8.5 Idealisations in the Clausius Rankine Cycle or How to Assess a Real-Life Steam Power Plant?

Recall the steps of the idealised Claudius-Rankine cycle depicted in Figure 8.5.1 and 8.5.2. Step 1 2 : Ideally a feedwater pump adiabatically (or isentropically) compresses boiling water that is added to a boiler. The operation of the feed water pump requires work which is given by: wfwp = h2 h1 > 0 . (8.5.1)

The enthalpy value h1 follows from the steam tables and is given by the specific enthalpy of saturated liquid water at a pressure p1 which ideally is equal to the condenser pressure: h1 = h f ( p1 ) . (8.5.2)

The enthalpy value h 2 can approximately be determined from the following equation: h 2 = h1 + v f ( p1 ) ( p2 p1 ) , (8.5.3) where v f ( p1 ) is the specific volume of liquid water at the pressure p1 which can either be obtained from the steam tables or be approximated as 1l kg . Step 2 3 : The boiler evaporates the water at a constant pressure (isobarically) so that steam results which is eventually superheated and then fed into a turbine. This requires heat input which is given by (the specific enthalpies can typically be obtained from the Mollier diagram): q + = h3 h2 > 0 . (8.5.4)

Ideally the turbine operates adiabatically (isentropically), generates power and the resulting specific work is given by: wtur = h4 h3 < 0 . (8.5.5)

The steam from the turbine outlet streams through a condenser (at a constant pressure, i.e. isobarically) and turns into liquid boiling water which is added to the feed water pump. This releases an amount of specific heat which is given by: q = h1 h4 < 0 . (8.5.6)

This closes the loop of the idealised Clausius-Rankine cycle.

q 2 boiler

3 turbine ( tur) 2 wfwp 1 condenser FWP ( fwp) 4

wtur

1
Figure 8.5.1: Schematic of the components and steps during a Clausius-Rankine cycle.

T c 3 c 3

2 2 1 1 4 s Figure 8.5.2: The Clausius-Rankine cycle in 4 s

(h, s ) and (T , s ) representation.

A more realistic representation of the processes in a steam power plant requires us to take various departures from the ideal Claudius-Rankine cycle into account. These result from irreversibilities in the various components such as:

friction and heat losses.

More specifically, there will always be fluid friction in the various pipes which connect the feed water pump, the boiler, the turbine, as well as the condenser. And there will also be fluid friction in the boiler and in the condenser (which, naively speaking, is nothing but a complicated system of pipes). Such fluid friction will lead to pressure drops as indicated qualitatively in the (T , s ) -representation shown in Figure 8.5.3. As a result, the steam leaves the boiler at a somewhat lower pressure, and the pressure at the turbine inlet is again lower than that at the boiler outlet (see path 2 3 for both of these issues), and there is an additional (but usually very slight) pressure drop in the condenser 4 1 .
T c

3 pressure drop in the boiler 3' irreversibility in the turbine 2' 2 irreversibility of the feed water pump 1 4 s 4'' 4'

pressure drop in the condenser

Figure 8.5.3: Taking pressure drops, heat losses and irreversibilities of the Clausius-Rankine cycle into account.

This is a sad truth of life we have to somehow compensate. Therefore, the water needs to be pumped to a sufficiently high level to begin with which requires the use of a stronger pump which, in turn, requires a higher work input. Naturally, there will not only be pressure drops we have to cope with but also heat losses from the steam to the surroundings as it flows through the various components. Consequently, in order to maintain the same level of net work output, more

heat has to be added to the boiler which increases the running costs and decreases the efficiency. Finally, neither the pump nor the turbine operate perfectly. It was mentioned already that more work is required to operate the pump at higher pressure levels. However, the pure operation of a pump, being a non-reversible machine, naturally requires more work input than theoretically necessary to reach this desired pressure level. In other words, the pump does not operate adiabatically / isentropically. Rather entropy increases during its operation as indicated by the slightly curved line 1 2 in Figure 8.5.3. Similarly, the turbine does not operate adiabatically / isentropically either. As a result of irreversibility the entropy level will also increase as shown in path 3 4 of Figure 8.5.3. It is customary to assess the irreversible losses in the pump as well as in the turbine through so-called adiabatic efficiencies which are given by the ratio of theoretical and real work input or the ratio of real work output to theoretical output, respectively. In terms of specific enthalpy data which correspond to the points of Figure 8.5.3 they are defined as follows (the point 4 lies along the vertical line through 3 at the same pressure level as point 4 ): fwp =
adia wfwp real wfwp

w real h h h2 h1 3 < 1 , tur = tur = 4 < 1 , h = h(s = s , p = p ) . (8.5.7) 4 3 4 adia h1 h h2 w tur h4 3

