Paper ID #36003

Developing Power Cycles Simulations for an Applied Thermodynamics Course

Dr. Carmen Cioc, The University of Toledo
Dr. Carmen Cioc is Associate Professor in the Engineering Technology Department, College of Engineer-
ing, at the University of Toledo. She received her Master in Aerospace Engineering from The University
Politehnica of Bucharest, her Master in Physics - Professional in Photovoltaics, and her Ph.D. in Engi-
neering, in the field of thermal sciences, from The University of Toledo.
Dr. Sorin Cioc, The University of Toledo
Josh Landel , The University of Toledo
Ethan Dunham, The University of Toledo

c American Society for Engineering Education, 2022

 Developing Power Cycles Simulations for an
Applied Thermodynamics Course

Abstract

As part of the rigorous curriculum for the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) students,
laboratory courses supply a critical part of the engineering education through hands-on
observation, measurement, data acquisition, data analysis and interpretation, technical reporting,
teamwork, and others. When the access to hands-on laboratory activities was abruptly interrupted
due to COVID-19, there was an immediate need 1) to find practical computer simulations, and/or
2) to develop new simulations, both in support of the theory discussed during lectures. One such
course in need of simulations to replace the hands-on activities was the Applied
Thermodynamics course. In our Engineering Technology (ET) Department, the Applied
Thermodynamics course is a junior level core course, the second in the sequence of
thermodynamics coursework. This four-credit hour (ch) course consists of a 3ch lecture and a
1ch laboratory. The course, offered during the fall and spring 15-week semesters and during the
summer on a 12-week schedule, focuses on gas power cycles, vapor and combined power cycles,
refrigeration cycles, and gas-vapor mixtures and air conditioning. A proficient grounding in these
concepts is critical for solving a wide range of real-world engineering thermodynamics
problems.

This paper presents the work done by a senior technology capstone team to develop a series of
Excel simulations and a graphical user interface (GUI) to analyze a few of the power cycles. The
work, developed during the fall 2021 semester, is a collaboration between the capstone team
composed of 6 seniors from various programs in the ET department, four MET students, one
computer science & engineering technology (CSET) student, and one construction engineering
technology (CET) student, and the faculty advisor. The MET and CET students worked together
to develop the Excel solvers, while the CSET student developed the GUI interface using C#
development with Visual Studio. The GUI will allow the users to select the desired simulation
from a drop-down list, and once in the selected simulation window, to enter input data specific to
that simulation. Some added features of the GUI include 1) a dynamic P-V diagram to supply
visual aid; 2) the ability to download the results to a file; 3) a log-in page so that only authorized
users can use the program; 4) short definitions of listed parameters; and 5) an option to show
how the values were calculated step-by-step, showing the work.

Introduction

The Engineering Technology (ET) Department is currently the second largest of the six
academic departments in the College of Engineering at The University of Toledo. The ET
Department offers ABET accredited degrees programs in five areas: Computer Science and
Engineering Technology (CSET); Construction Engineering Technology (CET); Electrical
Engineering Technology (EET); Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET); and Information
Technology (IT) in partnership with the College of Business and Innovation.
During fall 2021, the ET Department enrolled 691 undergraduate students, 338 students
considered seniors. Before graduation, seniors are required to take the Engineering Technology
Capstone course.

Project Implementation

The course: One of the mandatory courses common across the ET programs is the Senior
Technology Capstone course. The course, historically offered twice per year, during spring and
fall semesters, is open only to the ET seniors graduating that semester. If a senior is graduating
during the summer semester, the student is allowed to take the Capstone course in the earlier
spring semester. The course is a 3-credit hour (ch) course and certainly constitutes one of the
most important courses the students experience in their programs, a culmination of their
education, and a showcase of the skills developed and learned in their respective programs.
Students from all ET programs are asked to work in teams towards completing an engineering
design and prototype.

The topics are launched by the faculty or an industry partner, and selected by the students, or
initiated by a team of students. In any case, each team needs a faculty advisor to guide them
through the semester. Since the Capstone course is not segregated by degree programs, the teams
can be formed with students from all the five ET programs, and consequently, each team may
have a mixture of professional backgrounds and experiences. Throughout the semester, the
students are expected to show evidence of significant individual contributions to the team efforts,
consideration related to design’s effectiveness, material selection, ergonomics, safety, cost, effect
on the environment, ethics, ease of production, etc. The course offers the perfect platform for
implementing the Engineering Unleashed’ s mission to graduate engineers with an
entrepreneurial mindset (EM) and KEEN’s mission to teach technical skills while fostering
curiosity, connections, and creating value [1], [2].

