A fossil fuel electric-power plant consumes 9800 Btu to produce 1kWh of electrical energy. Calculate the conversion efficiency if 1kWh is equivalent to 3410 Btu
To calculate the conversion efficiency, we need to determine the ratio of the useful output energy (1kWh) to the input energy (9800 Btu).
Step 1: Convert 1 kWh to Btu
Since 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) is equivalent to 3410 Btu, we can convert 1 kWh to Btu by multiplying it by the conversion factor:
1 kWh = 1 * 3410 Btu = 3410 Btu
Step 2: Calculate the conversion efficiency
The conversion efficiency is the ratio of output energy to input energy, expressed as a percentage. Divide the output energy (1 kWh, equivalent to 3410 Btu) by the input energy (9800 Btu), and multiply the result by 100 to get the efficiency in percentage:
Conversion efficiency = (3410 Btu / 9800 Btu) * 100
Now, we can calculate the conversion efficiency:
Conversion efficiency = (3410 / 9800) * 100 ≈ 34.9%
Therefore, the conversion efficiency of the fossil fuel electric-power plant is approximately 34.9%.