Project 2 - Rankine cycle Simulator
Aim:
- To create a Rankine Cycle Simulator using MATLAB.
- The code should calculate the state points of the Rankine Cycle (any type of your choice) based on user inputs.
- To plot the corresponding T-s and h-s plots for the given set of inputs.
Theory:
The Rankine cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle describing the process by which certain heat engines, such as steam turbines or reciprocating steam engines, allow mechanical work to be extracted from a fluid as it moves between a heat source and heat sink.
Heat energy is supplied to the system via a boiler where the working fluid (typically water) is converted to a high pressure gaseous state (steam) in order to turn a turbine. After passing over the turbine the fluid is allowed to condense back into a liquid state as waste heat energy is rejected before being returned to boiler, completing the cycle. Friction losses throughout the system are often neglected for the purpose of simplifying calculations as such losses are usually much less significant than thermodynamic losses, especially in larger systems.
The Rankine cycle closely describes the process by which steam engines commonly found in thermal power plants harness the thermal energy of a fuel or other heat source to generate electricity. Possible heat sources include combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil, use of mined resources for nuclear fission, renewable fuels like biomass and ethanol, or energy capture of natural sources such as concentrated solar power and geothermal energy. Common heat sinks include ambient air above or around a facility and bodies of water such as rivers, ponds, and oceans.
The ability of a Rankine engine to harness energy depends on the relative temperature difference between the heat source and heat sink. The greater the differential, the more mechanical power can be efficiently extracted out of heat energy, as per Carnot's theorem.
The efficiency of the Rankine cycle is limited by the high heat of vaporization of the working fluid. Unless the pressure and temperature reach super critical levels in the boiler, the temperature range that the cycle can operate over is quite small: Steam turbine entry temperatures are typically around 565 °C and condenser temperatures are around 30 °C. This gives a theoretical maximum Carnot efficiency for the turbine alone of about 63.8% compared with an actual overall thermal efficiency of less than 50% for typical power stations. This low steam turbine entry temperature (compared to a gas turbine) is why the Rankine (steam) cycle is often used as a bottoming cycle to recover otherwise rejected heat in combined-cycle gas turbine power stations.
Rankine engines generally operate in a closed loop where the working fluid is reused. The water vapour with condensed droplets often seen billowing from power stations is created by the cooling systems (not directly from the closed-loop Rankine power cycle). This 'exhaust' heat is represented by the "Qout" flowing out of the lower side of the cycle shown in the T–s diagram below. Cooling towers operate as large heat exchangers by absorbing the latent heat of vapourisation of the working fluid and simultaneously evaporating cooling water to the atmosphere.
While many substances can be used as the working fluid, water is usually chosen for its simple chemistry, relative abundance, low cost, and thermodynamic properties. By condensing the working steam vapor to a liquid the pressure at the turbine outlet is lowered and the energy required by the feed pump consumes only 1% to 3% of the turbine output power and these factors contribute to a higher efficiency for the cycle. The benefit of this is offset by the low temperatures of steam admitted to the turbine(s). Gas turbines, for instance, have turbine entry temperatures approaching 1500 °C. However, the thermal efficiency of actual large steam power stations and large modern gas turbine stations are similar.
The four process of the Rankine Cycle identified by numbers in the below T-s diagram,
- Process 1–2: The working fluid is pumped from low to high pressure. As the fluid is a liquid at this stage, the pump requires little input energy. Process 1-2 is isentropic compression.
- Process 2–3: The high-pressure liquid enters a boiler, where it is heated at constant pressure by an external heat source to become a dry saturated vapour. The input energy required can be easily calculated graphically, using an enthalpy-entropy chart (h-s chart, or Mollier Diagram), or numerically, using steam tables or software. Process 2-3 is constant pressure heat addition in boiler.
- Process 3–4: The dry saturated vapour expands through a turbine, generating power. This decreases the temperature and pressure of the vapour, and some condensation may occur. The output in this process can be easily calculated using the chart or tables noted above. Process 3-4 is isentropic expansion.
- Process 4–1: The wet vapour then enters a condenser, where it is condensed at a constant pressure to become a saturated liquid. Process 4-1 is constant pressure heat rejection in condenser.
In an ideal Rankine cycle the pump and turbine would be isentropic, i.e., the pump and turbine would generate no entropy and hence maximize the net work output. Processes 1–2 and 3–4 would be represented by vertical lines on the T-s diagram and more closely resemble that of the Carnot cycle. The Rankine cycle shown here prevents the state of the working fluid from ending up in the superheated vapor region after the expansion in the turbine, which reduces the energy removed by the condensers.
