Online course and simulator for engineering thermodynamics

The objective of this exploration is to guide you in your first steps of using Thermoptim, by making you discover the main screens and functionalities associated with a simple refrigeration installation model.

You will discover the layout of the screens of the points and the processes, the way in which their parameters can be set and they are calculated, the concepts of useful and purchased energies making it possible to draw up the global energy balances and to determine the Coefficient of Performance COP.

You will plot the cycle in the (h, ln (P)) thermodynamic diagram.

S-M3-V7 Exploration of a simple steam power plant

The objective of this exploration is to guide you in your first steps of using Thermoptim, by making you discover the main screens and functionalities associated with a model of simple steam power plant.

You will discover how the screens of points and processes can be set and calculated, the concepts of useful and purchased energies making it possible to draw up global energy balances.

You will visualize the cycles in the thermodynamic (h, ln (P)) chart and you will carry out studies of sensitivity of the cycle depending on the outside temperature and the high pressure.

S-M3-V8 Exploration of a simple gas turbine

The objective of this exploration is to guide you in your first steps of using Thermoptim, by making you discover the main screens and functionalities associated with a simple gas turbine model.

You will discover the layout of the screens of the points and the processes, the way in which they can be reconfigured and calculated, the concepts of useful and paying energies making it possible to draw up the global energy balances.

You will visualize the cycles in the thermodynamic diagram (h, ln (P)) and you will carry out studies of sensitivity of the cycle to the outside temperature, the turbine inlet temperature and the compression ratio.

S-M3-V9 Exploration of a refrigeration installation

screens and functionalities associated with a simple refrigeration installation model.

You will discover the layout of the screens of the points and the processes, the way in which they can be reparametered and calculated, the concepts of useful and paying energies making it possible to draw up the global energy balances and to determine the Coefficient of Performance COP.

You will visualize the cycles in the thermodynamic diagram (h, ln (P)) and you will carry out studies of sensitivity of the cycle to the outside temperature and the high pressure. You will analyze the interest of sub-cooling.

MOOC Classic and Innovative Cycles

C-M1-V3 Steam power plant with reheat

This exploration shows how the simple cycle of the steam plant can be improved, the objective being to minimize irreversibilities.

In practice, the modifications of the basic cycles essentially concern:

on the one hand, on the reduction of temperature differences both outside the system and internally
and on the other hand on the splitting of compressions and expansions

You will learn how to set a compression or expansion process according to a polytropic law.

C-M1-V5 Steam power plant regenerative Rankine cycle with open feedwater heater

The steam plant cycle with reheat, by staging the expansion, slightly improves the performance of the simple cycle.

The second area of improvement in power cycles consists in reducing irreversibility by temperature heterogeneity, here thanks to regeneration

You will learn how to set a mixer and a divider.

C-M1-V8 Pressured Water Reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants

A particularity of the steam generators of the PWR nuclear power plants is the absence of initial superheating.

Complete expansion of the steam from this state would lead to a too low vapor content, which would be both detrimental in terms of performance, and fatal for the mechanical strength of the blades of the turbines.

The solution adopted consists, by using a particular component called a moisture separator reheater, of dividing the expansion by providing for a reheat at a pressure of approximately 11 bar, which makes it possible to increase the efficiency and to respect of quality constraint at the end of expansion .

This exploration shows how such a cycle can be modeled and set.

You will learn how to set a phase moisture separator reheater and a heat exchanger

C-M1-V9 Exploration of a closed ammonia ORC cycle

Organic Rankine cycles are variants of the water vapor cycles, which are used when the hot source from which one wishes to produce mechanical power is at low or medium temperature, or when the installed power is low and steam installations are no longer economical.

When the temperature of the hot source drops, or that the installed power decreases, typically below ten MW, the performance of steam vapor cycles deteriorates, and it becomes preferable to use other thermodynamic fluids.

Here we present an example of an ORC cycle intended to generate electricity from the thermal gradient of the oceans.

