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Lesson 16 · Isentropic efficiency
Against the chart, not against perfection
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Against the chart, not against perfection

A frictionless turbine would expand the steam at constant entropy and land at a specific point on the chart. A real one generates entropy, so it lands to the RIGHT of that point — higher enthalpy, less work extracted. Comparing the two is the isentropic efficiency: ηisen=h1−h2h1−h2s\eta_{isen} = \dfrac{h_1 - h_2}{h_1 - h_{2s}}, read aloud eta-isentropic equals h-one minus h-two, over h-one minus h-two-s. The Greek letter η\eta is eta, and it means efficiency throughout thermodynamics.

Three enthalpies, all in kJ/kg, and one of them imaginary. h1h_1 is the inlet. h2h_2 is the actual exhaust, the one you can measure. h2sh_{2s} is the isentropic exhaust — the subscript s stands for the constant ENTROPY that got you there, and it is derived from the chart, never from a thermowell. Because the ideal machine falls further, h2sh_{2s} is always the LOWEST of the three.

Actual on top, ideal underneath, always. Turbines run 0.7 to 0.9, so an answer above 1 is not a triumph — it is a swapped ratio, every time. Nothing beats a frictionless expansion between the same two pressures; that is what makes it the yardstick.

h1h2sh2ηisen

ηisen=h1−h2h1−h2s\eta_{isen} = \frac{h_1 - h_2}{h_1 - h_{2s}}

  • ηisen\eta_{isen}= Isentropic efficiency
  • h1h_1= Inlet enthalpy (specific latent heat)
  • h2h_2= Actual exhaust enthalpy (specific latent heat)
  • h2sh_{2s}= Isentropic exhaust enthalpy (specific latent heat)
Turbine Isentropic Efficiency solver →
wh1h2

w=h1−h2w = h_1 - h_2

  • ww= Specific work
  • h1h_1= Inlet enthalpy
  • h2h_2= Exhaust enthalpy

each variable a specific latent heat

Steam Turbine Specific Work solver →