Combined-cycle power plant

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/combined-cycle-power-plant

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the typical net efficiency?Ranges from 50% to over 60%, with advanced designs potentially exceeding this
2. What is the key technological advancements?Development of high-temperature gas turbines and efficient Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs)
3. What is a combined‑cycle power plant?It is a power plant that uses a gas turbine and a steam turbine together to make electricity more efficiently.
4. How does it use hot air twice?The gas turbine burns fuel to create hot gases that spin a turbine, and the hot exhaust from that turbine heats water in a heat exchanger to make steam that spins a second turbine.

Brayton Cycle: The thermodynamic cycle that describes the operation of gas turbines.
Rankine Cycle: The thermodynamic cycle that describes the operation of steam turbines.
Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE): The average net present cost of electricity generation over the lifetime of a generating asset.