THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES

There is no general classification of thermodynamic cycle . The following types will be

discussed as those are included in the course curriculum
1. Gas power cycles
a) Carnot cycle
b) Otto cycle
c) Diesel cycle
d) Dual cycle
e) Brayton cycle
2. Vapour power cycle
Rankine cycle
3. Refrigeration cycle :
a) Gas compression refrigeration cycles
b) Vapour compression refrigeration cycles
On gas power cycle :
Why was Diesel cycle invented ?
Though both Otto cycle and Diesel cycle works on engine , so the question raises why the
diesel cycle was invented as there already exists an Otto cycle .
In Otto cycle air-fuel mixture enters into the cylinder . As the fuel is also there in the
cylinder before it is ignited by the spark plug , compression is limited i.e. the compression of
the mixture is limited by the fact is that the temperature rise due to compression should be
less than the ignition temperature of the fuel in the mixture. So the mixture cannot be
compressed so that it is ignited only by compression before the sparking. So the compression
ratio cannot be increased beyond certain limit . As the compression ratio is not very large so
the large work output cannot be attained . Hence such cycle cannot operate engine for heavy
vehicles where greater work output is needed .If Otto cycle would be used for heavy vehicle
engine the engine size would be very large . Moreover an engine operating on Otto cycle
with high compression ratio would cause noise and engine problem called detonation .
So to overcome these limitations the Diesel cycle was employed. There is no spark ignition
in the engine operating on diesel cycle. First only air is compressed and at end of
compression , fuel is injected . So it is ignited only by compression . As only air is
compressed , it can be compressed higher than in a Otto cycle as the chance of spontaneous
ignition before fuel injection is less . A higher compression ratio can be attained and greater
work output is achieved. Hence it can be used for heavy vehicle also . No trouble as
detonation in Otto cycle operated engine is occurred.
How to increase the efficiency of a cycle ?
a) By increasing the net work.
b) By decreasing the amount of heat rejection.
c) By increasing the mean temperature of heat addition or by decreasing the mean
temperature of heat rejection.
As the mean temperature of heat addition increases the amount of heat addition increases . If
the heat addition increases the efficiency will increase . As
in
out
Q
Q
- 1 =
Fig 1: Increase in mean temperature of Fig 2 . Decrease in mean temperature
heat addition heat rejection
Again if the mean temperature of heat rejection decreases , the curve as shown in fig 2 comes
down . So the amount of heat rejection decreases and increases in efficiency results.
after compression, air enters a combustion chamber into which fuel is injected
the resulting products of combustion expand and drive the turbine
combustion products are discharged to the atmosphere
compressor power requirements vary from 40-80% of the power output of the turbine
(remainder is net power output), i.e. back work ratio = 0.4 0.8
high power requirement is typical when gas is compressed because of the large specific
volume of gases in comparison to that of liquids
Closed cycle gas turbine:
T
S
S
T
Q
2
Q
1
Q
2
Q
1
closed loop
constant pressure heat addition and rejection
ideal gas with constant specific heats
Brayton cycle with reheater :
A reheater is employed in a Brayton cycle to increase the cycle efficiency .
But a reheater alone cannot increase the cycle efficiency rather it decreases it.
More than one turbine is employed and it is called staging of turbines.
In the figure two turbines are employed. So the air living the turbine1 is heated and is
taken to a temperature 5 which is about equal to the to temperature at 3 i.e. the
temperature at which air enters to the turbine 1. Then again temperature at turbine 2
decreases to a temperature 6.
It is seen from the T-S diagram that the work output is increasing.
But in this case as point 3 and 5 are at about in the same level the mean temperature of
heat addition (MTHA) does not increase. It is also possible to make 5 is higher than 4
and so the mean temperature of heat addition does increase. But the problem for both
cases is that the mean temperature of heat rejection (MTHR)also increases as temperature
living the turbine increases from a temperature at the point A to a point 6. So (MTHA)
remains the same ( sometimes can increases also ) and (MTHR) always increases. The
net effect is that the efficiency does decrease.
So using a reheater alone increase the net work of a Brayton cycle but the efficiency
decreases.
A
Brayton cycle with Intercooling:
More than one compressor is employed. In the figure two compressor is shown.
It is called staging of compressor.
The intercooler cools the air leaving compressor 1 and again supply the cooled air to
the compressor 2.
In the compressor 1 the temperature rises to point 2 instead of point
/
Z . And then
cooled in the cooling chamber to temperature at the point 3.Then again it is
compressed and temperature rises to a point 4 then it enters to the combustion
chamber.
It is seen from the T-S diagram that the work input is decreasing as area under the
curve 1-
/
Z is less than the area under the curve 1-2-3-4 .So the net work is increased.
MTHA is decreased as the temperature during entering to the combustion chamber
reduces from
/
Z to 4. MTHR remains the the same and sometimes may decrease as
point 1 and 5 remains in same level or sometimes 5 decreases a little more . But the
decrease in MTHA is more than the decrease in MTHR .The net effect results a
decrease in efficiency.
Intercooler alone decreases the thermal efficiency of Brayton cycle though the work
input decreases.
Brayton cycle with Regenerator :
Regenerator is a kind of heat exchanger.
Regenerator uses the part of heat rejected at the cooling chamber to heat the air living
the compressor and so a higher temperature air enters to the combustion chamber.
As shown in the T-S diagram Q heat rejected at the cooling chamber , area under the
curve 4-6 , is used as a part of input heat.
So the MTHA increases as point 2 rises to point 5 and MTHR decreases as
temperature at point 4 drops down to the point 6. So efficiency increases.
Decrease in input heat and rejected heat are the same. But this also increases the
efficiency. As

