Power plants Turbomachinery

This area drains much energy and gives poor returns. Main problem is that the textbooks are very poorly written. Much of it discuss power plants in shallow manner or go too deep into practical aspects. The middle ground of numericals, problem solving is left wide open. Books like Eastop  McConkey are ones that save students in the end.

Power plant economics is quite straightforward. So it is also good for scoring. Same goes for emissions control part related to power plants.
PP economics and emissions

Power plant cycles are simple only with modifications of Rankine cycle. Cascades, combined cycles etc are very tedious. Also, often the question itself has a piece of info missing, which makes taking up these questions a big risk. On other hand, much of these questions are taken straight from textbooks, so if one has enough experience, one can handle it better(and go for 300+ total in mech)
Unfortunately, I did not have much interest in this area, so my effort is upto bare minimum.
powerplant cycles

Rankine and gas turbine cycles are better topics to invest time and effort, from  exam point of view.

Turbomachinery is another topic which I largely left, as it just drains time and effort and brings frustration. There are no universal symbols being used, no standards followed in making diagrams(velocity triangles). The subject is a big mess and unfortunately, requires lot of decoding symbols and terminologies. Sad part is technically, it is simple, but the researchers have complicated it to such an extent that it is comparable to financial securities being taught to a layman.
I can not recommend any good book for the topic, as frankly there is none. Most of the books use different symbols and sign conventions. I have tried to solve some questions and collected them topicwise.
Axial compressors, centrifugal compressors and gas turbines are subtopics one can look at.
Better to read it from a single book. Books on turbomachinery and those on fluid machinery have different symbols, so better to stick to one.
compressors and gas turbines
Steam turbines(impulse and reaction) also should be studied specific to demand of exam. No extra points for becoming non-certified PhD
compressors and steam turbines

Steam generation, boilers, draught is simple to understand and reproduce. These notes should be enough to cover the demand of the exam.