BMEE203L - Engineering Thermodynamics

Module 5 : Vapour and Refrigeration

Cycles
Dr. Feroskhan M
Associate Professor, SMEC
Module 5 : Vapour and Refrigeration Cycles
Topic Date

10/10/2022
Carnot vapour cycle
12/10/2022
Ideal Rankine Cylce
2/11/2022
Reheat and Regenerative cycles
2/11/2022
The effect of isentropic efficiencies
4/11/2022
Air standard assumptions: Otto cylce
4/11//2022
Diesel Cycle
5/11/2022
Brayton Cycle
5/11/2022
Stirling Cycle and Ericsson Cycle
7/11/2022
Tutorials
 Vapour Power Cycles
• Thermodynamic cycles are either power cycles (work producing) or
refrigeration cycles (work consuming)
• Classification of thermodynamic cycles based on working fluid:
– Gas cycles : WF remains gas throughout
– Vapour cycles : WF changes phase (f-g-f)
• Advantage over gas power cycles: compression work is low as liquid is
compressed, not gas
• Most common working fluid is steam
– Low cost, easily available, renewable, high hfg
• Most efficient cycle is Carnot cycle – reversible
• Carnot power cycles are difficult to design – not practical
• Actual working cycles try to approach as close as possible to the Carnot
cycle

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Carnot vapour power cycle
• Closed system with steady flow
components
• 1 – 2: Reversible, isothermal
(isobaric) heating in a boiler. All
water (1) converted to steam (2).
• 2 – 3: Isentropic expansion in
turbine. Pressure drops
• 3 – 4: Reversible isothermal
(isobaric) condensation in a
condenser
• 4 – 1: Isentropic compression in
compressor
MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics
 Why is the Carnot cycle not practical?
• Phase change is isothermal, so isothermal heat addition in boiler is
easy to achieve. But limits the maximum temperature to Tcrit (647.1
K) and hence hth (= 1 – Th/Tl) tends to be low. Isothermal heating in
single phase systems is difficult to achieve
• As steam expands in turbine, it condenses partially to form water.
Impingement of water droplets on turbine blades causes erosion
(wear). Usually turbines cannot handle steam with quality < 90%.
Remedy: Choose working fluid with a steep saturated vapour line
(minimum condensation)
• Controlling the condensation process to stop exactly at point 4 is
difficult
• Compressors can’t handle two phases (point 4).
• Compressing vapour requires a large compressor with high work
input (-∫vdp)

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

Practical difficulties:
• Require large operating pressures (> pcrit), not easy
• No control over phase change at supercritical conditions
• Isothermal heating of single phase difficult to achieve

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Ideal Rankine Cycle
The processes in an Ideal Rankine Cycle are:
• Isentropic Compression in a Pump (1-2)
• Constant Pressure Heat Addition in a Boiler (2-
3)
• Isentropic Expansion in a Turbine (3-4)
• Constant Pressure Heat Rejection in a
Condenser (4-1)

7
 Ideal Rankine Cycle…

Schematic Diagram T-
S Diagram
8
 Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine
Cycle
• The four devices operate under steady flow
conditions
• KE and PE changes are negligible
• Boiler and Condenser do not involve any work
• Pump and Turbine operate Isentropically

9
Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine
Cycle…
SFEE : Q  W  h
Pump q  0 : w pum p  h2  h1   P2  P1 
Boiler w  0 : qin  h3  h2
Turbine q  0 : wturbine  h3  h4
Condenser w  0 : qout  h4  h1
wnet wturbine  w pum p qout
hth    1
qin qin qin

Heat Rate: Heat supplied in kJ to generate 1 kWh of

electricity
10
Deviation of Actual Vapour Cycle from
Ideal Cycle
• Deviations are a result of irreversibilities
• Fluid Friction causes pressure drop
• Heat loss from the steam to the surroundings
results in lower efficiency
• Due to irreversibilities in pump and turbine, a
pump requires more work and a turbine
produces less work

