Thermal Efficiency of Power Plant

A power plant operates with a heat source reservoir at 350^oC and a heat sink reservoir at 30^oC. It has a thermal efficiency of 55% of the Carnot engine thermal efficiency for the same temperature levels. What is the thermal efficiency of the plant?

Calculations:

Given:

Temperature of source, T₁ = 350^oC = 350 + 273 = 623 K

Temperature of sink, T₂ = 30^oC = 30 + 273 = 303 K

η_Carnot = 100 x (1 - T₂/T₁) = 100 x (1 - 303/623) = 48.64%

Thermal efficiency of the plant = 55% of the Carnot engine efficiency (given)

= 0.55 x 48.64 = 26.75%