The discussion centers on calculating the amount of coal required to generate 900 MW of power in a steam power plant using two steam engines. The first engine operates at 680°C and 430°C, while the second operates at 415°C and 280°C. The heat of combustion of coal is given as 2.8 x 108 J/kg, and the efficiency of the engines is 65% of the ideal Carnot efficiency. The final calculations indicate that approximately 116 kg of coal must be burned per second to achieve the desired power output.
PREREQUISITESStudents in thermodynamics, engineers working with power generation systems, and professionals involved in energy efficiency optimization in steam power plants.
ideasrule said:I'm getting tired of pointing out careless mistakes.
In the first post you said the power plant puts out 900 MW of power. Alright, great. In post #17 you used 500 MW. In the answer in post #20, it's 600 MW. I mean, what the heck?
Also, I'm disappointed at the answer in post #20. It's wrong, period. They took into consideration the fact that the second engine is 0.65 times the Carnot efficiency, but didn't do the same for the first. I mean, what the heck?