11
Deviation of Actual Vapour Cycle from
Ideal Cycle…

wisentropic h2 s  h1 wactual h3  h4 a
h pump   ; hturbine  
wactual h2 a  h1 wisentropic h3  h4 s
12
 Methods to Improve Efficiency of
Rankine Cycle
Basic Principles used are:
• Increase the average temperature of heat
addition
• Decrease the average temperature of heat
rejection
Methods Adopted are:
• Lowering the Condenser Pressure
• Superheating the steam to high temperatures
• Increasing the Boiler Pressure

13
 Methods to Improve Efficiency of
Rankine Cycle…
Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)

14
 Methods to Improve Efficiency of
Rankine Cycle…
Superheating the steam to high temperatures
(Increases Thigh,avg)

15
 Methods to Improve Efficiency of
Rankine Cycle…
Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,avg)

16
Ideal Reheat Rankine Cycle

qin  q prim ary  qreheat  h3  h2   h5  h4 

wturbine  wturbineI  wturbineII  h3  h4   h5  h6 
17
Ideal Regenerative Rankine Cycle

18
 Problem 1
A simple Rankine cycle with water as the
working fluid operates between the pressure
limits of 3 MPa in the boiler and 30 kPa in the
condenser. If the quality at the exit of the
turbine cannot be less than 85 percent, what is
the maximum thermal efficiency this cycle can
have?

Ans: 29.7%

19
 Problem 2
A simple ideal Rankine cycle with water as the working
fluid operates between the pressure limits of 15 MPa in
the boiler and 100 kPa in the condenser. Saturated steam
enters the turbine. Determine the work produced by the
turbine, the heat transferred in the boiler, and thermal
efficiency of the cycle.
If the irreversibilities in the turbine cause the steam
quality at the outlet of the turbine to be 70%, determine
the isentropic efficiency of the turbine and thermal
efficiency of the cycle.

Ans: 699 kJ/kg, 2178 kJ/kg, 31.4%

87.7%, 27.4% 20
 Problem 3
Consider a steam power plant that operates on the
ideal reheat Rankine cycle. The plant maintains the
boiler at 4000 kPa, the reheat section at 500 kPa,
and the condenser at 10 kPa. The mixture quality at
the exit of both turbines is 90 percent. Determine
the temperature at the inlet of each turbine and the
cycle’s thermal efficiency.

Ans: 292 0C, 283 0C, 33.5%

21
 Problem 4
A steam power plant operates on the reheat Rankine
cycle. Steam enters the high-pressure turbine at 12.5 MPa
and 550 0C at a rate of 7.7 kg/s and leaves at 2 MPa.
Steam is then reheated at constant pressure to 450 0C
before it expands in the low-pressure turbine. The
isentropic efficiencies of the turbine and the pump are 85
percent and 90 percent, respectively. Steam leaves the
condenser as a saturated liquid at 10 kPa. If the moisture
content of the steam at the exit of the turbine is not to
exceed 5 percent, determine (a) the net power output,
and (b) the thermal efficiency.

Ans: (a) 10.2 MW, (b) 36.5%

22
Desirable Characteristics of a Working
Fluid of a Vapour Power Cycle
• High critical temperature and a safe maximum
pressure
• Low triple point temperature to avoid
solidification
• Not too low condenser pressure
• High enthalpy of vaporization
• Good heat transfer characteristics
• Must be inert, inexpensive, readily available and
non-toxic

23
 Binary Vapour Cycles
• Binary cycle is a power cycle that is a combination of
two cycles, one at high temperature and other at low
temperature
• The condenser of the high temperature cycle (Topping
cycle) serves as a boiler for the low temperature cycle
(Bottoming Cycle)
• The heat output of the high temperature cycle is used
as the heat input to the low temperature cycle
• Working fluids suitable for the high temperature cycle
are mercury, sodium, potassium and sodium-potassium
mixtures

