THE IDEAL JOULE CYCLE

Gas is compressed isentropically, heated at constant

pressure then expanded isentropically

COMPRES TURBINE

2 3
1 HEATING
(COMBUSTION)
4
p2
3
T
p1
2
4

1
s
.
Power output: Wnet . .
W
. net = |Wturb| - |Wcomp|
. .
= mcp(T3-T4) - mcp(T2-T1))
Specific work output: wnet = cp(T3-T4) - cp(T2-T1)
w = ( T3 - T4 ) - ( T2 - 1 )
cpT1 T1 T1 T1
g-1 g-1 g-1
p2 g
( T2 ) = ( p ( T3 ) = ( p1 )
2 g g
But p1 ) and = rp
T1 T4
substituting for T2/T1 and T4:
1-g g-1
w = T3 (1- rp g ) - (rp g -1)
cpT1 T1
2
 1.8
1.6
5
1.4
T3
1.2 T1
ND Specific Work

1
4
0.8
0.6
0.4
3
0.2
2
0
0 10 20 30
Pressure ratio

It can be seen that for every value of T3/T1 there is an

optimum pressure ratio for maximum specific work
output.
It can be shown that maximum specific work output is
obtained when:
g
2(g-1)
rp = ( T3 )
T1

Specific work is related to the physical size of the GT.

If the GT is designed with a low specific work for a
given actual power output it has to be made larger in
order to 'swallow' more air.

3
Thermal Efficiency (hth)
. . .
W m c p (T3-T4) - m cp (T2-T1)
hth = . = .
Q m cp (T3 - T2)
( T3 - T4 ) - ( T2 - 1)
T1 T1 T1
=
T3 - T2
T1 T1

( T3 - T2 ) - ( T4 - 1)
T1 T1 T1
=
T3 - T2
T1 T1
T4
-1
= 1 - T1
T3 - T2
T1 T1
g-1 g-1
Again T2 = rp g and T3 = rp g

T1 T4
substituting for T2/T1 and T4:

\ hth = 1 - 1g-1
rp g
1

0.9

0.8
Thermal efficiency

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 10 20 30 40
Pressure ratio
4
IRREVERSIBILITY EFFECTS
In practice isentropic compression and expansion is not
possible. We therefore introduce the isentropic
efficiencies of compression and expansion.

For a compressor the isentropic efficiency is defined as :

hc = isentropic power input

actual power input
.
m cp (T2' - T1)
= .
m cp (T2 - T1)
(T2' - T1)
\ hc = (i)
(T2 - T1)

T2' is the (theoretical) ideal temperature reached by

isentropic compression.
For an isentropic process we know that :
g g g
pv = constant or p1v1 = p2v2'
and for a perfect gas we know that :
pv = constant p 1v 1 p2v2'
T or =
T1 T2'
Eliminating v1 & v2 gives:
g-1 g-1
T2' = ( p2 g
)
g (ii)
T1 p1 = rp

From (i) & (ii) above:-

g-1
T2 = 1 + 1 (rp g -1)
T1 hc
5
For a turbine the isentropic efficiency is defined as:

ht = actual power output

isentropic power poutput
.
m cp (T3 - T4)
= .
m cp (T3 - T4')
(T3 - T4)
i.e. ht = (iii)
(T3 - T4')

g-1 g-1
again: T3 = ( p2 g
)
g
(iv)
T4' p1 = rp

From (ii) & (iv):-

1-g
T4 g T4 T4 T3
NB: T1 = T3 T1
T3 = 1 - ht (1 - rp )

The expressions for specific work and thermal

efficiency remain unchanged, so we can substitute in:

w = ( T3 - T4 ) - ( T2 - 1 )
cpT1 T1 T1 T1

1-g
w = T3 ht (1 - rp g 1 g-1
giving: ) - (rp g -1)
cpT1 T1 hc

6
 T4
and in: hth = 1 - T1 - 1
T3 - T2
T1 T1

1-g
T3 g
T1 { 1 - ht (1 - rp )} -1
giving:
hth = 1 -
T3 1 g-1 g
T1 - { 1 + hc (rp -1)}

We can plot the variation of specific work and thermal

efficiency as a function of pressure ratio and
temperature ratio.
In particular we can fix the temperature ratio and plot
performance against pressure ratio for various values of
hc and ht. [A good way of doing this is to use a spread sheet]
If T3 = 1000C and T1 = 15C, T3/T1 = 4.42
and with hc = 0.85 and ht = 0.90 we obtain:
0.9

0.8

0.7
w
0.6 cpT1
0.5

0.4
hth
0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 rp 30
7
It can be shown that for maximum specific work:
g
2(g-1)
T3
rp = (hc ht )
T1

An expression giving the pressure ratio for maximum

thermal efficiency can also be derived, but it is more
complex than the above.
The T-s diagram changes to reflect the compressor
and turbine isentropic efficiencies:

HEATING
(COMBUSTION)

COMPRESSOR TURBINE

2 3
1 4

p2
3
T
p1
2
2'
4' 4

1
s

The primed station numbers show the

theoretically ideal (isentropic) process end-points.