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Lecture 5: Efficiency and Heat Rate, Cogeneration in Vapor Power Cycle

Efficiency and Heat Rate
The thermodynamic analysis of cycles and powerplants, the thermal efficiency and the power output are of prime importance. The thermal efficiency is the ratio of net work done to the heat added to the cycle of powerplant. The thermal efficiencies of powerplants are less than those computed because: Analysis fail to take into account the various auxiliaries and various irreversibilities associated with them. The non-idealities in turbines, pumps, friction, heat transfer, throttling, etc The differences between full load and partial-load operation.

The gross efficiency is the one calculate based on the gross work or power of the turbinegenerator. The is the work or power, MW gross, produced before power is tapped for the internal functioning of the powerplant, such as that needed to operate pumps, compressors, fuel-handling equipment, and other auxiliaries, labs, computers, heating systems, lighting etc. The net efficiency is calculated based on the net work of power of the plant, i.e., gross power minus tapped power, or the power leaving the station

Figure 5.1: Schematic of powerplant showing turbine, gross and net work

Powerplants designers and operators are interested in efficiency as a measure of the economy of the power plant because it affects capital, fuel, and operating costs. The parameter that is used that more readily reflects the fuel economies is called as heat rate (HR). The HR is inversely proportional to efficiency, hence, the lower its value, the better. There are various heat rates corresponding to work, for example

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and there are as many thermal efficiencies as there are heat rates. Because 1 kWh = 3412 Btu, the heat rate of any kind is related to the corresponding thermal efficiency by

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Cogeneration
Cogeneration systems are integrated systems that simultaneously yield two valuable products, electricity and steam (or hot water), from a single fuel input. Cogeneration systems typically provide cost savings relative to producing power and steam (or hot water) in separate systems. Cogeneration systems are widely deployed in industrial plants, refineries, paper mills, food processing plants, and other facilities requiring process steam, hot water, and electricity for machines, lighting, and other purposes. District heating is another important cogeneration application. District heating plants are located within communities to provide steam or hot water for space heating and other thermal needs together with electricity for domestic, commercial, and industrial use. For instance, in New York City, district heating plants provide heating to Manhattan buildings while also generating electricity for various uses. Cogeneration systems can be based on vapor power plants, gas turbine power plants, reciprocating internal combustion engines, and fuel cells. In this section, we consider vapor powerbased cogeneration and, for simplicity, only district heating plants. Back-Pressure Plants: A back-pressure district heating plant is shown in Fig. 5.2 (a). The plant resembles the simple Rankine cycle plant considered previously but with an important difference: In this case, energy released when the cycle working fluid condenses during flow through the condenser is harnessed to produce steam for export to the nearby community for various uses. The steam comes at the expense of the potential for power, however.

Figure 5.2 (a): Schematic of vapor cycle district heating plant

The power generated by the plant is linked to the district heating need for steam and is determined by the pressure at which the cycle working fluid condenses, called the back pressure. For instance, if steam as saturated vapor at 100oC is needed by the community, the cycle working fluid, assumed here to be demineralized water, must condense at a temperature greater than 100oC and thus at a back pressure greater than 1 atm. Accordingly, for fixed turbine inlet conditions and mass flow rate, the power produced in district heating is necessarily less than when condensation occurs well below 1 atm as it does in a plant fully dedicated to power generation. Extraction Plants: An extraction district heating plant is shown in Fig. 5.2 (b). The figure is labeled (in parentheses) with fractions of the total flow entering the turbine remaining at various

Page 4 of 5 Lecture 5 locations; in this respect the plant resembles the regenerative vapor power cycles considered previously. Steam extracted from the turbine is used to service the district heating need. Differing heating needs can be flexibly met by varying the fraction of the steam extracted, denoted by y. For fixed turbine inlet conditions and mass flow rate, an increase in the fraction y to meet a greater district heating need is met by a reduction in power generated. When there is no demand for district heating, the full amount of steam generated in the boiler expands through the turbine, producing greatest power under the specified conditions.

Figure 5.2 (b): Schematic of vapor cycle district heating plant

Organic Rankine Cycle: Organic cycles employ organic substances as working fluids, including pentane, mixtures of hydrocarbons, commonly used refrigerants, ammonia, and silicon oil. The organic working fluid is typically selected to meet the requirements of the particular application. For instance, the relatively low boiling point of these substances allows the Rankine cycle to produce power from low-temperature sources, including industrial waste heat, geothermal hot water, and fluids heated by concentrating-solar collectors. Binary Vapor Cycle: A binary vapor cycle couples two vapor cycles so the energy discharged by heat transfer from one cycle is the input for the other. Different working fluids are used in these cycles, one having advantageous high-temperature characteristics and another with complementary characteristics at the low-temperature end of the overall operating range. Depending on the application, these working fluids might include water and organic substances. The result is a combined cycle having a high average temperature of heat addition and a low average temperature of heat rejection, and thus a thermal efficiency greater than either cycle has individually. Figure 5.3 shows the schematic and accompanying Ts diagram of a binary vapor cycle. In this arrangement, two ideal Rankine cycles are combined using an interconnecting heat exchanger that serves as the condenser for the higher-temperature cycle (topping cycle) and boiler for the lower-temperature cycle (bottoming cycle). Heat rejected from the topping cycle provides the heat input for the bottoming cycle.

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Figure 5.3: Binary vapor cycle

Supercritical-Pressure Cycle: New materials are allowing the use of much higher temperature in power plants. A number of supercritical power plants are now in operations worldwide, which use a supercritical Rankine cycle. A pressure of 30 MPa and a temperature greater than 600oC are generally used in supercritical power plants. The T- s diagram of the cycle is shown in Fig 5.4.

Figure 5.4: T s diagram of supercritical, double reheat 3500/1000/1025/1050 steam cycle

Compared to organic and steam-based Rankine Cycle systems, supercritical CO2 can achieve high efficiencies over a wide temperature range of heat sources with compact components resulting in a smaller system footprint, lower capital and operating costs.