Properties of Steam and

Steam Generator
MCE-4391
Basic Mechanical Engineering (EEE)
Formation of Steam
PROPERTY DIAGRAMS FOR PHASE-CHANGE
PROCESSES
(T-v, P-v, T-s, P-h Diagram)
PROPERTY DIAGRAMS FOR PHASE-CHANGE
PROCESSES
(T-v, P-v, T-s, T-h, P-h Diagram)
PROPERTY DIAGRAMS FOR PHASE-CHANGE
PROCESSES
(T-v, P-v, T-s, P-h Diagram)
PROPERTY DIAGRAMS FOR PHASE-CHANGE
PROCESSES
(T-v, P-v, T-s, P-h Diagram)
Important Terms of Steam
Superheated Steam
Steam Property Tables
• Different steam properties at different phases have been listed in
different types of tables.
• Properties of water/steam at different saturation temperature is
listed in Table A-4 in the appendix of the Reference book
(Thermodynamics an Engineering Approach by Yunus A. Cengel).
• Properties of water/steam at different saturation pressure is listed in
Table A-5 of the reference book.
• Properties of compressed liquid are listed in table A-7.
• Properties of steam at superheated conditions are listed in Table A-6.
• Going to the necessary table, the desired properties at different
pressures/temperatures can be found.
• If properties at certain temperatures/pressures are not directly found
in these tables, they can be found using mathematical interpolation.
Saturated Water Table (based on Sat.
Temperature)
Saturated Water Table (based on saturation
pressure)
Superheated Table
Compressed Liquid Table
 Lecture-5
Steam Power Cycle
MCE 4391
Basic Mechanical Engineering (EEE)
 The Ideal Rankine Cycle
 The ideal Rankine cycle does not involve any internal irreversibilities and
consists of the following four processes:

• 1-2 Isentropic compression in a pump

• 2-3 Constant pressure heat addition in a boiler

• 3-4 Isentropic expansion in a turbine

• 4-1 Constant pressure heat rejection in a condenser

 This Cycle is important for power generation.

 One of the most important application of steam generated in boiler.

 Steam is the most common working fluid used in vapor power cycles
because of its many desirable characteristics, such as low cost, availability
and high enthalpy of vaporization.
Energy Analysis
Energy Analysis
Example
Example
Example
Example
DEVIATION OF ACTUAL VAPOR POWER CYCLES FROM IDEALIZED ONES

• Fluid friction in pipelines (pressure drop).

• Heat loss from the steam to the surroundings

as the steam flows through various
components.

• Irreversibilities occurring within the pump and

the turbine, which results in the deviation of
the processes in turbine and pump from
isentropic process.
 Isentropic Efficiencies of Turbine and Pump
• Isentropic Efficiency represents, how much close
a process is to isentropic process.
• In case of Pump:

• In case of Turbine:

• Subscript ‘s’ means ideal process (isentropic)

Exercise
Exercise
 HOW CAN WE INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE RANKINE CYCLE?

• Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)

• Superheating the Steam to High Temperatures (Increases Thigh,avg)
• Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,avg)

Similar to Carnot Heat Engine:

QH • Increasing Th increases
W efficiency
QL • Decreasing TL also increases
efficiency
 Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)
• Steam exists as a saturated mixture in the condenser at the saturation
temperature corresponding to the pressure inside the condenser. Therefore,
lowering the operating pressure of the condenser automatically lowers the
temperature of the steam, and thus the temperature at which heat is rejected.
• Increases Wnet of the overall cycle, as a result efficiency increases.
• However, there is a lower limit on the condenser pressure that can be used. It
cannot be lower than the saturation pressure corresponding to the temperature
of the cooling medium.
• Lowering the condenser pressure is not without any side effects, however. For
one thing, it creates the possibility of air leakage into the condenser. More
importantly, it increases the moisture content of the steam at the final stages of
the turbine, as can be seen from Fig. The presence of large quantities of
moisture is highly undesirable in turbines because it decreases the turbine
efficiency and erodes the turbine blades.
 Superheating the Steam to High Temperatures (Increases Thigh,avg)

