BASIC THERMODYNAMICS

WEEK 7

Gas Power Cycles

Course Learning Outcomes:

1. Learn about Gas Power Cycles, otto cycle, Diesel cycle in thermodynamics.

IDEAL AND REAL TD CYCLES AND HEAT ENGINES

Devices intended to produce net mechanical power out (for example, automotive shaft power
or jet propulsion) are often called engines. These devices may be said to operate on thermodynamic
Power cycles (as opposed to Refrigeration Cycles). They use heat (thermal energy transfer) as
a source of energy, so may be called heat engines. TD power cycles operating with a working fluid
that remains always in the gas phase—i.e., that never condenses to a saturated mixture or liquid
phase—are called Gas Power Cycles. (Although a liquid fuel is mixed into and vaporized in the
working fluid of most of the internal combustion engines, the TD effect of the liquid phase is
apparently negligible, and the idealized and actual cycles of these engines are grouped with the other
gas power cycle engines.)
For closed cycles, the working fluid is recirculated and returns to the starting place and
state. In open cycles, such as typical internal
combustion engines, the engine operates on a full
mechanical cycle, but the working fluid is exhausted to the
environment and renewed at the end of each cycle, thus
the engine does not go through a complete TD cycle.
In TD analysis of various cycles, we typically start
with totally reversible idealized cycles (e.g., Carnot,
Rankine, Brayton, Diesel, Otto, Stirling, etc.). These
theoretical cycles cannot be attained in actual (real)
devices—they have performance characteristics that can be
approached to some extent but never fully achieved.
Nevertheless, the ideal cycles, like the Carnot cycle, present
an optimal or best-case scenario. They have the maximum
possible thermal efficiency and performance for the
conditions and consist of reversible processes with no
friction, etc. In the P-v diagram to the right, an ideal but unachievable cycle path with reversible
processes is depicted, as well as the cycle path of a real actual device.1 It appears to be common
practice to refer to a real device as operating in one of the named ideal cycles, even though in actuality
it deviates substantially from the ideal, with lower efficiency and higher entropy generation, etc.
Thermal efficiency for an ideal reversible heat engine, as mentioned before, can be no better
than that of the Carnot cycle:

Actual cycle efficiency compared to idealized cycle thermal efficiency is reduced by many
factors: friction, operation under rapidly changing non-equilibrium conditions, heat losses resulting
from inadequate insulation, and other irreversible factors.

Classic (Standard) and Steady-Flow Carnot Cycles

As discussed, work performed by an ideal cyclical device is given on both P-v and on T-s
diagrams by the area enclosed inside the cyclical process curve (path) of the cycle. 2 This work is equal
to the net heat transfer into an idealized system, i.e., the heat-addition minus the heat-rejection. In
the Carnot cycle, recall that the heat transfers occur at constant TH and TL, and that the work transfers
are partly isothermal and partly isentropic adiabatic processes.
The ideal classic Carnot cycle may be envisioned alternatively as an ideal steady-flow system,
using in sequence an isothermal turbine, an isentropic turbine, an isothermal compressor, and an
isentropic compressor:

All processes are reversible for the ideal steady-state Carnot cycle, just as they are with the
classic ideal Carnot cycle (discussed earlier):
Isothermal Qin at 1-2 and adiabatic isentropic expansion at 2-3 produce Workout .
 Workin (source not shown) along with Qout is needed to produce isothermal
compression at 3-4, and further Workin (source not shown) is required to produce adiabatic
isentropic compression at 4-1.
Net Workout (shaft work here) = Workout - Workin
Although it leads to a simple efficiency calculation, and establishes the principle that the TH
should be maximal (limited by materials heat tolerance) and TL should be minimal (limited by available
cooling), the steady-state ideal Carnot cycle is impractical and unsuitable for actual heat engines.

