Gas Cycles

Concepts:
◦ Heat Engine or thermal engine is a closed system (no mass crosses
its boundaries) that exchanges only heat and work with its
surrounding and that operates in cycle.
◦ Elements of a thermodynamic heat engine with a fluid as the
working substance:
◦ A working substance, matter that receives heat, rejects heat,
and does work.
◦ A source of heat (also called a hot body, a heat reservoir, or just
source), from which the working substance receives heat
◦ A heat sink (also called reservoir, a cold body, or just sink), to
which the working substance can reject heat; and
◦ An engine, wherein the working substance may do work or
have work done on it.

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1. Cycle Work and
Thermal Efficiency
Cycle Work

◦ Available energy that is

part of the heat that was
converted into mechanical
work.
◦ Unavailable energy is the
remainder of the heat that
had to be rejected into the
receiver (sink)

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2nd Law of Thermodynamics: Work
of a Cycle
◦ All energy received as heat by a heat – engine cycle cannot be
converted into mechanical work.
◦ 𝑊 = σ𝑄
◦ 𝑊 = 𝑄𝐴 + −𝑄𝑅 −−− −𝑎𝑙𝑔𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑢𝑚
◦ 𝑊 = 𝑄𝐴 − 𝑄𝑅 −−−−− −𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
◦ The net work of a cycle is the algebraic sum of the works done
by the individual processes
◦ 𝑊 = σ𝑊
◦ 𝑊 = 𝑊1−2 + 𝑊2−3 + 𝑊3−4 + ⋯ . .

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The Carnot Cycle
◦ The Carnot cycle is the
most efficient cycle
conceivable.
◦ There are other ideal
cycles as efficient as the
Carnot cycle, but none
more so, such a perfect
cycle forms a standard of
comparison for actual
engines and actual cycles,
permitting as to judge how
much room there might be
for improvement.

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Operation of Carnot
Engine
Analysis of Carnot Engine

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Mean Effective Pressure (Pm or
mep)
◦ 𝑊
𝑃𝑚 = 𝑉
𝐷

◦ 𝑉𝐷 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒

◦ Mean effective pressure is the average constant pressure that, acting through one
stroke, will do on the piston the net work of a single cycle.

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Ratio of Expansion, Ratio of
Compression
◦ 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛

◦ 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 =
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛

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Example 1
◦ A carnot power cycle operates on 2 lb of air between the limits of 70℉ and
500℉. The pressure at the beginning of isothermal expansion is 400 psia and at the
end of isothermal expansionis 185 psig. Determine the ff:
◦ Volume at the end of isothermal compression
◦ Change in entropy during an isothermal process
◦ Heat added
◦ Heat rejected
◦ Net work
◦ Thermal efficiency
◦ Ratio of expansion during isothermal heating
◦ Overall ratio of expansion
◦ Mean effective pressure
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Example 2
◦ A Carnot engine operating between 775 K and 305 K produces
54 kJ of work. Determine
◦ Heat added
◦ Change in entropy during heat rejection
◦ Efficiency

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