But this is not the end of a very intricate situation. Many other things have to be considered when dealing with a real-life power plant. For example, the liquid in the condenser is frequently subcooled. This is done to prevent cavitation, rapid vaporisation and condensation of the liquid water near the blades at the low-pressure side of the pump, all of which can lead to potential damage. Similarly, the turbine blades can be destroyed when they are hit by high speed water droplets as it will happen if a state in the wet-vapour region is reached resulting in partial condensation. Also: Water / steam (which preferably is of relatively high purity) can get lost on its way through the various plant components and loss due to such leaks has to be replaced. Finally, additional power necessary to operate the plant (for example for the operation of the fans which transport air to the boiler furnaces) should be considered when the net performance of the plant is assessed. 8.6 Numerical Treatment of a Somewhat Realistic Power Cycle Consider the idealised power cycle as indicated in Figure 8.6.1. The objective is to operate the plant between 150 bar turbine inlet pressure at 600 C and 0.1 bar condenser pressure.

T II boiler + superheater III c III turbine II FWP condenser IV II I I 0.1 bar s 150 bar III 600 C

IV

Figure 8.6.1: Numerical example of an idealised Clausius-Rankine cycle.

We find the following enthalpy data for the points indicated in Figure 8.6.1: h I = hf (0.1 bar ) = 192 kJ (from the steam tables), kg kJ m3 + 10 3 (150 0.1) 10 2 kJ3 = 207 kJ , kg kg m kg kJ kJ , h IV (0.1 bar, s = s III ) 2115 , kg kg (8.6.1)

h II = hI + v I ( p II pI ) = 192 h III (150 bar, 600C) 3580

(8.6.2) (8.6.3)

(the latter two values were obtained from the Mollier diagram). Consequently, we obtain for the work necessary to operate the feed water pump: wfwp = hII hI = v I ( p II pI ) = 10 3 m3 (150 0.1) 10 2 kJ3 15 kJ , kg m kg (8.6.4)

for the heat added in the boiler and in the superheater: q + = hIII hII = 3580 kJ kJ kJ 207 = 3373 , kg kg kg (8.6.5)

for the work delivered by the turbine: wtur = hIV h III = 2115 kJ kJ kJ 3580 = 1465 kg kg kg (8.6.6)

for the heat which is released in the condenser: q = hI hIV = 192 kJ kJ kJ 2115 = 1923 . kg kg kg (8.5.7)

This results in an efficiency of 43% :

e=

h hIII (h II hI ) 1465 15 profit =" net" work wtur wfwp = = IV = = 0.43 , (8.5.8) + effort q hIII hII 3373

if we do not neglect the work of the feed water pump. Now consider the data of the more realistic cycle shown in Figure 8.6.2 where pressure drops, heat losses, and irreversibilities of the pump as well as of the turbine have been taken into account.
159 bar 35 C boiler + 3 superheater pipes 2 160 bar fwp=0.87 1 0.09 bar 38 C pipes condenser 3 1 s Figure 8.6.2: Numerical example of a less idealised Clausius-Rankine cycle. 152 bar 625 C 4 5 pipes
150 bar 600 C

t=0.87 turbine 6 0.1 bar 2

FWP

4 625 C 160 159 5 600 C 152 150 bar

0.1 6'' 0.09 bar

6=7

We record the following enthalpy data: h3 (159 bar, 35C) hf (35C) = 146 h 4 (152 bar, 625C) 3645 h (0.1 bar, s = s 5 ) 2115 6 kJ (from the steam tables), kg (8.6.9) (8.6.10) (8.6.11)

kJ kJ , h 5 (150 bar, 600C) 3580 kg kg

kJ , kg

(the last three values were obtained from the Mollier diagram). For the pump work input we find: w
real fwp

w adia fwp fwp

v1 ( p 2 p1 ) 1 m3 = 10 3 (160 0.09) 10 2 kJ3 19 kJ . fwp 0.85 kg kg m

(8.6.12)

