A coal-fired plant generates 600 MW of electric power. The plant uses 4.8 ˛ 106 kg of coal each day. The heat of combustion of coal is 3.3 ˛ 107 J/kg. The steam that drives the turbines is at a temperature of 300eC, and the exhaust water is at 37eC. What is the Carnot efficiency?

The first law of thermodynamics: The change in internal energy of a closed system will be equal to the energy added to the system by heating minus the work done by the system on the surroundings. The second law of thermodynamics according to Clausius: Heat can flow spontaneously from a hot object to a cold object; heat will not flow spontaneously from a cold object to a hot object. or No device is possible whose sole effect is to transfer heat from one system at a temperature TL into a second system at a higher temperature TH. The Kelvin-Planck statement of the second law of... Show more

The first law of thermodynamics: The change in internal energy of a closed system will be equal to the energy added to the system by heating minus the work done by the system on the surroundings.

The second law of thermodynamics according to Clausius: Heat can flow spontaneously from a hot object to a cold object; heat will not flow spontaneously from a cold object to a hot object. or No device is possible whose sole effect is to transfer heat from one system at a temperature TL into a second system at a higher temperature TH.

The Kelvin-Planck statement of the second law of thermodynamics: No device is possible whose sole effect is to transform a given amount of heat completely into work.

A general statement of the second law of thermodynamics: The total entropy of any system plus that of its environment increases as a result of any natural process. or
Natural processes tend to move toward a state of greater disorder.

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