THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES

& TYPES
What is the thermodynamic cycle?
• A thermodynamic cycle consists of a series of thermodynamic
processes, which take place in a specific order, and the initial
conditions are restored at the end of the processes.
• When the processes of cycles are outlined on the p-v diagram,
they form a closed figure, each process described by its own
curve.
• Since the area under each curve is the work done to some scale.
During each process, the work done during one cycle will be
given by the area of the diagram as shown in the figure.
• The thermodynamic cycles are very essential for the power
developing systems (such as petrol engine, diesel engine, gas
turbine etc.).
Classification of Thermodynamic Cycle

• The thermodynamic cycles are classified

into the following two types:
• Reversible cycle
• Irreversible cycle
Reversible Cycle

• In a reversible process, there should be no loss of heat due to

friction, conduction or radiation, etc.
• The thermodynamically reversible cycle consists of
reversible processes only.
• A reversible process is one which is performed at the end of
the process, both the system and surrounding may be
restored to their initial state.
• For example, If during a thermodynamic process from
state 1 to 2, the work done by the gas is W1-2, and heat
absorbed is H1-2. Now, if by doing work W1-2, on the gas
and extracting heat H1-2, we can bring the system back
from state 2 to 1, the process is said to be reversible.
Following are the conditions for
reversibility of a cycle:
• The temperature and pressure of the working
substance must not differ, from those of the
surroundings at any stage in the process.
• All the processes, taking place in the cycle of
operation, must be slow.
• The moving engine parts must be friction-free.
• There should be no loss of energy during the
cycle of operation.
Irreversible Cycle

• As we have already discussed that whenever some change

in the reverse direction reverses the process completely, it is
known as a reversible process. But if the change does not
reverse the process, it is called an irreversible process. An
irreversible process causes heat loss due to friction,
radiation or conduction.
• In practice, most of the processes are irreversible to some
degree. The main causes for the irreversibility are as follow,
• Mechanical and fluid friction,
• Unrestricted Expansion
• Heat transfer with a finite temperature difference.
Reversibility of Thermodynamic Processes
Now we shall discuss their conditions of reversibility

• 1. Isothermal and Adiabatic

• It may be noted that a complete process or cycle is only an ideal case.
But in practice, complete isothermal and adiabatic processes are not
achieved. However, they can be approximated. The simple reason for
the same is that it is impossible to transfer heat at a constant
temperature in case of an isothermal operation.
• Moreover, it is also difficult to make an absolutely non-conducting
cylinder in case of an adiabatic process. In actual practice, however,
an isothermal operation may be approached if the process is so slow
that the temperature remains, practically, constant.
• Similarly, an adiabatic operation may be approached if the process
takes place so quickly that no time is given to the heat to enter or leave
the gas. In an isothermal and an adiabatic process as are taken as a
reversible process.
• 2. Constant Volume, Constant Pressure and
Constant pvn
• We know that when the temperature of the hot body,
supplying the heat, remains constant during the
process, the temperature of the working substance
will vary as the operation proceeds. In view of this,
the above three operations are irreversible.
• But, these can be made to approximate to
irreversibility by manipulating the temperature of the
hot body to vary so that at any stage the temperature
of the working substance remains constant. In this
way, the constant volume, constant pressure and
constant pvn process are regarded as reversible
processes
Types of Thermodynamic Cycles

• Following are the types of thermodynamic

cycles:
• Carnot cycle
• Stirling cycle
• Ericsson cycle
• Joules cycle
• Otto cycle
• Diesel cycle
• Dual combustion cycle
 Carnot Cycle

• In a Carnot cycle, the work material is subjected

to cyclic operation.
• Carnot cycle consists of two isothermal and
adiabatic processes.
• The working substance is air in a cylinder in
which the piston moves.
• The engine must operate between two sources of
infinite capacity.
• One at high temperature and the other at low
temperature.
Stirling Cycle

• Stirling cycle was produced by Robert Sterling

which includes the original Stirling engine.
• Stirling cycle is a modified version of the
Carnot cycle.
• It consists of two isothermal processes and
constant volume processes.
• The last two processes are performed with the
help of a refrigerator to make this cycle
reversible.
Ericson Cycle:

• The Ericson cycle is invented by John Ericson.

• This cycle is consists of two isothermal and
constant pressure processes.
• It is thermodynamically reversible by the action
of a regenerator.
• Ericson cycles are used in closed-cycle type gas
turbines.
 Joules cycle

• Joules Cycle is also known as the Brayton cycle.

• It is a thermodynamic cycle named after
George Brayton.
• It describes the workings of a constant-
pressure heat engine.
• Consists of two constant pressure and two
adiabatic processes.
Otto Cycle

• An Otto cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that

describes the working of a spark ignition piston
engine.
• The modern petrol engines operate on Otto
cycle and generally found in automobile
engines.
 Diesel Cycle

• The engine of heavy motor vehicles works mostly

on the diesel cycle.
• Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel cycle in 1897.
• The diesel cycle differs from the Otto cycle in one
case.
• This added constant pressure instead of constant
volume.
• It comprises two adiabatic processes, one
constant pressure heat addition process, and one
constant volume heat rejection process.
Dual Combustion Cycle

• The dual combustion cycle is the combustion of Otto

and diesel cycles.
• It is also called the semi-diesel cycle because semi-
diesel engines work on this cycle.
• In this cycle, heat is absorbed partially at constant
pressure.
• It has two adiabatic, two constant volume, and
constant pressure processes.
• In dual combustion cycle, there are five processes. Two
of which are isentropic processes, two are isochoric
processes and one is isobaric process.
Now let’s see different processes of the
above arrangement.
• 1) Adiabatic compression :-
At first step, piston move towards the close end of
cylinder. As the cylinder is filled with air and the the
piston move towards closed end of cylinder, the air
present in the cylinder get compressed. Due to
compression the volume of air get decreased and the
pressure will increase. This process is known as
adiabatic compression because no heat is added or
rejected from the system. As this is an adiabatic
processes entropy will remain constant and
temperature will increase due to compression.
2) Isochoric heat addition:-
• In this process, the hot body is brought into
contact with the cylinder. As the hot body comes
in contact with cylinder, heat addition will start.
In this process, the piston does not move and the
process is carried at constant volume. As the
heat is added, entropy will increase and
temperature will also increase. As the
temperature increase and volume is constant,
the pressure will increase.
3) Isobaric heat addition:
• In this process, heat is added at constant
pressure i.e isobarically. As the heat is added
the air expand and volume increases and the
piston moves away from the closed end of
cylinder. As heat is added, temperature and
entropy will also increase in this process.
4) Isentropic Expansion:-
• In this step, hot body is moved away from the
cylinder and the air is allowed to expand.As this
is isentropic process, entropy will remain
constant. The volume will increase in this
process and the pressure will decrease. Due to
expansion without heat addition, the
temperature will also decrease.
5) Isochoric heat rejection :-
• In this step, the cold body is brought into contact
with the cylinder. This process is an isochoric
process i.e constant volume process, so the
piston does not move in this process. As cold
body is brought into contact with the cylinder,
heat is reject from the air to the cold body. As
heat is rejected, the entropy decrease and the
temperature decreases . The pressure will also
decrease as the heat is released at constant
volume.
Thermal Efficiency of Dual Combustion Cycle:-

• Thermal Efficiency ( η ) of any

thermodynamic cycle is defined as the ratio of
work done (W) by it to the heat supplied to it
(QH).
Prepared BY:

• MFT-21-03
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• MFT-21-02
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