Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach

8th Edition
Yunus A. Çengel, Michael A. Boles
McGraw-Hill, 2015

CHAPTER 9
GAS POWER CYCLES

Lecture slides by
Mehmet Kanoglu

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or display.

 Objectives
• Evaluate the performance of gas power cycles for
which the working fluid remains a gas throughout the
entire cycle.
• Develop simplifying assumptions applicable to gas
power cycles.
• Review the operation of reciprocating engines.
• Solve problems based on the Otto and Diesel cycles.
• Solve problems based on the Brayton cycle.

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 BASIC CONSIDERATIONS IN THE
ANALYSIS OF POWER CYCLES
Thermal efficiency
of heat engines:
Most power-producing devices
operate on cycles.
Ideal cycle: A cycle that resembles
the actual cycle closely but is made up
totally of internally reversible
processes.
Reversible cycles such as Carnot
cycle have the highest thermal
efficiency of all heat engines operating
between the same temperature levels.
Unlike ideal cycles, they are totally
reversible, and unsuitable as a
realistic model.
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The ideal cycles are internally reversible, but, unlike the
Carnot cycle, they are not necessarily externally reversible.
Therefore, the thermal efficiency of an ideal cycle, in general,
is less than that of a totally reversible cycle operating
between the same temperature limits.
However, it is still considerably higher than the thermal
efficiency of an actual cycle because of the idealizations
utilized.
The idealizations and simplifications in the analysis of
power cycles:
1. The cycle does not involve any friction. Therefore, the
working fluid does not experience any pressure drop as it
flows in pipes or devices such as heat exchangers.
2. All expansion and compression processes take place in a
quasi-equilibrium manner.
3. The pipes connecting the various components of a system
are well insulated, and heat transfer through them is
negligible.

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AIR-STANDARD ASSUMPTIONS
Air-standard assumptions:
1. The working fluid is air, which
continuously circulates in a closed loop
and always behaves as an ideal gas.
2. All the processes that make up the
cycle are internally reversible.
3. The combustion process is replaced by
a heat-addition process from an
external source.
4. The exhaust process is replaced by a
heat-rejection process that restores the
working fluid to its initial state.

Cold-air-standard assumptions: When the working fluid is considered

to be air with constant specific heats at room temperature (25°C).
Air-standard cycle: A cycle for which the air-standard assumptions are
applicable. 6
AN OVERVIEW OF RECIPROCATING ENGINES
Compression ratio
• Spark-ignition (SI) engines
• Compression-ignition (CI) engines

TDC: Top Dead Center

BDC: Bottom Dead Center

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 Mean effective pressure

The mean effective pressure can be used as

a parameter to compare the performances of
reciprocating engines of equal size.

The engine with a larger value of MEP

delivers more net work per cycle and thus
performs better.

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OTTO CYCLE: THE IDEAL CYCLE FOR SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES

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Four-stroke cycle
The two-stroke engines are
1 cycle = 4 stroke = 2 revolution
generally less efficient than
Two-stroke cycle their four-stroke counterparts
1 cycle = 2 stroke = 1 revolution but they are relatively simple
and inexpensive, and they
have high power-to-weight
and power-to-volume ratios.

Schematic of a two-stroke
reciprocating engine.
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Air enters the cylinder through the open
intake valve at atmospheric pressure P0
during process 0-1 as the piston moves from
TDC to BDC.
The intake valve is closed at state 1 and air is
compressed isentropically to state 2. Heat is
transferred at constant volume (process 2-3);
it is expanded isentropically to state 4; and
heat is rejected at constant volume (process
4-1).
Air is expelled through the open exhaust
valve (process 1-0).
Work interactions during intake and exhaust
cancel each other, and thus inclusion of the
intake and exhaust processes has no effect
on the net work output from the cycle.
However, when calculating power output from
the cycle during an ideal Otto cycle analysis,
we must consider the fact that the ideal Otto
cycle has four strokes just like actual four-
stroke spark-ignition engine.

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In SI engines, the
compression
ratio is limited by
autoignition or
engine knock.
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DIESEL CYCLE: THE IDEAL CYCLE
FOR COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES
In diesel engines, only air is compressed during the
compression stroke, eliminating the possibility of autoignition
(engine knock). Therefore, diesel engines can be designed to
operate at much higher compression ratios than SI engines,
typically between 12 and 24.

1-2 isentropic
compression
2-3 constant-
volume heat
addition
3-4 isentropic
expansion
4-1 constant-
volume heat
rejection.

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Cutoff
ratio

for the same compression ratio

Thermal
efficiency of the
ideal Diesel cycle
as a function of
compression and
cutoff ratios
(k=1.4).

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Dual cycle: A more realistic ideal In modern high-speed compression
cycle model for modern, high-speed ignition engines, fuel is injected into
compression ignition engine. the combustion chamber much
sooner compared to the early diesel
engines.
Fuel starts to ignite late in the
compression stroke, and
consequently part of the combustion
occurs almost at constant volume.
Fuel injection continues until the
piston reaches the top dead center,
and combustion of the fuel keeps
the pressure high well into the
expansion stroke.
Thus, the entire combustion process
can better be modeled as the
combination of constant-volume and
constant-pressure processes.

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BRAYTON CYCLE: THE IDEAL CYCLE FOR
GAS-TURBINE ENGINES
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.
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

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Pressure
ratio

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The two major application areas of gas- The highest temperature in the cycle is
turbine engines are aircraft propulsion limited by the maximum temperature that
the turbine blades can withstand. This
and electric power generation.
also limits the pressure ratios that can be
used in the cycle.
The air in gas turbines supplies the
necessary oxidant for the combustion of
the fuel, and it serves as a coolant to
keep the temperature of various
components within safe limits. An air–fuel
ratio of 50 or above is not uncommon.

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Development of Gas Turbines
1. Increasing the turbine inlet (or firing) temperatures
2. Increasing the efficiencies of turbomachinery components (turbines,
compressors):
3. Adding modifications to the basic cycle (intercooling, regeneration or
recuperation, and reheating).

Deviation of Actual Gas-Turbine

Cycles from Idealized Ones
Reasons: Irreversibilities in turbine and
compressors, pressure drops, heat losses

Isentropic efficiencies of the compressor

and turbine

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