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Lecture 3

Lecture 3: Improving Performance -

Regenerative Vapor Power Cycle
Regeneration
Another commonly used method for increasing the thermal efficiency of vapor power plants is
regenerative feedwater heating, or simply regeneration.

In simple Rankine cycle, the heat is added to the working fluid at

relatively low temperature. This lowers the average temperature at Low Temp.
which heat is added and thus lowers the cycle efficiency. Heat addition Steam
exiting
boiler
Three ways can be discussed to raise the temperature of the liquid
leaving the pump (called the feed water) before it enters the boiler.
The first point of the heat addition process in the boiler takes place
at relatively low temperature.
Figure 3.1: T – s Diagram of Rankine Cycle
1. To compress the feed water isentropically to a high
temperature as in the Carnot cycle. It would need extremely high pressure and is
therefore not practical.
2. To transfer heat to the feed water from the expanding steam in the counter flow heat
exchanger built into the turbine, that is, to use REGENRATION. This solution is also not
practical because:
o It is difficult to design such a heat exchanger.
o It will increase the moisture content of the steam at the final stages of the turbine.
3. Practical regeneration process in steam P.P. is accomplished by bleeding steam from the
turbine at various points. This steam is used to heat the feed water. The device where the
feed water is heated by regeneration is called a REGENERATOR, or FEED WATER
HEATER.

Note: regeneration not only improves cycle efficiency, but also provides a convenient means of
de-aerating the feed water (i.e. removing the air that leaks in the condenser to prevent corrosion in
the boiler).

To introduce the principle underlying regenerative feedwater heating, consider Fig. 3.2. In cycle
1–2–3–4–a–1, the working fluid enters the boiler as a compressed liquid at state 4 and is heated
while in the liquid phase to state a. With regenerative feedwater heating, the working fluid enters
the boiler at a state between 4 and a. As a result, the average temperature of heat addition is
increased, thereby tending to increase the thermal efficiency.

Feedwater Heaters
A feedwater heater is basically a heat exchanger where heat is transferred from the steam to the
feedwater either by the two fluid streams (open feedwater heaters) or without mixing them
(closed feed-water heaters)
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Lecture 3

Open Feedwater Heaters

An open feedwater heater, a direct contact-type heat exchanger in which streams at different
temperatures mixes

Figure 3.2: Regenerative vapor power cycle with one open feedwater heater

Steam enters the first-stage turbine at state 1 and expands to state 2, where a fraction of the total
flow is extracted, or bled, into an open feedwater heater operating at the extraction pressure, p2.
The rest of the steam expands through the second-stage turbine to state 3. This portion of the total
flow is condensed to saturated liquid, state 4, and then pumped to the extraction pressure and
introduced into the feedwater heater at state 5. A single mixed stream exits the feedwater heater at
state 6. For the case shown in Fig. 3.2, the mass flow rates of the streams entering the feedwater
heater are such that state 6 is saturated liquid at the extraction pressure. The liquid at state 6 is
then pumped to the steam generator pressure and enters the steam generator at state 7. Finally, the
working fluid is heated from state 7 to state 1 in the steam generator.

Referring to the T–s diagram of the cycle, note that the heat addition would take place from state
7 to state 1, rather than from state a to state 1, as would be the case without regeneration.
Accordingly, the amount of energy that must be supplied from the combustion of a fossil fuel, or
another source, to vaporize and superheat the steam would be reduced. This is the desired
outcome. Only a portion of the total flow expands through the second-stage turbine (Process 2–3),
however, so less work would be developed as well. In practice, operating conditions are such that
the reduction in heat added more than offsets the decrease in net work developed, resulting in an
increased thermal efficiency in regenerative power plants.

An important initial step in analyzing any regenerative vapor cycle is the evaluation of the mass
flow rates through each of the components. Taking a single control volume enclosing both turbine
stages, the mass rate balance reduces at steady state to 𝑚̇2 + 𝑚̇3 = 𝑚̇1, where 𝑚̇1 is the rate at
which mass enters the first-stage turbine at state 1, 𝑚̇2 is the rate at which mass is extracted and
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Lecture 3

exits at state 2, and 𝑚̇3 is the rate at which mass exits the second-stage turbine at state 3.
Dividing by 𝑚̇1 places this on the basis of a unit of mass passing through the first-stage turbine

𝑚̇2 𝑚̇3
+ =1
𝑚̇1 𝑚̇1

𝑚̇2
Denoting the fraction of the total flow extracted at state 2 by y (𝑦 = ⁄𝑚̇ ), the fraction of the
1
total flow passing through the second-stage turbine is

𝑚̇3
=1−𝑦
𝑚̇1

Assuming no heat transfer between the feedwater heater and its surroundings and ignoring kinetic
and potential energy effects, the mass and energy rate balances reduce at steady state to give

0 = 𝑦ℎ2 + (1 − 𝑦)(ℎ5 − ℎ6 )

Solving for y

ℎ6 − ℎ5
𝑦=
ℎ2 − ℎ5

Above equation allows the fraction y to be determined when states 2, 5, and 6 are fixed.

