EFFECT OF PRESSURE RATIO ON PERFORMANCE.

Conclusions that are qualitatively correct for actual gas

turbines can be drawn from a study of the ideal Brayton cycle. The first of these conclusions is that the thermal
efficiency increases with increasing pressure ratio across the compressor. _ for example.. . referring again to the
T–s diagram of Fig. 9.10, we see that an increase in the pressure ratio changes the cycle from 1–2–3–4–1 to 1–
2_–3_–4–1. Since the average temperature of heat addition is greater in the latter cycle and both cycles have the
same heat rejection process, cycle 1–2_–3_–4–1 would have the greater thermal efficiency. _
The increase in thermal efficiency with the pressure ratio across the compressor is also brought out simply by
the following development, in which the specific heat cp, and thus the specific heat ratio k, is assumed constant.
For constant cp, Eq. 9.19 becomes

Or, on further rearrangement

From Eqs. 9.23 and 9.24 above, T4/T1 =T3/T2, so

Finally, introducing Eq. 9.23

By inspection of Eq. 9.25, it can be seen that the cold air-standard ideal Brayton cycle thermalefficiency is a
function of the pressure ratio across the compressor. This relationship isshown in Fig. 9.11 for k _ 1.4.
There is a limit of about 1700 K imposed by metallurgical considerations on the maximumallowed temperature
at the turbine inlet. It is instructive therefore to consider the effect of compressor pressure ratio on thermal
efficiency when the turbine inlet temperature is restricted to the maximum allowable temperature. The T–s
diagrams of two ideal Brayton cycles having the same turbine inlet temperature but different compressor
pressure ratios are shown in Fig. 9.12. Cycle A has a greater pressure ratio than cycle B and thus the greater
thermal efficiency. However, cycle B has a larger enclosed area and thus the greater net work developed per unit
of mass flow. Accordingly, for cycle A to develop the same net power
output as cycle B, a larger mass flow rate would be required, and this might dictate a larger system. These
considerations are important for gas turbines intended for use in vehicles where engine weight must be kept
small. For such applications, it is desirable to operate near the compressor pressure ratio that yields the most
work per unit of mass flow and not the pressure ratio for the greatest thermal efficiency.
Example 9.5 provides an illustration of the determination of the compressor pressure ratio
for maximum net work per unit of mass flow for the cold air-standard Brayton cycle.

E X A M P L E 9 . 5 Compressor Pressure Ratio for Maximum Net Work

Determine the pressure ratio across the compressor of an ideal Brayton cycle for the maximum net work output per unit of
mass flow if the state at the compressor inlet and the temperature at the turbine inlet are fixed. Use a cold air-standard
analysis and ignore kinetic and potential energy effects. Discuss.

SOLUTION
Known: An ideal Brayton cycle operates with a specified state at the inlet to the compressor and a specified turbine inlet
temperature.

Find: Determine the pressure ratio across the compressor for the maximum net work output per unit of mass flow, and
discuss the result.

Schematic and Given Data:

Analysis: The net work of the cycle per unit of mass flow is

Since cp is constant (assumption 6)

Or on rearrangement

Replacing the temperature ratios T2/T1 and T4/T3 by using Eqs. 9.23 and 9.24, respectively, gives

From this expression it can be concluded that for specified values of T1, T3, and cp, the value of the net work output per unit
of mass flow varies with the pressure ratio p2_p1 only.
To determine the pressure ratio that maximizes the net work output per unit of mass flow, first form the derivative
When the partial derivative is set to zero, the following relationship is obtained

By checking the sign of the second derivative, we can verify that the net work per unit of mass flow is a maximum when this
relationship is satisfied.
For gas turbines intended for transportation, it is desirable to keep engine size small. Thus, the gas turbine should operate
near the compressor pressure ratio that yields the most work per unit of mass flow. The present example provides an
elementary illustration of how the compressor pressure ratio for maximum net work per unit of mass flow is affected by the
constraint of a fixed turbine inlet temperature.