Problem Statement

[IDP A ]

One new project requires 30 Mt/hr of Saturated Steam at 20

bar pressure to the plant. There are two options to meet this
requirement.

OPTION 1 :
Installation of Coal fired Boiler generating saturated steam at
20 bar pressure and supplying to the Plant directly. Feed
water at 90 deg C is supplied to the Boiler. Boiler efficiency
based on GCV is 81%. GCV of coal used is 5000 kcal/kg. Cost
of Coal is Rs 5200/Mt. Capital cost of this boiler is Rs 10
crores.

OPTION 2 :
Installation of a Coal fired Boiler generating High Pressure
superheated steam passing through an Extraction Turbine at
20 bar back pressure . Extracted 20 bar steam after
desuperheating with 110 deg C water to meet plant
requirement of 30 Mt/hr, saturated steam. Extraction Turbine
with an Isentropic efficiency of 55% will generate electric
power to be used by plant. For estimation of power saving, Rs
8/kwh can be assumed with 330 operating days in a year. For
estimation of power generation, it is not necessary to
consider additional losses, inorder to have uniformity in
results. Boiler feed water at 90 deg C is supplied to the
Boiler . Boiler efficiency based on GCV is 81%. GCV of coal
used is 5000 kcal/kg. Cost of Coal is Rs 5200/Mt.

ASSIGNMENT :
To do a comparative study of the two options and finally
conclude which option is more economically viable. To
suggest the optimum pressure/superheat of steam from
boiler in the option you found economic in order to get
maximum return on investment.

FACTS GIVEN:
Incremental Capital Cost for High Pressure Boiler for every 10
bar added pressure will be Rs 100 lacs (can be extrapolated
linearly). It can be assumed that variation in superheat will
not affect capital cost. Maximum allowable boiler pressure
and superheat will be 65 bar and 500 deg C respectively.
Capital cost of turbine handling 65 bar inlet pr / 20 bar outlet
pr / 30 mt / hr can be taken as 3 crore . Capital cost of turbine
handling 35 bar inlet pr / 20 bar outlet pr / 30 mt / hr can be
taken as 1.75 crore . Costs at pressures in between 35 to 65
can be linearly extrapolated . Cost below 35 bar pr will not
change. Pressure figures are in bar absolute. For the purpose
of this assignment, only cost of coal consumption to be
considered as variable cost. Other costs can be ignored.

SOLUTION : (option 1 )
BASIC BLOCK DIAGRAM

30 MT/hr SATURATED
STEAM

FEED
WATER

COAL FIRED
BOILER

T = 90C

P = 20 bar

Hf = 376.993
KJ/kg

TS =212.417C
Hg =2798.75
KJ/kg

Given Data :
Boiler efficiency = 81%
GCV of coal =5000 Kcal/kg =20929 KJ/kg
Cost of coal = Rs 5200/MT
Capital cost of the boiler = Rs 10 crores
eff =

ms (H g H f )
m c GCV

0.81 =
30 1000(2798.75376.993)
mc 20929

mcoal =4285.66 kg/hr

 Cost of coal/yr = 4285.66 330 24 5.2

7
= Rs 17.6 10 = 17.6 crores

SOLUTION :

(OPTION 2 )

Case 1:
Abstract
In this case we have a high pressure boiler which produces
steam at a pressure higher than 20 bar. The saturated steam
is then sent to the superheater where it is superheated to a
temperature where its entropy is the same as the entropy of
the steam at the exit of the turbine which we have fixed as
220C i.e. a bit higher than the saturated temperature of the
steam at 20bar i.e. 212.42C. Then the superheated steam is
passed through the turbine which extracts the work ideally
bringing the temperature of steam to 220C but this does not
happen because the turbine has a low efficiency of 55%.
Then the steam is desuperheated with 110C water and then
we get saturated steam at 20bar to be used in the plant.
Feed water temperature to boiler, T = 90C
Enthalpy of feed water at 90

C = 366.993 KJ/Kg

Sample Calculation : ( for pressure = 22 bar )

Boiler Pressure = 22 bar
Saturated temperature of steam at 22 bar = 223.99C
Considering isentropic turbine, to get real work, we take the
inlet and outlet entropy of steam same.
Outlet conditions of superheated steam are fixed at 20 bar
and 220C.
Outlet conditions:
Temperature = 220C
Pressure = 20 bar
Entropy =

6.38486

KJ
Kg . K

Enthalpy (h2) = 2820.89

KJ / Kg

Inlet conditions at same entropy i.e. S =

Pressure = 22 bar
Superheat temperature= 230.884C

6.38486

KJ
Kg . K

Enthalpy (h1) = 2840.57

KJ
Kg . K

Now we find out the ideal work done by the turbine

Isentropic efficiency = 55%
The isentropic efficiency of turbine is given by ;

a ctual work h1h2

=
ideal work h1h2 s

2840.57h2
2840.572820.89

ideal work= ( 2840.572820.89 )

