ENSC 461 Tutorial, Week#4 – IC Engines

The compression ratio in an air-standard Otto cycle is 10. At the

beginning of the compression stroke the pressure is 0.1 MPa and the
temperature is 15C. The heat transfer to the air per cycle is 1800 kJ/kg.
Determine:
a) The pressure and temperature at the end of each process of the
cycle,
b) the net work output,
c) the thermal efficiency,
d) the mean effective pressure,
e) and the irreversibility if this cycle was executed with a heat source
temperature of 3500 K and a heat sink temperature of 250 K

Step 1: Draw a diagram to represent the system

A process diagram is drawn to visualize the processes occurring during
the cycle.

P q in

4
2 qout

vTDC vBDC
v
Step 2: Write out what is required to solve for
a) The pressure and temperature at the end of each process of the
cycle
b) the net work output
c) the thermal efficiency
d) the mean effective pressure
e) the cycle irreversibility if this cycle was executed with a heat
source temperature of 3500 K and a heat sink temperature of 250
K

M. Bahrami ENSC 461 (S 11) Tutorial 3 1

Step 3: Property table

T [K] P [kPa] v [m3/kg]

1 288 100
2
3 v2
4 v1

Step 4: Assumptions
1) ke, pe  0
2) cold-air-standard assumption are applicable

Step 5: Solve
Part a)
P2 and T2 will be determined first. Referring to the process diagram, state
1 to 2 is an isentropic compression process. Therefore the ideal gas
relations for isentropic processes can be used. The temperature ratio of
the two states is related to the specific volume ratio through k as shown
in Eq1.

T v
k 1
 (Eq1)
2
  1
T1  v2 

Noting that the ratio v1/v2 (equivalent to Vmax/Vmin) is the compression

ratio, r, and the value of k for air is 1.4, the temperature at state 2 can
be determined.

T  T  v 1   (288)10
k 1 1.41
 723.4[K ] T
2 1 2
 v2 

Again, since the process from state 1 to 2 is isentropic, the ideal gas
relation relating the specific volume and pressure ratios through k can
be used as shown in Eq2.

P  v k 1 v  k
2
  1  P  P   (Eq2)
P1  v2  2 1 2 
v

Noting that v1/v2 is equal to the compression ratio, the pressure at state
2 can be determined as shown below.
  v k
P  P  1   100[kPa]10   2511.9[kPa]
1.4
P
2 1  2
 v2 
Performing an energy balance for the constant volume heat addition
process (2  3), Eq3 is obtained.

qin  u3  u2
(Eq3)

For an ideal gas the internal energy is a function of temperature only.

Using the assumption of constant specific heats evaluated at room
temperature, the change in internal energy can be determined using Eq4.

u 3  u 2  c v T3  T2
(Eq4)

The problem statement gives the value of q in as 1800 kJ/kg. Substituting
Eq4 into Eq3 along with the known value of q in, the temperature at state
3 can be determined.

q c
(T
 kJ 
1800
 
 T )  T  qin  T   723.4K  3230.4[K ] T
in v 3 2 3 2 kg  kJ  3
cv 0.718
 
 kg  K 

Since the process from 2 to 3 is executed over a constant volume, the

ideal gas law can be applied separately to both state 3 and state 2 and
combined as shown below in Eq5.

T2 R  T3 
T3
R
(Eq5)
v2    v3  P3  P2  
P2 P3 T 2 

Substituting the known values into Eq5, the pressure at state 3 can be
solved for as shown below.

 T3   3230.4K 
P3  P2    (2511.9[kPa]) K   11216.6[kPa] P3
T  2  
Since the process from 3 to 4 is isentropic, the temperature at state 4
can be determined using the ideal gas relation relating the temperature
and specific volume ratios through k as shown in Eq6.
 k 1
T  T v3  (Eq6)
4 3
v4 

Noting that v3/v4 is the inverse of the compression ratio, the temperature
at state 4 can be determined.