The actual vapor power cycle differs from the ideal Rankine cycle because of irreversibilities in the inherent components caused by fluid friction and heat loss to the surroundings; fluid friction causes pressure drops in the boiler, the condenser, and the piping between the components, and as a result the steam leaves the boiler at a lower pressure; heat loss reduces the net work output, thus heat addition to the steam in the boiler is required to maintain the same level of net work output.
Code:
clear all
close all
clc
% Rankine Cycle Simulator
fprintf(' Rankine Cycle\n ')
fprintf('1-2 is Isentropic Expansion in Turbine\n')
fprintf(' 2-3 is constant pressure heat removal\n')
fprintf(' 3-4 is Isentropic Compression in Pump \n')
fprintf(' 4-1 Constant pressure Heat addition in Boiler\n')
% Entering the input data for calculation of state points
p1 = input("Turbine Inlet Pressure, P1:"); %Pressure at Turbine Inlet
T1 = input("Turbine Inlet Temperature, T1:"); %Temperature at Turbine Inlet
p2 = input("Condenser Inlet Pressure, P2: "); %Pressure at Condenser
% Taking data from Xsteam file for State point 1
h1 = XSteam('h_pT', p1, T1); % Enthaply at pressure and Temp 1
s1 = XSteam('s_pT', p1, T1); % Entropy at pressure and Temp 1
% Taking data from Xsteam file for State point 2
s2 = s1; % Because of Isentropic Expansion
sf2 = XSteam('sL_p', p2); % Saturated liquid entropy at pressure 2
sg2 = XSteam('sV_p', p2); % Saturated vapour entropy at pressure 2
x2 = (s2-sf2)/(sg2-sf2); % Vapour Fraction at state point 2
hf2 = XSteam('hL_p', p2); % Saturated liquid Enthalpy at pressure 2
hg2 = XSteam('hV_p', p2); % Saturated vapour Enthalpy at pressure 2
h2 = hf2 + (x2*(hg2-hf2)); % Enthalpy at state point 2
% Taking data from Xsteam file for state point 3
p3 = p2; % Constant Pressure heat removal process
s3 = XSteam('sL_p', p3); % Saturated liquid entropy at Pressure 3
h3 = XSteam('hL_p', p3); % Saturated liquid Enthalpy at Pressure 3
% Taking data from Xsteam file for State point 4
s4 = s3; % Isentropic Compression process
p4 = p1; % Constant Pressure heat rejection
% Work done in Turbine for the rankine cycle
W_T = h1-h2;
% Work done required for pump
v3 = XSteam('vL_p',p3); % Saturated Liquid Vapour at pressure 3
W_P = v3*(p4-p3)*100; % Work done for pump
h4 = h3 - W_P; % Enthalpy at State point 4
% Net work done for Rankine Cycle
W_net = W_T - W_P;
% Heat Addition to System
Q_in = h1-h4;
% Heat Rejection from System
Q_out = h2-h3;
% Thermal Efficiency of Rankine Cycle
T_eff = (W_net/Q_in)*100;
%specific steam consumption = (Mass flow rate / Net work done)
Sp_S = (3600/W_net);
% Calculation of Temperature at All state Point 2, 3 and 4
T3 = XSteam('Tsat_p',p3); % Saturation Temperature at Pressure 3
T2 = T3; % Becuase of Constant Pressure Heat addition
Cp4 = XSteam('Cp_ps',p4,s4); % Specific isobaric heat capacity
Cv4 = XSteam('Cv_ps',p4,s4); % Specific isochoric heat capacity
k = Cp4/Cv4;
T4 = T3/((p3/p4)^((k-1)/k)); % Temperature at State point 4
% Calculation of Other constant for saturated liquid and Vapour
T6 = XSteam('Tsat_p', p1); % Saturated Temperature at Pressure 1
s5 = XSteam('sL_p', p1); % Saturated Liquid entropy at pressure 1
s6 = XSteam('sV_p', p1); % Saturated Vapour entropy at Pressure 1
