In this study, an energy and exergy analysis as well as the effect
of varying the reference environment temperature on the exergy
analysis of an actual power plant has been presented. In the considered
power cycle, the maximum energy loss was found in the
condenser where 66% of the input energy was lost to the environment.
Next to it was the energy loss in the boiler system where it
was found to be about 6% and less than 2% for all other components.
In addition, the calculated thermal efficiency of the cycle
was 26%. On the other hand, the exergy analysis of the plant
showed that lost energy in the condenser is thermodynamically insignificant due to its low quality. In terms of exergy destruction,
the major loss was found in the boiler system where 77% of the fuel
exergy input to the cycle was destroyed. Next to it was the turbine
where 20.4MW of exergy was destroyed which represents 13% of
the fuel exergy input to the cycle. The percent exergy destruction
in the condenser was 9% while all heaters and pumps destroyed
less than 2%.