ENGINEERING CONTEXTAn important engineering goal is to
devise systems that accomplish desired types of energy conversion. The present chapter
and the next are concerned with several types of power-generating systems, each of
which produces a net power output from a fossil fuel, nuclear, or solar input. In these
chapters, we describe some of the practical arrangements employed for power production
and illustrate how such power plants can be modeled thermodynamically. The discussion is
organized into three main areas of application: vapor power plants, gas turbine power
plants, and internal combustion engines. These power systems, together with hydroelectric
power plants, produce virtually all of the electrical and mechanical power used worldwide.
The objective of the present chapter is to study vapor power plants in which the working
fluid is alternately vaporized and condensed. Chapter 9 is concerned with gas turbines and
internal combustion engines in which the working fluid remains a gas.