Energy and exergy analysis of a steam power plant

In this study, the energy and exergy analyses of the steam power plant have been performed with three different operating loads (100%, 70% and 40%). This steam power plant is designed to operate at a subcritical steam conditions and has a power capacity of 660 MW at full load. The primary objectives of this study are to analyze the system components separately and to identify and quantify the sites having largest energy and exergy losses. Influences of three different loads on the useful power, reversible power and irreversibility have been investigated for each component. In addition, the second law efficiency of system components and the overall efficiency of the plant have been computed. Energy losses mainly occur in the condenser and that exergy losses mainly take place in the boiler. According to these results, the exergy analysis is more significant compared to the energy analysis. It is found that if the exergy losses are reduced, the power plant efficiencies are positively affected. Key Words: Energy Analysis, Exergy Analysis, Operating Load, Second Law Efficiency