ME

525 January 23, 2018

Problem Set 1: Basic and Fundamentals

Review of Thermo 1 and 2, Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Machinery

1. A power plant produces 500 MW of electric power while operating with an efficiency of
45%. The heat rejected from the cycle goes into cooling water supplied from an adjacent
river. The water’s enthalpy increases by 20 Btu/lbm as it receives the heat rejected.
Determine the volume flow rate of water required in gallons per minute (gpm). (10
points)
2. A windmill produces an average 6 kW of electrical power over an eight hour period. The
electricity is used to charge storage batteries. In the charging process the batteries
increase in temperature causing them to lose heat to the surroundings at a rate of 0.50
kW. Determine the total energy stored in the batteries during this 8 hour period in kJ.
(10 points)
3. A steam condenser receives 10 kg per second of steam with an enthalpy of 2570 kJ/kg.
Steam condenses into liquid and leaves with an enthalpy of 160 kJ/kg. Cooling water
passes through the condenser with temperature increases from 13 oC to 24 oC. Calculate
the cooling water flow rate in kg/s. (10 points)
4. A car engine with a power output of 65 hp has a thermal efficiency of 24%. Determine
the fuel consumption rate of this car if the fuel has a heating value of 19,000 Btu/lbm.
(10 points)
5. The compression ratio of an Otto cycle is 9. Determine the pressure at the end of the
reversible adiabatic compression process if the pressure at the beginning of
compression is 250 kPa. (5 points)
6. What is the final temperature at the end of the isentropic compression process in a
Diesel cycle if the initial temperature is 35 oC and the clearance is 8%? (5 points)
7. In an Otto cycle, the compression ratio is 5.80. What is the percent clearance? (5 points)
8. A Diesel cycle operates with a compression ratio of 14 and with a cut-off occurring at 7%
of the stroke, Find the cut-off ratio if the initial volume is 1.5 ft3. (5 points)
9. What is the thermal efficiency of an air-standard Brayton cycle if the pressure ratio is
12? (5 points)
10. The turbine work and the pump work in a Rankine cycle are 1200 kJ/kg and 20 kJ/kg,
respectively. What is the cycle thermal efficiency if the heat added to the working
substance in the steam generator is 5000 kJ/kg? (5 points)
11. Find the mechanical efficiency of a 0.700-MW Diesel engine if the friction power is 70
kW? (5 points)
12. If the brake mean effective pressure of a Diesel engine is 500 kPa and the mechanical
efficiency is 85%, what is the indicated mean effective pressure? (5 points)
13. A steam boiler generates 10 kg/s of steam with an exit enthalpy of 3500 kJ/kg. Calculate
the heat lost in the piping between the boiler outlet and the turbine inlet if the enthalpy
of the steam at the turbine inlet is 3200 kJ/kg. (5 points)
14. A 500-hp internal combustion engine has a brake mean effective pressure of 551.5 kPa
at full load. What is the friction power if the mechanical efficiency is 85%? (5 points)
15. The water behind Hoover Dam in Nevada is 206 m higher than the Colorado River below
it. At what rate must water pass through the hydraulic turbines of this dam to produce
100 MW of power if the turbines are 100 percent efficient? (7 points)
16. A 75-hp compressor in a facility that operates at full load for 2500 hours a year is
powered by an electric motor that has an efficiency of 88 percent. If the unit cost of
electricity is PhP11.00/kW-hr, what is the annual electricity cost of this compressor? (15
points)
17. An automobile engine consumes fuel at a rate of 28 L/h and delivers 60 kW of power to
the wheels. If the fuel has a heating value of 44, 000 kJ/kg and a density of 0.80 g/cm3,
determine the efficiency of this engine. (15 points)
18. You are an engineer in an electric-generation station. You know that the flames in the
boiler reach a temperature of 1200 K and that cooling water at 300 K is available from a
nearby river. What is the maximum efficiency your plant will ever achieve? (6 points)
19. As the engineer of the previous problem in (4), you also know that the metallurgical
temperature limit for the blades in the turbine is 1000 K before they will incur excessive
creep. Now what is the maximum efficiency for this plant? (7 points)
20. In a hydroelectric power plant, 100 m3/s of water flows from an elevation of 120 m to a
turbine, where electric power is generated. The overall efficiency of the turbine-
generator is 80 percent. Disregarding frictional losses in piping, estimate the electric
power output of this plant. (10 points)
21. 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. (10
points)
22. A heat engine with a thermal efficiency of 40 percent rejects 1000 kJ/kg of heat. How
much heat does it receive? (10 points)
23. An inventor claims to have developed a heat engine that receives 700 kJ of heat from a
source at 500 K and produces 300 kJ of net work while rejecting the waste heat to a sink
at 290 K. Is this a reasonable claim? Why? (20 points)
24. Electric power is to be generated in a hydroelectric power plant that receives water at a
rate of 70 m3/s from an elevation of 65 m using a turbine-generator with an efficiency of
85 percent. Find the electric power output of this plant if the frictional losses in piping
are disregarded. (10 points)
25. A steam power plant with a power output of 150 MW consumes coal at a rate of 60
metric tons per hour. If the heating value of the coal is 30, 000 kJ/kg, determine the
overall efficiency of this plant. (10 points)
26. A completely reversible heat engine operates with a source at 1500 oR and a sink at 500
o
R. At what rate must heat be supplied to this engine, in Btu/hr, for it to produce 5 hp of
power? (10 points)
27. An Otto cycle has a clearance of 8% and heat added of 1000 kJ. Find the heat rejected.
(10 points)
28. A Diesel cycle has an initial temperature of 27 oC. If the cut-off ratio is 2.50 and the
compression ratio is 12, find the maximum cycle temperature in oC. (10 points)