19.68 KJ /Kg

Actual work = 0.55 19.68 = 10.824 KJ/Kg

As we have, steam flow rate = 30,000 Kg/hr = 8.3333 Kg/
sec

So we get actual work as ,

W actual

= 10.824 8.3333= 90.2

KW
Now we calculate the actual outlet enthalpy,
actual work
=2840.57-10.824
=2829.745 KJ/Kg

h2 actual

h1

Now at this enthalpy and 20 bar outlet pressure, we get the

temperature of steam as 223.13 C instead of 220C.
This proves that there is entropy being generated and that
the turbine is inefficient. Higher the pressure of steam
produced by the boiler more is the disorder generated, i.e.
the entropy of the steam at the turbine outlet increases so
the outlet temperature goes above 220C. For higher
pressures, e.g. 50 bar the steam outlet temperature from
turbine is 255C instead of 220C.
Due to the inefficient turbine higher superheated steam is
generated which then has to be desuperheated to 220C. In
this process we are spending more amount of cooling water
at 110C and burning more amount of coal initially which
leads to more pollution and higher costs so this is not the
best option.
Case 2:
Abstract :
From case 1 considering the entropy at the inlet and the
outlet to be the same we got the outlet temperature of the
steam much higher than what we had fixed at 220C. This is
because the turbine is inefficient having an efficiency of only
55%.So now we fix the outlet enthalpy of the steam at
2820.89KJ/Kg which is the enthalpy of steam at 220C and
20bar. Now we have to decrease the superheat to the turbine
to such an extent that we get the outlet at 220C only. The
work done will remain the same and so we will get a lower
inlet enthalpy. This will result in less coal consumption and

less use of cooling water. Overall the payback period will

decrease.
In this option, we fix the enthalpy of the outlet steam at
2820.89 KJ/Kg,i.e. the enthalpy at 220C

Since the real work remains the same, by fixing the

temperature of steam at the outlet of turbine as 220C, we
calculate the inlet conditions of steam to the turbine which
will be,
Enthalpy of steam at outlet of turbine at 220C and 20 bar,
h2 actual

=2820.89 KJ/Kg

Actual work = 90.2 KW (will remain same)

=

h1

90.2
8.333

KJ/Kg

h1

-2820. 89

=2831.7904 KJ/Kg

So, Temperature of steam at 22 bar and 2831.7904 KJ/Kg =

227.793 C
The work done by the turbine is W=90.2 KW
This work is converted into electricity savings which is shown
below ;
Electricity savings = 90.2 330 days 24 hrs. Rs 8
/ KWHr
= 0.5717 Crores

Capital cost of turbine = Rs 1.75 crores

It is given that capital cost of turbine below 35 bar pressure
will not change .
Capital cost of boiler = Rs 10 crores
Also , Incremental Capital Cost for High Pressure Boiler for
every 10 bar added pressure will be Rs 100 lacs .
incremental cost of boiler for 2 bar = 0.2 crores

total capital cost of boiler and turbine when steam is

generated at 22 bar pressure = 1.75 + 10 +0.2 = 11.95
crores

Coal requirement :
Boiler efficiency = 81%
GCV of coal =5000 Kcal/kg =20929 KJ/kg
Cost of coal = Rs 5200/MT

Capital cost of the boiler = Rs 10 crores

eff =

msteam (H g H f )
mcoal GCV

Where ,

Hg
Hf

= enthalpy of superheated steam

= enthalpy of feed water = 376. 993

KJ/Kg

0.81 =

30 1000(2831.714376.993)
mc 20929

mcoal =4344.001 kg /hr

Cost of coal /yr = 4344.001 330 days 24 hrs 5.2

7
= Rs 17.6 10 = Rs 17.8903 crores

Base cost of boiler = Rs 10 crores

Incremental cost of boiler & turbine as compared to base

cost of

10 crore boiler = Cost of boiler and turbine - base cost of

boiler
= 11.95 10 = Rs 1.95 crores

Coal cost in option 1 = Rs 17.6 crores

Coal cost in option 2 = Rs 17.89033 crores

Extra investment needed for coal = Rs 17.89033 - Rs

17.6
= Rs 0.2903 crores

Savings in (Rs ) as compared to electricity generated and

additional coal invested = electricity savings (Rs) - Extra
investment needed
For
coal
=

0.57150 0.2903

= Rs

0.28117 crores

incremental pay - back period is given by;

Pay back period =

incremantal cost ( Rs crores)

savings ( Rs crores)

1.95
0.28117

6.936

years

pay back period is 6.936 years .

Pres
sure
(bar)

Superheat
ed steam
temperat ure

Enthalpy
of steam
inlet to
turbine
(KJ/ Kg )

Ideal
work
done by
turbine
(KW)

Actual
work
done
by
turbine
(KW)

Electricit
y
savings
(Rs
crores )

Incremen
-tal cost
of boiler
& turbine
(Rs
crores)

Additiona
l Electricity
savings
(Rs
crores

Pay
-back
Period
(in
years )

22

227.793

2831.714

164

90.2

0.571507
18

1.95

0.281174

9.002

28

248.413

2860.16

595

327.25

2.073455
92

2.55

1.5758036
9

1.9007

32

260.406

2876.589

843.911
6

464.154
1

2.940880
68

2.95

1.9913653
5

1.27

35

268.694

2887.891

1015.17

558.341
6

3.5376

3.25

2.8378924
18

1.18

44

290.767

2917.795

1468.25

807.537
5

5.116557
4

4.525

4.1988556
1

1.078

46

295.213

2923.784

1559

857.45

5.432802
98

4.808

4.4714487
52

1.076

48

299.517

2929.57

1646.66
7

905.666
6

5.738303
77

5.09167

4.7347802
36

1.0765

54

303.693

2945.872

1893.66
7

1041.51
7

6.599049
34

5.94167

5.936543
02

1.097

60

322.201

2960.822

2120.16
7

1166.09
2

7.388356
5

6.792

6.1570706
27

1.104

65

331.637

2972.421

2295.91
7

1262.75
4

8.000810
08

7.6

6.6849851
71

1.137