Gas Turbine Theory

Second Law of
Thermodynamics
 Heat Engines
A heat engine is a thermodynamic
system that operates continuously in
a cyclical process and has heat and
work transfer interactions at its
boundaries.
 The Gas Turbine Engine
Stationary gas turbine engine:
Air is drawn into the compres
sor and compressed.
The hot combustion products are then expande
d in a turbine, which powers the compressor an
d provides additional shaft work in stationary po
wer generation systems.
The high pressure air flows into the combust
ion chamber where it mixes with the fuel and
burns.
Finally, the gases are exhausted (th
rough a nozzle in propulsion applic
ations).
Stationary gas turbine engine
Such a practical gas turbine engine is called an
open-cycle engine because the working fluid does
not perform a cycle and mass transfers occur
through the control surface (in addition to heat
and work, of course).

Open-cycle engines cannot be classified as heat

engines
(A heat engine is a thermodynamic system that operates
continuously in a cyclical process)

– No Cycle performed by working fluid

– Mass transfers through the control surface
 Closed-cycle gas turbine engine
with the system boundary

The air flows

steadily into the
compressor,
heater, turbine
and cooler.
 The air is
compressed in the compressor
and then heated in a heater
 The hot compressed air is then
expanded in the turbine, where its
pressure is lowered,
Then it is cooled back to its original
temperature in the cooler
 Closed-cycle gas turbine engine
with the system boundary
The air undergoes a cyclical process.

The only interactions at the system

boundary are HEAT and WORK transfers.

 The closed-cycle gas turbine can then be

classified as a heat engine.
 Note
Much of thermodynamics theory is
concerned with heat engines. To apply
these ideas to jet engines, we will
therefore consider such idealized closed-
cycle engines.

Later, for practical performance studies,

we will consider open-cycle gas turbines.
 Thermal Efficiency
Efficiency of the heat engine shown
above may be written as:
w: Shaft work
q1: Heat added from heater

Using the I Law for cycles, we have:

q1: Heat added from heater
q2: Heat rejected by cooler

(Note that not all of q1 is converted to work.

 Reversed Heat Engine
A reversed heat engine is one in which the
working fluid proceeds in the opposite direction.

In the above instance, the device would pump

heat from a low temperature reservoir to a high
temperature reservoir (which would require
external aid).

Typical applications of the reversed engine are

refrigeration and air conditioning, both of which
are concerned with heat removal from a cold
reservoir, and heat pumps, which are concerned
with heat addition to a hot reservoir.
 Coefficient of Performance
For refrigerators, the
performance parameter is
called the coefficient of
performance, which is written
as:

while, for heat pumps, the

coefficient of performance is
written as:
 Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
In both cases, the numerator is comprised
of the desired heat transfer, while the
denominator comprises the effort that has
to be put in. Getting rid of Adding heat
heat from to heater
cooler

Keeping in mind that

Second Law of Thermodynamics
The First Law of Thermodynamics
stipulates that the thermal efficiency of a
heat engine cannot exceed 100 %.

In contrast, the Second Law states that it

is not possible to have a 100 % efficient
heat engine. Naturally, the first thing that
we think of is the presence of friction and
other irreversibilities in practical engines.
Second Law of Thermodynamics
However, the II Law is not referring to
practical engines, rather it is talking about
ideal engines. In other words, the Second
Law states that it is not possible for even
an ideal heat engine to be 100% efficient.
 Ideal Heat Engine
If we cannot achieve 100 % efficiency then

– What is the ideal efficiency attainable by a heat

engine?

In terms of the second law of

thermodynamics, the ideal heat engine is a
reversible engine, which is a heat engine
that operates equally well forwards and
backwards.
 Ideal Heat Engine
A reversible heat engine is one which, operating
between two fixed temperature systems, has an
efficiency that is equal to the reciprocal of its
coefficient of performance when operating as a
heat pump or refrigerator.

Which means that the ideal engine will operate

equally as efficient if it were it to operate as a
heat pump or as a heat engine
 Reversible and Irreversible
Processes
The term reversible refers to a heat engine
that can run equally well backwards.
Each of the processes that comprise of the
reversible engine must be a reversible
process.
 Reversible and Irreversible
Processes
“A reversible process is one where, upon
completion of the process, it is possible to
restore the system and the surroundings
back to their precise initial states.”

