1) Outline two practical benefits of the Rankine Cycle with superheat over the ideal

Carnot Cycle as an actual operating cycle for a power station.

Addresses Carnot temperature limitation due to critical temperature of 374C,
peak temperature at point 4 is higher in Rankine with Superheat, which makes
better use of the turbine.
Addresses Carnot turbine problems caused by wet steam, dryness fraction of
Rankine with Superheat is higher, reducing turbine blade corrosion and hence
less maintenance.
2) Explain why the overall thermal efficiency of a gas turbine engine is more readily
affected by process irreversibilities than a steam cycle such the Rankine.
In a gas turbine, work output during compression is very significant giving a poor
work ratio. In steam cycles such as Rankine cycle, there is a small work input and
this gives a high (almost ideal) work ratio.
Irreversibilitys that occur in the real process cause a loss of efficiency. In a gas
turbine, the inefficiency has a double affect with both increased work input and
reduced turbine output.
In a typical gas turbine with a work ratio of 50% and an ideal efficiency of 50%,
causes a drop of about 10% efficiency in each process cause an overall drop in
efficiency to 35%, a loss of approaching 1/3 work output. In Rankine, 10%
efficiency loss only causes 10% drop overall.
3) Outline the concept of regeneration of exhaust heat to improve the efficiency of the
conventional gas turbine engine.
The inlet air exiting the compressor is passed through a heat exchanger before
entering the main heat addition process in the combustion chamber, this transfers
some of the waste exhaust heat to the inlet air, since the reactants start at a
higher temperature then less fuel is required to achieve a given temperature and
combustion efficiency increases.
4) Explain the significance of the Otto air standard cycle in relation to the four-stroke
car engine.
The Otto Air Standard Cycle is the ideal 4 stroke cycle for a reciprocating engine,
it operates under the assumption that the working fluid is ideal air and neglects
the intake and exhaust processes. Thus the cycle consists of 4 ideal processes,
isentropic compression, constant volume heat addition, isentropic expansion, and
constant volume heat rejection.
5) Explain the difference between the Otto cycle, the Diesel cycle and the Mixed (or
Dual) cycle.
Otto Cycle heat addition is instantaneous and constant pressure
Diesel Cycle heat addition at constant pressure, lower specific work output and
ideal efficiency than the Otto cycle.
Mixed Cycle Heat addition is 2 stage process.
o Constant volume (same as Otto)
o Constant pressure (same as Diesel)
o Gives a higher work output than the Diesel cycle but is still lower than that
of the Otto.

6) Describe two methods of improving the overall thermal efficiency of the Rankine
cycle when operated in an actual power station.
Superheating, better work output and dryer steam in turbine. Higher average
temp of heat addition.
Reheating, better work output and dryer steam in turbine. Low condenser
pressure improves efficiency.
Regeneration Bleeding off wet, hot steam at several stages from the turbine to
mix with the feed water increases its temperature before the boiler, reducing the
amount of heat that needs to be added to the fluid.
Use of an economiser, Feed water and steam from the boiler are passed through
the flue gases, increasing their temperature and decreasing the amount of heat
which must be added to the fluid.
Air preheater, flue gases are used to heat the air which is fed to the burners of
the boiler, since the reactants start at a higher temperature then less fuel is
required to achieve a given boiler temperature and combustion efficiency
increases.
Binary Vapour cycle, mercury is put through a Rankine cycle, the condenser
stage of the mercury cycle acts as the boiler for a superheated Rankine cycle for
water through a simple heat transfer process.
7) Discuss the principle of the heat pump and the main application of this in everyday
use.
A heat pump or refrigeration cycle is the reverse of a vapour power cycle, heat is
added at a low temperature and rejected at a high temperature, with a net
amount of work done on the fluid. In a heat pump it is the heat rejected by the
condenser in the warm space which is considered useful. This can be useful for
heating buildings or for processes in factories.
8) Outline the main problem associated with CFC refrigerants and how this is changing
with the range of non-CFC refrigerants.
Convention refrigerants such as R-12 are CFCs, which cause severe
environmental damage with a high ozone depletion potential (ODP). They also
have a high global warming potential (GWP), so adding to global warming and
climate change. Ammonia is used for industrial applications but is unsuitable for
domestic applications due to high operating temperature and pressure. Ammonia
is also toxic and therefore dangerous if any leak should occur. Replacement
refrigerants are HCFCs such as R139a with zero ODP and low GWP, and there is
a move towards even better fluids such as isobutane with very low GWP.
9) Explain why the overall thermal efficiency of a gas turbine engine operating on the
Joule Cycle is relatively poor when compared to a Rankine cycle operating at the
same upper temperature.
One of the main problems is during the compression process. The work input
increases due to inefficiencies thus the difference; the total work output is hence
very susceptible to irreversibilitys.
With a low work ratio it is clear that the gas turbine is more susceptible to
irreversibilitys. The max work is decreased dramatically with decreasing
efficiency. It is clear that any level of irreversibility causes a severe drop at high rp.
for example, using a typical isentropic efficiency, a decrease of 100%85%
efficiency causes the overall work output to decrease by 50%

