Table of Contents

Pr incip le

Object ive

Background

Rankine cyc le analys is

I)

Mass Flow Rat e of t he Rankine Cyc le.

II)

Work And Heat Transf er.

III)

Therma l Ef f icienc y of Cyc le

IV)

Air -Fuel rat io and A ir E xcess

V)

Mass f low rat e in t he t urbine

11

V I)

Boiler ana lysis

11

V II) Cost of G enerat ing St eam and Energy.

14

Experiment al Set up

15

Procedure

18

Example#1 : Rankine c ycle ana lysis

18

Example#2: Combust ion analys is of t he boiler

22

Discussion

24

Ref erences

24

Uni versi ty o f Puer to Rico

Mayagez Campus
Depar tmen t of Mechanical Engineering
INME 4032 - LABORATORY II
Spring 2004
I nst ructor: G uillermo Ara ya

Experiment 4: Powerplant analysis wi th a Rankine cycle

Principle
This e xper iment is designed t o acquire experience on t he operat ion of a f unct ional
st eam t urbine power plant . A comparison of a real world operat ing charact erist ics t o
t hat of t he ideal Rankine power c yc le will be made.

Objecti ve
The object ive of t his lab is t o acquire e xper ience on t he basic Rankine cycle and t o
underst and t he f act ors and paramet ers af f ect ing t he eff iciency and cost of generat ing
energy. I n t his lab, we will det erm ine:
a) Mass Flow Rat e of a Rankine Cyc le.
b) Thermod ynam ics p ropert ies (ent rop ies, ent halp ies, qua lit y, et c). Draw a
schemat ic of t he cycle in a T-S d iagram .
c) Work and heat t ransf er in t he dif f erent st ages of t he cycle .
d) Therma l ef f icienc y of t he cyc le.
e) Mass f low rat e in t he t urbine.
f ) Boiler ef f icienc y
g) Air-Fuel rat io and air e xcess.
h) Cost of generat ing st eam and energy.

Background
The Rankine c yc le is t he most common of a ll power generat ion c yc les and is
diagrammat ica lly depict ed via Figures 1 and 2. The Rankine c yc le was de vised t o make
use of t he charact erist ics of wat er as the working f luid. The c ycle begins in a boile r
(St at e 4 in f igure 1), where t he wat er is heat ed unt il it reaches sat urat ion- in a const ant pressure process. Once sat urat ion is reached, f urt her heat t ransfer t akes place at a
const ant t emperat ure, unt il t he working f luid reaches a qualit y of 100% (St at e 1). At t his
point , t he high-qualit y vapor is e xpanded isoent ropically t hrough an axially bladed
t urbine st age t o produce shaft work. The st eam t hen exit s t he t urbine at St at e 2.
The work ing f luid, at St at e 2, is at a low-pressure, but has a f airly high qualit y, so it is
rout ed t hrough a condenser, where t he st eam is condensed int o liquid (St at e 3). Finally,
t he cycle is co mplet ed via t he ret urn of t he liquid t o t he boiler, wh ich is norma lly
accomplished b y a mechanical pump . Figure 2 shows a schemat ic of a power plant
under a Rankine cyc le.

Fig u re 1 : D ia g ra ms fo r a s imp le ide a l Ra nk ine c y c le :

a ) P -V d ia g ra m, b ) T -S d ia g ra m

Fig u re 2 : Sc he ma tic o f a s imp le idea l R a nk ine c y c le

Rankine cycle analysis

This e xper iment has an import ant diff erence wit h t he cycle shown in Figure 2. The
dif f erence is t hat t here is not a pump t o complet e t he cyc le. Th is is not e xact ly a c yc le.
I nst ead, it is an open syst em. The wat er crossing t he condenser is st ored in a t ank as
show in Figure 3 , but t he princ iple of Rankine c yc le st udied in Thermod ynam ic is st ill
va lid .
The boiler will be f illed wit h wat er bef ore t he experiment and t he experiment will be
ended when t he wat er is reaches the minimum le ve l of correct operat ion, given by t he
manuf act urer.
Anot her import ant dif f erence is t hat bet ween t he boiler and t urbine t here is a valve t hat
generat es a t hrott ling ef f ect . The t hrott ling process is analyzed as an isent halpic

process. Th is phenomenon will be analyzed more in det ail. Also, t he boiler generat es a
superheat ed vapor.

