steam turbine to convert the thermal energy
to rotating mechanical energy, and the generator to convert the mechanical energy to
electrical energy.
• Typically, the turbine is directly coupled to the generator.
• The purpose of turbine technology is to extract the maximum quantity of energy from
the working fluid, to convert it into useful work with maximum efficiency, by means of
a plant having maximum reliability, minimum cost, minimum supervision and minimum
starting time.
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OPERATING PRINCIPLES
• The operation of the steam turbine generator involves the expansion of steam through
numerous stages in the turbine, causing the turbine rotor to turn the generator rotor.
• The generator rotor is magnetized, and its rotation generates the electrical power in the
generator stator.
• High pressure steam is fed to the turbine and passes along the machine axis through
multiple rows of alternately fixed and moving blades.
• From the steam inlet port of the turbine towards the exhaust point, the blades and the
turbine cavity are progressively larger to allow for the expansion of the steam.
• The stationary blades act as nozzles in which the steam expands and emerges at an
increased speed but lower pressure.
• As the steam impacts on the moving blades it imparts some of its kinetic energy to the
moving blades.
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Types of Steam Turbine
• There are two basic steam turbine types;
impulse turbines and
reaction turbines
• Turbine blades are designed to control the speed,
direction and pressure of the steam as it passes
through the turbine.
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Impulse Turbines
• The steam jets are directed at the turbine's bucket shaped rotor blades
where the pressure exerted by the jets causes the rotor to rotate and the
velocity of the steam to reduce as it imparts its kinetic energy to the
blades.
• The blades in turn change the direction of flow of the steam however its
pressure remains constant as it passes through the rotor blades since the
cross section of the chamber between the blades is constant.
• Impulse turbines are therefore also known as constant pressure turbines.
• The next series of fixed blades reverses the direction of the steam before it
passes to the second row of moving blades.
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Impulse Turbine Contd.
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Reaction Turbine
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Reaction Turbine Contd.
• The rotor blades of the reaction turbine are shaped more like aerofoils,
arranged such that the cross section of the chambers formed between the fixed
blades diminishes from the inlet side towards the exhaust side of the blades.
• The chambers between the rotor blades essentially form nozzles so that as the
steam progresses through the chambers its velocity increases while at the
same time its pressure decreases, just as in the nozzles formed by the fixed
blades.
• Thus the pressure decreases in both the fixed and moving blades. As the
steam emerges in a jet from between the rotor blades, it creates a reactive
force on the blades which in turn creates the turning moment on the turbine
rotor, just as in Hero's steam engine.
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Reaction Turbine Contd.
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Reaction Turbine Contd.
15
Reaction Turbine Contd.
16
Impulse and Reaction Turbines
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Impulse and Reaction Turbines
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Steam Turbine Stage
19
Turbine Stage Types
• The thermal energy of the steam is converted to mechanical energy by
expanding the steam through the turbine.
• The expansion of the steam occurs in two types of stages:
impulse and
reaction.
• The impulse stage can be compared to a water wheel on which a
stream of water strikes the paddles, causing the wheel to turn.
• The reaction stage can be compared to a rotating sprinkler in that the
jet of water from the sprinkler causes the arms to rotate.
20
Impulse Stages
• An impulse stage consists of a stationary nozzle with rotating buckets
or blades (Fig. A below).
• The steam expands through the nozzle, increasing in velocity as a
result of the decrease in pressure.
• The steam then strikes the rotating buckets and performs work on the
rotating buckets, which in turn decreases the steam velocity.
• The impulse stages can be grouped together in
velocity compound stages or
pressure compound stages (Fig. B below).
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Fig. a. Simple impulse turbine stage
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Impulse Stage Contd.
23
Impulse Stage Contd.
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Impulse Stage Contd.
Velocity Compound Stage
• The velocity compound stage involves a stationary nozzle followed
by several rotating and stationary buckets.
• The nozzle has a large pressure drop with a resulting increase in
velocity.
• The first set of rotating buckets partially decreases the velocity as a
result of the work performed on the buckets.
• The steam then passes through a set of stationary buckets in that the
steam direction is changed back to the original direction.
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Impulse Stage Contd.
• The steam then enters a second set of rotating buckets where the steam
velocity is completely dissipated by performing work on this row of buckets.
• The velocity compound stage can consist of the stationary nozzles and many
rotating and stationary buckets; however, there are usually only two rotating
bucket rows and one stationary bucket row.
• The velocity compound stage typically is used as the first stage of a turbine
because of its ability to withstand high pressure reductions and the resultant
efficiency in quickly reducing pressure and minimizing the requirements for
high pressure casings.
• The velocity compound stage is also called a Curtis stage.
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Fig. 4.3 Velocity compounded and pressure compounded
turbine
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Impulse Stage Contd.
• Pressure compound stages
• Rather than involving a large pressure drop in the one nozzle set, the pressure
compound stages involve several sets of nozzles with small pressure drops through
each set of nozzles and complete velocity dissipation in each row of rotating
buckets.
• The pressure compound stages are also called Rateau impulse stages.
• The pressure compound stage is typically used for all stages except for older
design reheat and non reheat turbines.
• These older designs often used a Curtis stage as the first or governing stage.
• In addition, some controlled extraction pressure applications use a Curtis stage
immediately following the controlled extraction pressure zone.
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Reaction Stages
• Ideal reaction stages would consist of rotating nozzles with stationary buckets.
• In practical applications, the reaction stage consists of both rotating and stationary nozzles.
• Reaction staging in a turbine is shown in Fig. below.
• The steam expands through the stationary nozzles with an increase in velocity.
• The steam then enters the rotating nozzles where it expands further.
• The velocity force from the initial expansion and the expansion in the rotating blades is imparted to the
rotating nozzles.
• The expansion of the steam in the stationary nozzles of the reaction turbine is an impulse action.
• Therefore, the reaction stage in actual turbine applications is a combination of impulse and reaction
principles.
• The reaction turbine is classified as percent reaction by the amount of energy conversion in the rotating
nozzles.
• The term reaction stage generally implies a stage where 50% of the pressure drop occurs in the rotating
blade and 50% occurs in the stationary nozzles.
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Reaction turbine stages
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Impulse versus Reaction Comparison
• Many differences exist between impulse and reaction
turbines:
Peak efficiency is obtained in an impulse stage with more
work per stage than in a reaction stage, assuming the same
bucket diameter.
The pressure drop in an impulse turbine occurs across the
stationary nozzle, whereas the reaction turbine has pressure
drop across the stationary nozzle and the rotating bucket.
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Impulse versus Reaction Comparison Contd.
With regard to overall efficiency comparisons, the reaction stage has
a higher aerodynamic or profile efficiency than an impulse stage.
• However, leakage losses are higher on the reaction stages.
• Consequently, on stages with small blade heights, the impulse stage
has higher efficiency because the difference in leakage losses offsets
the higher profile of the reaction stage.
• As the blade height increases, the influence of leakage losses
decrease and a point is reached where the reaction stage is more
efficient.