24
Binary Vapour Cycles…

25
 Binary Vapour Cycles…
• The Binary Vapour Cycle approximates the Carnot
cycle more closely than the Rankine cycle for the
same temperature limits
• Hence the thermal efficiencies are higher
• Thermal efficiencies of 50% and higher are
possible
• They are not economically attractive due to high
initial cost and competition from Combined Cycle
power plants (Combined Gas-Vapour Power
Cycles)
26
 Combined Gas-Vapour Power Cycles
• Also known as Combined Cycle
• The combined cycle of greatest interest is the
Gas Turbine Cycle (Brayton Cycle) topping a
Steam Turbine Cycle (Rankine Cycle)
• The exhaust of a gas turbine is above 500 0C
and the heat in these gases can be used to
generate steam and operate a steam turbine
• The result is a Combined Gas-Steam cycle
• Recent Combined Cycle power plants have
efficiencies above 60%
27
Combined Gas-Steam Power Plant

28
 Refrigeration Cycles

For heat transfer from low to high

temperatures, special devices called
Refrigerators are needed

Desired Effect QL
COPR  
Work Input Wnet,in
Desired Effect Q
COPHP   H
Work Input Wnet,in
COPHP  COPR  1

29
 Cooling Capacity of a Refrigerator
• Heat removal rate of a refrigerator is
expressed in Tons of Refrigeration
• The capacity of a refrigeration system that can
freeze 1 ton (2000 lb) of water at 0C to ice at
0C in 24 hours is called 1 Ton of Refrigeration
• Taking 1 ton as 907 kg and latent heat of
water as 334 kJ, 1 ton of refrigeration=211
kJ/min = 3.5 kW

30
Reversed Carnot Cycle

31
 Problems with the
Reversed Carnot Cycle
• The compressor must handle two phase fluid
• The turbine must expand to low quality
• The above problems can be solved if the
compression and expansion processes are
moved to superheat region
• In that case, the isothermal heat absorption
and heat rejection will be difficult as pressure
doesn’t remain constant

32
Ideal vapour Compression
Refrigeration Cycle

33
 Processes in an Ideal vapour
Compression Refrigeration Cycle
• 1-2: Isentropic compression in the compressor
• 2-3: Constant-Pressure heat rejection in a
condenser
• 3-4: Throttling in an expansion device
• 4-1: Constant-Pressure heat absorption in an
evaporator

34
 Ideal vapour Compression
Refrigeration Cycle

QL h h QH h h
On applying COPR   1 4; COPHP   2 3
Wnet,in h2  h1 Wnet,in h2  h1
the SFEE
35
Actual Vapour Compression Cycle

36
 Problem 5
A refrigerator uses refrigerant-134a as the working
fluid and operates on an ideal vapor-compression
refrigeration cycle between 0.12 and 0.7 MPa. The
mass flow rate of the refrigerant is 0.05 kg/s. Show
the cycle on a T-s diagram with respect to
saturation lines. Determine (a) the rate of heat
removal from the refrigerated space and the power
input to the compressor, (b) the rate of heat
rejection to the environment, and (c) the coefficient
of performance.
Ans: (a) 7.41 kW, 1.83 kW, (b) 9.23 kW, (c) 4.06

