Table of Contents

Principle

Objective

Background

Rankine cycle analysis

I)

Mass Flow Rate of the Rankine Cycle.

II)

Work And Heat Transfer.

III)

Thermal Efficiency of Cycle

IV)

Air -Fuel ratio and Air Excess

V)

Mass flow rate in the turbine

11

VI)

Boiler analysis

11

VII)

Cost of Generating Steam and Energy.

14

Experimental Setup

15

Procedure

18

Example#1: Rankine cycle analysis

18

Example#2: Combustion analysis of the boiler

22

Discussion

24

References

24

University of Puerto Rico

Mayagez Campus
Department of Mechanical Engineering
INME 4032 - LABORATORY II
Spring 2004
Instructor: Guillermo Araya

Experiment 4: Powerplant analysis with a Rankine cycle

Principle
This experiment is designed to acquire experience on the operation of a
functional steam turbine power plant. A comparison of a real world
operating characteristics to that of the ideal Rankine power cycle will be
made.

Objective
The objective of this lab is to acquire experience on the basic Rankine cycle
and to understand the factors and parameters affecting the efficiency and
cost of generating energy. In this lab, we will determine:
a) Mass Flow Rate of a Rankine Cycle.
b) Thermodynamics properties (entropies, enthalpies, quality, etc).
Draw a schematic of the cycle in a T-S diagram.
c) Work and heat transfer in the different stages of the cycle.
d) Thermal efficiency of the cycle.
e) Mass flow rate in the turbine.
f)

Boiler efficiency

g) Air-Fuel ratio and air excess.

h) Cost of generating steam and energy.

Background
The Rankine cycle is the most common of all power generation cycles and is
diagrammatically depicted via Figures 1 and 2. The Rankine cycle was
devised to make use of the characteristics of water as the working fluid. The
cycle begins in a boiler (State 4 in figure 1), where the water is heated until
it reaches saturation- in a constant-pressure process. Once saturation is
reached, further heat transfer takes place at a constant temperature, until
the working fluid reaches a quality of 100% (State 1). At this point, the highquality vapor is expanded isoentropically through an axially bladed turbine
stage to produce shaft work. The steam then exits the turbine at State 2.
The working fluid, at State 2, is at a low-pressure, but has a fairly high
quality, so it is routed through a condenser, where the steam is condensed
into liquid (State 3). Finally, the cycle is completed via the return of the
liquid to the boiler, which is normally accomplished by a mechanical pump.
Figure 2 shows a schematic of a power plant under a Rankine cycle.

Figure 1: Diagrams for a simple ideal Rankine cycle:

a) P-V diagram, b) T-S diagram

Figure 2: Schematic of a simple ideal Rankine cycle

Rankine cycle analysis

This experiment has an important difference with the cycle shown in Figure

2. The difference is that there is not a pump to complete the cycle. This is
not exactly a cycle. Instead, it is an open system. The water crossing the
condenser is stored in a tank as show in Figure 3, but the principle of Rankine
cycle studied in Thermodynamic is still valid.
The boiler will be filled with water before the experiment and the experiment
will be ended when the water is reaches the minimum level of correct
operation, given by the manufacturer.
Another important difference is that between the boiler and turbine there is a
valve that generates a throttling effect. The throttling process is analyzed as
an isenthalpic process. This phenomenon will be analyzed more in detail.
Also, the boiler generates a superheated vapor.

Figure 3: Schematic of Rankine cycle steam turbine apparatus

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:
water q water water
m

water
water
time

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
(Stage 1 ). Taking a control volume enclosing the boiler tubes and drums, the
energy rate balance gives:

V 2 V22
0 Q in m water h1 h4 1
g z1 z 2
2

neglecting kinetic and potential energy, the energy equation reduce to:
water h1 h4
Q in m

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
Q out m

and

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:
water h1 h2
W t m

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 hg 2 are calculated with the outlet temperature. It is important

to emphasize that the valve generates entropy from state 1 to the state 1 .
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 , hB 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:
water h1 h2 m
water h4 h3
W cycle W t W p m

