clurt said:
Firstly, let's assume the expansion is isentropic.
An example I found:
Mass flow = 0.5kg/s
Pi = 6000 kPa
Ti = 500 Celcius
Pf = 30kPa
From this, how do we find the power generated and final steam quality?
Do we look at steam tables, W = m(flow) (h_1 - h_2) --- is that helpful?
Unless you know the enthalpy of the inlet and exhaust steam, yes, you need to refer to steam tables.
For your exhaust condition, knowing the pressure is often not enough information. However, since you have specified a turbine operating isentropically, then using a Mollier diagram (a special diagram of enthalpy versus entropy), the state line of this turbine will be a single vertical line running from the inlet point down to the exhaust pressure of 30 kPa.
Since Mollier diagrams are hard to find on the web, you can also use steam tables.
For P = 6000 kPa and T = 500 C,
then h = 3423.1 kJ/kg and s = 6.8826 kJ/kg*K
For P = 30 kPa, we need to find the properties for s = 6.8826 kJ/kg*K,
sf = 0.9441 kJ/kg*K
sfg = 6.8234 kJ/kg*K
s = 6.8826 kJ/kg*K = sf + x * sfg, where x is the quality of the vapor
doing the algebra and solving for x = 0.870, or a vapor quality of 87%
The enthalpy of this mixture can be calculated using the saturated liquid properties:
hf = 289.27 kJ/kg
hfg = 2335.3 kJ/kg
h = hf + x * hfg
h = 2321.7 kJ/kg at the exit.
The isentropic work (or more accurately, the power) is therefore W = m*(hi - ho) = 0.5 kg/s * (3423.1 - 2321.7) kJ/kg
W = 550.7 kJ/s = 550.7 kW
The property info comes from the attached tables:
Table A-5, p.10 for the saturated water
Table A-6, p. 14 for the superheated vapor