• The average temperature at which heat is transferred to

steam can be increased without increasing the boiler
pressure by superheating the steam to high temperatures.
• Increases Wnet of the overall cycle, as a result efficiency
increases.
• Superheating the steam to higher temperatures has
another very desirable effect: It decreases the moisture
content of the steam at the turbine exit, as can be seen
from the T-s diagram.
• The temperature to which steam can be superheated is
limited, however, by metallurgical considerations. Presently
the highest steam temperature allowed at the turbine inlet
is about 620oC (1150oF). Any increase in this value depends
on improving the present materials or finding new ones that
can withstand higher temperatures. Ceramics are very
promising in this regard.
 Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,avg)
• Another way of increasing the average temperature during
the heat-addition process is to increase the operating
pressure of the boiler, which automatically raises the
temperature at which boiling takes place. This, in turn, raises
the average temperature at which heat is transferred to the
steam and thus raises the thermal efficiency of the cycle.
• Notice that for a fixed turbine inlet temperature, the cycle
shifts to the left and the moisture. (Remember it Later)
• content of steam at the turbine exit increases.
• Operating pressures of boilers have gradually increased over
the years from about 2.7 MPa (400 psia) in 1922 to over 30
MPa (4500 psia) today.
• Today many modern steam power plants operate at
supercritical pressures (P > 22.06 MPa) and have thermal
efficiencies of about 40 percent for fossil-fuel plants and 34
percent for nuclear plants.
• There are over 150 supercritical-pressure steam power plants
in operation in the United States. The lower efficiencies of
nuclear power plants are due to the lower maximum
temperatures used in those plants for safety reasons.
Effect of Boiler Pressure and Temperature on Efficiency
 THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE
How can we take advantage of the increased efficiencies at higher boiler pressures
without facing the problem of excessive moisture at the final stages of the turbine?
Remember the problem? (for a fixed turbine inlet temperature, the cycle shifts to
the left and the moisture increases as we increase the boiler pressure)
Two possible solution come to mind:
Superheat the steam to very high temperatures before it enters the turbine. This
would be the desirable solution since the average temperature at which heat is
added would also increase, thus increasing the cycle efficiency. This is not a viable
solution, however, since it requires raising the steam temperature to
metallurgically unsafe levels.
Expand the steam in the turbine in two stages, and reheat it in between. In other
words, modify the simple ideal Rankine cycle with a reheat process. Reheating is
a practical solution to the excessive moisture problem in turbines, and it is
commonly used in modern steam power plants. This is where ideal reheat
Rankine cycle comes into play.
THE IDEAL REHEAT RANKINE CYCLE
Example
 Lecture-7
Refrigeration
MCE 4391
Basic Mechanical Engineering (EEE)
 Introduction
• Refrigeration is a process of removing heat from a space or a substance to
reduce and maintain temperature lower than it’s surrounding.
• A refrigeration system works under the fundamental principle given by
Clausius, which is based on 2nd law of thermodynamics.
“It is impossible for a self acting machine, working in a cyclic process to
transfer heat from a body at a lower temperature to a body at a higher
temperature to a body at a higher temperature without the aid of external
agent’’ – Clausius.
 Introduction

TH
QH
Win • Clausius Statement

QL
TL
 Classification
1. Natural
2. Mechanical
a) Air Refrigeration
- Reversed Carnot Cycle
- Bell Coleman Cycle (Reversed Bryton/ Joule Cycle)
b) Vapor Refrigeration
- Vapor Compression Refrigeration
- Vapor Absorption Refrigeration
 Method of Refrigeration
• The refrigerating effect may be produced by bringing the substance to
be cooled in a direct or indirect contact with cooling medium such as
ice.
• Some other working fluid can be used, which is called refrigerant.
• Some example of refrigeration system:
-Ice refrigeration, Dry ice refrigeration system, Air expansion
refrigeration system, Evaporative refrigeration, Gas throttling
refrigeration, Vapor compression refrigeration, Vapor absorption
refrigeration etc.
 Important Terms
• Refrigeration Effect (Cooling effect) : It is the amount of heat to be
extracted for a required cooling of the substance.
• Refrigerant: It is a working fluid or working substance that is used to
extract the heat from the storage space.
• Co-efficient of Performance (COP): It is defined as the ratio of desired
cooling effect to work input.
• Unit of refrigeration (Tonne of Refrigeration/ TR): A tonne of
refrigeration is defined as the amount of refrigeration effect produced
by uniform melting of one tonne (1000 kg) of ice at 0oC in 24 hours.
 Tonne of Refrigeration/ TR

-The latent heat of ice (heat of fusion) = 333.55 kJ/kg = 144 Btu/lb
144
-Heat extracted in 24 hour for 1 T o ice = 2000 ∗ Btu/hr
24
= 12000 Btu/hr
= 200 Btu/min
= 3.517 kW
 Applications

1. Comfort Cooling of Buildings

2. Commercial Application (e.g. Food preservation, Supermarket

Display Cabinet etc.)

3. Industrial Applications (e.g. Spot cooling, Lab cooling, Printing on

textile, Precision parts of manufacturing, Computer cooling,
Medicine manufacturing etc.)
Difference Between Heat Engine, Refrigerator and Heat Pump
COP of Ref. and Heat Pump
Air Refrigeration on Reversed Carnot Cycle
Air Refrigeration on Reversed Carnot Cycle
 Temperature Limitations for Reversed Carnot Cycle
𝑇𝐿
• COPR =
𝑇ℎ −𝑇𝐿
• COP can be increased either by increasing TL or decrease TH
• In summer, Th is higher so COP is lower but in winter Th is lower so COP is
higher.
• On the other hand the TL , if system lowest temperature is not that low
then COP will be higher. The cooler we want to make a substance in the
system the COP drops.
• But this cannot be done according to our will. There are limitations.
• TH is the temperature of the environment or cooling media where
refrigeration system will reject heat. So TH has to be lower than refrigerant
temperature in the condenser.
• TL is the lowest temperature of the cold medium, from where refrigerant
will take heat and get evaporated in evaporator. So it has to be higher than
refrigerant temperature.
Bell-Coleman Cycle (Reversed Brayton/Joule Cycle)
Vapor Compression Refrigeration System
 Parts Description
• Compressor: It’s a mechanical device in which energy is transferred from rotor to
working fluid. It is a work absorbing device and generally used to handle gaseous phase.
The low temperature and low pressure vapor refrigerant drawn from evaporator through
suction valve and compressed to high temp and pressure vapor refrigerant and finally
supplied to the condenser through outlet valve.
• Condenser: Acts line a heat exchanger where the high temperature and high pressure
vapor refrigerant is cooled and gives up heat to the atmosphere.
• Expander: It is also called throttle valve or refrigerant flow control valve. It acts like a
pressure reducer where high pressure liquid refrigerant converts to low pressure liquid
refrigerant.
• Capillary Tube: It consists of a no of coils of copper tubes whose diameter is usually
smaller than regular lines. While passing through the expander, some of the refrigerant
converts into vapor, but major portion are converted into vapor in the evaporator.
• Evaporator: Acts like heat exchanger where it absorbs heat from the body to convert
very low temperature and pressure liquid refrigerant into low temperature and pressure
vapor refrigerants.
A vapor-compression refrigeration
cycle with refrigerant-134a as the
working fluid is considered. The
rate of cooling, the power input,
and the COP are to be determined,
if the cycle operated on the ideal
vapor-compression refrigeration
cycle between the same pressure
limits.
Vapor Absorption Refrigeration System
Thank You