Power Plant Thermodynamics Assignment 3

7TH Edition:
Problem (2-17)
Consider a river flowing toward a lake at an average velocity of 3 m/s at a rate of 500 m3/s at a location
90 m above the lake surface. Determine the total mechanical energy of the river water per unit mass and
the power generation potential of the entire river at that location.

Solution
Total Power = Power generated due to potential energy + Power generated due to kinetic energy
˙ = ṁ gh , KE = 0.5 m V2  KE
PE = mgh  PE ˙ = 0.5 ṁV 2
ṁ = ρ Q = 1,000 * 500 = 500,000 kg/s
˙ = ṁ gh = (500,000 * 9.81 * 90) / 106 = 441.45 MW
PE
˙ = 0.5 ṁV 2 = (0.5 * 500,000 * 32) / 106 = 2.25 MW
KE
Total Power = 441.45 + 2.25 = 443.7 MW

Problem (2-37)
A ski lift has a one-way length of 1 km and a vertical rise of 200 m. The chairs are spaced 20 m apart, and
each chair can seat three people. The lift is operating at a steady speed of 10 km/h. Neglecting friction
and air drag and assuming that the average mass of each loaded chair is 250 kg, determine the power
required to operate this ski lift. Also estimate the power required to accelerate this ski lift in 5 s to its
operating speed when it is first turned on.
Solution
Power required to run the ski lift is the minimum power required to overcome the weight of all chairs at the
same time.
1,000 meters ride, with 20 meters separation  1,000 / 20 = 50 chair sets

Total mass of the chairs = 50 * 250 = 12,500 kg, ∆ t = distance / velocity = 1/10 = 1 hour = 360 s
˙ = (mgh) / ∆ t = (12,500 * 9.81 * 200) / 360 = 68,125 W = 68.125 kW
PE
˙ + PE
Power required for the first 5 second = KE ˙
˙ = (0.5 m V2) / ∆ t = (0.5 * 12,000 * (10/3.6)2) / 5 = 9645 W = 9.645 kW
KE
˙ = (mgh) / ∆ t , Distance travelled in 5 seconds  hi = Vi t + 0.5 a t2,
PE a = (10/3.6) / 5 = 2.78 m/s2

hi = (0.5 * 2.78 * 52) * sinθ , sinθ = 0.2

 hi = 1.39 m
˙ = (12,500 * 9.81 * 1.39) / 5 = 34,090 W = 34.09 kW
PE
Power Plant Thermodynamics Assignment 3

˙ + KE
Ẇ total = PE ˙ = 34.09 + 9.645 = 43.73 kW

Problem (2-55)
An automobile moving through the air causes the air velocity (measured with respect to the car) to
decrease and fill a larger flow channel. An automobile has an effective flow channel area of 3 m 2. The car
is traveling at 90 km/h on a day when the barometric pressure is 70 cm of mercury and the temperature is
20°C. Behind the car, the air velocity (with respect to the car) is measured to be 82 km/h, and the
temperature is 20°C. Determine the power required to move this car through the air and the area of the
effective flow channel behind the car.

Solution
P = 700 * 0.1333 = 93.31 kPa
From ideal gas equation:
V=RT / P = (0.287 * 293) / 93.31 = 0.9012 m3/kg
From continuity equation:

ṁ = AV / v = (3*(90/3.6)) / 0.9012 = 83.22 kg/s

˙ = 0.5 ṁ (Vi2 - Vf2) = 4.42 kW

A = (ṁ v) / V = (83.22*0.9012) / (82/3.6) = 3.29 m2

Problem (2-60)
Consider a 24-kW hooded electric open burner in an area where the unit costs of electricity and natural
gas are $0.10/kWh and $1.20/therm (1 therm = 105,500 kJ), respectively. The efficiency of open burners
can be taken to be 73 percent for electric burners and 38 percent for gas burners. Determine the rate of
energy consumption and the unit cost of utilized energy for both electric and gas burners.
Solution

Q̇=Ẇ e * ηe = 24 * 0.73 = 17.52 kW

For electric burner

Unit Cost Rate of used electricity = Unit Cost Rate of electricity / ηe = 0.1 / 0.73 = $0.14/kWh

For gas burner (1 US therm = 29.3 kWh)

Unit Cost Rate of used gas = Unit Cost Rate of gas / ηe = (1.2/29.3) / 0.38 = $0.108/kWh
Power Plant Thermodynamics Assignment 3

Problem (2-70)
Reconsider Prob. 2-69. Using EES (or other) software, investigate the effect of wind velocity and the
blade span diameter on wind power generation. Let the velocity vary from 5 to 20 m/s in increments of 5
m/s, and the diameter vary from 20 to 120 m in increments of 20 m. Tabulate the results, and discuss
their significance.
Where problem (2-69) is:
At a certain location, wind is blowing steadily at 7 m/s. Determine the mechanical energy of air per unit
mass and the power generation potential of a wind turbine with 80-m-diameter blades at that location.
Also determine the actual electric power generation assuming an overall efficiency of 30 percent. Take
the air density to be 1.25 kg/m3.
Solution
Using EES, the below equations are solved parametrically to study the effect of both wind speed and the
diameter of wind generator blades.
"Given"
"V=7 [m/s]
D=80 [m]"
eta_overall=0.30
rho=1.25 [kg/m^3]
"Analysis"
g=9.81 [m/s^2]
A=pi*D^2/4
m_dot=rho*A*V
W_dot_max=m_dot*V^2/2*convert(m^2/s^2, kJ/kg)
W_dot_elect=eta_overall*W_dot_max

The below table shows the calculated values for generated energy rate

Blade Diameter [m] Wind Velocity [m/s] Generated Energy Rate [kW]
20 5 7
20 10 59
20 15 199
20 20 471
40 5 29
40 10 236
40 15 795
40 20 1,885
60 5 66
60 10 530
60 15 1,789
60 20 4,241
80 5 118
80 10 943
80 15 3,181
80 20 7,540
100 5 184
100 10 1,473
100 15 4,970
100 20 11,781
120 5 265
120 10 2,121
120 15 7,157
120 20 16,965
Power Plant Thermodynamics Assignment 3

The results are graphed using SigmaPlot as follows:

The results shows that although the turbine blade diameter exert significant effect on generated power,

the effect of wind speed is far more significant. This is apparent when comparing the power generated at

low speeds for different diameters and at high wind speeds. At lower speeds the larger diameters

generate some extra output, however, at large wind speeds, 4 times larger diameters could generate as

much as 1,000 times more power.