Question

A steam turbine operates at a boiler temperature of 450 K and an exhaust temperature of 300 K. What is the maximum theoretical efficiency of this system?

Answer 1

The maximum theoretical efficiency of the system is the one corresponding to the efficiency of a Carnot cycle operating between the same temperatures of the system:

$η=1 -\frac{T_c}{T_h}$

where Tc and Th are the cold and hot temperatures, respectively.

$T_c=300 \;K \\ T_h = 450 \;K$

The maximum theoretical efficiency is

$η=1 -\frac{300}{450} = 0.33$

Answer: 33 %