h5 = XSteam('hL_p', p1); % Saturated Liquid Enthalpy at Pressure 1
h6 = XSteam('hV_p', p1); % Saturated Vapour Enthalpy at pressure 1
T5 = T6;
%Plotting for Saturation Line
T = linspace(1,560,1000);
for i = 1:length(T)
sf(i) = XSteam('sL_T' ,T(i)); % Saturated Liquid Entropy
sg(i) = XSteam('sV_T' ,T(i)); % Saturated Vapour Entropy
hf(i) = XSteam('hL_T' ,T(i)); % Saturated Liquid Enthalpy
hg(i) = XSteam('hV_T' ,T(i)); % Saturated Vapour Enthalpy
end
% Plotting T-S Diagram for Rankine Cycle
figure(1)
hold on
plot(sf,T,'color','b','linewidth',2)
plot(sg,T,'color','b','linewidth',2)
plot([s1 s2],[T1 T2], 'color', 'r', 'linewidth',3)
plot([s2 s3],[T2 T3], 'color', 'r', 'linewidth',3)
plot([s3 s4],[T3 T4], 'color', 'r', 'linewidth',3)
plot([s4 s5],[T4 T5], 'color', 'r', 'linewidth',3)
plot([s5 s6],[T5 T6], 'color', 'r', 'linewidth',3)
s_1 = linspace(s6,s1,1000);
for j = 1:length(s_1)
Tc(j) = XSteam('T_ps',p1,s_1(j));
end
plot(s_1,Tc,'color','r','linewidth',3)
text(s1+0.1, T1, '1')
text(s2+0.1, T2, '2')
text(s3, T3-20, '3')
text(s4, T4+20, '4')
title('Temperature Vs Entropy')
xlabel('Entropy (Kj/kg-k)')
ylabel('Temeperature (Deg. Celcius)')
legend('Saturation Curve')
% Plotting H-S Diagram for Rankine Cycle
figure(2)
hold on
plot(sf,hf,'color','b','linewidth',2)
plot(sg,hg,'color','b','linewidth',2)
plot([s1 s2],[h1 h2],'color','r','linewidth',3)
plot([s2 s3],[h2 h3],'color','r','linewidth',3)
plot([s3 s4],[h3 h4],'color','r','linewidth',3)
hc = linspace(h4,h5,100);
for k = 1:length(hc)
s_c(k) = XSteam('s_ph',p1,hc(k));
end
plot(s_c,hc,'color','r','linewidth',3)
plot([s5 s6],[h5 h6],'color','r','linewidth',3)
for l = 1:length(s_1)
h_c(l) = XSteam('h_ps',p1,s_1(l));
end
plot(s_1,h_c,'color','r','linewidth',3)
text(s1+0.1,h1,'1')
text(s2+0.1,h2,'2')
text(s3,h3-100,'3')
text(s4,h4+200,'4')
title('Enthalpy Vs Entropy')
xlabel('Entropy (Kj/kg-k)')
ylabel('Enthalpy (KJ/Kg)')
legend('Saturation Curve')
% Displaying Results in Command window
disp('Results of Rankine Cycle')
fprintf('At state point 1\t\t\t\t\t')
fprintf('At state Point 2\n')
fprintf('P1 = %10f in Bar\t\t\t\t',p1);
fprintf('P2 = %10f in Bar\n',p2);
fprintf('T1 = %11f in Deg.Celcius\t\t',T1);
fprintf('T2 = %11f in Deg.Celcius\n',T2);
fprintf('H1 = %12f in KJ/Kg\t\t\t',h1);
fprintf('H2 = %12f in KJ/Kg\n',h2);
fprintf('S1 = %9f in KJ/Kg-k\t\t\t',s1);
fprintf('S2 = %9f in KJ/Kg-k\n',s2);
fprintf('\n')
fprintf('At state point 3\t\t\t\t\t')
fprintf('At state Point 4\n')
fprintf('P3 = %10f in Bar\t\t\t\t',p3);
fprintf('P4 = %10f in Bar\n',p4);
fprintf('T3 = %11f in Deg.Celcius\t\t',T3);
fprintf('T4 = %11f in Deg.Celcius\n',T4);
fprintf('H3 = %12f in KJ/Kg\t\t\t',h3);
fprintf('H4 = %12f in KJ/Kg\n',h4);
fprintf('S3 = %9f in KJ/Kg-k\t\t\t',s3);
fprintf('S4 = %9f in KJ/Kg-k\n',s4);
fprintf('\n')
fprintf('Turbine Work Done = %14f in KJ/Kg\n',W_T)
fprintf('Pump Work Done = %15f in KJ/Kg\n',W_P)
fprintf('Net Work Done = %17f in KJ/Kg\n',W_net)
fprintf('Thermal Efficiency = %13f in percent\n',T_eff)
fprintf('Sp. Steam Consumption = %f in KJ/Kw\n',Sp_S)Explanation to code clearly marked as comments in the Code.
Output:
Comman window outputs for challenge input attached as pdf file.
1. T-s Diagram:
2. h-s Diagram:
