Why is Carnot cycle not practical for a steam power plant?
Eleanor Gray
Updated on April 02, 2026
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Hereof, why the Rankine cycle is preferred over the Carnot cycle in steam power plants?
Rankine has a lower efficiency when compared to Carnot cycle, though in real life, Carnot cycle has many advantages than Rankine cycle. In Carnot cycle, the pressure of working fluid is raised from the condenser pressure to the boiler pressure. In Rankine cycle, saturated liquid is pumped to the boiler with a pump.
Beside above, what are the limitations of Carnot cycle? The isentropic process 1-2 is practically not achievable,as it is difficult to handle two phase system. ? If the steam quality is poor then process 3-4 is difficult to carry out.
Similarly, it is asked, why steam is not used in Brayton cycle?
6.1. The steam turbine (Rankine cycle) is not able to achieve the high temperatures of the gas turbine due to materials of construction. Combining the two cycles (high-input temperatures and low-output temperatures) allows one to improve the overall efficiency of the power plant.
What is the difference between Carnot cycle and Rankine Cycle?
Carnot cycle is an ideal cycle for heat engine which gives highest efficiency between given temperature difference but it is a theoretical cycle and actually no engine works on it. Rankine cycle is an ideal cycle of vapor or steam power generation. Carnot cycle has two isothermal processes and two isentropic processes.
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