Fig u re 3 : Sc he ma tic o f R a nk ine c yc le s te a m turb ine a pp a ra tus

I. Mass Flow Rate of the Rankine Cycle.

Evaluating the time of operation and volume of consumed water, the mass flow rate can
be measured as:

m& water = q water water =

water

time water

Here, time is measured with a chronometer for a known volume of water water in the
boiler.

Figure 4: Real Rankine cycle

II. Work and Heat Transfer

For this analysis, it is assumed that the process is ideal and there are not pressure
losses occurring in the piping, but as has been said previously the boiler generates
superheated vapor and there is a throttling process in the valve. Figure 4 shows the
modified cycle of the plant.
The evaporator, in this case a fire-tube boiler, produces a superheated vapor (Stage1 ).
Taking a control volume enclosing the boiler tubes and drums, the energy rate balance
gives:

V12 V22
&
&
0 = Qin + m water h1 h4 +
+ g ( z1 z 2 )
2

neglecting kinetic and potential energy, the energy equation reduce to:

Q& in = m& water (h1 h4 )

Then, vapors pass through the valve, states1-1. For a control volume enclosing the

valve, the mass and energy rate balance reduces under steady state to:

& water [h1 h1 ]

0 = Q& v + m
Since there is not work done in the valve and heat transfer Q& v can be neglected, last
equation reduces to:

h1 = h1
which means that there is an isenthalpic expansion in the valve.
Making a similar analysis for the pump and condenser, the work and heat transfer are:

& water (h2 h3 ) and

Q& out = m

& water (h4 h3 )

W& p = m

The energy balance for a control volume around the turbine under steady state condition
is:

& water [h1 h2 ]

0 = Q& cv W& t + m
Neglecting heat transfer Q& cv to the surrounding, the process in the turbine is assumed
adiabatic and reversible, so isentropic ( S 2 = S1 ) and the energy equation reduces to:

W& t = m& water (h1 h2 )

Then, knowing that S 2 = S1 and also S f 2 and S g 2 which could be estimated with the
pressure and temperature at outlet of the turbine, the quality of the vapor can be
calculated as:

x2 =

S g 2 S1
Sg 2 S f 2

with x 2 , the enthalpy h2 is calculated as:

h2 = hg 2 x 2 hg 2 h f 2

where h f 2 and h g 2 are calculated with the outlet temperature. It is important to

emphasize that the valve generates entropy from state 1 to the state1 . Without the
expansion valve the cycle would be close to an isentropic expansion 1 2 in the
turbine. All parameters h1 , h1 , S1 , S1 , S1 , h B

and S 4 can be determined from

temperatures and pressures at each stage.

III. Thermal Efficiency of Cycle

The net work of the cycle is defined by the difference between the turbine work and the
pump work:

W&cycle = W&t W& p = m

& water(h1 h2 ) m
& water(h4 h3 )
If the pump work is neglected, the net work of the cycle reduces to:

& water (h1 h 2 )

W& cycle = m
Then the thermal efficiency of this system is defined by the rate between the net work
and heat transfer from the boiler:

W& t (h1 h2 )
=
Qin
(h1 h4 )

IV. Air -Fuel ratio and Air Excess.

The chemical composition of the gases at the outlet of boiler is:

A(CO2 ) + B (CO ) + C (NO ) + D (O 2 ) + F (NO2 ) + G (N 2 ) + M water (H 2 O )

at the inlet, there are dry air and fuel (butane):

M air [O 2 + 3. 76 N 2 ] + M

fuel

[C 4 H 10 ]

Then, making a balance between inlet and outlet:

M air [O2 + 3.76N2 ] + M fuel [C4 H10 ] = A(CO2 ) + B(CO) + C(NO) + D(O2 ) + F(NO2 )
+ G(N2 ) + M water (H 2O)

so,

A+ B
4

M fuel =
M air =

C + F + 2G
3.76

M water =

M fuel
5

Where the coefficients (A, B, C, D, F, G and Mi) are the molar mass necessary to
balance the equation. Then the air excess is:

Eair =

M air
100
M air (ideal)

the M air (ideal ) is the molar mass of air when the chemical reaction is complete, and
there is not formation of water and intermediate compounds:

M air (ideal)[O2 + 3.76 N 2 ] + [C 4 H 10 ] = A(CO2 ) + G( N 2 ) + M water ( H 2 O )

Balancing this equation: M air ( ideal ) = 13 2 , G = 24.44 , A = 4 and M water = 5 , which is:

13
[O2 + 3.76N 2 ] + [C4 H10 ] = 4(CO2 ) + 24.44( N2 ) + 5(H 2O)
2
Then, the Air-Fuel ratio is defined by:

AF =

M air Pair
M fuel Pfuel

Where Pair and Pfuel are the atomic weight of air and combustible, respectively. The

Pair = 29 kg/Kmol and the Pfuel = 4 Pc + 10 PH = 58.12 kg/Kmol.

V. Mass flow rate in the turbine

From the generated amperage and voltage:

W&t = VI
so, the mass flow rate in the turbine is:

& =
m

VI
t (h1 h 2 )

Where t is the efficiency of the turbine. Here, we will assume this efficiency equal to
one.

V I. Boiler analysis
From the chemical equation of combustion, balanced in term of moles:

massair[O2 + 3.76N2 ] + masscomb[C4H10] = A(CO2 ) + B(CO) + C( NO) + D(O2 ) + F( NO2 )

+ G( N2 ) + M(H2O)
the first law of thermodynamics for a volume enclosing the boiler is:

(mh) + Q

comb

where

and

= (mh)
P

are the sum for each reactants and products of combustion.

Remember that mi = n i M i , where mi is mass, n i is number of moles and M i is the

molar mass of the i-th component. Last equation is written in the form:

(nMh) + Q

comb

= (nMh)
P

Here, h is the enthalpy of reactants and products at the temperature of inlet and outlet

of the boiler. They could be found in the table of enthalpies of formation.

Figure 5: Enthalpy of formation

Anot her f orm t o writ e t he f irst law is:

[nM (h

0
f

)]

[ (

)]

+ h + Qcomb = nM h 0f + h
P

where h 0f is t he ent halpy of react ant s and product s, respect ive ly, at t he st andard
t emperat ure and pressure. Rearranging:

[ (
)] [ (
)]
= [nM (h )] [nM (h )]+ [nM (h )] [nM (h )]

Qcomb = nM h 0f + h nM h 0f + h
P

0
f

0
f

0
The f irst t wo t erms a re t he ent halpy of combust ion ( h PR
) at st andard t emperat ure and

pressure.
0
Qcomb = hPR
+ [nM (h )] [nM (h)]
P

T ab le 1 : En tha lp y o f fo rma tio n, H H V a nd LH V

The ent halpy of combust ion also is called heat ing value (HV), and t his is number
indicat ive t o t he usef ul energy cont ent of dif ferent f uels. There are t wo t ypes of heat ing
va lue: higher heat ing va lue (HHV) and t he lower heat ing value (LHV). The HHV is
obt ained when all t he wat er f ormed b y combust ion is a liquid. The LHV is obt ained when
all t he wat er f ormed by t he combust ion is a vapor. For t hat HHV is more t han LHV (see
Table 1). For ca lculat ions, we will assume t hat wat er f ormed is in t he liquid st at e and t he
0
HHV will be used f or h PR
. Now, we can ca lculat e t he ef f iciency of t he boile r as:

boiler =

Qin
Qcomb

V II. Cost of Generating Steam and Energy.

The mass f lo w of f uel is t he product bet ween t he densit y and f uel f low mass and t he
t ime of operat ion:

m& fuel = fuel q fuel

where fuel is t he densit y of but ane gas at at mospheric pressure. Then t he cost of
generat ing st eam per unit mass of st eam is:

STEAM cos t =

& fuel Pr ice fuel

m
& water
m

where Pr ice fuel is t he price of t he f uel. Also it is possib le t o det ermine t he cost of
generat ing energy b y:

ENERGY cos t =

& fuel Pr ice fuel

m
VI

Experimen tal Setup

The equipment has a dat a acquisit ion syst em t o collect t he inf ormat ion. Also, it will be
necessary a chronomet er f or est imat ing t he t ime operat ion. A vie w of t he real equ ipment
and dat a acquisit ion s yst em is sho wn in Figure 6 .

