Rankine Efficiency
The efficiency of the Rankine cycle.
A Rankine cycle can be regarded as a modified Carnot cycle.
In a Carnot cycle steam from a turbine is condensed only partially to liquid - and a feed pump or compressor must compress a mixture of liquid and vapor to boiler pressure. For handling both liquid and vapor a large compressor is required.
In a Rankine cycle steam from a turbine is condensed completely to liquid - and the liquid can be compressed to boiler pressure with a relatively small feed pump.
The efficiency of the Rankine cycle can be expressed as
μR = Hi - He / Hi - hc (1)
where
μR = Rankine efficiency
Hi = heat at turbine inlet (kJ/kg)
He = heat at turbine outlet (kJ/kg)
hc = sensible heat in exhaust (kJ/kg)
Related Topics
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Thermodynamics
Work, heat and energy systems.
Related Documents
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Carnot Efficiency
The efficiency of the Carnot cycle. -
Temperature
Introduction to temperature - including Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin and Rankine definitions - and an online temperature converter. -
The Ideal Gas Law
The relationship between volume, pressure, temperature and quantity of a gas, including definition of gas density. -
Universal and Individual Gas Constants
The Universal and Individual Gas Constants in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. Individual gas constants for the most common gases.