This is a consequence of the assumption that the pump operates with almost no dead volume and that liquid water is almost incompressible:

This approximation is justified because the isobaric lines in the liquid region of the (T,s)-diagram are densely packed. Note that they are not drawn to scale in Figure 8.6.2. Rather they were separated considerably to make them easier to discern.

adia fwp

= p dv = d( pv ) + v dp = 0 + v dp = v1 dp = v1 ( p 2 p1 ) .
1 1

(8.6.12)

Next we take a look at the turbine work output:

real adia wtur = tur wtur = tur (h6 h5 ) = 0.87 (2115 3580)

kJ kJ = 1245 . kg kg

(8.6.13)

For the boiler heat input which is required to guarantee the necessary plant performance we find: q + = h4 h3 = 3645 kJ kJ kJ 146 = 3499 , kg kg kg (8.6.14)

and the efficiency becomes:

real real profit =" net" work wtur wfwp 1245 19 e= = = = 0.35 , effort q+ 3499

(8.6.15)

which is considerably lower than the efficiency of the idealised Clausius-Rankine process. 8.7 Efficiency Improvements Revisited In Section 8.2 it was already briefly discussed how the efficiency of the ClausiusRankine Cycle can be improved. In general, the idea behind all these improvements is to increase or to decrease

the average temperature at which heat is transferred to or rejected from the working fluid, i.e. the steam / the water, respectively. Technically speaking, this enlarges the area enclosed in the (T , s ) -diagram representation of the cycle which, as outlined in Section 5.6, represents the work gained. Typically three measures are taken to improve on the efficiency that way: Lowering of the condenser pressure, superheating of the steam, and increasing the boiler pressure. A few technical details will be outlined in the following subsections. 8.7.1 Lowering the Condenser Pressure Recall that the steam is in a state of wet vapour when it enters the condenser. In other words, it exists as a saturated mix of liquid and water vapour at a saturation temperature which corresponds one-to-one to the pressure inside of the condenser. How the pressure and the temperature are correlated to each other can be read off from the steam tables (say). Consequently, lowering the condenser pressure will straightforwardly result in a temperature decrease at which heat is rejected. The effect of

lowering the pressure from a level p4 to a level p is illustrated in the ideal cycle 4 shown in Figure 8.7.1. The advantage, i.e. the increase in obtainable work is given by the shaded area. Note that there is also a disadvantage. It takes a somewhat higher heat input to run the plant under the new conditions: 2 2 . However, since the isobaric lines are very densely spaced in the liquid water region this additional heat input is usually very small as compared to the gain that results from a lower condenser pressure. T 3

2'

2 1 1' 4

< p' 4
Increase in wnet 4'

p4

s
Figure 8.7.1: Lowering the condenser pressure in an idealised Clausius-Rankine cycle.

In practice the condensers of steam power plants operate well below atmospheric pressure, i.e. 1 bar , in order to take as much advantage of the pressure effect as possible. However, a lower limit is imposed by the fact that the condenser pressure cannot be lower than the saturation pressure of water corresponding to the temperature of the cooling medium used, which in many cases is water from a near-by river at (say) 15 C . Clearly, this temperature may vary considerably during the seasons and the power plant owners need to cover a certain range of temperatures to guarantee reliable operation. Also, there should be a certain temperature difference between the incoming water vapour and the cooling medium in order to enable a sufficiently effective heat transfer. If we account for all this by a temperature difference of 10 C (say) we would require a condenser pressure greater than 0.032 bar (see steam tables). Clearly, lowering the condenser pressure will raise the potential for air leakage into the condenser. Another side-effect of lowering the condenser pressure is the increase of the moisture content of the steam as it will necessarily result in the final stages of the turbine, shortly before entry into the pipes which lead to the condenser (technically speaking, a decrease in pressure will lead to lower dryness or x -values, i.e. to higher moisture, as can quantitatively be seen in the Mollier chart). In fact, tur-

bine manufacturers dislike the presence of large quantities of moisture, i.e. highspeed / high temperature water droplets, in their machinery which will lead to erosion and, consequently, puts extremely high demands on the materials used for manufacture. A way of correcting this problem, at least partially, is superheating and the use of reheat stages which will be discussed later. 8.7.2 Superheating the Boiler Outlet Steam If the temperature of the steam provided by the boiler to the inlet of the turbine is increased from a level T3 to a level T3 this will have a beneficial impact on the net amount of work gained as illustrated by the shaded area of Figure 8.7.2. T Increase in wnet 3 2 4 4' 3'

s
Figure 8.7.2: Raising the average temperature of the turbine inlet steam by superheating in the boiler.

