Chapter 3

Thermodynamic Cycles and IC Engine Performance

 2.1.Thermodynamic Cycles
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Internal combustion engines, which are commonly used in automobiles,

have two principal types: spark-ignition (SI) engines and compression-

ignition (CI) engines.
Examples of thermodynamic cycles are the internal combustion engine

cycles. In these cases, the WS is treated as pure air, the expansions and
compressions are reversible and adiabatic, and heat can be added
instantaneously if desired.
 Applications of such cycles are the Otto cycle, the Diesel cycle and the

Dual cycle.
Working substance (WS) is used as the carrier for heat energy. The heat
.engine carries out the conversion process by a series of changes of state of
the WS. The state of the WS is defined by the values of its properties, e.g.
pressure, volume, temperature, internal energy, enthalpy. These properties
are also sometimes called functions of state.
In a spark-ignition (SI) engine, a mixture of fuel and air is ignited by a

spark plug. Spark-ignition engines are suited for use in automobiles since
they are relatively light and lower in cost. Most cars currently use what is
called a four-stroke combustion cycle to convert gasoline into motion.
 To simplify the analysis, air-standard assumptions are made:
. Gas and air mixture are modeled as air and an ideal gas, which
continuously circulates in a closed cycle.
All the processes making up the cycle are internally reversible.

The combustion process is replaced by a heat-addition process from an

external source.
The exhaust process is replaced by a heat-rejection process and the gas

returns to its initial state.

Ideal gas isentropic relations
State p  RT R  287 J
kg K
equation and
  1.4 for compressor Cp=1.005kJ/kg.K
Constants
  1.33 for turbine Cv= 0.717kJ/Kg.k

Entropy cP   1  R cv   11  R Ma= 29kg/mol
change of a
process T2
s  cP  ln( )  R ln( ) P2 ꝩ=k = cp/cv = 1.4
T1 P1

Isentropic 

process P2   2   T2   1
     
P1  1   T1 
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Otto cycle
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Equation 20 shows that under the cold-air-standard assumptions, the thermal efficiency of an ideal Otto cycle depends
on the compression ratio of the engine and the specific heat ratio of the working fluid.
The thermal efficiency of the ideal Otto cycle increases with both the compression ratio and the specific
heat ratio. This is also true for actual spark-ignition internal combustion engines. For a given compression ratio,
the thermal efficiency of an actual spark-ignition engine is less than that of an ideal Otto cycle because of the
irreversibilities, such as friction, and other factors such as incomplete combustion
Diesel Cycle
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It can be noted that the ignition for the Diesel internal combustion engines is
.done by using a higher compression of the fuel, rather than by using a spark
plug as in the case of gasoline powered Otto cycle engines. Therefore, the
ignition for Diesel engines is sometimes called a "slow speed compression
ignition", in contrast to the "spark ignition" of the Otto engines
 DUAL COMBUSTION CYCLE

The processes are as follows.

1 – 2 reversible adiabatic (isentropic) compression.
2 - 3 constant volume heating.
3 - 4 constant pressure heating.
4 – 5 reversible adiabatic (isentropic) expansion.
5 - 1 constant volume cooling.
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 Generally, the method of solution involves finding all the temperatures by

application of the gas laws. Those requiring a detailed analysis of the cycle
should study the following derivation.
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