The Ideal Reheat–Regenerative Rankine Cycle

EXAMPLE:
A steam power plant operates on an ideal reheat–regenerative Rankine cycle
and has a net power output of 80 MW. Steam enters the high-pressure turbine
at 10 MPa and 550°C and leaves at 0.8 MPa. Some steam is extracted at this
pressure to heat the feedwater in an open feedwater heater. The rest of the
steam is reheated to 500°C and is expanded in the low-pressure turbine to the
condenser pressure of 10 kPa. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram with respect
to saturation lines, and determine
(a) the mass flow rate of steam through the boiler and
(b) the thermal efficiency of the cycle.
SOLUTION:
Second-law Analysis of Vapor Power Cycles

Exergy destruction for a steady-flow system

Steady-flow, one-
inlet, one-exit

Exergy destruction of a cycle

For a cycle with heat transfer

only with a source and a sink

Stream exergy
A second-law analysis of vapor power cycles reveals where the
largest irreversibilities occur and where to start improvements.
The ideal Carnot cycle is a totally reversible cycle, and thus it does not involve any irreversibilities. The ideal
Rankine cycles (simple, reheat, or regenerative), however, are only internally reversible, and they may involve
irreversibilities external to the system, such as heat transfer through a finite temperature difference. A second-
law analysis of these cycles reveals where the largest irreversibilities occur and what their magnitudes are.
EXAMPLE: Determine the exergy destruction associated with the reheating and regeneration processes
described in previous example. Assume a source temperature of 1800 K and a sink temperature of 290 K.
SOLUTION:

Exergy destructions are in

kJ/kg. If you have to calculate
total exergy destructed, then
you have to multiply it with
mass flow rate (1-y)*𝒎̇.
y=0.2016 and 𝒎̇ = 𝟓𝟒. 𝟓 𝐤𝐠/𝐬