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Impulse versus Reaction Comparison Contd.
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Turbine Types Based on Designation
• Steam turbines are divided into many types with various
designations.
• The designations may indicate the various combinations of
turbine types that make up a turbine as well as the turbine
size.
• Figure below shows various representative of turbine types.
• The commonly used turbine types are described in the
following sections.
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Turbine Types Based on Designation Contd.
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Turbine Types Based on Designation Contd.
• Pressure-Reheat Designation
The designation of a turbine by a pressure may also involve the cycle arrangement with
regard to reheat.
For small units without reheat, the steam turbine may consist of a single turbine with the
steam flow entering the turbine, expanding through the turbine, then exhausting either to
a condenser or to a process line.
This is a straight-flow turbine as shown in Figs. (A) and (B).
For a large unit without reheat, the steam may expand through an initial section and then
exhaust to another turbine.
This later turbine may then exhaust to a condenser or to a process.
In this arrangement, the initial turbine is designated the high pressure turbine and the
second turbine the low-pressure turbine, as shown in Fig. (C).
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Pressure-Reheat Designation
Contd.
• For a single reheat cycle, the steam from the boiler flows to the high-pressure turbine
where it expands and is exhausted back to the boiler for reheating.
• The reheat steam coming from the boiler flows to the intermediate-pressure or reheat
turbine where it expands and exhausts into a crossover line that supplies the steam to the
low-pressure turbine.
• The steam expands through the low-pressure turbine and exhausts to a condenser.
• Thus, the single-reheat cycle has high-, intermediate-, and low-pressure turbine sections
as shown in Fig. D.
• The designation is based on the location of the turbine in the cycle relative to inlet
pressure.
• The intermediate-pressure turbine also is called the reheat turbine since it receives the
reheated steam.
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Pressure-Reheat Designation
Contd.
• For a double-reheat cycle, the steam from the boiler flows to the high-pressure turbine
where it expands and is exhausted back to the boiler for reheating.
• The reheat steam flows to the intermediate-pressure turbine where it expands and is
exhausted back to the boiler again for reheating.
• The second stage of reheated steam flows from the boiler to the reheat turbine where it
expands and exhausts to the crossover line that provides the steam to the low-pressure
turbine.
• The steam expands through the low-pressure turbine and exhausts to the condenser.
• Thus in the double-reheat cycle, high-, intermediate-, and low-pressure turbine
designations are used as for the single-reheat cycle, with the addition of the reheat
turbine designation for the turbine required for the second stage of reheat.
• This arrangement is shown in Fig. E.
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Turbine Types Based on Designation Contd.
• Exhaust Conditions
• Two designations exist based on the turbine exhaust conditions: condensing
and non-condensing.
• These two designations are shown in Figs. (A) and (B).
The condensing turbine exhausts to a condenser where the steam is
condensed at sub-atmospheric pressure (vacuum).
The non-condensing turbine exhausts the steam above atmospheric pressure
into a line for supply to the boiler, another turbine, or a process.
• The high- and intermediate pressure turbines and the reheat turbines in the
single- and double-reheat cycles are non-condensing turbines.
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Turbine Types Based on Designation Contd.
• Flow Designation
• The turbine can also be described by the number of directions steam
flows to exhaust from the turbine.
A single flow turbine has the steam flowing in one direction and
exhausting at one end of the turbine.
• The steam enters the turbine and expands in one direction as shown
in Fig. A. Small non-reheat turbines, mechanical drive turbines,
reheat cycle high-pressure, and reheat cycle intermediate-pressure
turbines typically employ single direction flow.
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Flow Designation Contd.
45
Turbine Types Based on Designation Contd.
• Designations
• Power plant steam turbines are typically designated by shaft orientation, number
of low-pressure turbine steam flow paths, and the last-stage blade length of the
low-pressure turbine.
A turbine designated as TC4F30, for example, indicates a unit that is tandem-
compound (TC) having two double-flow (4F) low-pressure turbines with 30 in.
(76.2 cm) last-stage blade length.
A CC2F23 indicates a unit that is cross-compound (CC) having one double-flow
(2F) low pressure turbine with 23 in. (58.4 cm) last-stage blade length.
• The last two parts of the designations are related to the low-pressure turbine
since low-pressure turbines are standard designs.
46
Steam Turbine Velocity Compounding
• Steam turbine stages using velocity compounding are
called Curtis stages, named after Charles Gordon Curtis
(1860–1953).
• Here, the steam expands through a single set of
stationary nozzles and reaches high velocities,
undergoing large pressure drops.
• The high-velocity steam then passes through several
impulse stages consisting of stators and rotors.
47
Steam Turbine Velocity Compounding Contd.
• The total energy of the steam is absorbed by all the
rows in succession until the kinetic energy becomes
negligible in the last stage.
• Thus, the entire pressure drop takes place in the first
nozzle, and no further reduction takes place as the
steam passes through the succeeding stages.
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Steam Turbine Velocity Compounding Contd.
• A two-row Curtis stage is shown in Figure (a) below.
• It consists of a convergent–divergent nozzle, a rotor, a stator
whose purpose is to guide the fluid (but not to change
pressure), and another rotor.
• The velocity diagrams are shown in Figure (b) below.
• Note that the nozzle angle is measured with respect to the
axial direction.
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Steam Turbine Velocity Compounding Contd.
50
Steam Turbine Velocity Compounding Contd.
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Velocity Diagram Impulse Turbines
• Velocity diagram gives an account of velocity of fluid entering and leaving the
turbine.
• Velocity diagrams for single stage of simple impulse turbine and compound steam
turbine are discussed in this section.
• Simple impulse turbine: Single stage of simple impulse turbine is shown in Fig.
below.
• This comprises of a row of nozzle followed by moving blade row.
• Pressure and velocity variations along the stage in nozzle ring and moving blade
ring are also shown.
• Subscript 0, 1 and 2 refer to nozzle inlet, nozzle exit or moving blade inlet and
moving blade exit respectively.
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Single stage of simple impulse turbine
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simple impulse Turbine: Principle of operation
• Most steam turbine plants use impulse steam turbines, whereas gas turbine plants seldom do.
• The general principles are the same whether steam or gas is the working substance.
• The steam supplied to a single wheel impulse turbine expands completely in the nozzle and
leaves with a high absolute velocity.
• This is the absolute inlet velocity to the blades as shown in Fig. (a).
• The steam is delivered to the wheel at an angle αi.
• The absolute velocity, Cai, can be considered as the resultant of the blade velocity, Cb, and
the velocity of the steam relative to the blade at inlet, Cri.
• The two points of particular interest are those at the inlet and exit of the blades.
• The velocities of these points are shown in Fig. (b) as Cri and Cre respectively and the
directions are defined by the angles βi and βe as shown.
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Absolute and relative velocities for a simple impulse turbine
blade
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Absolute and relative velocities for a simple impulse turbine
blade Contd.
• βi is the angle of the blades at inlet, and βe the angle of the blades at exit.
