In your night job at the Patent Office, you receive a plan for a device that is claimed to produce 26 kW of electrical power continuously, using 0.021 kg/s of water entering the device at 300 °C and 5 MPa and leaving at 60 °C and 0.1 MPa. Unlimited heat exchange of the device with the environment at Tenv = 20 °C is permitted. Use the NIST web book for water properties (see instructions on next page)
(a) As you are the only chemical engineer in the office, you are asked to evaluate to whether steady-state operation of this claimed device is thermodynamically permissible.
(b) If the device is possible, calculate the lost work and the thermodynamic efficiency. If it is not possible, what is the maximum power that can be generated?