If the pump work is neglected, the net work of the cycle reduces to:
water h1 h2
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 O2 F NO2 G N 2 M water H 2 O

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

M air O2 3.76 N 2 M

fuel

C 4 H 10

Then, making a balance between inlet and outlet:

M air O2 3.76 N 2 M fuel C 4 H 10 A CO2 B CO C NO D O2 F NO2
G N 2 M water H 2 O

so,
M fuel

M air

A B
4

C F 2G
3.76

M water

M fuel
5

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

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 , G 24.44 ,

which is:
13
O2 3.76 N 2 C 4 H 10 4 CO2 24.44 N 2 5 H 2 O
2

Then, the Air-Fuel ratio is defined by:

AF

M air Pair
M fuel Pfuel

A 4 and M water 5 ,

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:
VI
W
t

so, the mass flow rate in the turbine is:

m

VI
t h1 h2

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

VI. Boiler analysis

From the chemical equation of combustion, balanced in term of moles:
mass air O 2 3.76 N 2 mass comb C 4 H10 A CO 2 B CO C NO D O 2 F NO 2
G N 2 M H 2 O

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 ni M i , where mi is mass, ni 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
R

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

Another form to write the first law is:

nM h
R

0
f

h Qcomb nM h 0f h
P

0
where h f is the enthalpy of reactants and products, respectively, at the

standard temperature 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 first two terms are the enthalpy of combustion ( hPR
) at standard

temperature and pressure.

0
Qcomb hPR
nM h nM h
P

Table 1: Enthalpy of formation, HHV and LHV

The enthalpy of combustion also is called heating value (HV), and this is
number indicative to the useful energy content of different fuels. There are
two types of heating value: higher heating value (HHV) and the lower
lower
heating value (LHV). The HHV is obtained when all the water formed by
combustion is a liquid. The LHV is obtained when all the water formed by the
combustion is a vapor. For that HHV is more than LHV (see Table 1). For
calculations, we will assume that water formed is in the liquid state and the
0
HHV will be used for hPR
. Now, we can calculate the efficiency of the boiler

as:
boiler

Qin
Qcomb

VII. Cost of Generating Steam and Energy.

The mass flow of fuel is the product between the density and fuel flow mass
and the time of operation:
fuel fuel q fuel
m

where fuel is the density of butane gas at atmospheric pressure. Then the
cost of generating steam per unit mass of steam is:
STEAM cos t

fuel Pr ice fuel

m
water
m

where Pr ice fuel is the price of the fuel. Also it is possible to determine the cost
of generating energy by:
ENERGY cos t

fuel Pr ice fuel

m
VI

Experimental Setup
The equipment has a data acquisition system to collect the information. Also,
it will be necessary a chronometer for estimating the time operation. A view
of the real equipment and data acquisition system is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: The mini-power plant

The mini-power plant has a boiler (see Figure 7), which is a dual-pass, flame
through tube type unit. A burner fan speed is electronically adjustable to
operate whit a minimum of excess of air. A vortex disc, located downstream
of the boiler unit, mixes fuel and air and sets up a rotary gas flow that
results in efficient heat transfer from the flame tube to the boilers water,
(see Figure 8).

Figure 7: Boiler

Electromechanical and electronic burner and boiler controls are located

within the front operator panel enclosure. An A.G.A. certified electronic
ignition gas valve and microprocessor based gas ignition module automate
and supervise flame control. A transducer assists in regulating boiler
pressure by cycling the burner on and off. A poppet valve, located on top of
the boiler, serves as a safety valve. In the event of control malfunction, the
poppet valve will open and relieve boiler pressure.