T4  (3230.4[K ]) 1 1.41

10  1286[K ] T4
 

The pressure can be determined from the isentropic relation for an ideal
gas, which relates the pressure and the specific volume ratios through k
as shown in Eq7.

 v k
P P 3 (Eq7)
4 3
v4 

Noting again that v3/v4 is the inverse of the compression ratio, the
pressure at state 4 can be determined.

 v k
1.4
P  P  3  11216.6[kPa] 1   445.6[kPa] P
3
 v4 
4
4
 10 

Part b)
An overall energy balance on the cycle can be used to find an expression
for the net work output as shown in Eq8.

qin  win  qout  wout  wnet  wout  win  qin  qout

(Eq8)

The value of qin is given in the problem statement so the problem reduces
to finding the value of q out. Performing an energy balance for the process
from 4 to 1, qout can be determined from the temperature difference
between state 4 and 1 as shown in Eq9.

qout
 u 4  u1  cv T4  T1 (Eq9)

Substituting the known values into Eq9, qout can be determined as
shown below.
   kJ   kJ 
qout
 cv T4  T1    0.718  1286[K ]  288[K ]  716.6  
  kg  K
   kg

Using this result with the given qin = 1800 kJ/kg and Eq8, the net work
output can be determined as shown below.
 kJ  
w qq  
kJ(1800  716.6)  1083.4 Answer
net in out  
kg


 kg (b)
   

Part c)
To calculate the thermal efficiency the general expression for efficiency
(benefit/cost) can be used.

benefit wnet
   1083.4[kJ ] Answer
 
th
cos qi 1800[kJ ] (c)
t n

The Otto cycle thermal efficiency can also be determined using the
equation that makes use of the compression ratio.

th,Otto  1
1
1
1
 60.2%
Answer
 r k
 10 0.4 (c)
1

Part d)
The mean effective pressure (MEP) can be determined using Eq10.

MEP  w
net
(Eq10)
v1  v2

The value of wnet was determined in part b) but the values v 1 and v2 are
unknown. v1 can be determined by applying the ideal gas law to state 1
as shown below.
  kJ 
 0.287 288[K ]
P
kg   
v1  RT1  
K
  m3   
0.827 100[kP
a] kg
1  

v2 is related v1 through the compression ration, r, and can be determined

as shown below.
  m3 
0.827  m3 
v 1 v1   kg  
v rv  r  10  0.0827
2
kg
2  

Substituting these results into Eq10, the value of the MEP can be
determined as shown below.
 kJ 
w 1083.4  kg 
 
MEP net   1456.4[kPa] Answer
v1  v2  m3  (d)
0.827  0.827 
 kg 

Part e)
The irreversibility of the cycle (exergy destroyed) if the source and sink
temperatures were 3500 K and 250 K respectively, can be determined
from application of Eq11.

xdestroyed 
T0 (Eq11)
sgen

The entropy generated during this cycle can be determined by performing

an entropy balance over each process as shown in Eq12 - 15.

Since the process from 1 to 2 is isentropic with no heat transfer and

occurs in a closed system there will be no entropy generated.

s gen,12  ssys  sout  sin  0

(Eq12)

Since the process from 2 to 3 occurs over constant volume with heat
transfer into the system, there will be entropy generated as shown in
Eq13.

sgen, 23 qin

 sy 
sout  si  (s3  s2 ) (Eq13)
s s n  Tsource

Since the process from 3 to 4 is isentropic with no heat transfer and

occurs in a closed system there will be no entropy generated.
s gen,34  ssys  sout  sin  0
(Eq14)
Since the process from 4 to 1 occurs over constant volume with heat
transfer out of the system, there will be entropy generated as shown in
Eq15.

sgen,41 qout
 sy 
sout  si  (s1  s4 ) (Eq15)
s s n
 Tsin
k

The total entropy generated will be the sum of the entropy generated
during each process as shown in Eq16.

 qout
 qi   (s  s )  (s  s ) (Eq16)
gen
s  T n 1 4 3 2
  sin k T source 

Since the compression and expansion processes are modeled as

isentropic s4 = s3 and s2 = s1. Therefore Eq16 reduces to Eq17.

 qout
 qin
gen
s  T  (Eq17)


 sin k Tsource 

The total entropy generated during the cycle is determined by

substituting all of the known parameters into Eq17 as shown below.
  kJ   kJ  
 716.6  1800   kJ 
  kg  kg

  250[K]   
s gen 3500[K] 2.352 kg  K
   
 

Substituting this result into Eq11, the irreversibility of cycle is

determined as shown below.
  kJ   kJ

Answer
xd destroye (e)
 T0 sgen  (298[K ]) 2.352    700.93
kg  K

kg
    
Step 5: Concluding Remarks & Discussion
The pressures and temperatures at the end of each process are
summarized in the table below.
T [K] P [kPa]
1 288 100
2 723.4 2511.9
 3 3230.4 11216.6
4 1286 445.6

The net work output was found to be 1083.4 kJ/kg. The thermal
efficiency of the cycle was found to be 60.2%. The MEP was determined
to be 1456.4 kPa. The irreversibility of the cycle if the source and sink
temperatures were 3500 K and 250 K would be 700.93 kJ/kg.