You will learn how to set a triple heat exchanger and study the concept of pinch

C-M2-V2 Exploration of a regenerative gas turbine

One of the main losses of a gas turbine cycle is the exhaust gas released from the turbine to the atmosphere while still at high temperature.

In a regeneration cycle, the compressed air is partially heated before entering the combustion chamber, which further reduces fuel consumption. All you have to do is insert a heat exchanger between the exhaust gases and the compressed air.

You will learn how to set a combustion

C-M2-V3 Exploration of a staged compression gas turbine

This guided exploration presents a staged compression gas turbine cycle, which improves the basic cycle.

C-M2-V4 Exploration of a turbojet

This guided exploration presents the cycle of a single-flow turbojet engine. As the components of the Thermoptim core are not sufficient to make such models, to represent the inlet diffuser and the outlet nozzle, it is necessary to use two external classes, i.e. two extensions of the software package.

You will learn how to set a diffuser and a nozzle, and how to mechanically balance a turbine with a compressor

C-M2-V5b Exploration of an industrial gas engine

This guided exploration presents an industrial gas engine modeled with a so-called Beau de Rochas cycle, which is reduced to four simple evolutions represented in the figure in the Watt diagram of a cylinder:

reversible adiabatic compression 4–1
constant volume combustion 1–2
reversible adiabatic expansion 2–3
constant volume cooling 3–4

Such a model is not very precise but allows you to get a first idea of the performance of the engine.

You will learn how to set compression, expansion and combustion, in a closed system, and will study the notion of combustion chamber efficiency.

C-M3-V1 Combined cycles

This guided exploration presents a single pressure combined cycle. Emphasis is placed on the setting of the internal exchanger which allows the residual enthalpy of gases leaving the turbine to be transferred to the steam cycle, and which is called a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG).

You will learn how to set a triple heat exchanger and study the concept of pinch

C-M3-V2 Exploration of an industrial gas engine used in cogeneration

This guided exploration, studies a cogeneration installation using the industrial gas engine that we modeled with a Beau de Rochas cycle in another directed exploration (C-M2-V5b).

Emphasis is placed on the calculation of the performance indicators of the cogeneration system.

You will learn how to set a thermocoupler.

C-M3-V3 Exploration of a total injection refrigeration installation

When it is necessary to stage a compression, it can be advantageous to cool the fluid between two stages. When a refrigeration cycle has to operate with a high compression ratio, a variant of the basic cycle is precisely to do this.

In order to be able on the one hand to internally cool the vapors leaving the low pressure compressor, and on the other hand to increase the vaporization plateau, it is advantageous to also stage the expansion. The simplest and most efficient cycle is called the total injection cycle analysed here.

You will learn how to set a phase separator and a mixer.

C-M3-V4 Exploration of an ejector refrigeration installation

This exploration presents an ejector refrigeration cycle with compressor.

You will learn how to set an ejector, a phase separator and a mixer

C-M4-V1 Exploration of a micro-turbine solar concentrator

This exploration presents the cycle of a parabolic solar concentrator with regenerative gas micro-turbine: the hot air solar receiver is placed upstream of the combustion chamber of a regenerative gas micro-turbine, thus reducing consumption of fuel.

You will learn how to set a solar collector

C-M4-V3 Exploration of a single flash geothermal power plant

Generally, only a low quality liquid-vapor mixture (less than 0.5) is available at a geothermal well.

If the initial fluid pressure is sufficient, it is possible to partially expand this mixture isenthalpically in order to vaporize part of it, which is then turbinated, while the liquid fraction is reinjected.

This operation is called performing a flash.

This exploration presents the model of a single flash geothermal power plant.

You will learn how to set a flash and a phase separator

C-M4-V4 Exploration of a high temperature nuclear cycle

This exploration presents the model of a high temperature nuclear cycle using gas turbines operating in closed system, and not open system like those studied in previous explorations.

It shows in particular how to balance a turbine with a compressor in Thermoptim.

