MEE307:

Applied Thermodynamics
Gas Power Cycles

Objectives
• Evaluate the performance of gas power cycles for which the working fluid
remains a gas throughout the entire cycle.
• Develop simplifying assumptions applicable to gas power cycles.
• Review the operation of reciprocating engines.
• Analyze both closed and open gas power cycles.
• Solve problems based on the Otto, Diesel, Stirling, and Ericsson cycles.
• Solve problems based on the Brayton cycle; the Brayton cycle with regeneration;
and the Brayton cycle with intercooling, reheating, and regeneration.
• Analyze jet-propulsion cycles.
• Perform second-law analysis of gas power cycles.
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Basic Considerations in the Analysis of Power
Cycles
• Most power-producing devices operate on cycles.
• Ideal cycle: A cycle that resembles the actual
cycle closely but is made up totally of internally
reversible processes.
• Reversible cycles such as Carnot cycle have the
highest thermal efficiency of all heat engines
operating between the same temperature levels.
Unlike ideal cycles, they are totally reversible, and
unsuitable as a realistic model.

Basic Considerations in the Analysis of Power

Cycles
• Ideal cycles are internally reversible, but,
unlike the Carnot cycle, they are not
necessarily externally reversible.
• The thermal efficiency of an ideal cycle, in
general, is less than that of a totally
reversible cycle operating between the
same temperature limits.
• However, it is still considerably higher than
the thermal efficiency of an actual cycle
because of the idealizations utilized.
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Basic Considerations in the Analysis of Power
Cycles
The idealizations and simplifications in the analysis of
power cycles:
1. The cycle does not involve any friction. Therefore, the
working fluid does not experience any pressure drop as it
flows in pipes or devices such as heat exchangers.
2. All expansion and compression processes take place in a
quasi-equilibrium manner.
3. The pipes connecting the various components of a
system are well insulated, and heat transfer through
them is negligible.
• On a T-s diagram, the ratio of the area enclosed by the
cyclic curve to the area under the heat-addition process
curve represents the thermal efficiency of the cycle.
• Any modification that increases the ratio of these two
areas will also increase the thermal efficiency of the cycle.

The Carnot Cycle and its Value in Engineering

The Carnot cycle is composed of four totally reversible
processes:
• 1-2 isothermal heat addition
• 2-3 isentropic expansion
• 3-4 isothermal heat rejection
• 4-1 isentropic compression
• For both ideal and actual cycles:
• Thermal efficiency increases with an increase in the
average temperature at which heat is supplied to the
system or with a decrease in the average temperature
at which heat is rejected from the system.

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The Carnot Cycle and its Value in Engineering
• Derivation of the efficiency of the Carnot
cycle

Air Standard Assumptions

Air-standard cycle: A cycle for which the air-standard
assumptions are applicable.
Air-standard assumptions:
1. The working fluid is air, which continuously
circulates in a closed loop and always behaves as
an ideal gas.
2. All the processes that make up the cycle are
internally reversible.
3. The combustion process is replaced by a heat-
addition process from an external source.
4. The exhaust process is replaced by a heat-
rejection process that restores the working fluid
to its initial state.
Cold-air-standard assumptions: When the working
fluid is considered to be air with constant specific
heats at room temperature (25°C). 8

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Example (problem 9-16E)
• An air-standard cycle with variable specific heats is executed in a closed
system is composed of the following four processes:
1-2 v = constant heat addition from 14.7 psia and 80°F in the amount of 300
Btu/lbm
2-3 P = constant heat addition to 3200 R
3-4 Isentropic expansion to 14.7 psia
4-1 P = constant heat rejection to initial state
a) show the cycle on a P-v and T-s diagrams
b) Calculate the total heat input per unit mass
c) Determine the thermal efficiency