• The velocity triangle for the inlet conditions is drawn in Fig. (a) below from the information of Fig. above.
• The steam leaves the blade with a velocity, Cre, relative to the blade, and at the blade exit angle of β e.
• The absolute velocity at exit Cae is determined from the velocity triangle of Fig. (b) below, and its direction is
αe .
• Since both triangles have the common side OA =C b, the triangles can be combined to give a single diagram as
shown in Fig. (c) below.
• If the blade is symmetrical then βi = βe, and if the friction effects of the blade on the steam are zero, then C re =
Cri.
• It is usual, however, that the velocity of the steam relative to the blade is reduced by friction, and this is
expressed by
Cre = kCri (*)
• Where k is a blade velocity coefficient
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Absolute and relative velocities for a simple
impulse turbine blade Contd
Inlet (a) and outlet (b) blade velocity diagrams for an impulse turbine and a composite diagram (c)
57
Absolute and relative velocities for a simple impulse turbine
blade Contd.
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Notations used for denoting velocity angles and other
parameters
• U = Linear velocity of blade in m/s where d = mean diameter of wheel in ‘m’
• N = Speed in rpm.
• Cai=C1 = Absolute velocity of steam at inlet to moving blade or velocity of
steam leaving nozzle. (Absolute velocity is the velocity of an object relative to
the earth)
• Cae=C2 = Absolute velocity of steam at exit of moving bade.
• Cwi=C1w = Whirl velocity at inlet to moving blade or tangential component of
absolute velocity at inlet to moving blade.
• Cwe=C2w = Whirl velocity at exit of moving blade or tangential component of
absolute velocity at exit of moving blade.
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Notations used for denoting velocity angles and other
parameters Contd.
• C1a = Flow velocity at inlet to moving blade or axial component of
absolute velocity at inlet to moving blade.
• C2a = Flow velocity at exit of moving blade or axial component of
absolute velocity at exit of moving blade.
• Cri=V1 = Relative velocity of steam at inlet of moving blade (Blade
velocity at inlet) (Relative velocity is the absolute velocity of one
moving object compared with absolute velocity of other object.)
• Cre=V2 = Relative velocity of steam at exit of moving blade (Blade
velocity at exit).
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Notations used for denoting velocity angles and other
parameters Contd.
• ρ = Ratio of linear velocity of blade and absolute velocity at inlet of moving blade = U/C 1
• k = Blade velocity coefficient (Ratio of relative velocity at exit and inlet) =
• α = Angle of absolute velocity with respect to the direction of blade motion.
• α1 = Angle of absolute velocity at inlet to moving blade or nozzle angle.
• α2 = Angle of absolute velocity at exit of moving blade or inlet angle of fixed blade in
next
• stage.
• β = Angle of relative velocity with respect to the direction of blade motion.
• β1 = Angle of relative velocity at inlet or inlet angle of moving blade.
• β2 = Angle of relative velocity at exit or exit angle of moving blade.
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Tangential force & Driving Thrust on Impulse Turbine
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Tangential force & Driving Thrust on Impulse Turbine
Contd.
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Rate of Work done in Impulse Turbine Stage
65
Rate of Work done in Impulse Turbine Stage Contd.
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Rate of Work done in Impulse Turbine Stage Contd.
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Rate of Work done in Impulse Turbine Stage Contd.
• In case of impulse stage the change in enthalpy from section 1 to 2 can be given by the
change in kinetic energy associated with relative velocity from 1 to 2.
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Rate of Work done in Impulse Turbine Stage Contd.
69
Axial thrust
• Axial thrust: Axial component of velocity or flow velocity change causes creation of axial thrust. Axial
thrust due to change in momentum because of change in flow velocity.
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Diagram efficiency or blading efficiency
• Diagram efficiency or blading efficiency: Diagram efficiency or
blading efficiency refers to the ratio of work done to the energy
supplied to rotor in a stage.
• In case of impulse turbine this energy supplied to rotor in a stage can
be given by the kinetic energy supplied at inlet of moving blade.
• Assuming no expansion in moving blades the energy supplied to
rotor can be given by:
• Rate of work done per unit mass of steam is also called diagram
work.
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Diagram efficiency or blading efficiency Contd
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Stage efficiency or Gross efficiency
• Stage efficiency or Gross efficiency:
• Stage efficiency refers to the ratio of rate of work done
and energy supplied to the stage.
• Energy supplied to the stage can be accounted by the
change in enthalpy between section 0 and 1 i.e. inlet of
nozzle to exit of nozzle.
• Stage efficiency is thus the output of stage divided by the
available energy for the stage.
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Stage efficiency or Gross efficiency Contd.
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Nozzle efficiency
• Nozzle efficiency:
• Nozzle efficiency refers to the ratio of kinetic energy
available and the enthalpy change occurring across the
nozzle i.e. between inlet and outlet (sections 0 and 1).
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Nozzle efficiency & Overall Efficiency Contd.
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Worked Example
• A single stage of simple impulse turbine produces 120
kW at blade speed of 150 m/s when steam mass flow
rate is 3 kg/s. Steam enters moving blade at 350 m/s
and leaves the stage axially. Considering velocity
coefficient of 0.9 and smooth steam entry without
shock into blades, determine the nozzle angle and
blade angles. Solve using velocity diagram.
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Solution
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Solution Contd
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Worked Example 2
• In a single stage impulse turbine the isentropic enthalpy drop of 200 kJ/kg occurs
in the nozzle having efficiency of 96% and nozzle angle of 15°. The blade velocity
coefficient is 0.96 and ratio of blade speed to steam velocity is 0.5. The steam
mass flow rate is 20 kg/s and velocity of steam entering is 50 m/s. Determine
(a) the blade angles at inlet and outlet if the steam enters blades smoothly and
leaves axially.
(b) the blade efficiency
(c) the power developed in kW
(d) the axial thrust.
Solve using velocity diagram.
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Solution
• Let the state at inlet to nozzle, leaving
nozzle and leaving blade be denoted using
subscripts 0, 1 and 2.
• Using nozzle efficiency the actual enthalpy
drop may be calculated as:
• Actual enthalpy drop in nozzle, ∆hN = 200 x
0.96 = 192 kJ/kg
• Velocity of steam leaving nozzle,
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Solution Contd.
82
Solution Contd
83
Solution Contd
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REACTION TURBINES
• In a reaction turbine the pressure drop occurs in both stationary and moving rows contrary to the impulse
turbine where the total pressure drop occurs in stationary nozzles alone.
• In reaction turbine the passage between two consecutive blades is of converging type as compared to impulse
turbine blading which has constant cross-sectional area passage between two consecutive blades.
• Each stage of the reaction turbine consists of a fixed row of blades over the whole of the circumferential
annulus, and an equal number of blades of a wheel.
• Admission of fluid in the reaction turbine takes place over the complete annulus, and so there is full
admission.
• The fixed blade channels are of nozzle shape and there is comparatively small drop in pressure accompanied
by an increase in velocity.
