Chapter Summary
Another way of increasing the thermal efficiency of the Rankine cycle is by regeneration. During a regeneration process, liquid water (feedwater) leaving the pump is heated by some steam bled off the turbine at some intermediate pressure in devices called feedwater heaters. The two streams are mixed in open feedwater heaters, and the mixture leaves as a saturated liquid at the heater pressure. In closed feedwater heaters, heat is transferred from the steam to the feedwater without mixing.