Fig u re 6 : T he mini -p o we r p la nt

The m in i-power plant has a boiler (see Figure 7), wh ich is a dua l-pass, f lame t hrough
t ube t ype unit . A burner f an speed is elect ronically ad just able t o operat e whit a
min imum of excess of air. A vort ex disc, locat ed downst ream of t he boiler unit , mixes
f uel and air and set s up a rot ary gas f low t hat result s in ef f icient heat t ransf er f rom t he
f lame t ube t o t he boilers wat er, (see Figure 8).

Fig u re 7 : Bo ile r

Elect romechanical and elect ronic burner and boiler cont rols are locat ed wit hin t he f ront
operat or panel enclosure. An A.G .A. cert if ied elect ronic ignit ion gas valve and
microprocesso r based gas ignit ion module aut omat e and supervise f lame cont rol. A
t ransducer assist s in regulat ing bo iler pressure b y c ycling t he burner on and of f . A
poppet valve , locat ed on top of the boiler, ser ves as a saf et y valve . I n t he event of
cont rol malf unct ion, t he poppet valve will open and re lie ve boiler p ressure.

Fig u re 8 : Fo rc e d a ir g as b ur ned

The ot her component is t he t urbine and generat or, (see F igure 9) . The t urbine cons ist s

of t he following ma jor co mponent s:

1. A precision machined, st ainless st eel f ront and rear housing.
2. A nozzle r ing and a sing le st age shrouded impu lse t urbine wheel

Fig u re 9 : T urb ine a nd Ge ne ra to r

The generat or is a 4-pole, permanent magnet , brushless unit . The rot or is support ed by
pre-loaded precis ion ball bear ings. The generat or inc ludes a f ull wa ve, int egral rect if ie r
bridge t hat delive rs direct current t o t he generat ors D.C. t erminals. The generat or
t erminal board a lso car ries a set of AC out put t erminals f or e xper iment al p rocedures
t hat may ent ail t he use of a t ransf ormer, or dea l wit h f requency re lat ed t opics, rp m
measurement and ot her AC relat ed e xperiment s.

Fig u re 10 : Co o ling to we r

Finally, t he condenser t owers out er mant le is f ormed f rom a sing le p iece of alum inum ,
(see Figure 10) . The t owers large surf ace area af f ect s heat t ransf er t o ambient air and
provides a rea list ic appearance. Turb ine e xhaust st eam is p iped int o t he bot t om of t he
t ower. The st eam is kept in close cont act wit h t he out side mant le by means of 4 baf f les.

Procedure
1. At t he moment of making t he experiment , t he st eam t urbine will be operat ional in
t he no load condit ion. So, t he f irst st ep is t o set t he of t he maximu m load
applied on t he t urbine b y t he generat or.
2. Allow t he syst em t o reach st eady st at e, and t ake readings. The y a re:
a) Boiler t emperat ure.
b) Boiler p ressure.
c) Turb ine in let t emperat ure.
d) Turb ine e xit t emperat ure.
e) Turb ine in let pressure.
f ) Turb ine e xit pressure .
g) Wat er f low.
h) G enerat or amperage.
i) G enerat or volt age.
j) Time operat ion.
k) Repeat t he st ep 2) f or and of t he ma ximum load applied.

Example #1: Rankine cycle analysis

Problem:
St eam is t he working f luid in an ideal Rankine c yc le. Sat urat ed vapor ent ers t he t urbine
at 8.0MPa and sat urat ed liquid e xit s t he condenser at a pressure of 0.008MPa (see
Figure 11). The net power of cyc le is 100MW . Det ermine f or t he c ycle:

a) The t hermal ef f iciency.

b) The mass f lo w rat e of st eam.
c) The rat e of heat t ransf er, int o t he working f luid as it passes t hrough t he boiler .
d) The rat e of heat t ransf er, f rom t he condensing st eam as it passes t hrough t he
condenser.
e) The mass f low rat e of condenser cooling wat er, if cooling wat er ent ers t he
condenser at 15C and exit s at 35 C.