• The fluid then passes over the moving blades and, as in the pure impulse turbine; a force is exerted on the
blades by the fluid.
• There is a further drop in pressure as the fluid passes through the moving blades, since the moving blades
channels are also of nozzle shape, and therefore there is an increase in the fluid velocity relative to the blades.
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Reaction turbine stage
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Velocity and force diagram of reaction blading
87
Velocity diagram for reaction Turbine
• In reaction turbine, steam entering moving blades is subjected to pass through converging
area passage along with change in direction.
• Thus there is increase in velocity (V2 > V1) from inlet to exit in moving blade which results
in a reaction force.
• Change in direction of velocity is accompanied by change in momentum thus an impulse
force.
• It shows that the rotation of shaft is caused by the combination of impulse and reaction
forces.
• It may be noted that due to shaft rotation being caused by combination of impulse and
reaction forces these reaction turbines are also termed as impulse-reaction turbine.
• These are also called full admission turbines as the steam enters through fixed blade row
over complete annulus.
88
Velocity diagram for reaction Turbine Contd
• The enthalpy drop over the reaction turbine stage shows that heat drop
occurs in both fixed blades and moving blades rows.
• If the total enthalpy drop in stage is equally divided between the
stationary and moving blades then the stage is called 50% reaction stage.
• A mathematical parameter called ‘degree of reaction’ is used to quantify
the proportion of enthalpy drops occurring in stationary and moving
blades.
• The ‘degree of reaction’ is defined as the ratio of enthalpy drop in moving
blades row (rotor blades) to the total enthalpy drop in the stage.
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Velocity diagram for 50% reaction turbine
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Work Done in Reaction Turbine
• For stationary blade row the S.F.E.E. gives,
92
Diagram Efficiency of Reaction Turbine
• Diagram efficiency of reaction stage can be estimated
by knowing the energy input to the moving blades and
taking ratio of work done to energy input.
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Diagram Efficiency of Reaction Turbine Contd
94
Diagram Efficiency of Reaction Turbine Contd
95
Diagram Efficiency of Reaction Turbine Contd
96
LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES
• Steam turbine being work producing device running at quite high
speed has number of losses occurring in it.
• These losses when put together result into substantial loss of
energy.
• Therefore, while selecting a turbine due attention should be paid to
the losses in turbine.
• Some of the losses occur within turbine stages while some are
external to stage.
• These losses are described below.
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LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES Contd
• Losses in nozzles:
• Steam turbine nozzle is designed for isentropic expansion so as to result in increase in velocity
from inlet to exit.
• Practically in a nozzle the steam leaving nozzle may not have velocity equal to the designed
velocity value.
• This deviation in operating state of nozzle may occur because of non-isentropic expansion.
• The reasons for non-isentropic expansion may be friction losses between the steam and nozzle
wall, viscous friction resistance to flow in the steam particles, boundary layer formation and
separation, heat loss during flow etc.
• Mathematically, this shift from isentropic expansion to non-isentropic expansion is quantified
using the parameter called ‘nozzle efficiency’.
• Nozzle efficiency is defined by the ratio of ‘actual enthalpy drop’ to the ‘isentropic enthalpy drop’
between inlet and exit of nozzle.
98
LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES Contd
• Losses in moving blades:
• In steam turbine stage steam is supposed to glide smoothly over
the moving blades after leaving nozzles or fixed blades.
• In actual turbine stage during flow of steam over moving blade, there
may be number of factors causing loss of energy as given under:
Blade friction may incur frictional loss which is taken into account
by the blade friction factor.
“Boundary layer separation” may occur due to sharp deflection of
fluid within the blade passage.
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LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES Contd
Loss of energy may be due to turbulence at outlet of preceding
row of nozzles due to finite thickness of nozzle exit edge.
Loss of energy is also there due to breakage of flow which
occurs upon the impingement of steam upon the leading edge
of moving blade. This is also termed as ‘impingement loss’.
Loss of energy also occurs during passage of steam from one
stage to other i.e. rows. This loss is also termed as ‘carry over
loss’.
100
LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES Contd
• Disc friction loss:
• This is a kind of loss of energy visible whenever any object say disc is rotated in air or other
medium.
• Due to this relative motion surrounding medium always exerts a resistance to motion of
moving object.
• This may result in loss of energy due to friction which may be felt by the increase in enthalpy
of surrounding fluid.
• In case of steam turbines too the rotor is completely surrounded by the steam which offers
resistance to the rotor motion. The loss of energy of rotor may go into the steam enveloping it.
• This loss of energy is termed as ‘disc friction loss’. The disc friction loss may cause heating of
steam surrounding the rotor i.e. a portion of kinetic energy is transferred from the rotor disc to
steam by heating of steam.
101
LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES Contd
• Windage loss:
• Windage loss occurs when the rotor blades come in contact with near stationary fluid (steam).
• In case of partial admission turbines i.e. generally impulse turbines there is churning of steam
in the region having no active steam in steam turbine.
• When moving rotor blades come in contact with inactive steam then there is transfer of energy
from blade to steam. This loss of energy from rotor to fluid is termed as ‘windage loss’.
• In case of full admission turbine the region inside turbine having inactive steam is negligible
and so the windage loss is nearly negligible.
• To minimize windage loss the turbine should be filled with moving steam (active steam).
• Windage losses are very small in case of low pressure stages. Reaction turbines have negligible
windage losses as they are full admission turbines.
102
LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES Contd
• Loss due to leakage:
• Steam leakage may occur across the turbine shaft and between stages.
• Leakage of steam may result in availability of less work from stage as steam is not fully utilized for
producing work.
• Leakage occurs during flow from one stage to other or from one row to other through the clearance space
between diaphragm and shaft.
• Leakage also occurs across the blade tip. Leakage across diaphragm occurs in both impulse turbine and
reaction turbine stages.
• Leakage across tip is not prominent in case of impulse turbine as the pressure difference is very small. Tip
leakage is prominent in reaction turbine stages.
• Leakage is accompanied by the increase in entropy and so the decrease in availability of work due to
throttling of steam which is an irreversible process.
• Leakage loss can be minimized by reducing the clearances as much as possible after providing for
expansion of turbine parts so that the metal-to-metal rubbing is avoided.
103
LOSSES IN STEAM TURBINES Contd
• Losses in bearings:
• Turbine bearings are critical parts to support high speed rotation of shaft.
• Generally, a loss to the tune of 1% of turbine output occurs in bearings.
Although this loss depends upon bearing load, oil viscosity, speed of shaft,
bearing surface area and film thickness etc.
• Losses at inlet and exit:
• Loss at inlet of steam turbine occurs at regulating valves at entry.
• At these valves which may be stop valve or governor valves the throttling
loss generally occurs causing lowering of entering steam pressure.
•
104
STEAM GENERATORS
• Steam Generator (a.k.a Boiler) is an apparatus to produce steam.
