Production of Power from Heat

Reference: Chapter 8 of Text Book

Asma Ashraf, Assistant Professor

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Heat Engine
A heat engine any device that is capable of
converting thermal energy (heat) into mechanical
energy (work)

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Steam Power Plant
The steam power plant is a large-scale External
Combustion heat engine
The working fluid (H2O) is in steady-state flow
successively through a pump, a boiler, a turbine,
and a condenser in a cyclic process.
The working fluid is separated from the heat
source, and heat is transferred across a physical
boundary

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Steam Power Plant

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Thermal Efficiency of Steam Power Plant

The KelvinPlanck statement:

no heat engine can have a thermal efficiency of 100
percent or for a power plant to operate, the working
fluid must exchange heat with the environment as well
as the furnace
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Carnot Cycle

The Carnot-engine cycle, operates reversibly and consists of

two isothermal steps connected by two adiabatic steps
In the isothermal step at higher temperature TH, heat |QH| is
absorbed by the working fluid of the engine, and in the
isothermal step at lower temperature TC heat |Qc| is
discarded by the fluid.
The work produced is |W|= |QHI - |QC|, and the thermal
efficiency of the Carnot engine is

increases as TH increases and as TC decreases

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Carnot Cycle
Step 12
vaporization process taking place in the
boiler
saturated liquid water absorbs heat at
the constant temperature TH and
produces saturated vapor
Step 23
reversible, adiabatic expansion of
saturated vapor into the two-phase
region
mixture of saturated liquid and vapor is
produced at TC
This isentropic expansion is
represented by a vertical line.
Asma Ashraf, Assistant Professor
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Carnot Cycle
Step 34
partial condensation process
wherein heat is rejected at TC
Step 41
takes the cycle back to its
origin,
produces saturated-liquid
water at point 1.
It is an isentropic compression
process represented by a
vertical line

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Limitations of Carnot Cycle
In Carnot cycle, two steps (23, 41) take place
at constant entropy, practically this is not
possible. Also practical problems are:
Turbines that take in saturated steam produce an
exhaust with high liquid content, which causes severe
erosion problems
Even more difficult is the design of a pump that takes
in a mixture of liquid and vapor (point 4) and
discharges a saturated liquid (point 1)

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Rankine Cycle
The problems of Carnot cycle are resolved in
Rankine cycle
It differs from Carnot cycle in two major
aspects:
heating step 12 is carried well beyond
vaporization, so as to produce a superheated
vapor
the cooling step 34 brings about complete
condensation, yielding saturated liquid to be
pumped to the boiler
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Department of Chemical Engineering, 10
SCET
 Rankine Cycle
12 A constant-pressure heating
process in a boiler.
The step lies along an isobar (the
pressure of the boiler), and consists of
three sections:
heating of subcooled liquid water to its
saturation temperature,
vaporization at constant temperature and
pressure,
superheating of the vapor to a
temperature well above its saturation
temperature.
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Rankine Cycle
23 Reversible, adiabatic
(isentropic) expansion of vapor in a
turbine to the pressure of the
condenser.
The step normally crosses the
saturation curve, producing a wet
exhaust.
However, the superheating
accomplished in step 12 shifts the
vertical line far enough to the right
that the moisture content is not too
large.
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Rankine Cycle
34 A constant-pressure, constant-temperature
process in a condenser to produce saturated liquid
at point 4.
41 Reversible, adiabatic (isentropic) pumping of
the saturated liquid to the pressure of the boiler,
producing compressed (subcooled) liquid.

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Department of Chemical Engineering, 13
SCET
Modified Rankine Cycle (Simplified Practical Power Plant)

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Increasing the Efficiency of Steam Power Plant
The thermal efficiency of a steam power cycle is increased
when the pressure in the boiler is raised (due to increase in
vaporization temperature)
It is also increased by increased superheating in the boiler
So high boiler pressures and temperatures favor high
efficiencies but these conditions increase the capital
investment in the plant, because they require heavier
construction and more expensive materials of construction
Practical power plants seldom operate at pressures much
above 10 000 kPa (100 bar)
The thermal efficiency of a power plant increases as the
pressure and hence the temperature in the condenser is
reduced
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Regenerative Cycle
Most modern power plants operate on a modification of the
Rankine cycle that incorporates feedwater heaters.
Water from the condenser is first heated by steam extracted
from the turbine.
This is normally done in several stages, with steam taken from
the turbine at several intermediate states of expansion
The purpose of heating the feedwater in this manner is to
raise the average temperature at which heat is added in the
boiler. This increases the thermal efficiency of the plant

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Regenerative Cycle

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Internal Combustion Engines
In an internal-combustion engine a fuel is burned within the
engine itself, and the combustion products serve as the
working medium which act on a piston in a cylinder.
High temperatures are internal, and do not involve heat-
transfer surfaces
fuel and air flow steadily into an internal-combustion engine
and combustion products flow steadily out of it; no working
medium undergoes a cyclic process, as does steam in a
steam power plant
Types:
Otto Engine
Diesel Engine
Gas Turbine Engine
Rocket Engine

