ME 322 – Mechanical Engineering Thermodynamics

Exam 3
Spring 2016

This is a non-collaborative take-home exam.

Submit your own work.

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EXAM INSTRUCTIONS – PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY

You will have several days to complete this exam. You may use your notes, the online
course resources, your computer (EES, Google, etc.) and pretty much any non-human
resource you can find. You are not allowed to collaborate with other students/engineers
on the exam. However, if you have a strong need to collaborate with others on this exam,
you may discuss the exam at great lengths with anyone currently pursuing a humanities
degree at the UI.
There will not be partial credit for the questions on this exam. Either you get the answer
(within reasonable error), or you don’t.

For multiple choice questions, circle the correct answer(s). Do provide details about
where your answer came from.A correct circled answer without supporting calculations
will still be given zero points.

This is a 100 point exam

Part 1: Engineering Calculations – each numbered problem is worth 10 points
Write your answers in the space below
Attach your EES code and output to the back of the exam
A steam power cycle that incorporates one reheat leg is shown in the sketch below. Steam from the boiler enters the
high pressure turbine at 2400psia, 1250°F. The steam leaves the high pressure turbine at P[2] and then enters the
reheat section of the boiler where it is reheated back to 1100°F with no pressure drop. The steam then enters the low
pressure turbine where it expands to 5psia. Enough heat exchange area is provided in the condenser such that the
water leaving the condenser is saturated liquid at 5psia. Both the high and low pressure turbines have an isentropic
efficiency of 85% and the pump has an isentropic efficiency of 95%. The net power output of the cycle is 400,000
hp.

1) To maximize thermal efficiency of the cycle, at what P[2] (in psia) should the steam be taken back to the
boiler for reheat? (Hint: Conduct a parametric study to figure out the optimal value ofP[2]).

2) At the optimal value for P[2], what is the value of Q_dot_in (in Btu/hr)? Remember, this should include
both the initial heating, and the reheat loop.

3) Assuming you have a high temperature reservoir at 1250 °F, and a cold temperature reservoir at 200 °F,
calculate the maximum theoretical efficiency (think Carnot) of this system?
4) A particular steam turbine can handle a maximum of 1500°F at the inlet. The exhaust pressure is 12 psia.
Under ideal (isentropic) conditions, the maximum allowable liquid in the turbine is 10%. Use EES to model
real conditions, when the turbine is not isentropic. Calculate the maximum isentropic efficiency (in %) that
would still ensure that no liquid water was in the turbine.

5) Saturated liquid Nitrous Oxide flows in to a valve. It enters at 900 psia, and leaves at 100 psia.Find the
following:
a. The quality of the Nitrous Oxide exiting the valve
b. Temperature of the Nitrous Oxide exiting the valve
c. The change in entropy (in Btu/lbm-R)
d. The isentropic efficiency of the valve

6) Use the same enter and exit pressure as the problem above, but now you have replaced the valve with an
isentropic device and have a mass flow rate of 5 lbm/second. Assuming the device is steady state, and PE
and KE terms are insignificant, calculate how much power could be generated by the device (hp)?

7) A house is using a heat pump with an earth-coupled isothermal source as an energy source. The heat pump
uses R134a as the working fluid. At the depth of the heat source the earth’s temperature can be assumed to
be constant year-round. This results in a year-round standard evaporating temperature of 55°F. Thermal
energy from the condenser is available at 75 F. The compressor has an isentropic efficiency of 80%.
Assume pressure drops through plumbing are negligible. The refrigerant leaves the condenser with 8
degrees of subcooling and it enters the compressor with 15 degrees of superheat. Under these conditions,
the heat pump delivers 65,000 Btu/hr to the house. Calculate the following:
a. The power requirement (hp) of the compressor
b. The mass flow of R134a (lbm/hr)
c. Coefficient of performance for heating
 8) In lecture 32 we did an example calculating the work required
in a compressor for a mixture of methane and ethane. Repeat P2  80 psia
this problem, but instead of the methane/ethane mixture, use
air. In particular, use the composition of air as given in the
beginning of Example 12.2 in your textbook. Your EES code
should be set up to be as adaptable as possible (for other
mixture compositions), and will probably have lines like:
f$[1..4] = ['N2', 'O2', 'Ar', 'CO2'] wc
y[1] = .7809
y[2] = .2095
y[3] = .0093
y[4] = .0003
y_total = SUM(y[k], k=1, 4)
1
Given: A compressor is being used to move a mixture of air.
The mixture enters the compressor at 20 psia, 70°F and
P1  20 psia
leaves the compressor at 80 psia. The compressor is being T1  70F
modeled as isentropic.

Calculate the following:

a. Work required (Btu/lbm) to the compressor using air composition from Example 12.2
b. Work required (Btu/lbm) to the compressor using ‘air_ha’as your fluid in EES

Part 3: Multiple Choice – each problem worth 5 points

Problems 11-14 apply to a vapor compression refrigeration cycle that utilizes ammonia as the refrigerant.
The saturated evaporating temperature is -10 F and the saturated condensing temperature is 95 F. Saturated vapor
exits the evaporator and saturated liquid exits the condenser. The mass flow rate of the refrigerant in the cycle is
300 lbm/hr.

9) What is the enthalpy of the fluid entering the evaporator?

a) 32.1 Btu/lbm
b) 149.4 Btu/lbm
c) 608.5 Btu/lbm
d) 632.6 Btu/lbm

10) What is the enthalpy of fluid exiting the evaporator?

a) 32.1 Btu/lbm
b) 149.4 Btu/lbm
c) 608.5 Btu/lbm
d) 632.6 Btu/lbm

11) What is the refrigeration capacity of this system (in tons)?

a) 5.5 tons
b) 7.5 tons
c) 9.5 tons
d) 11.5 tons

12) What is the DSC for this cycle?

a) -10 F
b) 0 F
c) 10 F
d) 95 F