• Thermal energy released by combustion of fuel is transferred to water, which
vaporizes and gets converted into steam at the desired temperature and pressure.
• Steam generator is the engineering device which generates steam at constant pressure.
• It is a closed vessel, generally made of steel in which vaporization of water takes
place.
• Heat required for vaporization may be provided by the combustion of fuel in furnace,
electricity, nuclear reactor, hot exhaust gases, solar radiations etc.
• In essence, a steam generator is a machine that safely, reliably, and efficiently
transfers heat released during the combustion of fuel to both feed-water and steam.
105
TYPES OF BOILERS
• Boilers are of many types. Depending upon their features
they can be classified as given under:
• Based upon the orientation/axis of the shell: According
to the axis of shell boiler can be classified as vertical boiler
and horizontal boiler.
Vertical boiler has its shell vertical.
Horizontal boiler has its shell horizontal.
Inclined boiler has its shell inclined.
106
TYPES OF BOILERS Contd
• Based upon utility of boiler: Boilers can be classified as
Stationery boiler, such boilers are stationery and are extensively
used in power plants, industrial processes, heating etc.
Portable boiler, such boilers are portable and are of small size.
These can be of the following types,
• Locomotive boiler, which are exclusively used in locomotives
• Marine boiler, which are used for marine applications
107
TYPES OF BOILERS Contd
• Based on type of firing employed: According to the
nature of heat addition process boilers can be classified as,
Externally fired boilers, in which heat addition is done
externally i.e. furnace is outside the boiler unit. Such as
Lanchashire boiler, Locomotive boiler etc
Internally fired boilers, in which heat addition is done
internally i.e. furnace is within the boiler unit. Such as
Cochran boiler, Babcock Wilcox boiler etc
108
TYPES OF BOILERS Contd
• Based upon the tube content: Based on the fluid inside the tubes,
boilers can be,
Fire tube boilers, such boilers have the hot gases inside the tube and
water is outside surrounding them. Examples for these boilers are,
Cornish boiler, Cochran boiler, Lancashire boiler, Locomotive boiler
etc.
Water tube boilers, such boilers have water flowing inside the tubes
and hot gases surround them. Examples for such boilers are Babcock-
Wilcox boiler, Stirling boiler, La-Mont boiler, Benson boiler etc.
109
TYPES OF BOILERS Contd
• Based on type of fuel used: According to the type of fuel used the boilers can be,
Solid fuel fired boilers, such as coal fired boilers etc.
Liquid fuel fired boilers, such as oil fired boilers etc.
Gas fired boilers, such as natural gas fired boilers etc.
• Based on circulation: According to the flow of water and steam within the boiler
circuit the boilers may be of following types,
Natural circulation boilers, in which the circulation of water/steam is caused by
the density difference which is due to the temperature variation.
Forced circulation boilers, in which the circulation of water/steam is caused by a
pump i.e externally assisted circulation.
110
TYPES OF BOILERS Contd.
• Based on extent of firing: According to the extent of
firing the boilers may be,
Fired boilers, in which heat is provided by fuel firing.
Unfired boilers, in which heat is provided by some other
source except fuel firing such as hot flue gases etc.
Supplementary fired boilers, in which a portion of heat is
provided by fuel firing and remaining by some other
source.
111
REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD BOILER
Boiler should have its heating surface nearly at right angle to the current
of hot gases for good heat transfer.
There should be minimum frictional power loss during flow of hot gases
and water/steam i.e. pressure drop throughout the system should be
minimum.
Tubes should be so designed so as to have minimum soot deposition and
good strength against wear. Boiler should have a mud drum to receive all
impurities.
Boiler should have strength to withstand excessive thermal stresses.
Boiler should occupy less floor area and space.
113
Criterion for Boiler Selection for Application
• For deciding the boiler for any application, generally following
criterion are be made:
Steam pressure requirement
Steam temperature requirement
Steam generation rate
Initial cost and constraints
Running and maintenance costs
Availability of fuel and water
Inspection and maintenance requirements.
114
BOILER MOUNTINGS AND ACCESSORIES
115
BOILER MOUNTINGS AND ACCESSORIES Contd
116
BOILER MOUNTINGS AND ACCESSORIES Contd
117
Boiler Accessories
• Superheater:
• Its purpose is to super heat steam and is a type of heat
exchanger in which steam flows inside tubes and hot gases
surround it.
• Superheated steam leaves superheater through tube
connected to steam stop valve.
• These hot gases upon passing over steel tubes leave boiler
through bottom flue.
118
Boiler Accessories Contd.
• Economizer:
• It is also a heat recovery device in which feed water is heated from heat available
with exhaust gases.
• Thus hot feed water available from economizer lowers the fuel requirement in
combustion. It is also a type of heat exchanger having exhaust gas and feed water
as two fluids.
• Economizer also helps in removal of dissolved gases by preheating of water and
thus minimizes tendency of corrosion and pitting. Hotter feed water also reduces
thermal strain in boiler parts.
• Thus economizer is simply a heat exchanger where heat is transferred from hot
flue gases to water inside the tubes through metal interface.
119
Boiler Accessories Contd.
• Air preheater:
• It is used for recovering the heat going along with exhaust gases by the air
before being sent to furnace.
• Heat is recovered by passing exhaust gases through an air to air heat exchanger.
• Air preheaters are generally placed after economizer and before chimney.
• Air when preheated before supply to furnace/combustion chamber helps in
achieving ‘faster rate of combustion’, ‘possibility of burning inferior quality
coal/fuel’ and ‘increased rate of evaporation from boiler’ etc.
• Air preheaters are of tubular type, plate type and regenerative type.
• Generally, tubular type air preheater are generally used in small boilers.
120
Boiler Accessories Contd.
• Feed pump:
• Feed pump is used for sending water into boiler at the pressure at which steam generation takes place.
• It is generally of three types i.e. centrifugal pump, reciprocating pump and injectors.
• In boilers the pumps raise feed water pressure to the value more than the highest operating pressure of boiler.
• Pumps also have capability to deliver feed water in excess to the maximum evaporation rate of boiler.
• This excess capacity of feed pump is generally 15–20% of maximum continuous rating and is required to
meet one or more of following situations.
Sometimes excessive steam demand may occur.
Since boilers are to be blown out frequently to remove depositions and salts, therefore excess capacity is
required.
Malfunctioning of boiler may cause carrying away of water with steam, thereby causing water shortage in
boiler.
Over a period of time pump capacity decreases and so excess pump capacity is desired.
121
Boiler Accessories Contd.
• Steam trap:
• Steam traps perform function of catching steam
getting condensed in the form of condensate (water)
due to partial condensation of steam in pipes, steam
jackets etc.
122
PERFORMANCE OF STEAM
GENERATORS
• The performance of steam generator is measured by
the following parameters:
(i)Evaporative Capacity
(ii)Equivalent Evaporation
(iii)Factor of Evaporation
(iv)Boiler Efficiency
123
EVAPORATIVE CAPACITY
• Generally, the output or evaporative capacity of a boiler is given as kg of water
evaporated per hour.
