Gas Power Cycles

Cengel & Boles,

Chapter 8

ME 152 1
Analysis of Power
Cycles - Basics
• Power cycle = Heat engine
• Recall thermal efficiency:
Wnet W net wnet
th  


Qin Qin qin

• Carnot heat engine:

TL
th  1 
TH

• The Carnot cycle has the maximum

possible efficiency, but is not a
realistic model for a power cycle
since it is so impractical
ME 152 2
Analysis of Power
Cycles - Basics, cont.
• More practical models are called ideal
cycles - they are internally reversible
but typically have external
irreversibilities
• Ideal cycle assumptions include:
– absence of friction
– quasi-equilibrium processes
– pipes and connections between various
components are well-insulated, i.e., heat
transfer is negligible
– negligible KE and PE effects (except in
diffusers and nozzles)
– negligible pressure drop in HXers

ME 152 3
Gas Power Cycles
• Working fluid remains in gaseous
phase throughout cycle
• Common gas cycles
– Otto*: spark-ignition ICE engine, closed
system
– Diesel*: compression-ignition ICE engine,
closed system
– Dual: Otto/Diesel combo, closed system
– Stirling: ext. combustion, closed system
– Ericsson: ext. combustion, control volume
– Brayton*: gas turbine engine or power
plant, control volume

* covered in this course

ME 152 4
Internal Combustion
Engine (ICE) terms
• Bottom-dead center (BDC) – piston
position where volume is maximum
• Top-dead center (TDC) – piston position
where volume is minimum
• Clearance volume – minimum cylinder
volume (VTDC = V2)
• Compression ratio (r)
Vmax V V v
r  BDC  1  1
Vmin VTDC V2 v2

• Displacement volume
Vdisp  VBDC  VTDC  V1  V2
• Mean Effective Pressure (MEP)
• W
MEP  net
Vdisp

ME 152 5
ICE terms, cont.
• Spark-ignition (SI) engine - reciprocating
engine where air-fuel combustion is
initiated by a spark plug
• Compression-ignition (CI) engine -
reciprocating engine where air-fuel
combustion is initiated by compression
• Four-stroke engine - piston executes
intake, compression, expansion, and
exhaust in four strokes while crankshaft
completes two revolutions
• Two-stroke engine - piston executes
intake, compression, expansion, and
exhaust in two strokes while crankshaft
completes one revolution

ME 152 6
Analysis of Gas Power
Cycles
• Air-standard assumptions:
– working fluid is a fixed mass of air
which is modeled as a closed system
and behaves as an ideal gas
– all processes are internally reversible
unless stated otherwise
– combustion process is replaced by a
heat addition process from an external
source
– exhaust process is replaced by a heat
rejection process that restores air to its
initial state

ME 152 7
Analysis of Gas Power
Cycles, cont.
• Constant specific heat approach (aka
cold-air standard) - for approximate
analysis only
u2  u1  cv (T2  T1 )
h2  h1  c p (T2  T1 )
where cv , cp are evaluated at 25°C, 1 atm

• Variable specific heat approach - for

more accurate analysis
T2
u2  u1  
T1
cv dT
T2
h2  h1  
T1
c p dT

where u and h obtained from Table A-17

ME 152 8
Analysis of Gas Power
Cycles, cont.
• Isentropic compression/expansion
– if compression ratio (v1/v2) is known, e.g.,
in Otto or Diesel cycles, use

vr1 v1

v r 2 v2
(find u2 or h2 from vr2 in Table A-17)
– if pressure ratio (P2/P1) is known, e.g., in
a Brayton cycle, use

Pr 2 P2

Pr1 P1
(find u2 or h2 from Pr2 in Table A-17)

ME 152 9
Otto Cycle Analysis
• Thermal efficiency

Wnet Q  Qout Q q
th   in  1  out  1  out
Qin Qin Qin qin

• Heat addition (process 2-3, v = const)

Qin  m(u3  u 2 )
or qin  u3  u 2

• Heat rejection (process 4-1, v = const)

Qout  m(u 4  u1 )
or qout  u 4  u1

ME 152 10
Diesel Cycle Analysis
• Thermal efficiency
Wnet Qin  Qout Qout qout
th    1  1
Qin Qin Qin qin

• Heat addition (process 2-3, P = const)

Qin  W23  m(u3  u 2 )
Qin  m(h3  h2 )
or qin  h3  h2

• Heat rejection (process 4-1, v = const)

Qout  m(u 4  u1 ) or qout  u 4  u1

ME 152 11
Cold-Air Standard
Thermal Efficiency
• Otto Cycle

1
th  1  k 1
, where k  c p / cv
r

• Diesel Cycle

1  rck  1 
th  1  k 1   ,
r  k ( rc  1) 
v3
where rc  (cutoff ratio)
v2

ME 152 12
The Brayton Cycle
• Ideal cycle for gas turbine engines
and power plants
• The air-standard Brayton cycle has a
closed-loop configuration, even
though most applications are open-
loop
• Basic components:
– Compressor (increases pressure of gas)
– Heat exchanger or combustor (const P
heat addition)
– Turbine (produces power)
– Heat exchanger (const P heat rejection)

ME 152 13
Air-Standard Brayton
Cycle Analysis
• Compressor
W comp  m ( h2  h1 ) or wcomp  h2  h1
• Combustor (heat addition)
Q in  m (h3  h2 ) or qin  h3  h2

• Turbine
W turb  m (h3  h4 ) or wturb  h3  h4

• Heat Exchanger (heat rejection)

Q out  m (h4  h1 ) or qout  h4  h1

ME 152 14
Air-Standard Brayton
Cycle Analysis, cont.
• Thermal Efficiency
W net W t  W c h3  h4  h2  h1
th     
Qin Qin h3  h2
• Back Work Ratio

W comp h2  h1
rbw  

Wturb h3  h4
– as discussed in Ch. 6, a gas compressor
requires much greater work input per unit
mass than a pump for a given pressure
rise; thus the rbw for a gas power cycle
(40-60%) is much greater than that for a
vapor power cycle (1-2%)
ME 152 15
Air-Standard Brayton
Cycle Analysis, cont.
• Cold-air standard thermal efficiency
1
th  1 
rp( k 1) / k

• High pressure ratios (rp =P2/P1) yield

the highest thermal efficiency,
however, moderate pressure ratios
often yield a higher power-to-weight
ratio
• Maximum turbine inlet temperature
is around 1700 K, imposed by
metallurgical properties
ME 152 16
Improving Gas Turbine
Cycle Performance
• Regeneration - utilizes turbine
exhaust gas to preheat air entering
the combustor; this reduces heat
addition requirement and increases
thermal efficiency
• Multistage turbine with reheat -
similar to vapor power cycles;
increases thermal efficiency
• Compressor intercooling - gas is
cooled between compressor stages;
decreases compressor work and bwr,
increases thermal efficiency
ME 152 17
Gas Turbine Aircraft
Propulsion
• Gas turbines are ideal for aircraft propulsion
due to high power-to-weight ratio
• Basic turbojet engine - inlet diffuser,
compressor, combustor, turbine, exit nozzle
• Turbofan engine - inlet fan brings in
additional air which bypasses engine core
and increases thrust from nozzle
• Turboprop engine - turbine powers a
propeller, which provides primary thrust
• Ramjet - high-speed air is compressed by
ram effect and then heated by combustor;
thrust is developed by nozzle w/o need for
compressor or turbine

ME 152 18