Fig u re 11 : Sc he ma tic o f the R a nk ine c y c le

Solu tion
Assumpt ion:
1. Each component of t he cycle is analyzed as a cont rol vo lume at st eady st at e.
2. All processes of t he work ing f lu id are int ernally re vers ib le.
3. The t urbine and pump operat e adiabat ica lly.
4. Kinet ic and pot ent ial energ y ef f ect s are negligib le.
5. Sat urat ed vapor ent ers t he t urbine. Condensat e exit s t he condenser

as

sat urat ed liquid.

Analys is:
To begin t he analys is, let us f ix each of t he principal st at es locat ed on t he
accompanying schemat ic and T-s diagram . St art ing at t he inlet t o t he t urbine, t he
pressure is 8.0M Pa and t he st eam is a sat urat ed vapor , so f rom Table A-3 of Moran and
Shapiro, h1 = 2758.0 kJ/kg and S1 = 5.7432 kJ/kg - K

St age 2 is f ixed by p 2 = 0.008 MPa and t he f act t hat specif ic ent ropy is const ant f or t he
adiabat ic, int ernally re versib le expans ion t hrough t he turbine. Using liqu id and sat urat ed
vapor dat a f rom Table A-3 of Moran and Shapiro, we f ind t hat t he qualit y at st age 2 is:

x2 =

S2 S f

Sg Sf

5. 7432 0. 5926
= 0 .6745
7.6361

The ent halpy is t hen

h2 = h f + x 2 h fg = 173 .88 + ( 0. 6745 )2403 .1 = 1794 .8 kJ/kg

St age 3 is sat urat ed liquid at 0.008MPa, so h3 = 173.88 kJ/kg . St age 4 is f ixed by t he
boiler pressure p 4 and t he specif ic ent ropy S 4 = S 3 . The specif ic ent halpy h4 can be
f ound by int erpolat ion in t he compressed liqu id t ables. Howe ver, because liquid dat a are
relat ively sparse, it is more con venient t o solve

W& p
m&

W& p
m&

= h4 h3

f or h4 , using

= 3 ( p 4 p3 ) t o approximat e t he pump work. Wit h t his approach:

h4 = h3 +

W& p
&
m

= h3 + 3 ( p 4 p3 )

Subst it ut ing propert y va lues f rom Table A-3 of Moran and Shapiro:

106 N / m 2 1 kJ / kg
3

h4 = 173.88 kJ / kg + (1.0084 10 3 m3 / kg ) (8.0 0.008)MPa

1
MPa
10
N

h4 = 181.94 kJ / kg
a) The net power de ve loped by t he cyc le is:

W& net = W& t W& p

Energy balance f or a cont ro l volu me around t he t urbine and pump g ives, respect ive ly

W& t
= h1 h2
&
m

and

W& p
m&

= h4 h3

where m& is t he mass f low rat e of t he st eam. The rat e of heat t ransf er t o t he working
f luid as it passes t hrough t he boiler is det ermined us ing an energ y rat e balance as :

Q& in
= h1 h4
m&
t he t hermal ef f iciency is t hen:

W&t W& p (h1 h2 ) (h1 h4 ) (2758.0 1794.8) (181.94 173. 88) kJ / kg

=
=
Q& in
(h1 h4 )
(2758.0 181.94) kJ / kg

= 0.371 (37.1%)

b) The mass f lo w rat e of st eam can be obt ained f rom t he expression f or t he net power
given in pa rt a). Thus:

m& =

(100MW )(10 3 kW / Mw )(3600 s / h )

= 3 .77 10 5 kg / h
(h1 h2 ) (h1 h4 )
(963.2 8.06)kj / kg
W& cycle

c) Wit h t he expression f or Q& in f rom part a) and previously det erm ined specif ic ent halpy
va lues:

3.77 10 5 kg / h ((2758.0 181. 94)kj / kg )

&
Qin = m& (h1 h 4 ) =
= 269.77MW
103 kW / Mw (3600s / h )

d) Mass and energ y rat e balances applied t o a cont rol volu me enclos ing t he st eam side
side of t he condenser give :

3.77 105 kg / h ((1794.8 173.88)kj / kg)

