EN560: Foundation for Energy Technology

AIR STANDARD ASSUMPTIONS:

In power engines, energy is provided by burning fuel within the system boundaries, i.e.,
internal combustion engines. The following assumptions are commonly known as the air-
standard assumptions:
1. The working fluid is air, which continuously circulates in a closed loop (cycle). Air is
considered as ideal gas.
2. All the processes in (ideal) power cycles are internally reversible.
3. Combustion process is modelled by a heat-addition process from an external source.
4. The exhaust process is modelled by a heat-rejection process that restores the
working fluid (air) at its initial state.

BRAYTON CYCLE: THE IDEAL CYCLE FOR GAS-TURBINE

ENGINES
The Brayton cycle was first proposed by George Brayton for use in the reciprocating oil-
burning engine that he developed around 1870. Today, it is used for gas turbines only where
both the compression and expansion processes take place in rotating machinery. Gas turbines
usually operate on an open cycle, as shown in Fig. 4. Fresh air at ambient conditions is drawn
into the compressor, where its temperature and pressure are raised. The high-pressure air
proceeds into the combustion chamber, where the fuel is burned at constant pressure. The
resulting high-temperature gases then enter the turbine, where they expand to the
atmospheric pressure while producing power. The exhaust gases leaving the turbine are
thrown out (not recirculated), causing the cycle to be classified as an open cycle.

Figure 4: Schematic of an open cycle gas turbine engine

Figure 5: Schematic of a closed cyclce gas turbine engine

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The open gas-turbine cycle described above can be modelled as a closed cycle, as shown in
Fig. 5, by utilizing the air-standard assumptions. Here the compression and expansion
processes remain the same, but the combustion process is replaced by a constant-pressure
heat-addition process from an external source, and the exhaust process is replaced by a
constant-pressure heat-rejection process to the ambient air. The ideal cycle that the working
fluid undergoes in this closed loop is the Brayton cycle, which is made up of four internally
reversible processes:
1-2 Isentropic compression (in a compressor)
2-3 Constant-pressure heat addition
3-4 Isentropic expansion (in a turbine)
4-1 Constant-pressure heat rejection

Figure 6: T-s and P-v diagram of an ideal Brayton cycle

The T-s and P-v diagrams of an ideal Brayton cycle are shown in Fig. 6. Notice that all four
processes of the Brayton cycle are executed in steady-flow devices; thus, they should be
analyzed as steady-flow processes. When the changes in kinetic and potential energies are
neglected, the energy balance for a steady-flow process can be expressed, on a unit–mass
basis, as
(𝑞 − 𝑞 ) + (𝑤 − 𝑤 )=ℎ −ℎ
Therefore, heat transfers to and from the working fluid are
𝑞 = ℎ − ℎ = 𝑐 (𝑇 − 𝑇 )
and
𝑞 = ℎ − ℎ = 𝑐 (𝑇 − 𝑇 )
Then the thermal efficiency of the ideal Brayton cycle under the cold air standard
assumptions becomes
𝑇
𝑤 𝑞 𝑐 (𝑇 − 𝑇 ) 𝑇 𝑇 −1
𝜂 = =1− =1− =1−
𝑞 𝑞 𝑐 (𝑇 − 𝑇 ) 𝑇
𝑇 𝑇 −1

Process 1–2 and 3–4 are isentropic, and 𝑃 = 𝑃 and 𝑃 = 𝑃 . Thus,

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𝑇 𝑃 𝑇
= =
𝑇 𝑃 𝑇
Substituting these equations into the thermal efficiency relation and simplifying give
1
𝜂 =1− ( )/
𝑟
Where 𝑟 = 𝑃 /𝑃 is the pressure ratio and 𝛾 is the specific heat ratio. The relative pressure
is termed as 𝑟 = exp 𝑆 /𝑅. Note that the 𝑟 is a dimensionless quantity that is a function of
temperature alone. Therefore, values of 𝑟 can be tabulated against temperature.
Equation for 𝜂 above shows that under the cold-air-standard assumptions, the thermal
efficiency of an ideal Brayton cycle depends on the pressure ratio of the gas turbine and the
specific heat ratio of the working fluid. The thermal efficiency increases with both of these
parameters, which is also the case for actual gas turbines. A plot of thermal efficiency versus
the pressure ratio is given in Fig. 7 for 𝛾 = 1.4, which is the specific-heat-ratio value of air at
room temperature. The highest temperature in the cycle occurs at the end of the combustion
process (state 3), and it is limited by the maximum temperature that the turbine blades can
withstand.