In fact, superheating allows us to catch two birds with one stone since it will lead to a decrease of the moisture content at the turbine outlet as can also be seen from Figure 8.7.2 (the state 4 corresponds to a higher x -value (dryness), i.e. a lower moisture content, than 4 ). However, there are technical limits imposed to superheating which have to do with metallurgical and materials constraints. Presently, the highest steam temperature practically allowed at the turbine inlet are about 620 C . Higher values would result in damage of the expensive metal blades unless extremely expensive high temperature resistant alloys are used. In the future fracture resistant ceramic blade materials could become a serious alternative to reach even higher levels of efficiency by superheating. 8.7.3 Increasing the boiler pressure Figure 8.7.3 illustrates the impact of increasing the boiler pressure from a level p3 to a level p on the efficiency of an idealised Clausius-Rankine cycle for a fixed turbine 3 inlet temperature. There is obviously a competition going on between an increase (top shaded region) and a decrease (shaded region on the right) in the net amount of
9

work gained. A close inspection of typically used isobaric levels indicates (see also the following example) that there is still a beneficial effect, i.e. effectively some work gained. T Increase in wnet 2' 2 4' 4 s
Figure 8.7.3: Increasing the boiler pressure and its effect on efficiency.

3' 3 Tmax Decrease in wnet

Also note that increasing the pressure will lead to an increase of the moisture (lower dryness, i.e. x -higher values, at point 4 as compared to point 4 ). As it was mentioned before, this is undesirable but it can be corrected by additional superheating and by the use of reheat stages. Over the years typical boiler pressures have increased from 27 bar in the twenties to more than 300 bar today. The latter leads to the use of supercritical ClausiusRankine cycles, i.e. cycles where the boiling process does not lead through the wet vapour region: Figure 8.7.4. T Critical point 3

2 1 4 s
Figure 8.7.4: A supercritical Clausius-Rankine cycle at supercritical boiler pressures.

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8.7.4 A Numerical Example Figure 8.7.5 shows a typical idealised Clausius-Rankine cycle together with numerical data which, initially, will use to describe the performance of a non-optimised steam power plant. Then, in a second step, we shall explore by how much the efficiency of that plant can be increased if (i) the condenser pressure is lowered plus (ii) the steam in the boiler is considerably superheated plus (iii) the boiler pressure is raised to a considerably higher level. All relevant data can be read off from Figure 8.7.6. T, C 350

2
0.7 5b ar

1 s1=s2

4 s3=s4 s

Figure 8.7.5: An idealised, non-optimised Clausius-Rankine cycle.

30

ba r

T
30 bar

T3=350 C

T
30 bar

T3 =600 C

150 bar

T3=600 C

2
0.1 bar

2
0.1 bar

2
0.1 bar

4 s (a)

4 s (b)

1 (c)

4 s

Figure 8.7.6: The idealised, Clausius-Rankine cycle of Figure 8.7.5, (i) with a lower condenser pressure, (ii) plus superheat, (iii) plus high boiler pressure.

For the non-optimised cycle we note the following enthalpy data: h1 (0.75 bar ) h f (0.75 bar ) = 384 kJ (from the steam tables), kg (8.7.1)

11

h 2 = h1 + v 1 ( p2 pI ) = 384 h 3 (30 bar, 350 C) 3115

kJ m3 + 10 3 (30 0.75) 10 2 kJ3 = 387 kJ , kg kg m kg

(8.7.2) (8.7.3)

kJ kJ , h 4 (0.75 bar, s = s3 ) 2400 , x 4 0.89 kg kg

(from the Mollier chart). Consequently, we obtain for the work necessary to operate the feed water pump: wfwp = h2 h1 = (387 384) kJ kJ =3 , kg kg (8.7.4)

for the heat added to the boiler: q + = h3 h2 = 3115 kJ kJ kJ 387 = 2728 , kg kg kg (8.7.5)

for the work delivered by the turbine: wtur = h4 h3 = 2400 kJ kJ kJ 3115 = 715 kg kg kg (8.7.6)

for the heat which is released in the condenser: q = h1 h 4 = 384 kJ kJ kJ 2400 = 2016 . kg kg kg (8.7.7)