We can further state that any process that is

not reversible is irreversible.
 Reversible and Irreversible
Processes
There are some processes that can
proceed in both directions (reversible) and,
more importantly, there are other
processes that can proceed only in one
direction (irreversible).

one of the most important ideas of

thermodynamics.
Examples of Irreversible Processes
1. Friction: solid or fluid

2. Unrestrained expansion (Uncontrolled)

3. Heat transfer through a finite temperature

difference

4. Mass transfer with a finite concentration

gradient

5. Combustion of a fuel.
Examples of Reversible Processes
1. Slow adiabatic expansion or compression of a
gas: This would constitute restrained expansion
(or compression) of gas in the absence of heat
transfer (Net Q = 0).

2. Isothermal heat addition or removal: This would

constitute heat transfer through an infinitesimal
temperature difference. Isothermal heat addition
would involve expansion (to keep temperature
fixed) and isothermal heat rejection would
involve compression.
 Entropy
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
leads to a new property definition, entropy
(s).

δQ: Heat transferred to system by

surroundings, reversibly
T: Temperature of the system
 Entropy
The entropy change can be written in
terms of changes of other properties of the
gas; hence, entropy is also a fundamental
property.
 Entropy Change of a System
Consider the following two processes:

In (a), the gas expands in an unrestrained manner when the

membrane is ruptured, and heat transfer is allowed to take place so
that the final temperature is the same as the initial temperature.

On the other hand, in (b), the gas expands slowly in a reversible

isothermal process. Again, the initial and final temperatures (and
hence the thermodynamic states) are the same (Isothermal heat
addition – a reversible process).
Application of the I law to both these
processes yields:
Entropy Change of a System

The unrestrained process in (a) is an

irreversible process and no work is done
during the expansion. Thus,
δQ = dE
 Entropy Change of a System

On the other hand, the restrained expansion in (b) is a

reversible process and the heat and work transfers are
given by:

δQ = TdS (entropy formula) & δW = pdV (work formula)

Hence, the 1st Law yields (in terms of entropy):
TdS = dE + pdV
 Entropy Change of a System
TdS = dE + pdV
relates the entropy change to other property
changes. In fact, this indicates that entropy
must also be a property of the system.
 Entropy Change of a System

In both of the cases, the initial and final states

are identical and so all the properties are the
same. The only difference then is that in (a) no
work is done, while in (b) the greatest possible
amount of work is done (being a reversible
process). Thus, we may say that the
irreversibility of process (a) led to "lost" work.
Entropy Change of a System
We could expect the amount of lost work
to be between zero (no loss at all) and the
maximum value (pdV) (total loss of
possible work).
Entropy Change of a System
The amount of lost work (or irreversibility)
is the difference between the reversible
work and the actual work that was done.

δI = pdV - δW

In an ideal reversible process, δW = pdV,

which means no work was lost where as in
an unconstrained system pdV = 0
 Entropy Change of a System
δI = pdV - δW
where I stands for the work lost due to
irreversibility.
Recall (1st law in terms of entropy) for a
reversible process
TdS = dE + pdV
Hence, by substituting pdV
TdS = dE + δI + δW
Entropy Change of a System
TdS = dE + δI + δW
(knowing that dE + δW = δQ )
We can rewrite to
TdS = δQ + δI
Or
Entropy Change of a System

It says that entropy change of a system is equal

to the sum of the heat transfer to it and the work
lost due to irreversibility divided by the
temperature.

It says that entropy is related to the actual heat

transfer and the extent of the irreversibility.

This equation reveals why entropy is such an

important property---i.e.., entropy is an indicator
of irreversibility.
 Entropy Change of a System
The equation can also be written in rate
form by dividing by δt and taking the limit
δt  0.
By System Analysis:
 Entropy Change of a System
Entropy Change of a Control Volume (CV
Analysis):

where and are the rates of heat

transfer and irreversibility per unit area of
the control surface.