Thermodynamic air Cycles

Important Terms
1. Cylinder bore: The inner diameter of the cylinder.
2. Stroke length: The distance between TDC and BDC.
3. Clearance volume: The volume occupied by the working fluid,
when piston reaches TDC.
4. Swept volume: The volume swept by the piston, when it
moves between TDC to BDC.
5. Total cylinder volume: The volume occupied by the working
fluid, when the piston is at the BDC.
6. Compression ratio: The ratio of total cylinder volume to the
clearance volume.
7. Mean effective pressure: It is the ratio of work done to the
stroke volume.
 Work done
Efficiency of a cycle η =
Heat supplied

Heat supplied - Heat rejected

=
Heat supplied

Types of Thermodynamic Cycles:

1. Carnot cycle 2.Stirling cycle

3. Ericsson cycle 4. Joule cycle

5. Otto cycle 6. Diesel cycle

7. Dual combustion cycle

 Carnot Cycle

HB

IC
=
CB

First stage(Isothermal expansion):

Heat supplied = work by the air during isothermal expansion
Q1-2 = p1v1loge(v2/v1) = mRT1loge(v2/v1) = mRT1loger, where r = Expansion ratio = v2/v1

Second stage(Isentropic expansion):

Decrease in internal energy = Work done by the air during adiabatic expansion
P2v2 – p3v3 mRT2 – mRT3 mR(T1 – T3)
= γ-1 = γ-1 = γ-1
Third stage(Isothermal compression):
Heat rejected = Work done on the air during isothermal compression

Q3- 4 = p3v3loge(v3/v4) = mRT3loge(v3/v4) = mRT3loger

Fourth stage(Isentropic compression):

Increase in internal energy = Work done on the air during adiabatic compression

P1v1 – p4v4 mRT1 – mRT4 mR(T1 – T3)

= γ-1 = γ-1 = γ-1

Now Work done, W = Heat supplied – Heat rejected

= mRT1loger - mRT3loger = m R loger (T1 - T3)

Work donem R loger (T1 - T3) T1 - T3 T3

And efficiency η = = = = 1- T
Heat supplied mRT1loger T1 1
 A Carnot engine operates between two reservoirs at temperature T3 and T3 . The work
Output of the engine is 0.6 times the heat rejected. The difference in temperatures
Between the source and the sink is 200 K. Calculate the thermal efficiency, source
Temperature and the sink temperature.

Given W = .6×Heat rejected = 0.6Q3- 4

T1 - T2 = 200 K

Work done Work done

We know thermal efficiency η= =
Heat supplied Work done + Heat rejected
0.6 Q3- 4
= = .375 = 37.5%
0.6 Q3- 4 + Q3- 4

T1 - T3 200
And .375 = = Now ,T1 = 533.3K and T3 = 333.3K
T1
T1
 Otto Cycle

First stage(Isentropic expansion): The air is expanded reversibly and adiabatically from initial
Temperature T3 to a Temperature T4.

Second stage(Constant volume cooling): The air is cooled at constant volume from temperature
T4 to a Temperature T1. Heat rejected Q4- 1 = m cv(T4 – T1)

Third stage(Isentropic compression): The air is compressed reversibly and adiabatically from
Temperature T1 to a Temperature T2.

Fourth stage(Constant volume heating): The air is now heated at constant volume from
Temperature T2 to a Temperature T3. Heat absorbed Q2- 3 = m cv(T3 – T2)
 We know that work done = Heat absorbed – Heat rejected
= m cv(T3 – T2) – m cv(T4 – T1)
Work done
Ideal or air standard Efficiency of a cycle η =
Heat absored
m cv(T3 – T2) – m cv(T4 – T1)
=
m cv(T3 – T2)

T4
T1 – 1
T1
T4 – T1
= 1- = 1- -----(i)
T3 – T2 T3
T2 – 1
T2

For isentropic expansion

T4 γ-1 γ-1
v3 1
= = -----------------------(ii)
T3 v4 r

v4/v3 = r = Expansion ratio

For isentropic compression
T1 γ-1 γ-1
v2 1
= = -----------------------(iii)
T2 v1 r

v4/v3 = r = Expansion ratio = compression ratio = v1/v2

γ-1 T3 γ-1
T4 T1 1 T4 1
= = or = = r
T3 T2 r T1 T2

Substituting this value in equation ---------------(i) we get

T1 1
η = 1- = 1-
T2 γ-1
r
1. In an Otto cycle , the temperature at the beginning and end of the isentropic compression
are 316 K and 596 K respectively. Determine the air standard efficiency and the compression
ratio. Take γ = 1.4

Solution. Given T1 = 316 K, T2 = 596 K, γ = 1.4

Let r = Compression ratio = v1/v2

We know that for isentropic compression

T1 γ-1 γ-1
v2 1
= =
T2 v1 r
1.4 -1
316 1
= r = 4.885
596 r

Air standard efficiency

1
1
η = 1-
γ-1 or η = 1-
1.4-1 η= .47 = 47%
r
4.885