Power plants heat rate

The gross power generation of the combined cycle is 302 MW. The plant s internal power requirements are about 37 MW resulting in a net capacity of 265 MW. The net plant heat rate for the entire new and repowered unit is projected to be 8,740 Btu/kWh (HHV) which is a 21% improvement over the existing steam unit. This low heat rate combined with the use of low cost, high sulfur coal and low emissions will assure high annual capacity factor. 

PAFC systems are commercially available from the ONSI Corporation as 200-kW stationary power sources operating on natural gas. The stack cross sec tion is 1 m- (10.8 ft"). It is about 2.5 m (8.2 ft) tall and rated for a 40,000-h life. It is cooled with water/steam in a closed loop with secondary heat exchangers. The photograph of a unit is shown in Fig. 27-66. These systems are intended for on-site power and heat generation for hospitals, hotels, and small businesses. Another apphcation, however, is as dispersed 5- to 10-MW power plants in metropolitan areas. Such units would be located at elec tric utihty distribution centers, bypassing the high-voltage transmission system. The market entiy price of the system is 3000/kW. As production volumes increase, the price is projec ted to dechne to 1000 to 1500/kW. 

The new marketplace of energy conversion will have many new and novel concepts in combined cycle power plants. Figure 1-1 shows the heat rates of these plants, present and future, and Figure 1-2 shows the efficiencies of the same plants. The plants referenced are the Simple Cycle Gas Turbine (SCGT) with firing temperatures of 2400 °F (1315 °C), Recuperative Gas Turbine (RGT), the Steam Turbine Plant (ST), the Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP), and the Advanced Combined Cycle Power Plants (ACCP) such as combined cycle power plants using Advanced Gas Turbine Cycles, and finally the ITybrid Power Plants (HPP). 

The analysis of the different cycles examined here, which range from the simplest cycle such as evaporative cooling to the more complex cycles such as the humidified and heated compressed air cycle, are rated to their effectiveness and to their cost is shown in Table 2-1. The cycles examined here have been used in actual operation of major power plants, thus there are no cycles evaluated that are only conceptual in nature. The results show addition from 3-21% in power and the increase in efficiency from 0.4-24%... 

The plant overall power and the heat rate are very dependent on the inlet conditions as seen in Figure 20-8, which is based on a typical gas turbine plant. The effect of temperature is the most critical component in the ambient condition variations of temperature, pressure, and humidity. 

Since the early 1960s, advanced steam conditions have not been pursued. In the 1960s and early 1970s there was little motivation to continue lowering heat rates of fossil-fired plants due to the expected increase in nuclear power generation for base-load application and the availability of relatively inexpensive fossil fuel. Therefore the metallurgical development required to provide material X for advanced steam conditions was never undertaken. 

The output of each power range channel is directly proportional to reactor power and typically covers a range from 0% to 125% of full power, but varies with each reactor. The output of each channel is displayed on a meter in terms of power level in percent of full rated power. The gain of each instrument is adjustable which provides a means for calibrating the output. This adjustment is normally determined by using a plant heat balance. Protective actions may be initiated by high power level on any two channels this is termed coincidence operation. 

Of the final control elements discussed, the most widely used in power plants are valves. Valves can be easily adapted to control liquid level in a tank, temperature of a heat exchanger, or flow rate. 

In a Rankine power plant, the steam temperature and pressure at the turbine inlet are 1000°F and 2000 psia. The temperature of the condensing steam in the condenser is maintained at 60° F. The power generated by the turbine is 30,000 hp. Assuming all processes to be ideal, determine (1) the pump power required (hp), (2) the mass flow rate, (3) the heat transfer added in the boiler (Btu/hr), (4) the heat transfer removed from the condenser (Btu/hr), and (5) the cycle thermal efficiency (%). 

Water circulates at a rate of 80kg/sec in an ideal Rankine power plant. The boiler pressure is 6 MPa and the condenser pressure is lOkPa. The steam enters the turbine at 600°C and water leaves the condenser as a saturated liquid. Find (1) the power required to operate the pump, (2) the heat transfer added to the boiler, (3) the power developed by the turbine, (4) the thermal efficiency of the cycle. 

Steam is generated in the boiler of a steam power plant operating on an ideal Rankine cycle at 10 MPa and 500° C at a steady rate of 80 kg/sec. The steam expands in the turbine to a pressure of 7.5 kPa. Determine (1) the quality of the steam at the turbine exit, (2) rate of heat rejection in the condenser, (3) the power delivered by the turbine, and (4) the cycle thermal efficiency (%). 

A steam power plant operates on the Rankine cycle. The steam with a mass rate flow of lOkg/sec enters the turbine at 6 MPa and 600°C. It discharges to the condenser at lOkPa. Determine the quality of the steam at the exit of the turbine, pump power, turbine power, rate of heat added to the boiler, and thermal cycle efficiency. 

Consider a steam power plant operating on the ideal regenerating Rankine cycle 1 kg/sec of steam flow enters the turbine at 15 MPa and 600°C and is condensed in the condenser at lOkPa. Some steam leaves the high-pressure turbine at 1.2 MPa and enters the open feed-water heater. If the steam at the exit of the open feed-water heater is saturated liquid, determine (1) the fraction of steam not extracted from the high-pressure turbine, (2) the rate of heat added to the boiler, (3) the rate of heat removed from the condenser, (4) the turbine power produced by the high-pressure turbine, (5) the turbine power produced by the low-pressure turbine, (6) the power required by the low-pressure pump, (7) the power required by the high-pressure pump, and (8) the thermal cycle efficiency. 

The maximum and minimum temperatures and pressures of a 40 MW turbine shaft output power ideal air Brayton power plant are 1200 K (Ta), 0.38 MPa (P3), 290 K (TO, and 0.095 MPa (Pi), respectively. Determine the temperature at the exit of the compressor Tj), the temperature at the exit of the turbine (P4), the compressor work, the turbine work, the heat added, the mass rate of flow of air, the back-work ratio (the ratio of compressor work to the turbine work), and the thermal efficiency of the cycle. 

Determine the power required by the compressor, power required by pumps 1 and 2, power produced by turbine 1, 2, and 3, rate of heat added to the Brayton cycle, net power produced by the Brayton gas turbine plant, net power produced by the steam Rankine plant, rate of heat exchanged in the heat exchanger 1, rate of heat added to the R-12 Rankine plant, mass rate flow of air in the Brayton cycle, mass rate flow of steam in the Rankine steam plant, mass rate flow of R-12 in the Rankine R-12 plant, cycle efficiency of the Brayton plant, cycle efficiency of the steam Rankine plant, cycle efficiency of the R-12 Rankine plant, and cycle efficiency of the triple plant. 

By taking into account the rate of heat transfer associated with the endoreversible cycle, the upper bound of the power output of the cycle can be found. This bound provides a practical basis for a real power plant design. The industrial view is that the heat engine efficiency is secondary to the power output in power plants whose worth is constrained by economic considerations. 

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