37
 Problem 6
Refrigerant-134a enters the compressor of a refrigerator
at 140 kPa and -10°C at a rate of 0.3 m3/min and leaves at
1 MPa. The isentropic efficiency of the compressor is 78
percent. The refrigerant enters the throttling valve at 0.95
MPa and 30°C and leaves the evaporator as saturated
vapor at -18.5°C. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram with
respect to saturation lines, and determine (a) the power
input to the compressor, (b) the rate of heat removal
from the refrigerated space, and (c) the pressure drop
and rate of heat gain in the line between the evaporator
and the compressor.
Ans: (a) 1.88 kW, (b) 4.99 kW, (c) 1.65 kPa, 0.241 kW
38
 Problem 7
Refrigerant-134a enters the compressor of a refrigerator
as superheated vapour at 0.14 MPa and -10C at a rate of
0.12 kg/s, and it leaves at 0.7 MPa and 50 C. The
refrigerant is cooled in the condenser to 24 C and 0.65
MPa, and it is throttled to 0.15 MPa. Disregarding any
heat transfer and pressure drops in the connecting lines
between the components, show the cycle on a T-s
diagram with respect to the saturation lines, and
determine (a) the rate of heat removal from the
refrigerated space and the power input to the
compressor, (b) the isentropic efficiency of the
compressor, and (c) the COP of the refrigerator.
Ans: (a) 19.4 kW, 5.06 kW, (b) 82.5%, (c) 3.83
39
 Problem 8
A refrigerator uses refrigerant-134a as the working
fluid and operates on the ideal vapour-compression
refrigeration cycle. The refrigerant enters the
evaporator at 120 kPa with a quality of 30 percent
and leaves the compressor at 60C. If the
compressor consumes 450 W of power, determine
(a) the mass flow rate of the refrigerant, (b) the
condenser pressure and (c) the COP of the
refrigerator.
Ans: (a) 0.00727 kg/s, (b) 672 kPa, (c) 2.43

40
 Problem 9
A heat pump using refrigerant-134a as a refrigerant
operates its condenser at 800 kPa and its
evaporator at -1.25C. It operates on the ideal
vapour-compression refrigeration cycle, except for
the compressor, which has an isentropic efficiency
of 85 percent. How much do the compressor
irreversibilities reduce this heat pump’s COP as
compared to an ideal vapour-compression
refrigeration cycle.
Ans: 13.1%

41
 Problem 10
The liquid leaving the condenser of a 30 kW
heat pump using refrigerant-134a as the
working fluid is subcooled by 5.4C. The
condenser operates at 1 MPa and the
evaporator at 0.4 MPa. How does this
subcooling change the power required to drive
the compressor as compared to an ideal vapour
compression refrigeration cycle.
Ans: 3.41 kW, 3.25 kW

42
 Gas Power Cycles - Features
• Typically internal combustion cycles – Heat supplied by combustion of
working fluid: Air + fuel  Products
• i.e. working fluid undergoes a change in composition
• This requires open cycle operation : working fluid does not complete the
cycle – burnt products expelled, fresh fuel + air taken in
• IC engine (reciprocating)
– Otto, Diesel, Dual cycles
– Output is expansion work by a moving piston as it is pushed by combustion products
– Closed system
• Gas turbine (rotary)
– Joule or Brayton cycle
– Output is shaft work produced as it is turned by combustion products
– Open (flow) system

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Air Standard Cycles
• Ratio of air mass to fuel mass is ~ 10 – 100
• Major component of air is N2, which mostly doesn’t undergo change
• Thus working fluid can be approximated as air throughout the cycle
• Air standard assumptions
– WF is air throughout. It is an ideal gas
– Operates in full cycle (closed cycle)
– Internally reversible processes
– Combustion is replaced by heat addition from an external source
– Exhaust process is replaced by heat rejection
• A further simplification is to assume constant cp, cv for air
• Other assumptions:
– No friction
– Quasi-equilibrium
– No heat losses (except the intended heat rejection)
– No leakage of working fluid
– Negligible changes in KE, PE
MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics
 Reciprocating Engines Terminologies

• Extreme positions of piston – Dead Centres (No

motion)
• Max volume @ BDC or O(uter)DC
• Min volume @ TDC or I(nner) DC called clearance
volume
• Max – Min = Displacement volume
• Compression Ratio = Vmax/Vmin
• Bore = Diameter
• Stroke = Maximum distance of piston travel in one
direction

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Otto Cycle - Assumptions
• SI engine developed by Nikolaus Otto (1876)
• Otto cycle proposed by Beau de Rochas (1862)

Assumptions:
• Frictionless piston
• Working fluid is air – ideal gas with constant specific heat
• No heat losses to walls (other than heat rejection)
• No leakage of working fluid past piston
• Reversible processes
• Which implies that compression and expansion are isentropic