Overview of Reciprocating Engines

• The piston reciprocates in the cylinder
between two fixed positions called the
top dead center (TDC) and the bottom
dead center (BDC)
• TDC: position of the piston when it
forms the smallest volume in the
cylinder
• BDC: position of the piston when it
forms the largest volume in the cylinder
• Stroke: distance between TDC and BDC
• Displacement volume: volume
displaced by the piston as it moves
from TDC to BDC
• Clearance volume: minimum volume
formed when piston is at TDC
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Overview of Reciprocating Engines
• Mean effective pressure (MEP): fictitious pressure
that, if it acted on the piston during the entire power
stroke, would produce the same amount of net work
as that produced during the actual cycle
• The MEP can be used as a parameter to compare the
performances of reciprocating engines of equal size.
• The engine with a larger value of MEP delivers more
net work per cycle and thus performs better.

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Otto Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Spark-Ignition

Engines
Four stroke engine
• Initially, intake and exhaust valves are closed, and the piston is at BDC
• Compression stroke: piston moves upward, compressing air-fuel mixture
• Shortly before piston reaches TDC, the spark plug fires and mixture ignites  increasing
pressure and temperature
• High pressure gases push piston down  forces crankshaft to rotate producing useful work
during expansion or power stroke
• Exhaust blowdown: towards end of expansion cycle, exhaust valve opens and combustion
gases above atmospheric pressure rush out of the cylinder through the open exhaust valve
 most gases leave before piston reaches BDC
• Exhaust stroke: piston moves upward purging exhaust gases through the exhaust valve Nicholas August Otto (1832 –
1891), German developer of
• Intake stroke: piston moves down drawing in fresh air-fuel mixture the internal combustion engine

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Otto Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Spark-Ignition
Engines
Two-stroke engines
• Combined power and compression stroke
• The crankcase is sealed; outward motion of the piston is used to slightly
pressurize the air-fuel mixture in the crankcase
• Intake and exhaust valves are replaced by openings in the lower portion
of the cylinder wall
• During latter part of power stroke, the piston uncovers first the exhaust
port, allowing exhaust gases to be partially expelled, and then the intake
port, allowing the fresh air-fuel mixture to rush in and drive most of the
remaining exhaust gases out of the cylinder
• The mixture is compressed as the piston moves upward during the
compression stroke and is subsequently ignited by a spark plug
• The two-stroke engines are generally less efficient than their four-stroke
counterparts but they are relatively simple and inexpensive, and they
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have high power-to-weight and power-to-volume ratios.

Otto Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Spark-Ignition

Engines
1-2 Isentropic compression
2-3 Constant-volume heat addition
3-4 Isentropic expansion
4-1 Constant-volume heat rejection

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Otto Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Spark-Ignition
Engines
Process 0-1: Air enters the cylinder through the open intake valve
at atmospheric pressure P0 as the piston moves from TDC to BDC.
Process 1-2: The intake valve is closed at state 1 and air is
compressed isentropically to state 2. Piston moves from BDC to
TDC.
Process 2-3: Heat is transferred at constant volume.
Process 3-4: Air is expanded isentropically.
Process 4-1: Heat is rejected at constant volume.
Process 1-0: Air is expelled through the open exhaust valve.
• Work interactions during intake and exhaust cancel each other,
and thus inclusion of the intake and exhaust processes has no
effect on the net work output from the cycle.
• However, when calculating power output from the cycle during
an ideal Otto cycle analysis, we must consider the fact that the
ideal Otto cycle has four strokes just like actual four-stroke
spark-ignition engine. 15

Otto Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Spark-Ignition

Engines
• The Otto cycle is executed in a closed system; disregarding changes in
kinetic and potential energies:

• Heat transfer takes place at constant volume  no work is done

• Thermal efficiency of the cycle:

• Processes 1-2 and 3-4 are isentropic, and v2 = v3 and v4 = v1 thus

where

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Otto Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Spark-Ignition
Engines
• In Spark-Ignition engines, the compression ratio is
limited by autoignition or engine knock.
• Engine knock: The temperature of the air–fuel
mixture rises above the auto-ignition temperature
of the fuel during the combustion process, causing
an early and rapid burn of the fuel at some point
or points ahead of the flame front, followed by
almost instantaneous inflammation of the end
gas.
• Engine knock hurts performance and can cause
engine damage
• Since auto-ignition is not allowed it places an
upper bound to the maximum compression ratio
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Otto Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Spark-Ignition

