Sample problems exam 2

Closed books and closed notes

Exam includes: gas turbines, gas turbines for jet engines, nozzles, diffusers

Problem 1 (solution attached). Air enters the compressor of a gas turbine plant at a pressure
P1=110kPa and temperature T1=330K. The compressor has two stages with intercooling. The
compression ratio is 11 and the intercooler operates at a pressure of 640 kPa. At the outlet of the
intercooler, the air temperature is 330K. Each stage of the compressor has 100% isentropic
efficiency. After leaving the compressor, the air flows through a regenerator. The regenerator
efficiency is 100%. The air then enters the combustion chamber where it is heated to 1440 K.
After leaving the combustion chamber, the air expands in a two stage turbine. Between the stages,
the air is reheated at the constant pressure of 640 kPa to a temperature of 1390 K. Each stage of
the turbine has an isentropic efficiency of 100%. Use the cold-air standard analysis (k=1.4 for air)
and approximate h≈cpT with the constant specific heat cp=1 kJ/kg K.

[1] Sketch the cycle

[2] Sketch the layout of the power plant
[3] Determine the efficiency of the plant
[4] Determine the air flow rate in kg/s necessary to produce 10MW of net power

Problem 2 (solution attached). The net work of a gas turbine power cycle can be increased by
reducing the compressor work input. This can be accomplished with a multistage compression
with intercooling. Consider the compression of an ideal gas with constant specific heats (cold air
analysis) from P1 to P2 in a two stage compressor with intercooling.
The gas at the initial temperature T1 is compressed from P1 to PA in the first stage. The gas at the
pressure PA is cooled down in the intercooler to the initial temperature T1. The gas is then
compressed in the second stage to the pressure P2. It has been shown in class that, in the case of
isentropic compressions, the value of the optimum intercooling pressure PA that minimizes the
work is PA=(P1 P2)1/2.
Determine the new value of the optimum intercooling pressure PA (that minimizes the
compression work) when the isentropic efficiencies of the two compressor stages are taken into
account. Denote with ηA and ηB the isentropic efficiencies of the first and second compressor
stage respectively.
Remember that for an isentropic transformation (T/T0)=(P/P0)(k-1)/k where k=cp/cv is the ratio of
specific heats and (T0, P0) represents an arbitrary reference state in the transformation.

Problem 3. Air enters a nozzle at a pressure of 4 bar, temperature of 480K and velocity of
150m/s. The outlet pressure is 1.8bar. The flow is isentropic throughout the nozzle. Using the
cold-air standard analysis and approximating h≈cpT, determine:
[1] The outlet temperature
[2] The outlet velocity
[3] Is the nozzle converging, diverging or converging-diverging?

Problem 4. Air expands isentropically through a converging nozzle from a large tank at
120 lbf.in2, 600oR, and discharges into a region at 60 lbf/in2. Using the cold-air analysis
with k=1.4, determine the mass flow rate, in lb/s, for an exit flow area of 1 in2.

Problem 5. A converging-diverging nozzle operates at steady state with a mass flow rate
of 0.7 lb/s. Air as an ideal gas with k=1.4 flows through the nozzle, discharging to the
atmosphere at 14.7 lbf/in2 and 540oR. A normal shock stands at the exit plane with Mx=2.
Up to the shock, the flow is isentropic. Determine

(a) the stagnation pressure and temperature

(b) the nozzle exit area

Problem 6. (solution at http://www.me.rochester.edu/courses/ME251/RECITAT-15/Rec-

7.pdf) Air at 22 kPa, 220 K, and 250 m/s enters a turbojet engine in flight at
an altitude of 10,000m. The pressure ratio across the compressor is 12. The
turbine inlet temperature is 1400 K, and the pressure at the nozzle exit is 22
kPa. The diffuser and nozzle processes are isentropic, the compressor and
turbine have isentropic efficiencies of 85 and 88%, respectively, and there is
no pressure drop for flow through the combustor. On the basis of an air-
standard analysis, determine

(a) The pressures and temperatures at each principal state, in kPa and K,
respectively
(b) The velocity at the nozzle exit, in m/s

Neglect kinetic energy except at the diffuse inlet and the nozzle exit
EXAM 2 - SOLUTION
PROBLEM 2