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

Operation of an SI (Spark Ignition) engine

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

Expression for thermal efficiency
Qin = mcv (T3-T2) ; Qout = mcv(T4-T1)
h = 1 – Qout/Qin = 1 – (T4 – T1)/(T3 – T2)
h = 1 – [T1(T4/T1 – 1)]/[T2(T3/T2 – 1)]
T2/T1 = rc(g-1) = T3/T4
So h = 1 – T1/T2 = 1 – 1/rc g-1

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Variation of h with CR, g
• h = 0 when CR (rc) = 1 (no piston motion)
• h improves on raising CR, benefit
diminishes for CR > 8
• Actual SI engine h is lower. Why?
g
• Max CR is limited by ‘knocking’ – sudden
explosion (auto-ignition) of unburned mixture
towards the end of combustion
• Knocking affects performance, damages
engine
• Normal range of CR : 7 – 12
• Knocking can be minimised by using fuels with higher ‘octane rating’
• Monatomic gases (g = 1.67) have higher h than diatomic/triatomic
• In actual engines, h is lower due to the formation of CO2, H2O during
combustion and reduction in g at higher temperatures

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Examples
• In an air standard Otto cycle the compression ratio is 7, and compression
begins at 35°C, 0.1 MPa. The maximum temperature of the cycle is 1100°C.
Find (a) the temperature and pressure at the cardinal points of the cycle, (b)
the heat supplied per kg of air, (c) the net work done per kg of air, (d) the
cycle efficiency
(a) 1524.5 kPa and 670 K ; 3120.4 kPa and 1373 K ; 204.7 kPa and 630.5 K
(b) 502 kJ/kg (c) 270.5 kJ/kg (d) 54%
• An engine working on the Otto cycle has an air standard cycle efficiency of
56% and rejects 544 kJ/kg of air. The pressure and temperature of air at the
beginning of compression are 0.1 MPa and 60°C respectively. Compute (a)
the compression ratio of the engine (b) the work done per kg of air (c) the
pressure and temperature at the end of compression and (d) the maximum
pressure in the cycle.
(a) 7.81 (b)692.4 kJ/kg (c)1777.1 kPa and 757.7 K (d) 5815.9 kPa

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Diesel Engine and Cycle
• Compression Ignition (CI) engine – Rudolph Diesel (1890s)
• Combustion initiated by high temperatures resulting from
compression
• Fuel is injected directly into the cylinder slightly before TDC,
vaporises, mixes and ignites  auto-ignition
• Fuel injection continues in the expansion stroke  Longer
duration of combustion
• Combustion tends to increase pressure, piston expansion
tends to reduce it. Net effect is nearly isobaric combustion
• Heat addition is hence an isobaric process in Diesel cycle
• Auto-ignition is desired, hence no limit on CR theoretically
• Compression ratios : 12 – 24
MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics
 Diesel cycle

Cutoff ratio, a = V3/V2 determines the duration and

quantity of heat addition

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Diesel Cycle Efficiency

Qin = mcp (T3 – T2) ; Qout = mcv(T4 – T1)

T 
T1  4  1
cv T4  T1 1  T1 
h 1  1
c p T3  T2  g  T3 
T2   1
 T2 
Cut-off ratio, a = V3/V2 = v3/v2

T1/T2 = 1/rcg-1

T4/T1 = T4/T3*T3/T2*T2/T1

T4/T3 = (a/rc) g-1 ; T3/T2 = a ; T2/T1 = rcg-1

a g 1
h  1  g 1
g rc a  1

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Diesel cycle efficiency
• Higher CR compared to SI
• No knock limit
• Only limit is the weight of
engine
• h improves when cut-off
ratio is reduced, approaches
Otto cycle as a  1
• Higher CR ensures higher h
than Otto . Typically 30 – 40
%