in
out
Q
Q
1 =
without

Q Q
Q Q
1
in
out

=
with

As reduction of same quantity from denominator and numerator decreases the

ratio. So

with

>
without

So a regenerator alone can increase the efficiency of the Brayton cycle .

Fuel consumption is reduced as input heat is reduced.

2 4
2 5
T T
T T

= ess Effectiven
Where,
T
5
= Air temperature at the inlet of the combustion chamber with regenerator
T
2
= Air temperature at the inlet of the combustion chamber without regenerator
T
4
= Air temperature at the inlet of the cooling chamber without regenerator
Cooling
Chamber
Combustion Chamber
2
1
5
3
4
6
6
Q
Q
T
S
ABOUT VAPOUR POWER CYCLE
In the gas power cycles, the working fluid remains gas throughout the entire cycle.
But in vapor cycles the working fluid is alternately vaporized and condensed.
Steam is the most common working fluid in vapor power cycles since it has several
desirable characteristics, such as low cost, availability and high enthalpy of
vaporization.
Steam power plants are referred to as coal plants, nuclear plants, or natural gas plants
depending on the type of fuel used to supply heat to the steam. But steam goes
through the same basic cycle in all of them .
Carnot Vapor power cycle :
4-1)Reversible Isothermal heat input from boiler.
1-2) Reversible Isentropic expansion in turbine.
2-3) Reversible Isothermal heat exhaust from condenser to surroundings.
4-1) Reversible Isentropic Compression in compressor/pump.
Why not the Carnot vapor power cycle is used?
Comp
ressor
4
1
2 3
T
S
4
1
2
3
T
S
4
1
2
3
P
V
4
2
3
P
V
Fig 1 : P-V and T-S diagram within liquid-vapor region
Fig 2 : P-V and T-S diagram when fluid goes to superheated region
1
/
1
1
/
There are two reasons for why Carnot cycle is not used to operate a vapour power engine:
a) As shown in the fig .1 , the compression takes place between 3-4 , which is in liquid
vapor region . It is difficult for a compressor or a pump to work with two phase mixture.
b) If the cycle cross the saturation vapor line i.e. enters to the superheated region as in the
fig 2 then the problem arises to keep the temperature constant between state 1
/
-
1.Because it is in the superheated region . Moreover pressure is also dropping . So it is
impossible to add heat and keep the temperature constant at the same time.
To overcome these two difficulties Rankine cycle is employed.
Rankine cycle is the ideal cycle for vapor power plants and consists of the following four
processes:
1-2 Isentropic compression in a pump
2-3 Constant pressure heat addition in a boiler
3-4 Isentropic expansion in a turbine
4-1 Constant pressure heat rejection in a condenser
Water enters the pump at state 1 as saturated liquid and is compressed isentropically to
the operating pressure of the boiler. There is slight increase in water temperature during
the compression process.
Water enters the boiler as a compressed liquid at state 2 and leaves as a superheated
vapor at state 3. The boiler is basically a heat exchanger where water is heated at constant
pressure.
The superheated vapor at state 3 enters the turbine, where it expands isentropically and
produces work by rotating shaft connected to an electric generator. The pressure and the
temperature of the steam drop during this process to the values at state 4.
Steam enters the condenser at state 4. At this state steam is usually a saturated liquid-
vapor mixture with a high quality. It is condensed at constant pressure and leaves the
condenser as a saturated liquid.
P Pr ro ob bl le em ms s a as ss so oc ci ia at te es s w wi it th h C Ca ar rn no ot t c cy yc cl le e i is s s so ol lv ve ed d: :
As compression process takes place between 1-2 are in liquid region. So replacing
the compressor in the Carnot cycle is possible by a small feed pump. As the phase
is completely liquid pump can work properly.
Effect of increasing superheating temperature :
If the superheating temperature is raised then mean temperature of heat addition