Simplifying Air-Standard Assumptions

For simplifying analysis of gas power cycles, certain simplifying air-standard assumptions
are often made to model the so-called air-standard cycle:
 The working fluid is air (not the real fuel plus air mixture, nor is it a liquid/gas mixture), which
continuously circulates in a closed loop and always behaves as an ideal gas
 All the processes are internally reversible
 The combustion chamber process is replaced by a heat addition process which adds heat to a
heating section from an external source\
 The exhaust process is replaced by a heat rejection process to an external sink that restores the
working fluid to its initial state. The combustion products are also replaced by air.
 If in addition it is also assumed that air has constant specific heats determined at a room T =25
°C, the air-standard assumptions are further called the cold-air-standard assumptions

Otto Cycle

This is the idealized cycle for spark-ignition internal combustion (SI IC) reciprocating engines
(used in automobiles, lawn mowers, etc.) The typical larger SI IC engine, such as is found in autos, has a
four-process cycle named after Nikolaus A. Otto (1832-1891). The term Otto Cycle appears to be
applied to the ideal cycle as well as to real actual approximations of the ideal cycle. Otto cycle engines,
like many of the other power cycle engine types in this summary, are a highly diverse and mature
technology, and here I describe only the thermodynamic basics plus a few interesting details.

Four Stroke Otto Cycle Engine

A four-stroke engine (also known as a “four cycle” engine) is an internal combustion (IC)
engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning a crankshaft through 2
complete rotations. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder in one of the two
reciprocal directions. The four separate strokes are termed and described as follows: 3
1. Intake stroke: This stroke of the piston begins at top dead center
(T.D.C. or TDC) and ends at bottom dead center (B.D.C. or BDC). In this
stroke, the intake valve must be in the open position while the piston pulls an air-fuel
mixture into the cylinder by producing below-atmospheric (vacuum) pressure inside the
cylinder through its downward motion.
 2. Compression stroke: This stroke begins at BDC, or just at the end of the
suction stroke, and ends at TDC. In this stroke the piston compresses the air-fuel
mixture in preparation for ignition during the next stroke. Both the intake and exhaust
valves are closed during this stage.
3. Combustion, Expansion, or Power stroke: This is the start of the
second revolution of the four stroke cycle. At this point the crankshaft has completed a
full 360 degree revolution. While the piston is at or close to TDC (at the end of the
compression stroke), the compressed air-fuel mixture is ignited by a spark plug (in a
gasoline engine) or by heat generated by high compression (diesel engines). The hot
combustion gases expand and forcefully return the piston to BDC. This stroke is the one
and only stroke which produces mechanical work from the engine to turn the crankshaft.
4. Exhaust stroke: During the exhaust stroke, the piston once again returns
from BDC. to TDC while the exhaust valve is open. This action expels the spent air-fuel
mixture through the exhaust valve.
The linear distance between TDC and BDC is the stroke and the diameter of the piston is the bore.
At TDC, the residual gas space in the combustion chamber is called the clearance volume. The
volume added in moving from TDC to BDC (the volume of a cylinder defined by the stroke height and
bore diameter) is the displacement volume. The compression ratio r is a volume ratio > 1
(e.g., 8:1) defined as r = Vmax / Vmin = VBDC/VTDC = (clearance volume + displacement)/(clearance volume)

Diesel Cycle

This is the idealized cycle for actual 4-stroke compression ignition internal combustion engines
(CI IC engines), and actual CI IC engines are described as operating on the Diesel Cycle. These were first
developed by Rudolph Diesel in the 1880s and 1890s.4 These engines are similar to SI IC engines.
However, fuel is injected near TDC at a point where high compression has already raised the T above
the autoignition temperature. Thus the fuel air mixture spontaneously ignites and burns as further fuel
is injected.
 Ideal Diesel Cycle Ideal Diesel Cycle

