GANDHINAGAR INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY
Engineering Thermodynamics

Active Learning Assignment

Effect of Exhaust Pressure on Rankine Cycle
Guided by:Prof. Abhishek Swankar

Prepared By:Vedant Dave(140120119247)

Vivek Verma(140120119248)
Mechanical D 3

Flow Of Presentation
Rankine Cycle
Actual Vapour Cycle Process
Effect of decrease in Pressure
Numericals

Rankine Cycle
The Rankine cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle of
a heat engine that converts heat into mechanical work. The
heat is supplied externally to a closed loop, which usually
uses water as the working fluid.

Heat Engine

There are four processes in the Rankine cycleProcess 1-2: The dry saturated vapour expands isentropically
through a turbine, generating power. This decreases the
temperature and pressure of the vapour, and some condensation
may occur.

Process 2-3: The wet vapour then enters a condenser where it is

condensed at a constant pressure to become a saturated liquid.
Process 3-4: The working fluid is pumped from low to high
pressure. As the fluid is a liquid at this stage, the pump requires
little input energy.
Process 4-1: The high pressure liquid enters a boiler where it is
heated at constant pressure by an external heat source to become
a superheated vapor.
In an ideal Rankine cycle the pump and turbine would
be isentropic, i.e., the pump and turbine would generate no
entropy and hence maximize the net work output.

Q
T-s diagram

W
W

For 1kg of fluid,

The SFEE for the boiler gives,
h4 + Q1 = h1
i.e., Q1 = h1 h4 --- (1)
SFEE for the turbine, h1 = WT + h2 i.e., WT = h1 h2 --- (2)
SFEE for the condenser, h2 = Q2 + h3 i.e., Q2 = h2 h3 --- (3)
SFEE for the pump, h3 + WP = h4 i.e., WP = h4 h3 --- (4)

Usually, the pump work is quite small compared to the turbine

work and sometimes neglected. Then, h4 = h3.

ACTUAL VAPOUR CYCLE PROCESS

The actual vapour power cycles differ from the ideal
Rankine cycle as shown below, as a result of
irreversibilities in various components.
Fluid friction and undesired heat loss to the surroundings
are two common sources of irreversibilities.

Various losses in a steam plant

Actual vapor power cycles:

Also, the pressure at the turbine
inlet is somewhat lower than
that in the boiler exit due to the
pressure drop in the connecting
pipes.

Various losses On T-s plot

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.

Actual vapor power cycles:

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
net work output, more heat
needs be transferred to the steam
in the boiler to compensate for
these undesirable heat losses.
As a result the cycle efficiency decreases.

EFFECT OF DECREASING THE EXHAUST/

CONDENSER PRESSURE ON RANKINE CYCLE
Lowering the condenser
pressure increases the thermal
efficiency of the cycle.
The effect of lowering the
condenser pressure on the
Rankine cycle efficiency is
illustrated on a T-s diagram as
in Fig. For comparison
purposes, the turbine inlet
state is maintained the same.
Effect of decrease of pressure
on rankine cycle

The colored area on this

diagram represents the increase
in net work output as a result of
lowering the condenser pressure
from P 4 to P 4.
The heat input requirements also
increase (are under curve 2- 2),
but this increase is very small.
Thus the overall effect of
lowering the condenser pressure
is an increase in the thermal
efficiency of the cycle.
However the lowest pressure of condenser under ideal
conditions is limited to the saturation temperature of the cooling
water or air (cooling medium).

Numericals