You will learn how to mechanically balance a turbine with a compressor

C-M4-V5 Exploration of an oxycombustion cycle

Carrying out an oxycombustion consists in replacing the usual oxidizer, namely air, mixture mainly of oxygen O2 and nitrogen (resp. 21% and 78% by volume) by pure oxygen or a mixture of oxygen O2 and of carbon dioxide CO2. Oxy-combustion techniques allow one both to obtain fumes composed almost exclusively of water and carbon dioxide and to greatly reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

This exploration presents the model of an OxyFuel type oxycombustion cycle.

You will learn how to set a condensing coil and a thermocoupler

C-M4-V8 Exploration of a steam plant in the entropy chart

The objective of this directed exploration is to make you discover the cycle of a steam power plant in the thermodynamic entropy (T, s) chart.

It completes that exploration(S-M3-V7), where the cycle was presented, with explanations on its settings and its representation in the (h, ln (P)) chart.

C-M4-V9 Exploration of a gas turbine in the entropy chart

The objective of this exploration is to make you discover the cycle of a gas turbine in the (T, s) entropy thermodynamic chart.

It completes guided exploration (S-M3-V8) where the cycle was presented, with explanations on its settings and its representation in the chart (h, ln (P)) chart.

C-M4-V10 Exploration of a refrigeration installation in the entropy chart

The objective of this exploration is to make you discover the cycle of a refrigeration installation in the (T, s) thermodynamic entropy chart.

It completes guided exploration (S-M3-V9), where the cycle was presented, with explanations on its settings and its representation in the (h, ln (P)) chart.

Methodological complements

GT-2: Setting the combustion of a gas turbine

This exploration guides you in your first steps of setting the combustion of a gas turbine.

It follows exploration S-M3-V8 which presented the cycle of a gas turbine where combustion was modeled by a simple exchange process.

STEAM-2: Design of a steam plant condenser

This exploration guides you through your first steps in setting a steam plant condenser.

It follows the S-M3-V7 directed exploration that presented the plant cycle.

CLIM 1: Guided exploration of a summer air conditioning cycle

This exploration guides you through your first steps of using Thermoptim to study an air conditioning cycle of an airport, located in a warm and humid place.

CLIM 2: Guided exploration of a winter air conditioning cycle

This exploration guides you through your first steps of using Thermoptim to study an air conditioning cycle of a bank, located in a cold and humid place.

Advanced features of Thermoptim

Pinch method

OPT-1: Optimization of a heating network by the pinch method

This exploration shows how the pinch method can be applied to optimize a heating network.

OPT-2: Optimization of a combined cycle by the pinch method

This exploration focuses on the application of the pinch method to the optimization of a combined cycle.

Technological sizing

DTNN-1: Technological sizing of an air-water exchanger

This exploration shows how the surface of a heat exchanger can be determined and how its behavior in off-design regime can be calculated.

DTNN-2: Sizing of heat exchangers and exergy balances of a heat network

Exploration (OPT-1) showed how the pinch method can be applied to optimize a heating network.

This exploration, which completes it, focuses on the sizing and study in off-design regime of a piston compressor used to supply a compressed air storage tank.

DTNN-3: Sizing of a displacement air compressor

In this exploration we explain the calculation and sizing of a piston compressor used to supply a compressed air storage tank

Exergy balances, productive structures

BESP-1: Exergy balance and productive structure of a simple steam cycle

In this exploration we show how the productive structure of a steam plant cycle can be built and how it allows to calculate the exergy balance of the modeled system.

BESP-2: Exergy balances and productive structures of different cycles

In this exploration that follows the BESP-1 exploration, we will review the productive structures associated with different cycles that have been the subject of guided explorations, in order to establish their exergy balances:

Regenerative gas turbine (C-M2-V2)
Refrigeration machine (S-M3-V9)
Regenerative reheat steam power plant (C-M1-V5)
Single pressure combined cycle (C-M3-V1)