Engines
• For a given compression ratio, an ideal Otto cycle
using a monatomic gas as the working fluid will
have the highest thermal efficiency
• The specific ratio and the efficiency of the cycle
decrease as the molecules of the working fluid get
larger
• In actual engines, the working fluid contains larger
molecules like carbon dioxide and the specific ratio
decreases with temperature  actual cycles have
lower efficiencies than the ideal Otto cycle
• Thermal efficiencies of actual engines are 25 – 30%
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Example (problem 9-39)
• A six-cylinder, 4-L spark-ignition engine operating on the ideal Otto
cycle takes in air at 90 kPa and 20°C. The minimum enclosed volume
is 15 percent of the maximum enclosed volume. When operated at
2500 rpm, this engine produces 90 hp. Determine the rate of heat
addition to this engine. Use constant specific heats at room
temperature.

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Diesel Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Compression-

Ignition Engines
• In diesel engines, only air is compressed during the
compression stroke, eliminating the possibility of
auto-ignition.
• Diesel engines can be designed to operate at much
higher compression ratios than SI engines, typically
between 12 and 24.
• In CI engines (also known as diesel engines), the air
is compressed to a temperature that is above the
autoignition temperature of the fuel, and
combustion starts on contact as the fuel is injected
into this hot air.
• The spark plug is replaced by a fuel injector in diesel
engines.
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Diesel Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Compression-
Ignition Engines
1-2 isentropic compression
2-3 constant-volume heat addition
3-4 isentropic expansion
4-1 constant-volume heat rejection.

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Diesel Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Compression-

Ignition Engines
• For a closed system formed in a piston-cylinder device, the heat
transferred at constant pressure and rejected at constant volume is

• The thermal efficiency is thus

• Cut-off ratio rc: ratio of cylinder volumes before and after

compression
• Thermal efficiency:
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Diesel Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Compression-
Ignition Engines
• For the same compression ratio

• However, diesel engines can operate at higher

compression ratios and are more efficient than
(spark-ignition) gasoline engines
• Diesel engines burn fuel more completely since
they usually operate at lower revolutions per
minute
• Thermal efficiencies: 35 – 40%
• Ideal for applications requiring relatively large
amounts of power: locomotives, emergency
generators, large ships, heavy trucks
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Diesel Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Compression-

Ignition Engines
• In modern high-speed compression ignition
engines, fuel is injected into the combustion
chamber much sooner compared to the early
diesel engines.
• Fuel starts to ignite late in the compression
stroke, and consequently part of the combustion
occurs almost at constant volume.
• Fuel injection continues until the piston reaches
the top dead center, and combustion of the fuel
keeps the pressure high well into the expansion
stroke.
• Thus, the entire combustion process can better
be modeled as the combination of constant-
volume and constant-pressure processes.
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Example (problem 9-54E)
• An air-standard Diesel cycle has a compression ratio of 18.2. Air is at
120°F and 14.7 psia at the beginning of the compression process and
at 3200 R at the end of the heat-addition process. Accounting for the
variation of specific heats with temperature, determine (a) the cutoff
ratio, (b) the heat rejection per unit mass, and (c) the thermal
efficiency.

