Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Chapter 8

Steam Cycle Analysis

Thermodynamic cycles in internal combustion engines, e.g. gas turbines, spark-ignition engines,
and diesel engines, are usually called gas power cycles because the working fluid remains in
the gaseous phase throughout the entire cycle.

Thermodynamics cycles involving phase change of the working fluid are called vapor cycles.
Steam turbines use liquid water and steam to produce power and are called vapor power cycles.
Refrigeration cycles (discussed in Chapter 9) move heat from low temperature medium to hightemperature medium involving phase change of the refrigerant and are called vapor
refrigeration cycles.
Water

8.1 Phase Change of Pure Substances

8.1.1

States of liquid and vapor

A liquid that is about to vaporize is called saturated

liquid (state 2 in the figure below). A vapor that is
about to condense is called saturated vapor (state 4
below). A state between 2 and 4 is called saturated
liquid-vapor mixture (state 3).
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Away from the saturation line, a liquid that is not about to vaporize is called compressed liquid.
A vapor that is not about to condense is called superheated vapor.
At a given pressure, the temperature at which a pure substance changes phase is called the
saturation temperature Tsat. At a given temperature, the pressure at which a pure substance
changes phase is called saturation pressure Psat.

The energy absorbed or released during a phase-change process is called latent heat. For
phase change between liquid and vapor, it is called latent heat of vaporization. Ethalpy of
vaporization of water at 1 atm is 2256.5 kJ/kg.

8.1.2
Property diagrams for phase-change processes

Tsat and Psat depend on each other. Higher Tsat occurs at higher Psat, and vice versa. This is why
water boils at < 100C at higher elevation.

On the T-v diagram, the saturation lines move up at higher pressures but shrink in length and
become a point at the critical point.

Above the critical point, there is no distinctive phase change process.

The saturated liquid points on the T-v diagram can be connected together and the resulted line
is called saturated liquid line. Similarly, saturated vapor line can be defined.

Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Water

8.1.3
Property tables
The ideal gas law only describes gases that are well removed from any phase change boundary.
It is therefore completely incorrect to use the ideal gas equation for mixtures of liquid & vapour
and for any gas near a phase change boundary.
Therefore, property tables and charts should be used instead.
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Saturated liquids and vapors

Properties of saturated liquid and saturated vapour can be respectively found from
thermodynamic tables and charts.
To determine thermodynamic properties for saturated mixtures underneath the saturation lines,
a property of steam quality x is defined as the ratio of the mass of vapour to the total mass of
the mixture:
mg
0<x<1
x=
m f + mg
where mg and m f are the mass of saturated vapour and saturated liquid, respectively.
The specific entropy s ( J / kgK ) is then:
s = s f + x ( sg s f )




s fg

The specific enthalpy h ( J / kg ) is:

h = h f + x ( hg h f )




h fg

The specific volume v ( m3 / kg ) is:

v = v f + x ( vg v f )




v fg

where the subscripts fg refers to the difference between the saturated liquid and vapour.
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Superheated vapor and compressor water

Properties of superheated vapors are also tabulated (note that the ideal-gas law is not
applicable). In this case, the pressure and temperature no longer depend on each other, but are
two independent properties.

Properties of compressed liquid are not usually tabulated (except for water), because properties
of condensed matter are nearly independent of pressure.

Based on the State Postulate that a state of a simple system can be completely specified by two
independent intensive properties, knowing any two properties will let us know all the other
properties for that state from the property tables. Note that during phase change, the
temperature and pressure are not independent. For this case, the steam quality x (an intensive
property) is used to define the state of the saturated mixtures, x = 0 for saturated liquid and x =
1 for saturated vapor.

The State Postulate plus the property tables is the primary tool for solving vapor-cycle problems
(for both steam cycles and refrigeration cycles analysis).

