Question

Heat is transferred to a heat engine (runs on a thermodynamic cycle) from a furnace at a rate of 80 MW. If the rate of waste heat rejection to a nearby river is 50 MW, (a) identify the thermal reservoirs, (b) determine the net power output, and (c) the thermal efficiency for this heat engine.

Answer 1

37.5%

Step-by-step explanation:

We define first our values, that are,

`Q_H=80MW\\Q_c=50MW`

We can now calculate the net power output, that is

`W=Q_H-Q_c = (80-50) = 30MW`

Thermal efficiency is given by

`\eta = (W)/(Q_H)\\\eta = (30)/(80)\\\eta = 0.375\\\eta = 37.5%`