Q& out = m& (h2 h3 ) =
= 169.75MW
103 kW / Mw (3600s / h)

Alt ernat ively, Q& out can be det ermined f rom an energy rat e balance on t he overall
vapor power p lant . At st eady st at e, the net power developed equals t he net rat e of

heat t ransf er t o t he plant :

W& cycle = Q& in Q& out

t hen,

Q& out = Q& in W& cycle = 269.77MW 100MW = 169.77MW

e) Taking a cont ro l volu me around t he condenser, t he energy rat e balance g ives at
st eady st at e:

0 = Q cv W cv + m cw (hcw ,in hcw ,out ) + m (h2 h3 )

where m& cw is t he mass f lo w rat e of t he cooling wat er . Solving f or m& cw :

m& cw =

& (h2 h3 )
m
(hcw,in hcw,out )

t he numerat or in t his e xp ression is e va luat ed in part d) . For t he cooling wat er,

h h f (T ) , so wit h sat urat ed liquid ent halpy va lue f rom Table A-2 Moran and Shapiro

at t he ent ering and exit ing t emperat ures of t he cooling wat er:

& cw =
m

(169.75 MW )(10 3 kW / MW )(3600 s / h )

= 7.3 10 6 kg / h
(148.68 62.99 )kJ / kg

Example #2: Combustion analysis o f the boiler

Problem:
Find t he usef ul heat generated by t he combust ion of 1 lb m of et hane in a furnace in a 20
percent def icient air if t he react ant s are at 25 0 C and t he product s at 1500K. Assume
t hat hydrogen, being more react ive t han carbon, sat isf ies it self f irst wit h t he oxygen it

needs and burns complet ely t o H 2 O . Five percent of t he heat of combust ion is lost t o
t he f urnace ext erior.

Solu tion
The st oichio met ric equat ion f or et hane in air is:

C2 H 6 + 3.5O2 + 13.16N 2 2CO2 + 3H 2O + 13.16 N2

(where t here are 3.76 mol N 2 / mol O 2 in at mospheric air, t hus 13.16=3.5x3 .76). W it h 20
percent def icient air mu lt ip ly t he O 2 and N 2 mol b y 0.8 . H 2 will burn comp let ely t o

H 2 O and C will burn part ia lly t o CO2 and part ially CO :

C 2 H 6 + 2.8O2 + 10 .528 N 2 aCO2 + bCO2 + 3 H 2O + 10.528 N 2

carbon balance:

a+b= 2
oxygen balance:
a+

b 3
+ = 2 .8
2 2

t hus a = 0.6 , b = 1.4 and t he combust ion equat ion is:

C2 H 6 + 2.8O2 + 10.528N2 0.6CO2 + 1.4CO2 + 3H 2O + 10.528N2

As here is no work done in a f urnace, t he f irst la w of t hermodyna mics f or st eady st at es
wr it t en as:

Q = (nMhf
P

(nMh )
P

f 1500K

1500K

(nMh f )25C
R

= 0.6 44.011 ( 3243.4) + 1.4 28.011 ( 1100.9 )

+ 3 18.016 ( 4626.2 ) + 10.528 28.016 590.8
= 204598.4 Btu/(lb mol C 2 H 6 )

 (nMh )
f

25 C

= 1211.3 30.07 + 0 + 0 = 36424 Btu/(lb mol C 2 H 6 )

t hus,

Q = 204598.4 ( 36424) = 168174.6 Btu/(lb mol C 2 H6 )

168174.6
= 5592.8 Btu/(lb C 2 H 6 )
30.070
= -5592.8 3.32584 = -13007.9kj/kg C 2 H 6
=

The usef ul heat generat ed by t he combust ion is :

Quseful = 0.95 Q = 0.95 (-13007.9kJ/kg C 2 H 6 ) = 12357.6 kJ/kg C 2 H 6

Discussion
Re ferences
Moran, M. J. and Shapiro, H. N., 1995, Fundament al of Engineering Thermod ynam ics,
3rd edit ion, John Wile y & Sons, I nc., Ne w York.
El-Wakil, M. M. , 1984, Powe rplant Techno log y, McG raw-Hill, I nc. , Ne w York.