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Example
• In an air standard Diesel cycle, the compression ratio is 15.
Compression begins at 0.1 MPa, 40° C. The heat added is
1.675 MJ/kg. Find (a) the maximum temperature of the cycle
(b) the work done per kg of air (c) the cycle efficiency (d) the
temperature at the end of isentropic expansion (e) the cut off
ratio (f) the maximum pressure in the cycle.
(a) 2591.3 K
(b) 949 kJ/kg
(c) 56.7%
(d) 1324.6 K
(e) 2.802
(f) 4431.3 kPa
MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics
 Dual cycle
• Combination of Otto and
Diesel
• Utility – closer representation
of actual cycles
• Explosion ratio : b = p3/p2 :
degree of constant volume
combustion
• Special cases:
b = 1 : Diesel , a = 1 : Otto
• Efficiency:
ba g  1
h  1  g 1
rc  b  1  gb a  1 
MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics
 Joule-Brayton Cycle
• James P Joule and George Brayton (~ 1870)
• Used in open cycle/closed cycle gas turbines (GTs)
• Aircraft, power plants, marine engines etc.
• Isobaric heat exchange, isentropic
expansion/compression
• pressure ratio, rp = pmax/pmin
1
h 1 g 1
g
rp
• Efficiency improves with increase in rp , g
• Range of rp : 5 – 20; usually 11 to 16.
• Limited by max metal temperature (~ 1700 K) –
turbine blade strength
• Overall air fuel ratio > 50 to keep components cool
- good air standard approximation

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Advantages, Disadvantages
Advantages:
• Higher power: weight ratio compared to ICEs and steam
turbines
• Reliability, long life

Disadvantages:
• Large part of turbine work is used to drive compressor,
turbine needs to be large
• Lower h compared to diesel cycle

Reheat, regeneration, inter-cooling used to improve h

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

 Example
• Consider an air standard Joule cycle in which the air enters
the compressor at 1.0 bar and 20°C. The pressure of air
leaving the compressor is 3.5 bar and the temperature at
turbine inlet is 600°C. Determine per kg of air : (i) Efficiency of
the cycle, (ii) Heat supplied to air,(iii) Work available at the
shaft, (iv) Heat rejected in the cooler, and (v) Temperature of
air leaving the turbine.
i) 30%
ii) 456.27 kJ/kg
iii) 136.88 kJ/kg
iv) 319.39 kJ/kg
v) 610.5 K
MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics
 Problem 1
The temperature at the beginning of the
compression process of an air standard Otto cycle
with a compression ratio of 8 is 300 K, the pressure
is 1 bar, and the cylinder volume is 560 cm3. The
maximum temperature during the cycle is 2000 K.
Determine (a) the temperature and pressure at the
end of each process, (b) the thermal efficiency and
(c) the mean effective pressure.

Ans: (b) 56.5% (c) 7.05 bar

60
 Problem 2
A gas turbine power plant operating on an ideal
Brayton cycle has a pressure ratio of 8. The gas
temperature is 300 K at the compressor inlet and
1300 K at the turbine inlet. Determine (a) the gas
temperature at the exits of the compressor and the
turbine, (b) the back work ratio and (c) the thermal
efficiency.
Compute the back work ratio and thermal efficiency
if the compressor efficiency is 80% and turbine
efficiency is 85%.
Ans: (a) 540 K, 717 K (b) 0.42 (c) 44.8%
(a) 0.592 (b) 26.6%
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 Problem 3
• In an air standard Diesel cycle, the compression ratio is 16.
Compression begins at 0.1 MPa, 27° C. The heat added is 2.5
MJ/kg. Find (a) pressure at all points of the cycle, (b)
temperature at all points of the cycle, (c) thermal efficiency
and mean effective pressure Cp = 1 kj/kgK, Cv = 714 j/kgK
(a) 1, 48.5, 48.5, 6.36 bar
(b) 300, 909, 3409 and 1908 K
(c) 45%
(d) 16.8 bar

MEE1003 - Engineering Thermodynamics

Thank You !