This results in an efficiency of 26% : e= profit =" net" work wtur wfwp 715 3 = = = 0.26 effort q+ 2728 (8.7.8)

if we take the work of the feed water pump into account. We now turn to the first scenario of Figure 8.7.6, in other words, we lower the condenser pressure to 0.1 bar and find that: h1 (0.1 bar ) hf (0.1 bar ) = 192 h 2 = h1 + v 1 ( p2 pI ) = 192 h 3 (30 bar, 350 C) 3115 kJ (from the steam tables), kg (8.7.9)

kJ m3 + 10 3 (30 0.1) 10 2 kJ3 = 195 kJ , kg kg m kg

(8.7.10) (8.7.11)

kJ kJ , h 4 (0.1 bar, s = s 3 ) 2130 , x 4 0.81 kg kg

(from the Mollier chart). Consequently, we obtain for the work necessary to operate the feed water pump: wfwp = h2 h1 = (195 192) kJ kJ =3 , kg kg (8.7.12)

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for the heat added to the boiler: q + = h3 h2 = 3115 kJ kJ kJ 195 = 2920 , kg kg kg (8.7.13)

for the work delivered by the turbine: wtur = h4 h3 = 2130 kJ kJ kJ 3115 = 985 , kg kg kg (8.7.14)

for the heat which is released in the condenser: q = h1 h 4 = 192 kJ kJ kJ 2130 = 1938 . kg kg kg (8.7.15)

This results in an efficiency of roughly 34% : e= profit =" net" work wtur wfwp 985 3 = = = 0.336 effort q+ 2920 (8.7.16)

which, obviously, is already quite an improvement when compared to the previous situation. Next we look at how this can further be improved by superheating (see the second situation in Figure 8.7.6). We update our enthalpy data as follows: h 3 (30 bar, 600 C) 3680 kJ kJ , h 4 (0.1 bar, s = s 3 ) 2380 , x 4 0.91 kg kg (8.7.17)

and obtain (only changes will be reported): for the heat added to the boiler: q + = h3 h2 = 3680 kJ kJ kJ 195 = 3485 , kg kg kg (8.7.18)

for the work delivered by the turbine: wtur = h4 h3 = 2380 kJ kJ kJ 3680 = 1300 , kg kg kg (8.7.19)

for the heat which is released in the condenser: q = h1 h 4 = 192 kJ kJ kJ 2380 = 2188 . kg kg kg (8.7.20)

This results in an even better efficiency of roughly 37% : e= profit =" net" work wtur wfwp 1300 3 = = = 0.372 . effort q+ 3485 (8.7.21)

Finally we turn to the third situation of Figure 8.7.6 where the boiler pressure is raised but the inlet temperature of the boiler remains at 600 C :

13

h 2 = h1 + v 1 ( p2 pI ) = 192 h 3 (150 bar , 600 C) 3580

kJ m3 + 10 3 (150 0.1) 10 2 kJ3 = 207 kJ , kg kg m kg kJ kJ , h 4 (0.1 bar , s = s3 ) 2115 , x 4 0.80 kg kg

(8.7.22) (8.7.23)

(from the Mollier chart). Consequently, we obtain for the work necessary to operate the feed water pump: wfwp = h2 h1 = (207 192) kJ kJ = 15 , kg kg (8.7.24)

for the heat added to the boiler: q + = h3 h2 = 3580 kJ kJ kJ 207 = 3373 , kg kg kg (8.7.25)

for the work delivered by the turbine: wtur = h4 h3 = 2115 kJ kJ kJ 3580 = 1465 , kg kg kg (8.7.26)

for the heat which is released in the condenser: q = h1 h4 = 192 kJ kJ kJ 2115 = 1923 . kg kg kg (8.7.27)

This results in an efficiency of 43% : e= profit =" net" work wtur wfwp 1465 15 = = = 0.430 , effort q+ 3373 (8.7.28)

which is clearly superior to all the previous results. 8.7.5 Reheating Revisited The principle of reheating and the efficiency benefits gained from it were already mentioned in Section 8.2. From a more mature point of view it can be viewed as an answer to the following question: How can we take advantage of the increased efficiencies at higher boiler pressures without facing the problem of high moisture levels which might lead to damage of the expensive turbine blades by high speed water droplets? The fact that reheating will indeed lead to higher values of dryness, x , is shown schematically in Figure 8.7.7.