• However, to compare the evaporative capacity or performance of different boilers
working under different conditions it becomes imperative to provide a common
base so that water be supposed to be evaporated under standard conditions.
• The standard conditions adopted are:
Temperature of feed water 100°C and converted into dry and saturated steam at
100°C. As per these standard conditions 1 kg of water at 100°C necessitates 2257
kJ (539 kcal in MKS units) to get converted to steam at 100°C.
124
EQUIVALENT EVAPORATION
• The equivalent evaporation may be defined as the amount
of water evaporated from water at 100°C to dry and
saturated steam at 100°C.
Consider a boiler generating ma kg of steam per hour at a
pressure p and temperature T.
Let h = Enthalpy of steam per kg under the generating
conditions.
125
EQUIVALENT EVAPORATION CONTD.
• h = hf + hfg ...... Dry saturated steam at pressure p
• h = hf + xhfg ...... Wet steam with dryness fraction x at pressure p
• h = hf + hfg + cp (Tsup – Ts) ...... Superheated steam at pressure p and
temperature Tsup
• hf1 = Specific enthalpy of water at a given feed temperature.
Then heat gained by the steam from the boiler per unit time
= ma (h – hf1)
126
EQUIVALENT EVAPORATION CONTD.
• The equivalent evaporation (me) from the definition is obtained as:
128
BOILER EFFICIENCY
• Boiler efficiency quantifies, how effectively the heat is being
used in boiler. Thus, it could be given by the ratio of heat
actually used for steam generation and total heat available due
to combustion of fuel in boiler.
or
• ‘Boiler efficiency’ is the ratio of heat actually utilised in
generation of steam to the heat supplied by the fuel in the same
period
129
BOILER EFFICIENCY CONTD.
• Mathematically, boiler efficiency is
• where, ma = Mass of water actually evaporated into steam per kg of fuel at the
working pressure, and C = Calorific value of the fuel in kJ/kg.
• If the boiler, economiser, and superheater are considered as a single unit, then
the boiler efficiency is termed as overall efficiency of the boiler plant.
130
BOILER EFFICIENCY Contd.
131
BOILER EFFICIENCY CONTD.
• The following are the factors on which the boiler
efficiency depends:
(i) Fixed factors.
(ii) Variable factors.
132
BOILER EFFICIENCY CONTD.
• Fixed Factors are:
(i) Boiler design. It includes the arrangement and effectiveness of the heating surfaces, the
shape and volume of the furnace, the arrangement of flues, the arrangement of steam and
water circulation.
(ii) Heat recovery equipment. It includes the economiser, superheater, air preheater and feed
water heater.
(iii) Built in losses. It includes the heat transfer properties of the settings and construction
materials, flue gas and ash heat losses.
(iv) Rated rate of firing, the furnace volume and heating surface.
(v) Properties and characteristics of fuel burnt.
133
BOILER EFFICIENCY CONTD.
• Variable Factors are:
(i) Actual firing rate.
(ii) Fuel condition as it is fired.
(iii) The conditions of heat absorbing surfaces.
(iv) Excess air fluctuations.
(v) Incomplete combustion and combustibles in the refuse.
(vi) Change in draught from the rated, due to atmospheric conditions.
(vii) Humidity and temperature of the combustion air.
134
Worked Example 1
137
Solution Contd.
138
Worked Example 2
• A steam generator evaporates 18000 kg/h of steam at 12.5 bar
and a quality of 0.97 from feed water at 105°C, when coal is
fired at the rate of 2040 kg/h. If the higher calorific value of
the coal is 27400 kJ/kg, find:
(i) The heat rate of boiler in kJ/h;
(ii) The equivalent evaporation;
(iii) The thermal efficiency.
139
Solution
• Steam generated, m = 18000 kg/h
• Steam pressure, p = 12.5 bar
• Quality of steam, x = 0.97
• Feed water temperature = 105°C
• Rate of coal firing, mf = 2040 kg/h
• Higher calorific value (H.C.V.) of coal, C = 27400 kJ/kg
140
Solution Contd.
(i) Heat rate of boiler:
At 12.5 bar: From steam tables,
141
Solution Contd.
142
Worked Example 3
• A boiler generates 7.5 kg of steam per kg of coal burnt at a pressure of
11bar, from feed water having a temperature of 70°C. The efficiency of
boiler is 75% and factor of evaporation 1.15, specific heat of steam at
constant pressure is 2.3.
Calculate:
(i) Degree of superheat and temperature of steam generated;
(ii) Calorific value of coal in kJ/kg;
(iii) Equivalent evaporation in kg of steam per kg of coal.
143
Solution
Steam generated per kg of coal, ma = 7.5 kg
Steam pressure, p = 11 bar
Temperature of feed water = 70°C
Efficiency of boiler = 75%
Factor of evaporation, Fe = 1.15
Specific heat of steam, cps = 2.3 kJ/kg K
144
Solution Contd.
(i) Degree of superheat and temperature of steam generated at 11
bar:
From steam tables:
145
Solution Contd.
(ii) Calorific value of coal, C:
146
Solution Contd.
(iii) Equivalent evaporation me:
147
HEAT BALANCE ON BOILER
149
HEAT BALANCE ON BOILER Contd
150
The Steam Condenser
• It is a device or an appliance in which steam
condenses and heat released by steam is absorbed by
water.
151
The Steam Condenser Contd.
152
The Steam Condenser Contd.
153
Classification of Condensers
155
Classification of Condensers Contd.
157
Classification of Condensers Contd.
160
Classification of Condensers Contd.
• Down-Flow Type:
• The cooling water enters the shell at the lower half section and
after traveling through the upper half section comes out through
the outlet. The exhaust steam entering shell from the top flows
down over the tubes and gets condensed and is finally removed
by an extraction pump.
• Due to the fact that steam flows in a direction right angle to the
direction of flow of water, it is also called cross-surface
condenser.
161
Classification of Condensers Contd.
•Evaporative Type:
•The principle of this condenser is that when a limited quantity of water is
available, its quantity needed to condense the steam can be reduced by
causing the circulating water to evaporate under a small partial pressure.
•The exhaust steam enters at the top through gilled pipes. The water pump
sprays water on the pipes and descending water condenses the steam. The
water which is not evaporated falls into the open tank (cooling pond) under
the condenser from which it can be drawn by circulating water pump and used
over again.
•The evaporative condenser is placed in open air and finds its application in
small size plants.
163
Classification of Condensers Contd.
164
Classification of Condensers Contd.
165
Classification of Condensers Contd.
166
Comparison Between Jet And Surface Condensers
167
Mixture of Air and Steam (Dalton's Law of Partial
Pressures):
•It states "The pressure of the mixture of air and steam is equal
to the sum of the pressures, which each constituent would exert,
if it occupied the same space by itself" Mathematically, pressure
in the condenser containing mixture of air and steam,
Pc=Pa + Ps
•Where, Pc = Pressure in condenser
•Pa = Partial pressure of air and,
•Ps = Partial pressure of steam
168
Measurement of Vacuum in a Condenser:
170
Condenser Efficiency
171
Condenser Efficiency Contd.
