🔍 Search & Filter All 51 Engineering Calculators →

⚡ Energy & Power Plants References

Pump affinity scaling, Rankine steam efficiency, heat exchanger LMTD, and powerplant codes.

📚 Recommended Textbooks

PP

Powerplant Technology

M. M. El-Wakil

The standard reference for thermodynamics of electrical utilities, detailing fossil-fuel boiler loops, condenser cooling systems, and supercritical cycles.

PH

Pump Handbook

Igor Karassik, Joseph Messina, Paul Cooper, & Charles Heald

The ultimate guide to hydraulic pump applications. Establishes the governing scaling relations (affinity laws), motor load calculations, and impeller trim optimization charts.

📋 Industry Standards & Codes

  • ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC): Governing international safety standards for boiler thermal expansion and pipe wall configurations.
  • ASME PTC 6: Performance test codes for steam turbine electric generators to verify net output and heat rates.

📊 Governing Energy Equations

Centrifugal Pump Affinity Laws

Calculates the performance shift of a pump impeller as a function of shaft speed (RPM):

$$\text{Flow Rate:} \quad \frac{Q_2}{Q_1} = \frac{N_2}{N_1}$$ $$\text{Head Loss:} \quad \frac{H_2}{H_1} = \left( \frac{N_2}{N_1} \right)^2$$ $$\text{Shaft Power:} \quad \frac{P_2}{P_1} = \left( \frac{N_2}{N_1} \right)^3$$

Where $Q$ is volumetric flow, $H$ is head, and $P$ is motor shaft power. Sized in Pump Affinity Sizer.

Rankine Cycle Thermal Efficiency ($\eta_{th}$)

Represents the ratio of net power generated to boiler heat addition:

$$\eta_{th} = \frac{W_{net}}{Q_{in}} = \frac{W_{turbine} - W_{pump}}{Q_{boiler}}$$ $$W_{turbine} = \dot{m} \cdot (h_{in} - h_{out})$$

Sized in Rankine Cycle Calculator.

Heat Exchanger Log-Mean Temp Difference (LMTD)

Calculates convective heat transfer in shell-and-tube configurations:

$$Q = U \cdot A \cdot F \cdot \Delta T_{lm} \quad \left[\text{W}\right]$$ $$\Delta T_{lm} = \frac{\Delta T_1 - \Delta T_2}{\ln(\Delta T_1 / \Delta T_2)} \quad \left[\text{K}\right]$$

Where $F$ is the multi-pass correction factor. Sized in LMTD Sizer.

🧠 Technical Application Guide

1. Regeneration and Intercooling

Gas turbines operating under the Brayton cycle achieve higher efficiencies by introducing regeneration (preheating compressor air using turbine exhaust) and intercooling (compressing air in multiple stages to reduce compressor workload). Verified in Brayton Cycle Sizer.

2. Vapor-Compression COP

Industrial refrigeration chillers absorb heat from cold zones ($Q_L$) and reject it to cooling towers ($Q_H$). The Coefficient of Performance ($COP$) measures cooling efficiency: $$COP = \frac{Q_L}{W_{in}}$$ Sized in Refrigeration Cycle Solver.