Figure 7: Thermal efficiency of an ideal Brayton cycle as a function of pressure ratio

THE BRAYTON CYCLE WITH REGENERATION

In gas-turbine engines, if the temperature of the exhaust gases from the turbine is higher than
the temperature of the air leaving the compressor, a counter-flow heat exchanger can be used
to increase the temperature of the air by receiving heat from the exhausted gases, and the
counter-flow heat exchanger is called a regenerator or a recuperator. The thermal efficiency
of the Brayton cycle can be increased since the energy in the exhaust gases is used as a
portion of the heat input and save fuel requirements for the same net work output.

The T-s and P-v diagrams of an ideal Brayton cycle with

regeneration is shown on the left. Air increases its
temperature from T2 to T5 and the exhausted gases decrease
their temperature from T4 to T6 in the regenerator. In an actual
case, T5 is less than T4 and T6 is larger than T2. Heat
transferred from the exhausted gases to the air is

qregen, act = h5 - h2

Figure 8: Brayton Cycle with Regeneration

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In the ideal situation, air leaves the regenerator at the same temperature of the inlet exhausted
gases (T4), denoted as T5'. Now the heat transferred from the exhausted gases to the air
becomes

qregen, max = h5' - h2 = h4 - h2

The ratio of the actual heat transferred from the exhausted

gases to the air to the maximum heat transferred from the
exhausted gases to the air is called effectiveness (ε).

ε = (h5 - h2)/(h4 - h2)

The effectiveness of most regenerators used in practice is

below 0.85.

Under cold-air-assumption, the thermal efficiency of an

ideal Brayton cycle with regeneration is

Figure 9: T-s and P-v Diagrams of an

Ideal Brayton Cycle with Regeneration
THE BRAYTON CYCLE WITH INTERCOOLING,
REHEATING, AND REGENERATION

The net work output from a gas-turbine is the difference of

the work generated by the turbine and the work consumed
by the compressor. The net work output can be increased
by either decreasing the compressor work or increasing
the turbine work, or both. Using multistage compression
with intercooling can decrease the compressor work. This
can be shown by the following case.
Figure 10: Compressors with Intercooling
Assume a compressor needs to compress gas from P1 to
P2. Three methods are available.

1. Isentropic compression
2. Isothermal compression
3. Two-stage compression process: Isentropic
compressing to a pressure Px between P1
and P2, cooling the gas to its original
temperature T1, then isentropic
compressing to pressure P2

The compressor works of the three processes are:

Figure 11: P-v Diagram of Three Processes to

Isentropic: 𝑤 , = −1 Compress gas from P1 to P2

Isothermal: 𝑤 , = 𝑅𝑇 ln

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Two-stage: 𝑤 , = −1 + −1

The three processes are plotted on a P-v diagram shown on the left. On a P-v diagram, the
area to the left of the process curve is the integral of vdP. This is a measure of the steady-flow
compression work. One can observe from this diagram that isentropic compression requires
the maximum work, the isothermal compression requires the minimum, and two-stage
isentropic compression is between. In practice, it is not possible to compress gas in an
isothermal manner. So, a technique called multistage compression with intercooling, where
the gas is compressed in stages and cooled in between each stage to its initial temperature
by passing it through a heat exchanger, is used. This heat exchanger is called an intercooler.
The two-stage compression illustrated above is a simple case of multistage compression. Its
compressor work varies with Px. When Px satisfied the following condition, the compressor
work achieves its minimum.
𝑃 𝑃
= 𝑜𝑟 𝑃 = 𝑃𝑃
𝑃 𝑃

Likewise, the work output from a turbine can be increased by expanding the gas in stages and
reheating it in between. This technique is called multistage expansion with reheating.
Combustion in gas turbines typically occurs at four times the amount of air needed for
complete combustion. Therefore, reheating can be accomplished by simply spraying
additional fuel into the exhaust gases between two expansion states. For two-stage
expansion, similar with two-stage compression, the turbine work output reaches its maximum
when equal pressure ratios are maintained across each stage.

When intercooling and reheating are used, the working fluid leaves the turbine at a higher
temperature and the compressor at a lower temperature. This makes regeneration more
attractive.

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