As part of the course, all teams are required to make two presentations to their peers and the
course instructor, and to submit a Project Proposal and a Final Report. The course culminates
with a Senior Design and Undergraduate Research Expo at the term’s end. The Expo, open to the
public, displays projects not only from the ET department, but also from the College’s science
departments.

The project: The Engine Power Cycle Interface was developed by a team of six students
enrolled in a Senior Technology Capstone course during the fall 2021 semester. The team had
one faculty advisor as mentor. The overall project’s goal was to design and program a simple and
easy to use graphical user interface (GUI) that will assist future MET students enrolled in the
Applied Thermodynamics course in their learning of several gas power cycles. From the
instructor’s point of view, the software might serve as an additional instructional tool.

Using Capstone projects to develop laboratory tools is not new, but it was observed that capstone
projects in thermal science areas are limited in number [3], [4]. This might contribute to
preventing interested students from following a future career in this area [5]. Furthermore, it is
the author’s belief that the development of students’ projects applicable to thermodynamics
courses are also a perfect fit for incorporating an entrepreneurial mindset learning (EML)
component in a technical thermodynamics course [6].

- Team: The team consisted of four MET students, one CET student and one CSET student.
The MET students oversaw developing the behind the curtains power cycle simulators using
Excel, the CSET student oversaw the development of the GUI interface using C-
programming in Visual Studios, and the CET student oversaw the project management.

- Project motivation: The topic was proposed by one faculty teaching the thermodynamics
course. In the MET program, there are two mandatory thermodynamics courses. The second
course in the thermodynamics sequence is Advanced Thermodynamics, a 4ch course, and
comprised of a 3ch lecture component and a 1ch laboratory component. Like any course with
a laboratory component, there is always a strong need to expand the learning experiences the
students have in labs. Sometimes the resources in the labs are limited. In the case of gas
power cycles, there are several hands-on experiments on the market, including an engine
laboratory unit, but all come with high price tags. Especially in the case of an automobile
engine, for example, an appropriate online simulation might be more informative for the
students, especially if one is interested in investigating the effect of a compression ratio,
RPM, the engine type (including the number of cylinders), throttling, or the environmental
conditions, on the engine’s overall performance, as demonstrated by thermal efficiency,
torque, power, or mean effective pressure.

- Initial draft: the team envisioned several tasks that should be completed towards a successful
implementation. First, the team should develop individual Excel files to solve each type of
gas power cycle. The first selected power cycle was the Otto cycle. The team planned two
weeks to complete this activity. The initial strategy was to start with one solver and, once
done, to go to the next. MET students to develop Excel solvers, CSET student to code and
develop the GUI interface, and CET student to manage the overall project. Visual Studios
was planned for GUI programming. The initial proposed programming strategy is shown in
Figure 1.
 Figure 1: Proposed GUI Programming Steps for Otto Cycle

Results: The GUI was developed in coordination with individual Excel solvers for each of the
proposed cycles. Details about the Excel solver(s) are included below. When the GUI program
begins, the user is taken to a home page, as seen in Figure 2. The logo and color scheme were
chosen by the students; the logo, in the team’s vision, represents horsepower. Once on the home
screen, the user is asked to select the desired gas power cycle from a drop-down list. The options,
so far, are Otto, Diesel, simple Brayton. A jet engine sim was also developed, but in this case, the
simulation is applicable only in the SI system of units.

Figure 2: GUI Home Page

Once a selection is made, the user is asked to confirm the choice and will be taken to a different
GUI page. The new page offers a straightforward way for one to add input data by entering
values in the appropriate text boxes and to proceed with calculations; a Calculate button is added
to the page. The results will be appropriately labelled, with respective units included. For each
cycle, a P-v diagram is also displayed. To return to the home page, there is a Home button. The
program, written on the Microsoft Visual Studio platform, is based on C# programming
language. The following strategy is employed i) the code utilizes classes to perform specific
actions multiple times; ii) the forms utilize objects such as listviews to display information; iii) a
function takes the results data and presents it in a graph format; iv) comments within the source
code effectively explain the practical functionality of most of the code. Screen shots of various
GUI pages are presented herein.