14

3
superheater reheater

high-pressure low-pressure turbine turbine

high-pressure turbine 3

reheating 5 low-pressure turbine

4 5 boiler condenser FWP 2 1 6

2

6 s

Figure 8.7.7: On the principle of reheating illustrated for the idealised Clausius-Rankine cycle.

Surely, point 6 gets closer to the saturated vapour line (where x = 1 ) because the reheat stage 4 5 has been added. Otherwise we would end in point 6 . Also note that reheat is definitely a necessary measure to be taken in order to achieve higher efficiencies while reducing the moisture. The other alternative (see Section 8.7.2), namely to superheat, has only a limited potential since extremely high boiler temperatures would lead to the destruction of the inlet stage of the turbine. Note that due to the technical realisation of reheating (use of only one superheater) the inlet temperature of the second low-pressure turbine stage is typically the same as the inlet temperature of the first high-pressure turbine stage. Furthermore note that from an efficiency point of view the optimum reheat pressure is about one-fourth of the maximum cycle pressure.

T
Tav,reheat

s
Figure 8.7.8: Approximation of an isothermal average temperature by multi-reheat stages.

As indicated in Figure 8.7.8 the average temperature during reheating can be increased by adding additional reheat stages. As the number of stages increases the ideal isothermal process at the maximum temperature is approximated more and

15

more and this would lead to a further increase of the efficiency while reducing the final moisture level at the same time. However, it is impractical to use more than two reheat stages mainly because of the additional costs and added complexity so that the gain in efficiency cannot be justified. 8.7.6 Numerical Example of a Reheat Clausius-Rankine Cycle Consider the situation shown in Figure 8.7.9. A reheat stage has been added to the Clausius-Rankine cycle from the last problem of Section 8.7.4. Note that the temperatures at points 3 and 4 are the same, namely 600 C . We also require that the moisture content of the steam at the outlet of the low-pressure turbine does not exceed 10.4% , i.e. x 6 = 1 - 0.104 = 0.896 .

T, C
600 150 bar

Reheating 5 3

2
0.1 bar

6 s

Figure 8.7.9: A reheat cycle.

Consequently, the enthalpy data has to be expanded as follows: h1 (0.1 bar ) hf (0.1 bar ) = 192 h 2 = h1 + v 1 ( p2 pI ) = 192 h 3 (150 bar , 600 C) 3580 kJ (from the steam tables), kg (8.7.29)

kJ m3 + 10 3 (150 0.1) 10 2 kJ3 = 207 kJ , kg kg m kg kJ , (from the Mollier chart). kg

(8.7.30) (8.7.31)

For reasons of accuracy the enthalpy of point 6 should be obtained by calculation and not directly from the Mollier chart: h6 = h f (0.1 bar ) + x 6 hfg (0.1 bar ) = (192 + 0.896 2392) kJ kJ = 2336 . kg kg (8.7.32)

16

Now the missing enthalpy in points 4 and 5 can be read off from the chart: h 5 (600 C , s = s6 ) 3675 Consequently, we obtain for the heat added to the boiler plus reheater: q + = h3 h2 + h5 h4 = (3580 207 + 3675 3155) for the work delivered by the two turbines: wtur = h4 h3 + h6 h4 = (3155 3580 + 2336 3675) for the heat which is released in the condenser: q = h1 h 6 = 192 kJ kJ kJ 2336 = 2144 . kg kg kg (8.7.36) kJ kJ = 1764 kg kg (8.7.35) kJ kJ = 3893 , kg kg (8.7.34) kJ kJ , h 4 ( p = p5 , s = s3 ) 3155 . kg kg (8.7.33)

This results in an efficiency of 45% : e= profit =" net" work wtur wfwp 1764 15 = = = 0.449 . effort q+ 3893 (8.7.37)

17