8.2 Rankine cycle

Steam power plants produce most of the electricity in the world. The steam power cycle can be
approximated by the ideal Rankine cycle. The schematic and T-s diagram are shown below.
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

1-2 isentropic compression in

a pump
2-3 constant pressure heat
addition in a boiler
3-4 isentropic expansion in a
turbine
4-1 constant pressure heat
rejection in a condenser

8.2.1
Rankine cycle analysis
Process 1-2: isentropic compression (q = 0), the pump work input equals
wp = h2 h1
From the Gibbs equation
Tds = dh vdp = 0
dh = vdp
2

h2 h1 = vdp
1

since v is approximately constant for a liquid:

wp = h2 h1 = v1 ( p2 p1 )
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Since the specific volume of liquid water is very small, this pump work is small compared to
other terms in the energy equation.

Process 2-3: constant pressure heat addition (w = 0) in a boiler where the compressed water is
heated to superheated steam. The heat addition of the cycle is
qin = h3 h2

Process 3-4: isentropic expansion (q = 0). The turbine work is

wt = h4 h3
Note that the state 4 in the shown figure is a saturated mixture where the steam quality needs
to be known. The state 4 can also be saturated vapor or superheated vapor as well.

Process 4-1: constant pressure heat rejection (w = 0) in a condenser. The heat rejection is
qout = h4 h1

The energy balance of the cycle can be written as

wp + qin = wt + qout
or

wt wp = qin qout

The thermal efficiency of the cycle can be obtained as

w wp
w
q
th = net = t
= 1 out
qin
qin
qin
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Note that the isentropic efficiency of the turbine and the pump can be defined similarly to those
in the gas turbine analysis.

actual work
w h h
= a 3 4a
isentropic work ws h3 h4 s

isentropic work ws h2 s h1
=

actual work
wa h2 a h1

8.2.2

Improve Rankine cycle efficiency

Efficiency of the Rankine cycle can be improved by varying the operating temperature and
pressure. Higher efficiency can be achieved by increasing the average temperature at which
heat is added to the working fluid (Principle 1), or by decreasing the average temperature at
which heat is removed from the working fluid (Principle 2). This is directly related to the Carnot
efficiency for heat engines
T
carnot = 1 L
TH

Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Lowering condenser pressure

Lowering the condenser pressure reduces the average temperature when the heat is removed
from the working fluid (Principle 2 in the above). The increased cycle work is shown in the
shaded area in the figure below.
This approach is limited by the temperature of the cooling medium (typically rivers, lakes, or
ambient air) that takes away the condensation heat from the condenser.
Potential problems are with this method. 1) Low condenser pressure increases the possibility for
air leak as practical condensers already operate at highly vacuum pressures. 2) More moisture
is resulted in the steam at the final stage of the turbine. High moisture content is highly
undesirable in turbine because it decreases the turbine efficiency and erodes the turbine blades.

Lowering condenser pressure

superheating steam

increasing boiler pressure

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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Superheating steam

Superheating steam increases the average temperature at which heat is added to the working
fluid (Principle 1).
The approach also reduces the steam moisture content at the turbine exit which is very
desirable. This approach, however, is limited by the maximum temperature that the turbine
blades can withstand, which presently is 620C.

Increasing boiler pressure

Increasing the boiler pressure increases the average temperature at which heat is added to the
working fluid (Principle 1). Modern steam turbines can operate at pressure as high as 30 MPa.
With the maximum cycle temperature is limited, this approach however increases the moisture
content in the turbine. This problem can be corrected by reheating discussed below.

8.2.3

Ideal reheated Rankine cycle

The problem of high moisture-content at the turbine exit can be effectively solved by using twostage turbines and reheating the steam (in the boiler) between the high-pressure and lowpressure turbines.

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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

The total heat input and work output for the cycle can be written as
qin = q primary + qreheat = ( h3 h2 ) + ( h5 h4 )
wnet = wturb,hp + wturb ,lp wp = ( h3 h4 ) + (h5 h6 ) v( p2 p1 )

The reheat temperature (T5) is very close or equal to the turbine inlet temperature (T3). The
optimal reheat pressure (p5) is about 1/4 of the maximum cycle pressure (p3).
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

