Sample of Chapter 2 of an Investigatory Project...

Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES Introduction This chapter indicates the ideas, also the history, relevant to the experiment to provide information and further elaborate different standpoints that were the foundation of the proposed study, also on the background study of the different methods and concepts used by other researchers that applies to the present study. In order to develop new method and procedures, careful review of literature and studies must be done for the development of the study. The main purpose of this chapter is to identify and review theories on steam engine and to identify the deficiencies of those theories. Related Literature In general usage, the term ‘steam’ is the invisible vapor into which†¦show more content†¦A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. Steam engines are external combustion engines.[5] where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be used. Water turns to steam in a boiler and reaches a high pressure. When expanded through pistons or turbines, mechanical work is done. The reduced-pressure steam is then condensed, and it is pumped back into the boiler. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle. This cycle generates about 90% of all electric power used throughout the world. (see fig. 1)[6] Some practical steam engines discard the low-pressure steam instead of condensing it for reuse. Fig.1 The Rankine cycle There are two fundamental components of a steam plant: the boiler or steam generator, and the motor unit, referred to itself as a steam engine. Stationary steam engines in fixed buildings may have the two parts in separate buildings some distance apart. For portable or mobile use, such as steam locomotives, the two are mounted together. Other components are often present; pumps (such as an injector) to supply water to the boiler during operation, condensers to recirculate the water and recover the latent heat of vaporization, and super heaters to raise the temperature of the steam above its