Here are three merits or advantages of a reheat power cycle:
Higher efficiency - Reheating the steam between high pressure and low pressure turbines increases the amount of useful work that can be extracted from the steam. This leads to higher overall cycle efficiency compared to a simple Rankine cycle.
Higher power output - Since more work is extracted from the steam, a reheat cycle can produce more power from the same heat input compared to a simple Rankine cycle. This makes reheat cycles useful for high-power applications.
Better matching of turbine stages - Reheating the steam allows the high pressure and low pressure turbine stages to be matched more optimally to the steam conditions. This helps reduce losses and further improve efficiency.
In summary, the key benefits of a reheat power cycle are:
- Higher efficiency
- Higher power output
- Better matching of turbine stages for reduced losses
These advantages come from reheating the steam between the high and low pressure turbines, extracting more work and better utilizing the properties of the steam.