8.2.4
Ideal regenerative Rankine cycle
Another widely used Rankine cycle involves bleeding a portion of the steam during turbine
expansion to heat the compressed feedwater exiting the pump. The device where the feedwater
is heated by steam is called a regenerator or a feedwater heater (FWH).
Regeneration improves the cycle efficiency by reducing the energy required to heat the
compressed water, even though the net work output is reduced.
In addition to the higher efficiency, regeneration provides a convenient means of deaerating the
feedwater (removing the air leaked in at the condenser) to prevent corrosion in the boiler. It also
helps to control the large volume-flow-rate of the steam at the final stages of the turbine.
Regeneration is used in all modern steam power plants.
Heat transfer between the feedwater and the steam can occur either by mixing the two streams
(open FWH) and using a heat exchanger (closed FWH).
Open feedwater heater
An open FWH is basically a mixing chamber, where the steam extracted from the turbine mixes
with the feedwater (compressed liquid) exiting the pump. Ideally, the mixture leaves the heater
as a saturated liquid at the heater pressure.
Assuming out of 1 kg of total steam in the cycle, y kg is extracted from the turbine to the FWH,
the energy balance for the shown cycle with single open FWH is:
Input
Output

qin = h5 h4
qout = (1 y )( h7 h1 )

wp = (1 y ) ( h2 h1 ) + (h4 h3 ) = (1 y )v1 ( p2 p1 ) + v3 ( p4 p3 )
wt = ( h5 h6 ) + (1 y )(h6 h7 )
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Closed feedwater heater

In a closed FWH, the heat transfer between the steam and the feedwater occurs in a heat
exchanger. The two streams can be at different pressure since they do not mix.
In the ideal case, the steam leaves the heater as a saturated liquid at the extraction pressure.
The condensed steam can be then pumped to the feedwater pressure and mixed together.
The energy balance for a closed FWH cycle can be analyzed in an identical manner to that in
the open FWH cycle.
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Compared to a closed FWH, an open FWH is simpler, less expensive, and more effective, but
requires dedicated pump for each heater when multiple heaters are used (which is common in
practice). Most steam plants use a combination of open and closed FWHs.

8.3 Cogeneration and Combined Power Cycles

Steam power cycles can be combined with other industrial processes to substantially improve
the overall energy utilization effectiveness.
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

Cogeneration is to combine steam power generation with process heating. Combined cycle is
to combine gas power generation with steam power generation.

8.3,1
Cogeneration
In a steam power cycle, the low-temperature (low-grade)
thermal energy in the steam exiting the turbine can be
potentially used as process heat. Process heat is required by
certain industries, such as chemical plant, oil refineries, food
processing, etc.
Process heat in these industries is usually supplied by steam at
5 7 atm and 150 200C from burning fuels in furnaces.
A cogeneration plant with adjustable loads is shown in the right
figure. Under normal conditions, some steam is extracted from
the turbine at some predetermined intermediate pressure. The
rest of the steam expands to the condenser pressure and is then
cooled at constant pressure.
When the demand of process heat is high, all the steam is
routed to the process heating unit and none to the condenser. The waste heat is zero in this
mode. If this is not sufficient, some steam leaving the boiler is throttled to the extraction
pressure and is directed to the process-heating unit.
When there is no demand of process heat, all the steam passes through the turbine and
condenser, and the cogeneration plant operates as an ordinary steam power plant.
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Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2013 - Lecture Notes

A cogeneration plant can reach very high utilization factor (as defined below), > 0.8, due to the
small fraction of waste heat.
net work output + process heat delivered
=
total heat input
Wnet + Q p
Q out
=
=1
Q in
Q in
Note the utilization factor is different from the thermal efficiency.

8.3.2
Combined gas-vapor power cycles
Gas turbine power cycles operate at much higher temperatures than steam power cycles. For
example, the turbine inlet temperatures are > 1400C and ~ 620C, respectively, for the two
cycles.
The gas temperatures at the exit of gas turbines are usually above 500C, which can be
potentially used to heat the steam in the steam cycles. The combined gas-vapor power cycle
can significantly improve the thermal efficiency for power generation.
As shown in the figure below, the energy is recovered from the exhaust gases by transferring it
to the steam in a heat exchanger that serves as the boiler. More than one gas turbine is usually
needed to supply sufficient heat to the steam.
The combined gas-vapor cycles have been implemented in many existing and new power plants
and thermal efficiencies as high as 60% have been reported. These efficiencies are
substantially higher than that can be achieved by any individual heat engines in practice.
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