Neglecting kinetic and potential energy effects and assuming no heat transfer with the
surroundings, we can express the total turbine work on the basis of a unit of mass passing through
the first-stage turbine as

𝑊̇𝑡⁄
𝑚̇1 = (ℎ1 − ℎ2 ) + (1 − 𝑦)(ℎ2 − ℎ3 )
The total pump work is the sum of the work required to operate each pump individually. On the
basis of a unit of mass passing through the first-stage turbine, the total pump work is

𝑊̇𝑝
⁄ = (ℎ7 − ℎ6 ) + (1 − 𝑦)(ℎ5 − ℎ4 )
𝑚̇1
The energy added by heat transfer to the working fluid passing through the steam generator, per
unit of mass expanding through the first-stage turbine, is

𝑄̇𝑖𝑛⁄
𝑚̇1 = (ℎ1 − ℎ7 )
and the energy rejected by heat transfer to the cooling water is

𝑄̇𝑜𝑢𝑡⁄
𝑚̇1 = (1 − 𝑦)(ℎ3 − ℎ4 )

Closed Feedwater Heaters

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Lecture 3

Regenerative feedwater heating also can be accomplished with closed feedwater heaters. Closed
heaters are shell-and-tube-type recuperators in which the feedwater temperature increases as the
extracted steam condenses on the outside of the tubes carrying the feedwater. Since the two
streams do not mix, they can be at different pressures.

The diagrams of Fig. 3.3 show two different schemes for removing the condensate from closed
feedwater heaters. In Fig. 3.3a, this is accomplished by means of a pump whose function is to
pump the condensate forward to a higher-pressure point in the cycle. In Fig. 3.3b, the condensate
is allowed to expand through a trap into a feedwater heater operating at a lower pressure or into
the condenser. A trap is a type of valve that permits only liquid to pass through to a region of
lower pressure.

Figure 3.3: Examples of closed feedwater heaters

A regenerative vapor power cycle having one closed feedwater heater with the condensate
trapped into the condenser is shown schematically in Fig. 3.4. For this cycle, the working fluid
passes isentropically through the turbine stages and pumps. Except for expansion through the
trap, there are no pressure drops accompanying flow through other components.

Figure 3.4: The T – s diagram shows the principal states of the cycle.
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Lecture 3

The total steam flow expands through the first-stage turbine from state 1 to state 2. At this
location, a fraction of the flow is bled into the closed feedwater heater, where it condenses.
Saturated liquid at the extraction pressure exits the feedwater heater at state 7. The condensate is
then trapped into the condenser, where it is reunited with the portion of the total flow passing
through the second-stage turbine. The expansion from state 7 to state 8 through the trap is
irreversible, so it is shown by a dashed line on the T–s diagram. The total flow exiting the
condenser as saturated liquid at state 4 is pumped to the steam generator pressure and enters the
feedwater heater at state 5. The temperature of the feedwater is increased in passing through the
feedwater heater. The feedwater then exits at state 6. The cycle is completed as the working fluid
is heated in the steam generator at constant pressure from state 6 to state 1. Although the closed
heater shown on the figure operates with no pressure drop in either stream, there is a source of
irreversibility due to the stream-to-stream temperature difference.

Assuming no heat transfer between the feedwater heater and its surroundings and neglecting
kinetic and potential energy effects, the mass and energy rate balances reduce at steady state to

0 = 𝑦(ℎ2 − ℎ7 ) + (ℎ5 − ℎ6 )

Solving for y

ℎ6 − ℎ5
𝑦=
ℎ2 − ℎ7

The principal work and heat transfers are evaluated as discussed previously.

Multiple Feedwater Heaters

The thermal efficiency of the Rankine cycle increases as a result of regeneration. This is because
the generation raises the average temperature at which heat is added to the steam in the boiler by
raising the temperature of the feed water before it inters the boiler. Many large power plants in
operation today use as many as eight feed water heaters (FWH). The optimum number of (FWH)
is determined from economical consideration. The use additional (FWH) cannot be justified
unless it saves more from the fuel costs than its own cost.

Figure 3.5: Example of a power plant layout