THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF SRI LANKA

DEPARTMENT OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL TECHNOLOGY

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY HONOURS / BACHELOR OF
INDUSTRIAL STUDIES HONOURS
TAX5534 – PLANT UTILITIES
ASSIGNMENT 01 -2017/18
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This assignment is based on the course content of the first two units of the lesson
material of TAX5534 Plant Utilities. These units have 20 sessions dealing with
Energy, Water and Steam. You must study these two units thoroughly before
attempting to answer questions of this assignment.
Date of submission of the assignment: 25th March 2018
Note: If the assignments are posted, they must arrive the department on or before the
deadline.
Send your assignment to the following address:
Course coordinator
TAX5534 Plant Utilities
Department of Textile and Apparel Technology
Open University of Sri Lanka
Nawala, Nugegoda 10250
____________________________________________________________

1. (a). Briefly explain the different forms of energy. (30 marks)

Different forms of energies include the following;

- Work
- Kinetic Energy
- Potential Energy
- Heat
- Mass-equivalent energy

Student is expected to write a brief explanation on each.

Unit 1, Session 1.1

(b). Briefly explain the Primary and Secondary sources of energy with suitable
examples. (30 marks)
Primary sources – Energy sources that are used directly to produce power
Examples include Nuclear, Oil, Natural gas, Bio-mass, Hydro, Coal

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 Secondary sources – When energy obtained is converted into another form
before use. These are often used as energy carriers for store, move,
and deliver energy in easily usable form.
Example: work of a turbine, Electricity, Hydrogen (fuel cells)
Student is expected to provide the definitions, example and methods of usage.
Also, it is expected that the student identify that a particular energy source may
fall into both primary and secondary categories, depending on the context of
usage.
Refer Unit1, Session 1.3

(c). Describe what is a renewable energy source. (10 Marks)

Renewable energy – is obtained from the continuous or repetitive currents of
energy occurring in the natural environment.
Refer Unit 1, Session 1.2
Student is expected to;
- Define the renewable energy source
- Provide examples
Other definitions than given on the lesson materials will also be accepted.

Compare and contrast renewable energy sources with non-renewable energy

sources. (30 marks)
Refer Unit 1, Session 1.2
Student is expected to discuss in compare/contrast style. Mere tabulation will
lead to reduced marks.
Illustrations (as given on lesson materials) is not mandatory.

2. (a). Explain the following cycles using either a P-V or S-T diagram. (45 Marks)

i. Carnot cycle
Refer Unit1, Session 2.1
ii. External combustion engine
Refer Unit 1, Session 2.4
iii. Diesel cycle
Refer Unit 1, Session 2.4/Diesel Engine

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 Student is expected to illustrate the P-V, and/or T-S diagrams for each

(b). Explain the principles behind the operation of Gas Turbines. (55 Marks)

Refer Unit 1, Session 2.3

Student is expected to;
- Illustrate the Brayton Cycle operation principle (figure 7)
- List the components (Compressor, Heater, Gas Turbine, Cooler)
- Explain the working principle; needs to include the following;
- Working medium (gas)
- Air drawn to the engine is compressed,
- Air is then heated
- expanded through a turbine,
- Thrust of expanding combustion gases drives the blades
- Air is then exhausted to the atmosphere
- Heat supply and Rejection (cooling) occurs at constant pressure
- Illustrate the T-S and P-V diagrams
- Explain the T-S and P-V diagrams

3. (a). Explain the forms of energy found in a moving fluid. (30 marks)
Student is expected to provide a following;
- Brief description / examples for a fluid (hydro, wind, wave)
- The three forms of energy in a moving fluid (gravitational potential, kinetic,
work done due to pressure)
Refer Unit 1, Session 3.2

(b). Discuss how the conservation of energy principle can be applied to source
energy from moving fluids. (40 marks)
- First the student needs to provide the principle of energy conservation in a
moving fluid. Both description and the equation form are required.
- Then the students should explain how this principle can be explained stating at
least two instances of applications.
o Usage of liquids (e.g. hydro) to convert potential energy difference into
kinetic energy difference.