is increased and work output increases as well as seen in the figure . So the efficiency can be
increased .
4
2
1
3
Effect of reheating :
In a normal Rankine cycle (1-2-3-A) , as the temperature in the turbine falls , water
droplets starts to form which is harmful for turbine blade. As shown in the figure in a
normal cycle droplets forms between point B to A. By reheating distance between this two
points can be minimized . So the amount of moisture formation will be less and turbine
blade erosion will be minimized.
For this turbine are staged by employing more than one turbine. In this case two turbines
are used. Superheated vapor enters the high pressure turbine first at 3.
Then it enters to the boiler and reheated to a temperature from 4 to 5 .
At 5 vapor enters to the low pressure turbine and expansion takes place again.
The result is that the moisture formation region minimized between point C-6 from a
region B-A in case of normal Rankine cycle .
So quantity of moisture formation is minimized by reheating arrangement in a Rankine
cycle.
A
B
C
VAPOR ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION CYCLE
Vapor absorption refrigeration system(VARS) is employed to replace the compressor
used in a vapor compression refrigeration (VCRS) as compressor neeeds larger work
input and it is noisy.
The arrangement of the left of the dotted line in the figure is as same as a VCRS
arrangement , the arrangement to the right is employed to replace the compressor.
The refrigeration system employed are
a) Ammonia-water refrigeration system
b) Water-lithium bromide refrigeration system
c) Water lithium chloride refrigeration system
Here Ammonia-water refrigeration system is discussed.
Ammonia vapor leaves the evaporator and enters to the absorber.
There is ammonia solution of water in the absorber. It absorbs the ammonia vapor and
strong ammonia solution leaves the absorber.
Strong ammonia solution enters to the pump . The pump thus pumps this complete
liquid phase solution to the generator through the heat exchanger .
In the generator the solution is heated at high pressure and temperature. Thus ammonia
is separated from the solution. Weak solution left in the generator flows back to the
absorber through the heat exchanger and the expansion valve.
Then ammonia vapor flows through the rectifier separator that separates any more water
particle in the vapor . The only pure ammonia vapor enters to the condenser. The
separated water by the rectifier is flows back to the generator.
The remaining processes in the condenser , expansion valve and evaporator are the same
as VARS.
CONDENSER
Rectifier
Separator
GENERATOR
HEAT
EXCHANGER
EVAPORATOR
PUMP
Expansion valve
ABSORBER
Expansion valve
OTTO CYCLE
The term "compression ignition" is typically used in technical literature to describe the
modern engines commonly called "Diesel engines". This is in contrast to "spark ignition"
for the typical automobile gasoline engines that operate on a cycle derived from the Otto
cycle. Rudolph Diesel patented the compression-ignition cycle which bears his name in
the 1890s.
DIESEL CYCLE
The diesel internal combustion engine differs from the gasoline powered Otto cycle by using
a higher compression of the fuel to ignite the fuel rather than using a spark plug
("compression ignition" rather than "spark ignition").
In the diesel engine, air is compressed adiabatically with a compression ratio typically between
15 and 20. This compression raises the temperature to the ignition temperature of the fuel
mixture which is formed by injecting fuel once the air is compressed.
The ideal air-standard cycle is modeled as a reversible adiabatic compression followed
by a constant pressure combustion process, then an adiabatic expansion as a power stroke
and an isovolumetric exhaust. A new air charge is taken in at the end of the exhaust, as
indicated by the processes a-e-a on the diagram
Angel