1. Otto Cycle

This cycle is the first to be discussed as part of the gas power cycles chapter, and through this
cycle the students are introduced to internal combustion (IC) engines. The cycle can be easily
analyzed under air standard assumptions: i) the working fluid is air, continuously circulates in a
closed loop, and behaves as an ideal gas; ii) all the four processes that make up the cycle are
considered to be internally reversible; iii) the combustion process is replaced by a constant
volume heat addition process from an external source; iv) the exhaust process is replaced by a
constant volume heat rejection process that restores the working fluid to the initial state. Another
assumption that is frequently used to simplify cycle analysis is that the air has constant specific
heats determined at room temperature. When this assumption is used, the air standard
assumption is called cold-air-standard-assumption. All the development presented herein was
done under this assumption.

In general, the instructor teaching the Applied Thermodynamics course assigns an IC Engine
project as group work. Each student, part of the group, is asked to get a car specification listing
the engine data in terms of configuration, displacement, cylinder bore & stroke, compression
ratio, peak horsepower & RPM, peak torque & RPM, etc. Such listed data will help when
calculating the temperatures and pressures across the cycle, network, thermal efficiency, mean
effective pressure, and the engine power. To simplify the analysis, the students are asked to
create their own Excel files as simulators able to solve the above-listed parameters. A group
comparison between the four engines in terms of mean effective pressures, and with the
manufacturers’ specs is also part of the assignment. Furthermore, the Excel simulator should be
able to provide the environmental impact (outside air and pressure) on the engine characteristics.

The work done by the Capstone team and highlighted herein is in support of initiating the MET
students in the investigation of their engine by providing a fast check of their initial calculations,
or a comparison with other cars on the market.

Figure 3 shows the Excel cycle developed by the Capstone team as a behind the screen
simulation tool and in support of the GUI page, shown in Figure 4.
 Figure 3: Otto Cycle Excel Solver

Figure 4: Otto Cycle GUI Platform

The results displaced are the mass of air and fuel, in lbm, the amount of heat in and heat out, in
Btu, the net work, in Btu, thermal efficiency (%), torque (lb ft), power (hp), and the mean
effective pressure, in psi. A P-V diagram is also included.
Future work for Otto cycle will involve an update of the P-V diagram to include the units, and
the development of a similar Excel solver & GUI for SI system of units.
2. Diesel Cycle

A similar approach to the one listed under the Otto cycle is implemented for this second cycle in
the sequence of gas power cycles too. Compared with an Otto cycle, one major difference is the
replacement of a constant volume heat addition process by a constant pressure heat addition; this
cycle also uses larger compression ratios, a different fuel heating value, etc.

As before, the first step to solve this cycle was the development of an Excel solver; the
assumptions were like those implemented for the Otto cycle; ideal cycle analyzed under a cold-
air-standard assumption. Figures 5 and 6 show the Excel solver and the associated GUI interface
done as part of the Capstone work.

Figure 5: Diesel Cycle Excel Solver

 Figure 6: Diesel Cycle GUI Platform

Future work for Diesel cycle will involve an updated GUI interface to add the cutoff ratio and
the development of a similar solver using the SI system of units.

3. Brayton Cycle

The solver developed for this gas-power cycle is only good for a limited number of problems,
when the compressor’s pressure ratio and the maximum temperature in the cycle are known.
Such problems, like several textbook problems, ask students to identify the temperature and
pressure values across the thermodynamic cycle, and to calculate the net work and the thermal
efficiency of the cycle. More work needs to be done to enlarge the applicability of this solver.
Figure 7 a) and b) shows the simple Excel solver and the associated GUI interface.
The results show the heat in and out, and the net work, in units of Btu/lbm, and the thermal
efficiency of the cycle.

Future work for Brayton will cover the expansion of the solver to incorporate real-life
applications and development of a solver working with SI system of units.

a) Excel solver b) GUI interface

Figure 7: Simple Brayton Cycle
4. Jet Engine

The last planned thermodynamic cycle developed as part of the Capstone project was the jet
engine. Due to limited time constraints, the team was not able to develop a sim good for the US
system of units, and the team developed an Excel and GUI only in the SI system of units.

Future work for Jet Engine will cover the finalizing of the SI units’ solver and the development
of a US system-based solver.

