TITLE: Steam Turbine Power Plant

Summary
The work – producing device that best fits into the definition of a heat engine is the steam
power plant, which is an external – combustion engine. That is, combustion takes place outside
the engine, and the thermal energy released during this process is transferred to the steam as heat.
The experiment involves studying the apparatus of the steam turbine power plant and to calculate
the overall efficiency of the plant and the Rankine cycle efficiency were calculated. The Mollier
diagram and steam tables were used.

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 Description of Apparatus

1. Boiler
This consist of two chambers, one in which wet liquid enters at high pressure
and the other where super-heated steam leaves also at a high pressure. In
the boiler the wet liquid is changed first to saturated vapour and then to
super-heated steam by supplying heat to it. The heat is provided by the
combustion of commercial LPG.

2. Turbine
The turbine comprises of mainly steel fan-shaped blades attached to one end
of a shaft. The high-pressure super-heated steam enters the turbine and is
force onto the shaft to produce a predictable movement. The other end of
the shaft has a coil joined to it and this coil is located inside a generator. The
super-heated steam leaves the turbine as wet vapour.

3. Generator
The generator is where the electrical power is created. The turning of the coil
on the shaft due to the rotation of the turbine blades causes a cutting of
magnetic flux and hence a voltage is induced in the coil. The voltage is
stepped up using transformers and transmitted at high voltage for use.

4. The Cooling Tower

The cooling tower is basically a conical shaped tower in which there are
tubes through which the wet vapour from the turbine travels. These tubes
are surrounded by a cooling fluid such as air or water. The cooling fluid is
circulated around the tubes taking heat away from the wet vapour and
condensing it to wet liquid at low pressure. If the cooling fluid is air a fan
usually blows the air onto the tubes to produce the cooling effect.

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6. The Feed Water Pump
The pump is used to push the wet liquid from the cooling towers back to the
boilers. The wet liquid on leaving the cooling towers are at low pressure and
therefore need additional pressure to reenter the boilers.

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 Theory
The steam turbine power plant is widely used around the world for the mass production of
electrical power. Basically heat is applied to a liquid converting it to super-heated steam and this
is used to drive giant turbines. The turbines in turn are connected to generators from which the
electrical power is produced. The heat supplied to the boilers is normally produced by
combustion of fuel (LPG) or from geothermal sources. The geothermal heat sources are normally
found in countries where there are active volcanoes.
The heated gases produced transfers heat to the wet liquid converting it to vapour.
The power generation process is divided up into five thermodynamic stages:

1st Stage:
This stage is the turbine process; super-heated vapour at high pressure enters the turbine causing
a rotation of the turbine blades as the momentum of the super-heated steam is incident on the
blades. On passing through the turbine blades the super-heated steam loses pressure and
temperature and leaves as wet vapour at low pressure. This stage of the process occurs at
constant entropy and is termed isentropic.

2nd Stage:
The wet vapour at low pressure enters the cooling towers where the vapour is condensed to form
wet liquid at the same low pressure (isobaric process).

3rd Stage:
The low pressure wet liquid now enters the feed water pump where the pressure is increased and
hence there is an increase in temperature. The wet liquid is now pumped back to the boiler, this
stage is an isentropic one.

4th Stage:
The wet liquid enters the first chamber of the boiler and heat is applied to it converting it from
wet liquid at high pressure to wet vapour at high pressure. This stage occurs at constant pressure
and is isobaric.

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5th Stage:
The high pressure wet vapour enters the second chamber of the boiler and absorbs more heat. It
is now in the thermodynamic state of super-heated steam and is at the same high pressure. The
super-heated steam is now enters the turbine and the process is hence repeated continuously.

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DIAGRAM OF APPARATUS USED:

Schematic diagram of Steam Turbine Power Plant

Heat of combustion of LPG = 50x106 J Kg-1

Density of LPG = 2.2 kg m-3
Conversion: 1 psi = 6.895 K Pa
P abs = Pguage + Patm, where Patm = 101.8 K Pa

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 RESULTS

Turbine inlet pressure, P1 4.4 psig = 0.13216 M Pa

Turbine outlet pressure, P2 2.1 psig = 0.11629 M Pa
Turbine inlet temperature, T1 131.4 o C
Turbine outlet temperature, T2 120.9 o C
Generator current 0.06 A
Generator voltage 6.0 V
Fuel volume flow rate 5.5 L min-1 = 9.167x10-5 m3s-1
Table 1: Shows the Data Collected.