172
Sources of air into the condensers:
174
RANKINE CYCLE
176
Analysis of Rankine Cycle
• 1 – 2: Heat added in boiler, for unit mass of steam.
Qadd = (h2 – h1)
• 2 – 3: Turbine work, for unit mass,
Wturbine = (h2 – h3).
• 3 – 4: Heat rejected in condenser for unit mass,
Qrejected = (h3 – h4)
• 4 – 1: For unit mass, Pump work
Wpump = h1 – h4.
177
Analysis of Rankine Cycle Contd
• From first and second law combined together;
178
Improvement of Rankine Cycle EFficiency
• Rankine cycle efficiency may be improved in the following
ways:
(a) By reducing heat addition in boiler, which could be realized by
preheating water entering into it.
(b) By increasing steam turbine expansion work, i.e. by increasing
expansion ratio within limiting dryness fraction considerations.
(c) By reducing feed pump work.
(d) By using heat rejected in condenser for feed water heating. etc.
179
Irreversibilities and losses in Rankine cycle
• In actual Rankine cycle there exist various irreversibilities and losses in its’ constituent
components and processes in them.
• In Rankine cycle the major irreversibility is encountered during the expansion through turbine.
• Irreversibilities in turbine significantly reduce the expansion work.
• Heat loss from turbine to surroundings, friction inside turbine and leakage losses contribute to
irreversibilities.
• Due to this irreversible expansion there occurs an increase in entropy as compared to no
entropy change during reversible adiabatic expansion process.
• This deviation of expansion from ideal to actual process can be accounted for by isentropic
turbine efficiency.
• Ideal expansion in steam turbine is shown by 2–3 on T–S representation. Actual expansion
process is shown by 2–3'.
180
Rankine cycle showing non-ideal expansion and pumping
process
181
Isentropic Turbine Efficiency
182
Isentropic Pump Efficiency
Another important location for irreversibilities is the pump.
During pumping some additional work is required to overcome frictional
effects. Ideally pumping is assumed to take place with no heat transfer
during pumping whereas actually it may not be so.
Thus, it indicates that actually pump work required shall be more than ideal pump work
requirement.
183
DESIRED THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF WORKING
FLUID
• Working fluid being used in vapour power cycles must have the
following desirable properties.
Working fluid should be cheap and easily available.
Working fluid should be non-toxic, non-corrosive and chemically
stable.
Fluid must have higher saturation temperature at moderate
pressures as it shall yield high efficiency because most of heat
will be added at high temperature. Thus, mean temperature of
heat addition shall be high even at moderate pressure.
184
DESIRED THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF WORKING
FLUID Contd
Working fluid should have smaller specific heat so that sensible heat supplied is
negligible and Rankine cycle approaches to Carnot cycle.
Saturated vapour line should be steep enough so that state after expansion has
high dryness fraction.
Working fluid density should be high so that the size of plant becomes smaller.
Working fluid should have its' critical temperature within metallurgical limits.
It should show significant decrease in volume upon condensation.
Working fluid should have its' freezing point much below atmospheric pressure
so that there is no chance of freezing in condenser.
185
Performance improvement of Rankine Cycle
• REHEAT CYCLE
• Reheat cycle (Fig. below) is based on the simple fact of realizing high efficiency
with higher boiler pressure and yet avoid low quality of steam at turbine exhaust.
• Here steam generated in boiler is supplied to high pressure steam turbine at state
2 and is expanded up to state 3.
• This steam is sent to boiler for being reheated so that its temperature gets
increased, normally this temperature after reheating may be equal to temperature
at inlet of high pressure steam turbine.
• Steam after reheating is supplied to subsequent turbine at state 4, say to low
pressure steam turbine.
186
Performance improvement of Rankine Cycle Contd
• Steam is now expanded up to the exhaust pressure say state ‘5’.
• Expanded steam is subsequently sent to condenser and condensate at
state ‘6’ is pumped back to the boiler employing feed pump at state ‘1’.
• Thus, it is possible to take advantage of high steam pressure at inlet to
steam turbine as the problem of steam becoming excessively wet with
increasing steam pressure could be regulated by reheating during the
expansion.
• Expansion occurs in two stages one beginning at high pressure and
other occurring at low pressure with reheating in between.
187
Performance improvement of Rankine Cycle Contd
• The principal advantage of reheat is to increase the quality of steam at
turbine exhaust.
• Secondary advantage of reheating is marginal improvement in thermal
efficiency when steam pressure is above 100 bar.
• Generally, with modern high pressure boilers and supercritical boilers
reheating is essentially employed.
• Reheating is disadvantageous from economy of plant perspective as the
cost of plant increases due to arrangement for reheating and increased
condensation requirements due to increased dryness fraction of steam
after expansion.
188
Advantages of Reheating
• There is an increased output of the turbine.
• Erosion and corrosion problems in the steam turbine
are eliminated/avoided.
• There is an improvement in the thermal efficiency of
the turbines.
• Final dryness fraction of steam is improved.
• There is an increase in the nozzle and blade efficiencies
189
Disadvantages of Reheating
• Reheating requires more maintenance.
• The increase in thermal efficiency is not appreciable in
comparison to the expenditure incurred in reheating.
190
Reheat Cycle and T- S Representation
191
Thermodynamic analysis of reheat cycle
• Total turbine work output = WHPST + WLPST
• Net work, Wnet = (Total turbine work output) – (Pump
work)
• Wnet = WHPST + WLPST – Wp
where different works for ms mass of steam are;
• HP steam turbine, WHPST = ms · (h2 –h3)
192
Thermodynamic analysis of reheat cycle
193
Worked Example
• A steam power plant operates on a theoretical reheat cycle. Steam
at boiler at 150 bar, 550°C expands through the high pressure
turbine. It is reheated at a constant pressure of 40 bar to 550°C
and expands through the low pressure turbine to a condenser at
0.1 bar.
• Draw T-s and h-s diagrams. Find :
(i) Quality of steam at turbine exhaust ;
(ii) Cycle efficiency ;
(iii) Steam rate in kg/kWh.
194
Solution
195
Solution Contd.
• From Mollier diagram (h-s diagram):
196
Solution Contd.
197
REGENERATIVE CYCLE
200
Feed Water Heaters Contd
• In open feed water heater two fluids i.e., bled steam and
feed water are at same pressure and adiabatic mixing is
assumed to take place.
• Energy balance is given as follows,
ma · ha + mb · hb = (ma + mb) · hc
• where subscripts a,b and c are for feed water, bled
steam and mixture of the two as shown in Figure above.
201
Feed Water Heaters Contd
• Indirect contact feed water heater as shown in Figure
above is the one in which two fluid streams i.e. bled steam
and feed water do not come in direct contact, but the heat
exchange between two streams occurs indirectly through
metal interface.
