The Steam-Turbine Regenerative Cycle—An Analytical Approach

The author has found that with other conditions fixed the heat rate of a turbine depends only upon the fractional quantity of steam extracted, regardless of internal variations in the heater cycle. A method is presented in this paper for determining quickly and accurately the improvement in heat rate resulting from regenerative feedwater heating with any steam conditions. The results are shown in Fig. 1, which is useful in estimating heat rates and in settling the design of a feedwater-heating system before final design figures are completed.