Figure 8: Forced air gas burned

The other component is the turbine and generator, (see Figure 9). The
turbine consists of the following major components:
1. A precision machined, stainless steel front and rear housing.
2. A nozzle ring and a single stage shrouded impulse turbine wheel

Figure 9: Turbine and Generator

The generator is a 4-pole, permanent magnet, brushless unit. The rotor is

supported by pre-loaded precision ball bearings. The generator includes a
full wave, integral rectifier bridge that delivers direct current to the
generators D.C. terminals. The generator terminal board also carries a set of
AC output terminals for experimental procedures that may entail the use of
a transformer, or deal with frequency related topics, rpm measurement and
other AC related experiments.

Figure 10:
10: Cooling tower

Finally, the condenser towers outer mantle is formed from a single piece of
aluminum, (see Figure 10). The towers large surface area affects heat
transfer to ambient air and provides a realistic appearance. Turbine exhaust
steam is piped into the bottom of the tower. The steam is kept in close
contact with the outside mantle by means of 4 baffles.

Procedure
1. At the moment of making the experiment, the steam turbine will be
operational in the no load condition. So, the first step is to set the of
the maximum load applied on the turbine by the generator.
2. Allow the system to reach steady state, and take readings. They are:
a) Boiler temperature.
b) Boiler pressure.
c) Turbine inlet temperature.
d) Turbine exit temperature.
e) Turbine inlet pressure.
f) Turbine exit pressure.
g) Water flow.
h) Generator amperage.

i) Generator voltage.
j) Time operation.
k) Repeat the step 2) for and of the maximum load applied.

Example #1: Rankine cycle analysis

Problem:
Steam is the working fluid in an ideal Rankine cycle. Saturated vapor enters
the turbine at 8.0MPa and saturated liquid exits the condenser at a
pressure of 0.008MPa (see Figure 11). The net power of cycle is 100MW.
Determine for the cycle:
cycle:
a) The thermal efficiency.
b) The mass flow rate of steam.
c) The rate of heat transfer, into the working fluid as it passes through
the boiler.
d) The rate of heat transfer, from the condensing steam as it passes
through the condenser.
e) The mass flow rate of condenser cooling water, if cooling water
enters the condenser at 15C and exits at 35C.

Figure 11:
11: Schematic of the Rankine cycle

Solution
Assumption:
1. Each component of the cycle is analyzed as a control volume at steady
state.
2. All processes of the working fluid are internally reversible.
3. The turbine and pump operate adiabatically.
4. Kinetic and potential energy effects are negligible.
5. Saturated vapor enters the turbine. Condensate exits the condenser
as saturated liquid.
Analysis:
To begin the analysis, let us fix each of the principal states located on the
accompanying schematic and T-s diagram. Starting at the inlet to the
turbine, the pressure is 8.0MPa and the steam is a saturated vapor, so from
Table A-3 of Moran and Shapiro, h1 2758.0 kJ/kg and S1 5.7432 kJ/kg - K
Stage 2 is fixed by p 2 0.008 MPa and the fact that specific entropy is
constant for the adiabatic, internally reversible expansion through the
turbine. Using liquid and saturated vapor data from Table A-3 of Moran and
Shapiro, we find that the quality at stage 2 is:
x2

S2 S f
Sg S f

5.7432 0.5926
0.6745
7.6361

The enthalpy is then

h2 h f x 2 h fg 173.88 (0.6745)2403.1 1794.8 kJ/kg

Stage 3 is saturated liquid at 0.008MPa, so h3 173.88 kJ/kg . Stage 4 is fixed

by the boiler pressure p 4 and the specific entropy S 4 S 3 . The specific

enthalpy h4 can be found by interpolation in the compressed liquid tables.

However, because liquid data are relatively sparse, it is more convenient to

solve

W p

h4 h3 for h4 , using

W p

3 ( p 4 p3 ) to approximate the pump

work. With this approach:

h4 h3

W p

h3 3 ( p 4 p 3 )

Substituting property values from Table A-3 of Moran and Shapiro:

10 6 N / m 2
1 MPa

h4 173.88 kJ / kg (1.0084 10 3 m 3 / kg ) (8.0 0.008) MPa

1 kJ / kg

3
10 N m

h4 181.94 kJ / kg

a) The net power developed by the cycle is:

W
net Wt W p

Energy balance for a control volume around the turbine and pump gives,
respectively
W t
h1 h2

and

W p

h4 h3

is the mass flow rate of the steam. The rate of heat transfer to
where m

the working fluid as it passes through the boiler is determined using an

energy rate balance as:
Q in
h1 h4

the thermal efficiency is then:

W t W p
h h2 h1 h4 2758.0 1794.8 181.94 173.88 kJ / kg
1

h1 h4
2758.0 181.94 kJ / kg
Qin

0.371 37.1%

b) The mass flow rate of steam can be obtained from the expression for the
net power given in part a). Thus:

m

W cycle

h1 h2 h1 h4

100MW 10 3 kW / Mw 3600 s / h
963.2 8.06 kj / kg

3.77 10 5 kg / h

c) With the expression for Q in from part a) and previously determined

specific enthalpy values:

3.77 10 5 kg / h 2758.0 181.94 kj / kg

h1 h4
Q in m
269.77 MW
10 3 kW / Mw 3600 s / h

d) Mass and energy rate balances applied to a control volume enclosing the
steam side side of the condenser give:

3.77 10 5 kg / h 1794.8 173.88 kj / kg

h2 h3
Q out m
169.75MW
10 3 kW / Mw 3600 s / h

Alternatively, Q out can be determined from an energy rate balance on the

overall vapor power plant. At steady state, the net power developed
equals the net rate of heat transfer to the plant:

W
cycle Qin Qout

then,

Q
out Qin Wcycle 269.77 MW 100 MW 169.77 MW

e) Taking a control volume around the condenser, the energy rate balance
gives at steady state:

0 Q cv W cv mcw hcw ,in hcw ,out m h2 h3

where m cw is the mass flow rate of the cooling water. Solving for m cw :
cw
m

h2 h3
m
hcw,in hcw,out

the numerator in this expression is evaluated in part d). For the cooling
water, h h f (T ) , so with saturated liquid enthalpy value from Table A-2
Moran and Shapiro at the entering and exiting temperatures of the cooling
water:
m cw

169.75 MW 10 3 kW / MW 3600 s / h
148.68 62.99 kJ / kg

7.3 10 6 kg / h

Example #2: Combustion analysis of the boiler

Problem:
Find the useful heat generated by the combustion of 1 lbm of ethane in a
furnace in a 20 percent deficient air if the reactants are at 25 0 C and the
products at 1500K. Assume that hydrogen, being more reactive than
carbon, satisfies itself first with the oxygen it needs and burns
completely to H 2 O . Five percent of the heat of combustion is lost to the
furnace exterior.

Solution
The stoichiometric equation for ethane in air is:

C 2 H 6 3.5O2 13.16 N 2 2CO 2 3H 2 O 13.16 N 2

(where

there

are

3.76

mol N 2 / mol O 2 in

atmospheric

air,

thus

13.16=3.5x3.76). With 20 percent deficient air multiply the O 2 and N 2 mol

by 0.8. H 2 will burn completely to H 2 O and C will burn partially to CO2 and
partially CO :
C 2 H 6 2.8O2 10.528 N 2 aCO2 bCO2 3H 2 O 10.528 N 2

carbon balance:
ab 2

oxygen balance:
a

b 3
2.8
2 2

thus a 0.6 , b 1.4 and the combustion equation is:

C 2 H 6 2.8O2 10.528 N 2 0.6CO2 1.4CO2 3H 2 O 10.528 N 2

As here is no work done in a furnace, the first law of thermodynamics for

steady states written as:
Q nMh f
P

nMh
f

1500 K

1500 K

nMh f
R

25 C

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

thus,

25 C

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

Q 204598.4 36424 168174.6 Btu/(lb mol C 2 H 6 )

168174.6

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

The useful heat generated by the combustion is:

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

Discussion
References
Moran, M. J. and Shapiro, H. N., 1995, Fundamental of Engineering
Thermodynamics, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
El-Wakil, M.M., 1984, Powerplant Technology, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York.