Soumalya
- 183
- 2
We know that a steam power plant is basically a heat engine with steam as the working fluid.
According to the second law of thermodynamics a heat engine must operate between two thermal energy reservoirs one at a higher temperature(source) than the other(sink) to produce net work in a thermodynamic cycle.
In a basic steam power cycle,heat received from burning fuel in a furnace is utilized to convert water into high temperature and high pressure steam,which when passes through blades of a turbine produces shaft work with low pressure low temperature steam leaving the turbine exit.The low temperature low pressure steam is then made to reject heat in a condenser before it is pumped back into the boiler for another cycle of operation.
While it is understandable that the low temperature low pressure steam must be condensed to the state of liquid water initially fed into the boiler to complete a thermodynamic cycle in doing so we are basically wasting the latent heat condensation of water along with the sensible heat required to manufacture high temperature high pressure steam from liquid water again in the boiler!
What if the low temperature low pressure steam from the turbine exit was directly pumped to the boiler such that less fuel would be required to restore high temperature high pressure steam at the turbine inlet thus recovering the waste heat as mentioned?
According to the second law of thermodynamics a heat engine must operate between two thermal energy reservoirs one at a higher temperature(source) than the other(sink) to produce net work in a thermodynamic cycle.
In a basic steam power cycle,heat received from burning fuel in a furnace is utilized to convert water into high temperature and high pressure steam,which when passes through blades of a turbine produces shaft work with low pressure low temperature steam leaving the turbine exit.The low temperature low pressure steam is then made to reject heat in a condenser before it is pumped back into the boiler for another cycle of operation.
While it is understandable that the low temperature low pressure steam must be condensed to the state of liquid water initially fed into the boiler to complete a thermodynamic cycle in doing so we are basically wasting the latent heat condensation of water along with the sensible heat required to manufacture high temperature high pressure steam from liquid water again in the boiler!
What if the low temperature low pressure steam from the turbine exit was directly pumped to the boiler such that less fuel would be required to restore high temperature high pressure steam at the turbine inlet thus recovering the waste heat as mentioned?