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Stirling and Ericsson Cycles

• Different than the Carnot Cycle in that the two
isentropic process are replaced by:
• Stirling cycle: two constant-volume regeneration
processes
• Ericsson cycle: two constant-pressure
regeneration processes

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Stirling and Ericsson Cycles
1-2: heat is transferred to gas at TH from a source at TH. As the gas
expands isothermally, the left piston moves outward, doing work, and
the gas pressure drops
2-3: both pistons are moved to the right at the same rate (to keep the
volume constant) until the entire gas is forced into the right chamber. As
the gas passes through the regenerator, heat is transferred to the
regenerator and the gas temperature drops from TH to TL
3-4: right piston is moved inward, compressing the gas. Heat is
transferred from the gas to a sink at temperature TL so that the gas
temperature remains constant at TL while the pressure rises
4-1: both pistons are moved to the left at the same rate (to keep the
volume constant), forcing the entire gas into the left chamber. The gas
temperature rises from TL to TH as it passed through the regenerator and
picks up thermal energy stored there during process 2-3
• Cycles are totally reversible

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Stirling and Ericsson Cycles

• The Ericsson cycle is very much like the Stirling cycle, except that the
two constant-volume processes are replaced by two constant-
pressure processes

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Example (problem 9-73E)
• An ideal Ericsson engine using helium as the working fluid operates
between temperature limits of 550 and 3000 R and pressure limits of
25 and 200 psia. Assuming a mass flow rate of 14 lbm/s, determine
(a) the thermal efficiency of the cycle, (b) the heat transfer rate in the
regenerator, and (c) the power delivered.

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Brayton Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Gas-Turbine

Engines
• Gas turbines usually operate on an open cycle
• Fresh air at ambient conditions is drawn into the
compressor, where its temperature and pressure are raised
• The high-pressure air proceeds into the combustion
chamber, where the fuel is burned at constant pressure
• The resulting high temperature gases enter the turbine
where they expand to the atmospheric pressure while
producing power
• The exhaust gases leaving the turbine are thrown (not
recirculated)
• Can be modeled as a closed system: the combustion
process is replaced by a constant-pressure heat-addition
process from an external source, and the exhaust process
is replaced by a constant-pressure heat-rejection process
to the ambient air. 30

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Brayton Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Gas-Turbine
Engines
• 1-2 Isentropic compression (in a compressor)
• 2-3 Constant-pressure heat addition
• 3-4 Isentropic expansion (in a turbine)
• 4-1 Constant-pressure heat rejection

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Brayton Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Gas-Turbine

Engines
• When the changes in kinetic and potential energies are
neglected

• Heat transfers to and from the working fluid are

• The efficiency is

• Processes 1-2 and 3-4 are isentropic, and P2 = P3 and P4 = P1

where
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Brayton Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Gas-Turbine
Engines

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Brayton Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Gas-Turbine

Engines
• The two major application areas of gas-
turbine engines are aircraft propulsion and
electric power generation.
• The highest temperature in the cycle is
limited by the maximum temperature that
the turbine blades can withstand. This also
limits the pressure ratios that can be used
in the cycle.
• The air in gas turbines supplies the
necessary oxidant for the combustion of
the fuel, and it serves as a coolant to keep
the temperature of various components
within safe limits. An air–fuel ratio of 50 or
above is not uncommon.
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Brayton Cycle: The Ideal Cycle for Gas-Turbine
Engines
• Deviation of Actual Gas-Turbine Cycles from
Idealized Ones
• Reasons: Irreversibilities in turbine and
compressors, pressure drops, heat losses
• Isentropic efficiencies of the compressor and
turbine

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Example (problem 9-84E)

• A simple ideal Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid has a
pressure ratio of 10. The air enters the compressor at 520 R and the
turbine at 2000 R. Accounting for the variation of specific heats with
temperature, determine (a) the air temperature at the compressor
exit, (b) the back work ratio, and (c) the thermal efficiency.

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The Brayton Cycle with Regeneration
• In gas-turbine engines, the temperature of the
exhaust gas leaving the turbine is often
considerably higher than the temperature of
the air leaving the compressor.
• The high-pressure air leaving the compressor
can be heated by the hot exhaust gases in a
counter-flow heat exchanger (a regenerator or
a recuperator).
• The thermal efficiency of the Brayton cycle
increases as a result of regeneration since less
fuel is used for the same work output.
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The Brayton Cycle with Regeneration

• Assuming the regenerator to be well insulated and any changes in
kinetic and potential energies to be negligible, the actual and
maximum heat transfers from the exhaust gases to the air can be
expressed as

• Effectiveness: extent to which a regenerator approaches an ideal

regenerator
Cold-air
assumptions

• Efficiency under cold-air standard assumptions

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Example (problem 9-104)
• Develop and expression for the thermal efficiency of an ideal Brayton
cycle with an ideal regenerator of effectiveness 100 percent. Use
constant specific heats at room temperature.

