MODULE

ME-2 THERMODYNAMICS II

MIDTERM ACTIVITY # 3

1. In a Brayton cycle the inlet is at 300 K, 100 kPa, and the combustion adds 800 kJ/kg. The maximum
temperature is 1400 K due to material considerations. Find the maximum permissible compression ratio
and, for that ratio, the cycle efficiency using cold air properties.
2. A Brayton cycle has a compression ratio of 15:1 with a high temperature of 1600 K and the inlet at 290
K, 100 kPa. Use cold air standard properties and find the specific heat addition and specific net work
output.
3. A Brayton cycle has air into the compressor at 95 kPa, 290 K, and has an efficiency of 50%. The exhaust
temperature is 675 K. Find the pressure ratio and the specific heat addition by the combustion for this
cycle.
4. A Brayton cycle has inlet at 290 K, 90 kPa, and the combustion add 1000 kJ/kg. How high can the
compression ratio be so that the highest temperature is below 1700 K? Use cold air properties to
determine this.
5. A Brayton cycle produces 14 MW with an inlet state of 17 C, 100 kPa, and a compression ratio of 16:1.
The heat added in the combustion is 1160 kJ/kg. What are the highest temperature and the mass flow
rate of air, assuming cold air properties?
6. A Brayton cycle produces 50 MW with an inlet state of 17 C, 100 kPa, and the pressure ratio is 14:1. The
highest cycle temperature is 1600 K. Find the thermal efficiency of the cycle and the mass flow rate of
air using cold air properties.
7. A simple ideal Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid has a pressure ratio of 10. The air enters the
compressor at 520 R and the turbine at 2000 R. Accounting for the variation of specific heats with
temperature, determine the air temperature at the compressor exit, the back work ratio, and the thermal
efficiency.
8. Consider a simple Brayton cycle using air as the working fluid; has a pressure ratio of 12; has a maximum
cycle temperature of 600 C; and operates the compressor inlet at 100 kPa and 15 C. Which will have the
greatest impact on the back work ratio: a compressor isentropic efficiency of 80 percent or a turbine
isentropic efficiency of 80 percent? Use constant specific heats at room temperature.
9. Air is used as the working fluid in a simple ideal Brayton cycle that has a pressure ratio of 12, a
compressor inlet temperature of 300 K, and a turbine inlet temperature of 1000 K. Determine the required
mass flow rate of air for a net power output of 70 MW, assuming both the compressor and the turbine
have an isentropic efficiency of (a) 100 percent and (b) 85 percent. Assume constant specific heats at
room temperature.
10. A gas turbine power plant operates on the simple Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid and delivers
32 MW of power. The minimum and maximum temperature in the cycle are 310 and 900 K, and the
pressure of air at the compressor exit is 8 times the value at the compressor inlet. Assuming an isentropic
efficiency of 80 percent for the compressor and 8 percent for the turbine, determine the mass flow rate
of air through the cycle. Account for the variation of specific heats with temperature.
11. Air enters the compressor of an ideal cold air standard Brayton cycle at 100 kPa, 300 K, with a mass flow
rate of 6 kg/s. The compressor pressure ratio is 10, and the turbine inlet temperature is 1400 K. For k =
1.4 Calculate the thermal efficiency of the cycle, the back work ratio, the net power developed, in kW.
12. The rate of heat addition to an ideal air-standard Brayton cycle is 5.2 x 106 Btu/hr. The pressure ratio for
the cycle is 12 and the minimum and maximum temperature are 520 R and 2800 R, respectively.

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 MODULE
ME-2 THERMODYNAMICS II

Determine the thermal efficiency of the cycle, the mass flow rate of air, in lb/h and the net power
developed by the cycle, in hp.
13. Air enters the compressor of an ideal air standard Brayton cycle at 100 kPa, 300 K with volumetric flow
rate of 5 m3/s. The turbine inlet temperature is 1400 K. For compressor pressure ratios of 6, 8 and 12,
determine the thermal efficiency of the cycle, the back work ratio, and the net power developed, in kW.
14. Air enters the compressor of an air standard Brayton cycle with a volumetric flow rate of 60 m 3/s at 0.8
bar, 280 K. The compressor pressure ratio is 20, and the maximum cycle temperature is 2100 K. For the
compressor, the isentropic efficiency is 92% and the for the turbine the isentropic efficiency is 95%.
Determine the net power developed, in MW, the rate of heat addition in the combustor, in MW and the
thermal efficiency of the cycle.
15. A Brayton cycle with a pressure ratio of 12 operates with air entering the compressor at 13 psia and 20
F, and the turbine at 1000 F. Calculate the net specific work produced by this cycle treating the air as an
ideal gas with (a) constant specific heats at room temperature and (b) variable specific heats.

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