Sample calculations:
Pressure conversions
X 0.069 +1.018 x 1x105 ∕ 1x106
psig → bars (gauge) → bars (absolute) → Pa → M Pa

For a turbine inlet pressure of 4.4 Psig,

Psig = (4.4 x 0.069) = 0.3036 bars (gauge)
0.3036 bars (gauge) = (0.3036 + 1.018) = 1.3216 bars (absolute)
1.3166 bars (absolute) = (1.3216 x 1x105) = 1321600 Pa
1316600 Pa = (1321600∕ 1x106) = 0.13216 M Pa

Fuel volume flow rate in L∕ min → m3s-1

5.5 L∕ min = (5.5 x 1x103) ∕ (1x106 x 60)
= 9.167 x 10-5 m3s-1

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 CALCULATIONS

Overall plant efficiency η = Electrical power output ∕ Fuel power

Where electrical power output = generator current x generator voltage
Fuel power = volume flow rate x calorimetric value x density
Given Calorimetric value CV is 50 MJ Kg-1 and density is 2.2 Kg m-3

ηp = __V I__ x 100%,

MF ∆HF

where MF = ϱ F VF = 2.2 x 9.167 x 10-5 = 2.017 x 10-4 kg

= (0.06A x 6.0V) ∕ (2.017 x 10-4 kg x 50 x 106 J kg-1) x 100%

= 3.6 x 10-3 %

Using the given values from the table to calculate the unknowns

Temperature/ oC Hg Sg
130.0 2720.5 7.0269
135.0 2727.3 6.9777
131.4 h1 S1
Table 2: Showing part of the Steam Table

S1: 7.0269 - { [(7.0269 – 6.9777)÷ 5] x 1.4 } = 7.013124

h1: 2720.5 + {[(2727.3–2720.5) ÷ 5] x 1.4} = 2722.4 KJKg-1.

Temperature/ oC hf
120.0 503.71
125.0 524.79
120.9 h3
Table 3: Showing part of the Steam Table

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h3: 503.71 + { [(524.79–503.71)÷ 5] x 0.9 } = 507.5 KJKg-1.

We then calculate Pressure 2 which is 0.11629 M Pa.

Then also S1 = S2 ( isotropic stage) = 7.013124
Using the Mollier Graph we then found the value of h2 =_____

Turbine inlet pressure = 4.4 psig = 0.13216 M Pa ≈ 0.13M Pa,

Enthalpy h1 = 2722.4 KJKg-1. (From steam tables)
Turbine outlet pressure = 0.11629 M Pa≈ 0.12M Pa,
Enthalpy h2 = _____KJKg-1. (From Mollier Diagram)
At pressure = 0.122M Pa,
Enthalpy h3 = 507.5 KJKg-1. (From steam tables)
Therefore the Rankine Cycle efficiency = (h1 – h2) ∕ (h1 – h3)
= (2722.4– _____) ∕ (2722.4 – 507.5)
= _____%

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 Discussion
All four components associated with the Rankine cycle (the pump, boiler, turbine, and
condenser) are steady-flow devices, and thus all four processed that make up the Rankine cycle
can be analyzed as steady-flow processes. The kinetic and potential energy changes of the steam
are usually small relative to the work and heat transfer terms and are therefore usually neglected.
The boiler and the condenser involve no work, and the pump and turbine are assumed to be
isentropic.

The diagram above shows the T – s diagram

From the results the calculated values of overall plant efficiency was found to be 3.6 x
10-3 % and the Rankine Cycle efficiency was ______% which can be considered not very
efficient. These low values of efficiency may be due to energy losses during the process such
as a lot of heat losses especially in the line from the boiler to the turbine and also, the hot
gases produced in the igniter were not utilized, which would result as a huge energy loss when
fuel is burnt. Some other problems that may result in lack of efficiency are such as energy loss
due to friction in the turbine, energy lost while pumping wet liquid back to the boiler and also
there may have been errors in calculation since average values had to be used when consulting
the steam table in which the scale was difficult to read. The steam plant can be deemed to be

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 very inefficient based on the reasons stated in this discussion and can be improved by doing
things such as, installing a pump, providing better insulation and making use of the hot gases
burnt in the igniter. Every effort is made to improve the efficiency of the cycle on which
steam power plants operate, because as they provide most of the electricity in the world, even
small increases in thermal efficiency will mean great savings. The basic idea behind all the
modifications to increase the thermal efficiency of a power cycle is the same: Increase the
average temperature at which heat is transferred to the working fluid in the boiler, or decrease
the average temperature at which heat is rejected from the working fluid in the condenser.

The actual vapour power cycle differ from the ideal Rankine cycle as a result of irreversibility
in various components. Fluid friction and undesired heat loss to the surroundings are two most
common sources of irreversibility.
a) Fluid friction causes pressure drops in the boiler, the condenser, and the piping between
various components. As a result, steam leaves the boiler at a somewhat lower pressure.
Also, the pressure at the turbine inlet is somewhat lower than that at the boiler exit due to
the pressure drop in the connecting pipes. The pressure drop in the condenser is usually
very small. To compensate for these pressure drops, the water must be pumped to a
sufficiently higher pressure than the ideal cycle calls for. This requires a larger pump and
larger work input to the pump.
b) The other major source of irreversibility is the heat loss from the steam to the
surroundings as the steam flows through various components. To maintain the same level
of network output, more heat needs to be transferred to the steam in the boiler to
compensate for these undesired heat losses. As a result, cycle efficiency decreases.

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 Conclusion
The experiment was a success; the steam turbine power plant apparatus was studied in
detail. From the calculation, the overall plant efficiency is 3.6 x 10-3 % and the Rankine cycle
efficiency is ________%.

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