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The Brayton Cycle with Intercooling,

Reheating, and Regeneration
• The net work of a gas-turbine cycle is the difference
between the turbine work output and the compressor work
input; it can be increased by either decreasing the
compressor work or increasing the turbine work, or both
• Multistage compression with intercooling: The work
required to compress a gas between two specified pressures
can be decreased by carrying out the compression process in
stages and cooling the gas in between. This keeps the
specific volume as low as possible.
• Multistage expansion with reheating keeps the specific
volume of the working fluid as high as possible during an
expansion process, thus maximizing work output.
• Intercooling and reheating always decreases the thermal
efficiency unless they are accompanied by regeneration.
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 The Brayton Cycle with Intercooling,
Reheating, and Regeneration

For minimizing work input to compressor and maximizing work

output from turbine:
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Ideal Jet-Propulsion Cycles

• Gas-turbine engines are widely used to power aircraft because they are light and
compact and have a high power-to-weight ratio.
• Aircraft gas turbines operate on an open cycle called a jet-propulsion cycle.
• The ideal jet-propulsion cycle differs from the simple ideal Brayton cycle in that
the gases are not expanded to the ambient pressure in the turbine. Instead, they
are expanded to a pressure such that the power produced by the turbine is just
sufficient to drive the compressor and the auxiliary equipment.
• The net work output of a jet-propulsion cycle is zero. The gases that exit the
turbine at a relatively high pressure are subsequently accelerated in a nozzle to
provide the thrust to propel the aircraft.
• Aircraft are propelled by accelerating a fluid in the opposite direction to motion.
This is accomplished by either slightly accelerating a large mass of fluid
(propeller-driven engine) or greatly accelerating a small mass of fluid (jet or
turbojet engine) or both (turboprop engine).

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Ideal Jet-Propulsion Cycles

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Ideal Jet-Propulsion Cycles

• The thrust developed in a turbojet engine is the unbalanced force
that is caused by the difference in momentum of the low-velocity air
entering the engine and the high-velocity exhaust gases leaving the
engine, and it is determined from Newton’s second law

= ̇ − ̇ = ̇ − (N)

• Propulsive power: ̇ = = ̇ − (kW)

• Propulsive efficiency: ratio of power produced and the heating value

of the fuel
̇
= =
̇
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Ideal Jet-Propulsion Cycles

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Ideal Jet-Propulsion Cycles

Modifications to Turbojet Engines
• The first airplanes built were all propeller-driven,
with propellers powered by engines essentially
identical to automobile engines.
• Both propeller-driven engines and jet-
propulsion-driven engines have their own
strengths and limitations, and several attempts
have been made to combine the desirable
characteristics of both in one engine.
• Two such modifications are the propjet engine
and the turbofan engine.
• The most widely used engine in aircraft
propulsion is the turbofan (or fanjet) engine
wherein a large fan driven by the turbine forces
a considerable amount of air through a duct
(cowl) surrounding the engine.
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Ideal Jet-Propulsion Cycles
Various engine types:
• Turbofan, Propjet, Ramjet, Sacramjet, Rocket

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Summary
• Basic considerations in the analysis of power cycles
• The Carnot cycle and its value in engineering
• Air-standard assumptions
• An overview of reciprocating engines
• Otto cycle: The ideal cycle for spark-ignition engines
• Diesel cycle: The ideal cycle for compression-ignition engines
• Stirling and Ericsson cycles
• Brayton cycle: The ideal cycle for gas-turbine engines
• The Brayton cycle with regeneration
• The Brayton cycle with intercooling, reheating, and regeneration
• Ideal jet-propulsion cycles
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