• These are also called closed feed water heaters.
• In these feed water heaters since two fluids do not contact
each other so they may be at different pressures.
202
Feed Water Heaters Contd
• Direct contact heaters or open type heaters are more efficient
than indirect contact type due to direct contact between two
fluids.
• Feed water can achieve saturation temperature
corresponding to the pressure of heating steam.
• In this case the terminal temperature difference is zero.
• During heating the non-condensable gases dissolved in
water get released and are thrown out through vent passage.
203
Feed heater arrangements
204
Surface type heaters method:
205
Open type heater method
• In this arrangement the open type feed water heaters
are employed as Shown in Fig below.
• Here due to contact of two fluids, there occurs mixing
of bled steam with water and is taken out using pump
for being sent to next open feed water heater.
206
Arrangement with open feed water heaters
207
Surface type heaters with hot well
• This arrangement employs a hot well with surface type
heaters.
• Bled steam condensate leaving surface type heaters is
sent to hot well from where it is picked up by pump
and flown through heaters for getting heated up.
• Arrangement is shown in Fig. below.
208
Arrangement with open feed water heaters
209
Cascade method
• Here bled steam condensate is throttled and cascaded into low
pressure surface heaters.
• Bled steam condensate from last heater is sent to hot well from
where it is picked up and pumped through surface type heaters.
• For lowering the pressure of condensate before mixing the
traps may also be used.
• A trap allows the liquid to be throttled to a lower pressure and
also traps the vapour.
210
Cascade method
211
Thermodynamics Analysis of regenerative cycle
• Schematic of regenerative cycle with single feed water heater of open type is shown in
Fig. below.
• Arrangement shows that steam is bled out from turbine at state 6 and fed into feed heater.
• Feed water leaving at state 7 as shown on T-S diagram is being pumped up to boiler
pressure through feed pump.
• T-S diagram indicates that the amount of heat picked up by feed water is shown by
hatched area A1751'.
• In case of absence of bleeding and feed heater the feed water will enter into boiler at state
1' as compared to state 1 when regenerative heating is employed.
• Thus, advantage of hotter feed water to boiler can be realized by bleeding expanding
steam from turbine.
212
Schematic for regenerative cycle with one open feed water
heater
213
T-s representation for regenerative cycle with one open feed
water heater
214
Thermodynamics Analysis of regenerative cycle
• For the regenerative cycle considered, with unit mass of steam leaving boiler
and ‘m’ kg of steam bled out for feed water heating:
• Steam turbine work = (h2 – h6) + (1 – m) · (h6 – h3)
• Pump work = (1 – m) · (h5 – h4) + 1 · (h1 – h7)
• Net work = {(h2 – h6) + (1 – m) · (h6 – h3)} – {(1 – m) · (h5 – h4) + (h1 – h7)}
• Heat added = 1 · (h2 – h1)
• Hence, regenerative cycle efficiency= Net work/ Heat added
215
Regenerative cycle with two surface type heaters
• Let us carry out thermodynamic analysis for 1 kg of
steam generated in boiler at pressure p1 and masses of
bled steam be m6 and m7 at pressure p6 and p7.
• Figures below show the Schematic of regenerative
cycle with two surface type heaters and
• Schematic and T-S representation for regenerative
cycle with two surface type heaters
216
Regenerative cycle with two surface type heaters
217
Regenerative cycle with two surface type heaters
218
Regenerative cycle with two surface type heaters
• Steam turbine work = {1 · (h2 – h6) + (1 – m6) · (h6 – h7) + (1 – m6
– m7) · (h7 – h3)}
• Total pumping work = {(1 – m6 – m7) · (h5 – h4) + m7 · (h10 – h9) +
m6 · (h14 – h8)}
• Bled steam leaving surface heaters 1 and 2 are at states 8 and 9
which are saturated liquid states at respective pressure, i.e., h8 =
hf at p6 ’ h9 = hf at p7
• Heat added in boiler = 1 · (h2 – h1)
219
Regenerative cycle with two surface type heaters Contd.
• Applying heat balance on two surface heaters we get,
On surface heater 1,
• m6 · h6 + (1– m6) · h12 = m6 · h8 + (1 – m6) · h13
On surface heater 2,
• m7 · h7 + (1– m6 – m7) · h5 = m7 · h9 + (1 – m6 – m7) · h11
• At the point of mixing of output from surface heater and bled condensate the heat balance yields.
1 · h1 = (1 – m6) · h13 + m6 · h14
h1 = (1 – m6) · h13 + m6 · h14
and
• (1 – m6 – m7) · h11 + m7 · h10 = (1 – m6) · h12
Upon the pumps 1, 2 and 3;
On pump 1,
• v4(p1 – p3) = h5 – h4
and
• h5 = v4 (p1 – p3) + h4
220
Regenerative cycle with two surface type heaters Contd
On pump 2,
• v9(p1 – p7) = h10 – h9
• h10 = v9 (p1 – p7) + h9
On pump 3,
• v8(p1 – p6) = h14 – h8
• h14 = v8 (p1 – p6) + h8
• Above different enthalpy expressions can be used for getting enthalpy
values at salient points of interest in order to get the net work and cycle
efficiency of this arrangement.
221
Worked Example
• In a thermal power plant operating on a regenerative
Rankine cycle superheated Steam at 50bar and 500 oC
enters a turbine. A suitable fraction of the steam is
withdrawn from the turbine at 10 bar and the rest of
the steam expands to the condenser pressure 0.05bar.
Calculate the thermal efficiency of the steam power
plant and the mass flow rate of steam if the net power
output of the plant is 100MW.
222
Solution
223
Solution Contd
224
Solution Contd
225
ASSIGNMENT
Steam at a pressure of 20 bar and 250°C enters a turbine and leaves it finally at a pressure of 0.05 bar.
Steam is bled off at pressures of 5.0, 1.5 and 0.3 bar. Assuming (i) that the condensate is heated in
each heater up to the saturation temperature of the steam in that heater, (ii) that the drain water from
each heater is cascaded through a trap into the next heater on the low pressure side of it, (iii) that the
combined drains from the heater operating at 0.3 bar are cooled in a drain cooler to condenser
temperature, calculate the following:
(i) Mass of bled steam for each heater per kg of steam entering the turbine
(ii) Thermal efficiency of the cycle,
(iii) Thermal efficiency of the Rankine cycle
(iv) Theoretical gain due to regenerative feed heating,
(v) Steam consumption in kg/kWh with or without regenerative feed heating, and
(vi) Quantity of steam passing through the last stage nozzle of a 50000 kW turbine with and
without regenerative feed heating.
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ASSIGNMENT2
• Steam is supplied to a turbine at 30 bar and 350°C.
The turbine exhaust pressure is 0.08 bar. The main
condensate is heated regeneratively in two stages by
steam bled from the turbine at 5 bar and 1.0 bar
respectively. Calculate masses of steam bled off at
each pressure per kg of steam entering the turbine and
the theoretical thermal efficiency of the cycle.
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