The Effect of inlet Steam Pressure and Its Flow Rate on The Performance of Steam Turbine Power Plant Based on Exergy Analysis

Abstract

An energy analysis of the Elkalije Steam Turbine Power Plant (KSTPP) has previously been conducted. Because energy analysis alone cannot reveal the true locations and magnitudes of thermodynamic losses, this paper presents an exergy analysis of the same plant to provide a more complete performance assessment. The analysis is based on two practical operating cases: a 170 MW load with an inlet steam pressure of 136 bar, and a 250 MW load with an inlet steam pressure of 161 bar. These cases were selected to examine the effect of inlet steam pressure on plant performance, as well as the influence of steam flow rate variation on exergy losses within each case.

The results show that increasing the inlet steam pressure improves the exergy performance of several major components and slightly reduces exergy destruction in the boiler, the plant’s dominant source of irreversibility. However, increasing the steam flow rate and plant loading leads to a substantial increase in exergy losses across the system, particularly in the boiler. These findings highlight the boiler as the primary target for performance improvement and demonstrate that pressure and loading conditions must be considered together when optimizing the exergy performance of the plant