Premium
An analytical formula for the estimation of a rankine‐cycle heat engine efficiency at maximum power
Author(s) -
Lee WonYong,
Kim SangSoo
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.4440150302
Subject(s) - degree rankine , rankine cycle , working fluid , organic rankine cycle , thermodynamics , thermal efficiency , heat engine , maximum power principle , thermodynamic cycle , power (physics) , nuclear engineering , mechanics , environmental science , electricity generation , engineering , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , combustion
The authors develop an analytical formula for estimating the Rankine power cycle efficiency at maximum power, which can be extracted from the given mass flow rates of heating and cooling fluids. This formula does not need any detailed thermodynamic data. The accuracy of the procedure is shown by comparisons between analytical values and those calculated using detailed thermodynamic data. The results indicate that the thermal efficiency at maximum power depends primarily on the initial temperatures of the heating and cooling fluids and pinch‐temperature differences between the working fluid and the heating and cooling fluids. The efficiency at maximum power provides a measure of the power available in a Rankine heat engine.