Learning undergraduate engineering thermodynamics might be less painful with a blog. I hope that students, faculty and interested observers will share their thoughts on the laws of thermodynamics, phase and chemical equilibrium and many related topics.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
HW #4 - P #8 - Thermal Efficiency of a Steam Power Plant
A 600-MW steam power plant, which is cooled by a nearby river, has a thermal efficiency of 40 percent. Determine the rate of heat transfer to the river water. Will the actual heat transfer rate be higher or lower than this value? Why?
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I don't understand the question about the actual value of thermal eff. being higher or lower. If the plant has a given thermal efficiency... isn't this its actual thermal efficiency?
My gut response is that the thermal efficiency would be the lowest efficiency avaliable. But this is just coming from my understanding of business practices and lawsuits. You may run better but you have to claim the lowest your product will achieve. I dunno, just my thoughts
3 comments:
I don't understand the question about the actual value of thermal eff. being higher or lower. If the plant has a given thermal efficiency... isn't this its actual thermal efficiency?
My gut response is that the thermal efficiency would be the lowest efficiency avaliable. But this is just coming from my understanding of business practices and lawsuits. You may run better but you have to claim the lowest your product will achieve. I dunno, just my thoughts
Anon 2:43 AM
In a real system, some heat will be lost to the surrounding air. So, not all of QC will end up in the river.
Don't worry if this was not obvious. It is not a deep or significant thermodynamic concept. Just a small, practical detail.
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