10) State why the Carnot Cycle is so important in thermodynamics and give an
expression for efficiency of the cycle.
The Carnot cycle is important in thermodynamics as it is the most efficient cycle
possible between any two reservoirs.

Where efficiency

Q
T
W
=1 L =1 L
QH
QH
TH

11) Explain the differences between the ideal reverse Carnot Cycle and a practical
operating compression refrigeration cycle.
As the expansion turbine 3-4 in the ideal reverse Carnot Cycle is expensive and
impractical it is replaced with a simple expansion nozzle.
In the reverse Carnot Cycle a mixture of fluid and gas is pumped in process 1-2,
in a practical compression refrigeration cycle the fluid is evaporated through to
the superheat region, this allows a normal compressor to be used.
12) Give two practical reasons why the Carnot cycle is impractical as an actual
operating cycle for a power station.
High maintenance due to wet steam eroding turbine blades.
There is a low upper temp limit, decreasing work output. This low specific work
output causes a low power density and therefore a large plant size is required.
Pumping steam water mixture is difficult.
It is difficult to stop condensation at a certain dryness fraction.
13) Give two reasons why the ideal reverse Carnot Cycle is unsuitable as a practical
operating refrigeration cycle.
The use of an expansion turbine 3-4 is expensive and impractical.
Difficult to stop evaporation at a given point.
Pumping or compressing a mixture of liquid and gas 1-2 is difficult.
Low specific heat transfer and therefore a large plant size.
14) Outline the principle advantage of using feed heaters in power stations.
Is a more practical way of achieving the same principal advantage of a
regenerative cycle, which is to have the same efficiency and SSC as the Carnot
cycle, but with a work ratio equivalent to the Rankine cycle.
15) Explain the difference between a heat pump and a refrigerator.
Heat pumps and refrigerators both operate on the same cycle, in which an
evaporator absorbs heat from a cold space, and this heat is rejected by a
condenser in a warm space. However a heat pump is used to supply heat at a
relatively high temperature and therefore the heat rejected is considered more
important whilst a refrigerator is used to remove heat from a cold space and
therefore the heat extracted is more important.
16) Explain the benefits of superheat and reheat in the Rankine steam cycle and show
how this is important in power station steam plant.
Reheating improves provides a low condenser pressure, which improves
efficiency, dryness fraction at turbine outlet is also improved, hence less
maintenance.
Has lower SSC, therefore more power dense plant.

17) In a car engine the overall thermal efficiency is about 30% however a similar Otto
Cycle has a thermal efficiency of around double this. Give two main reasons for this
difference.
Non Ideal Processes. Air is not ideal and processes are not isentropic. varies
due to temperature and fuel effects also. During expansion and compression,
heat transfer to cylinder walls is significant.
Imperfect combustion. In Otto cycle, combustion is represented as instantaneous
and ideal heat transfer. In practice it is only 75%-85% efficient. It also takes place
over a fixed amount of time rather than instantaneously.
Friction and Pumping Losses. Every moving engine component loses energy due
to friction. Frictional losses account for about 10% with open throttle and increase
as load decreases. Because the exhaust pressure is greater than intake , there is
a pumping loop which requires work input.
18) Outline the disadvantages of a gas turbine as a power plant for cars?
Gas turbines employ a steady flow regime, but a car requires a wide range of
power output. Efficiency of gas turbines drops rapidly as size is reduced, for small
engines, manufacture becomes expensive due to the many small but accurately
made parts which are required. In addition to this, gas turbines consume and
exhaust a large quantity of air, which would be impractical and unsafe in common
settings such as a traffic jam.