In the ideal Diesel cycle (diagrams immediately above), “The p–V diagram is a simplified and idealized
representation of the events involved in a Diesel engine cycle, arranged to illustrate the similarity with
a Carnot cycle. Starting at 1, the piston [at V1] is at bottom dead center and both valves are closed at
the start of the compression stroke; the cylinder contains air at atmospheric pressure. Between 1 and
2 the air is compressed adiabatically (isentropically)... by the rising piston. (This is only approximately
true since there will be some heat exchange with the cylinder walls.) During this compression, the
volume is reduced [to V2],
the pressure and temperature both rise. At or slightly before 2 (TDC) fuel is injected and burns
in the compressed hot air. Chemical energy is released and this constitutes an injection of thermal
energy (heat) into the compressed gas. Combustion and heating occur between 2 and 3. In this
interval the pressure remains constant since the piston descends, and the volume increases [producing
workout]; the temperature rises as a consequence of the energy of combustion. At 3 fuel injection and
combustion are complete, and the cylinder contains gas at a higher temperature than at 2. Between 3
and 4 this hot gas expands, again approximately adiabatically [and isentropically]. [Workout] is done on
the system to which the engine is connected [during 3-4]. During this expansion phase the volume of
the gas rises [from V3 to V4], and its temperature and pressure both fall. At 4 the exhaust valve opens,
and the pressure falls abruptly to atmospheric (approximately). This is unresisted expansion and no
useful work is done by it. Ideally the adiabatic expansion should continue, extending the line 3–4 to
the right until the pressure falls to that of the surrounding air, but the loss of efficiency caused by this
unresisted expansion is justified by the practical difficulties involved in recovering it (the engine would
have to be much larger).
 After the opening of the exhaust valve, the exhaust stroke follows, but this (and the following
induction stroke) are not shown on the diagram. If shown, they would be represented by a low-
pressure loop at the bottom of the diagram [similar to the actual Otto Cycle above].

At 1 it is assumed that the exhaust and induction strokes have been completed, and the cylinder
is again filled with air. The piston-cylinder system absorbs energy [workin] between 1 and 2—this is the
work needed to compress the air in the cylinder, and is provided by mechanical kinetic energy stored in
the flywheel of the engine. Work output [workout] is done by the piston-cylinder combination between
2 and 4. The difference between these two increments of work [workout - workin] is the indicated work
output per cycle [worknet,out], and is represented by the area enclosed by the p–V loop. The adiabatic
expansion [3-4] is in a higher pressure range than that of the compression [1-2] because the gas in the
cylinder is hotter during expansion than during compression. It is for this reason that the loop has a
finite area, and the net output of work during a cycle is positive.5

The T-s diagram6 for the ideal Diesel cycle is also shown, making clear that 1-2 and 3-4 are
isentropic adiabatic processes.

There is also a two-stroke version of the Diesel engine, but I have not studied these.

Diesel Cycle Efficiency (Ideal and Actual)

The ideal Diesel cycle thermal efficiency under cold air standard assumptions is calculated as:

where r = compression
ratio, rc = cutoff ratio (rc = V3/V2
= v3/v2) k = cp/cv for air at
room T.

The quantity in the square brackets is always > 1. Thus, comparing with the ideal Otto cycle,
ηth,Otto is always greater than ηth,Diesel for the same values of r and k. However, the much higher
compression ratios possible in diesel engines (with r range of approximately 12 ≤ r ≤ 23) substantially
improve ideal and actual diesel engine efficiency.
 As with the Otto cycle, thermal efficiency also improves with rising k and rising rc. Real engines
improve in efficiency also by relatively slow, more complete combustion, and higher air/fuel mass
ratio. Fuels for diesel engines need not be as highly refined as for SI IC engines.

Diesel Cycle Engine Advantages and Disadvantages Compared to Otto Cycle Engines

Advantages
Have higher actual efficiency than Otto cycle (see above)
Scalable to very large size and power output
No high voltage electrical ignition system (improving
reliability) Increased longevity and durability
Fuel is inherently lubricating
Can run on renewable biodiesel fuel
Can accept super-charging or turbo-charging
pressures Generate relatively low CO2 and CO emissions.
Disadvantages
Must be more rugged to withstand higher compression, thus heavier and more costly to
build
More noisy (producing diesel “clatter”)
Fuel is no longer cheaper than gasoline
Produce smelly exhaust laden with toxic air contaminants216 including aerosols of
soot and other particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), various other
carcinogens, and greater NOx.

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_ratio
3. http://www.autoblog.com/2015/10/06/diesel-engine-history-
feature/