Figure 8: Jet Engine GUI (work in progress)

Implementations Issues and Challenges: By the end of the semester, the team overcame several
challenges, the first being to create the Excel simulators based on previously learned knowledge
from the Applied Thermodynamics course. At the beginning of the project some students
realized that they lack some basic thermodynamics knowledge and unit conversions, even though
the topics were learned in the past. A second challenge was related to group dynamics. The
number of students working on the project, six, made it impossible for some students to fully get
engaged in the project, while others carried the load of finalizing the project. To overcome these
challenges, the faculty advisor held weekly meetings, and dedicated part of the time allocated for
such meetings to review the thermodynamics cycles. The challenge of unit conversion was also
observed by other instructors, including Wicks [7]. A fourth challenge was the amount of time
required for debugging and correcting the bugs within the code(s).

Students’ experience

“This project was a challenging experience for me to partake in. With that said, I will say that it
was also very rewarding and enjoyable to be a part of. Going into my senior capstone project, I
had a decent grasp of thermodynamic power cycles. However, this project greatly expanded my
knowledge on how the Otto, Diesel, Brayton, and Jet Engine cycles all work and how they relate
to motorized engines that I see every day. They are all very complex cycles that require a lot of
thought to calculate correctly. As the team and I learned throughout this project, the final
numbers that result have many real-world applications. These calculations can include engine
power (or thrust) as well as engine efficiency.

On the other hand, our project was a significant learning experience for programming and
combining the two worlds of thermodynamics and computer-science. Our group was a diverse
group of engineers, including mechanical engineering technology, computer-science engineering
technology, and construction engineering technology majors. One of the ways that our faculty
advisor combined our majors was the very nature of our project topic itself. The CSET major in
our group would handle the software parts of our project while the MET majors would handle
most of the thermodynamic calculations of the project. This would all come to a head at the end
of our project when we combined our calculations with the software that our CSET major had
created to make our GUI simulation for our project.

While this project certainly had its challenges, and it was very much a learning experience, it was
a great success at its end. Our Graphic User Interface (GUI) Simulation for the Thermodynamic
Power Cycles worked exactly as our group intended it to and our team has gone to do great
things since the project’s end. I, myself, am beyond grateful for Dr. XX's leadership and counsel
during the project and I want to thank her very much for choosing our group to work with. “

Conclusion

This Capstone project was successful, both in terms of students’ ability to innovate and
create a simulation, and in terms of potential use of this simulation as an instructional tool.
These sims and GUI platforms will have a direct implementation to an advanced
thermodynamics course and will be used in association with a current thermodynamic project
that will ask students to compare various internal combustion engines in terms of performance.
The uniqueness of this project is that it is multidisciplinary and that that the new simulation tools
are developed by the students for the students; they can be added to the course as a standalone
module or as part of instructional activities specific to each power cycle discussed herein.

Future work will consist of improving the simulators, and their associated GUI platforms, by
incorporating the SI system of units, and including losses associated with each process.

By engaging the students in various activities and offering them a variety of instructional tools,
including simulations and projects, not only increases the students’ content knowledge, but also
their curiosity and the ability to make connections with real life applications, to innovate, and to
pursue a career in a power production related field.
References:

[1] Engineering Unleashed Mission. Available: https://engineeringunleashed.com/

[2] KEEN (Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network) Mission. Available:

https://engineeringunleashed.com/what-is-keen

[3] C. Cioc, S. Cioc, and R. Springman, “Using the Capstone Senior Design Project to Retrofit or
Design Laboratory Demonstration Units”, Proceedings of 2017 ASEE Zone 2 Conference, San
Juan, Puerto Rico, March 2-5, 2017

[4] H.I. Abu-Mulaweh, H.M. Oloomi, D.W. Mueller, and O.A. Thomas, “A Multidisciplinary
Capstone Senior Project: Interactive Cooling System”. Proceedings of 2012 ASEE Annual
Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. June 10-13, 2012. 10.18260/1-2-20834.

[5] N. Dukhan, and M. Schumack, “Thermal Science Capstone Projects in Mechanical

Engineering”, Proceedings of 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC.
June 2011. 10.18260/1-2-18859

[6] A.D. Christy, T.G. Wilson, and O.J. Meehl, “Thermodynamics for Citizenship:
Entrepreneurial Engineering through Project-based Learning”. Proceedings of 2019 ASEE
Annual Conference & Exposition, Tampa, Florida. June 2019. 10.18260/1-2-33437

[7] F. Wicks, “Developing Relevant and Practical Projects for a Senior Capstone Thermal Fluids
Design Course”, Proceedings of 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio,
June 2017. 10.18260/1-2-28149