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Otto Engine (Spark-ignition Engine)
The most common internal-
combustion engine is the Otto engine.
Its cycle consists of four strokes, and
starts with an intake stroke at
essentially constant pressure, during
which a piston moving outward, draws
a fuel air mixture into a cylinder. This is
represented by line 01
During the second stroke (1 2 3),
all valves are closed, and the fuel air
mixture is compressed, approximately
adiabatically along line segment 1 2
the mixture is then ignited, and
combustion occurs so rapidly that the
volume remains nearly constant while
the pressure rises along line segment
2 3. Asma Ashraf, Assistant Professor
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Otto Engine
It is during the third stroke (3 4
1) that work is produced. The
high-temperature, high-pressure
products of combustion expand,
approximately adiabatically along
line segment 3 4;
the exhaust valve then opens and
the pressure falls rapidly at nearly
constant volume along line
segment 41
During the fourth or exhaust stroke
(line 1 0), the piston pushes the
remaining combustion gases from
the cylinder.
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Department of Chemical Engineering, 20
SCET
Otto Engine

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Diesel Engine (Compression-Ignition Engine)
The Diesel engine differs from the
Otto engine primarily in that the
temperature at the end of
compression is sufficiently high
that combustion is initiated
spontaneously.
This higher temperature results
because of a higher compression
ratio that carries the compression
step to a higher pressure.
The fuel is injected slowly enough
that the combustion process
occurs at approximately constant
pressure.
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Diesel Engine (Compression-Ignition Engine)

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Diesel Engine
For the same compression ratio, the Otto engine has a higher efficiency
than the Diesel engine.
However, pre-ignition limits the compression ratio attainable in the Otto
engine.
The Diesel engine therefore operates at higher compression ratios, and
consequently at higher efficiencies.

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Gas-Turbine Engine
The Otto and Diesel engines exemplify direct use of the
energy of high-temperature, high pressure gases acting
on a piston within a cylinder
turbines are more efficient than reciprocating engines
the advantages of internal combustion are combined
with those of the turbine in the gas-turbine engine

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Gas-Turbine Engine

Asma Ashraf, Assistant Professor

26
Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Gas-Turbine Engine
The gas turbine is driven by high-temperature gases from a
combustion chamber
The centrifugal compressor operates on the same shaft as
the turbine, and part of the work of the turbine serves to
drive the compressor.
The higher the temperature of the combustion gases
entering the turbine, the higher the efficiency of the unit,
i.e., the greater the work produced per unit of fuel burned.
The limiting temperature is determined by the strength of
the metal turbine blades, and is much lower than the
theoretical flame temperature of the fuel.
Sufficient excess air must be supplied to keep the
combustion temperature at a safe level.
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
Brayton Cycle (Gas-turbine Engine Cycle)
Step AB is the reversible adiabatic
compression of air from PA
(atmospheric pressure) to PB
In step BC heat QBC from
combustion, is added at constant
pressure, raising the air
temperature
In step CD expansion takes place in
the turbine and work is produced
Step DA is a constant-pressure
cooling process that merely
completes the cycle
Thermal efficiency is given as:
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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Jet Engines and Rocket Engines
In the power cycles so far considered the high-temperature,
high-pressure gas expands in a turbine (steam power plant,
gas turbine) or in the cylinders of an Otto or Diesel engine
with reciprocating pistons
The entire power plant, consisting of a compression device
and a combustion chamber, as well as a nozzle, is known as a
jet engine
kinetic energy of the exhaust gases is directly available for
propelling the engine and its attachments, jet engines are
most commonly used to power aircraft.

Asma Ashraf, Assistant Professor

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Working of Turbojet Engine
The turbojet engine takes advantage of a diffuser to reduce the work of
compression
The axial-flow compressor completes the job of compression
Then the fuel is injected and burned in the combustion chamber
The hot combustion-product gases first pass through a turbine where the
expansion provides just enough power to drive the compressor
The remainder of the expansion to the exhaust pressure is accomplished in
another nozzle.
The velocity of the gases with respect to the engine is increased to a level above
that of the entering air. This increase in velocity provides a thrust on the engine in
the forward direction

Asma Ashraf, Assistant Professor

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Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET
 Rocket Engine
A rocket engine differs from a jet engine in that the oxidizing
agent is carried with the engine. Instead of depending on the
surrounding air for burning the fuel, the rocket is self-contained
The rocket can operate in a vacuum such as in outer space
In rockets the oxidizing agent is pumped from tanks into the
combustion chamber. Simultaneously, fuel (e.g., hydrogen,
kerosene) is pumped into the chamber and burned.
The combustion takes place at a constant high pressure and
produces high-temperature product gases that are expanded in
a nozzle

Asma Ashraf, Assistant Professor

31
Department of Chemical Engineering, SCET