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 o Compression/expansion of air as used in turbines
o Windmills
Refer Unit 1, Session 3.1 & Session 3.2

(c). Water is flowing through a hose with a velocity of 1.5 ms-1 and a pressure of
175kPa. At one end of the hose is a nozzle where the pressure decreases to
atmospheric pressure (101.3 kPa). There is no change in height. Calculate the
velocity of the water exiting the nozzle. The density of water is 1000 kgm-3
and the force of gravity is 9.81 ms-2. (30 marks)
- Bernoulli’s principle can be applied in this state.
- However, the student has to state the following assumptions.
o Both ends of the hose lie on a streamline
o Water density is constant throughout the flow
o Flow is steady
o There is no friction inside the tube

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4. (a). Explain the process of refining crude oil using fractional distillation method.
(30 marks)
Refer Unit 1, Session 5.2/Fractional Distillation
(b). Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of wind power. (30 marks)
Advantages (Need to discuss)
- Renewable energy source
- No need to spend on raw material
- Reduces the requirement of harmful fuel types
- Power solution to remote areas
- Relatively low maintenance and running costs

Disadvantages

- Suitable sites
- Corrosion of blades
- Visual and Sound pollution
- Impact on bird migration
- Installation capital

Any other acceptable answer

(c). Explain the working principle of a transformer. (40 marks)

Refer Unit 1, Session 4.4
Answer needs to include the following;
- Illustration clearly indicating the primary coil and secondary coil
- Brief discussion on principle of induction
- The usage of time-varying electro-magnetic fields to induce voltage on
the secondary coil
- The relationship between the ratio of number of coils in primary and
secondary coils to the voltage induced.
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5. (a). Discuss the consequences of using untreated water in boiler. (40 marks)
Student is expected to discuss on the following points;
- Deposit forming solids lead to hardness/scale formation

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 - Leads to corrosion of boiler and pipes
- Both deposits and corrosion reduce boiler efficiency and leads to increased
fuel cost; they can also cause tube failure
- Increases the cleaning/maintenance cost of boiler
- Impacts the service life of boiler
- Outputs poor quality steam
Refer Unit 2, Session 1.3

(b). Explain the following; (30 marks)

i. Liquid enthalpy
ii. Enthalpy of evaporation
iii. Enthalpy of super heated vapour

Refer Unit 2, Session 2.2

(c). Illustrate and briefly discuss the Enthalpy-Temperature relationship at different

pressures. (30 marks)
Refer Unit 2, Session 3.3
The Enthalpy-Temperature curves for at least 3 different pressures must be
given.

6. (a). Calculate the specific internal energy and specific enthalpy values of 90% dry
steam at 20 bars. (30 marks)

Steam tables needs to be used for these calculations

There is 10% of water in liquid form and the rest has been converted to dry steam by
taking enthalpy of evaporation.
Then the specific enthalpy can be calculated as,
h = hf +hfg x 0.9
h = 909 kJ/kg +1890 x 0.94 kJ/kg
= 2610 kJ/kg
Internal energy change from liquid to dry stem is not given. It can be calculated from
the internal energy of dry steam and from the liquid water.
ufg = ug - uf
= 2600 kJ/ kg – 907 kJ/ kg
= 1697 kJ/ kg
Only 90% of the water is converted to dry steam. Then

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 the specific internal energy = uf + 0.9 x ufg
= 907 + 0.9 x 1697 kJ/kg
= 2434.3 kJ/kg

(b). Discuss the applications of heat exchangers. (40 marks)

Student is expected to provide an introduction to heat exchangers and then
discuss on at least four of the following;

- To get fluid streams to the right temperature for the next process
- To condense vapours
- To evaporate liquids
- To recover heat to use elsewhere
- To reject low-grade heat
- To drive a power cycle
Refer Unit 2, Session 9

(c). Explain how heat can be recovered from hot waste water. (30 marks)

Refer Unit 2, Session 10.3