Gas power cycles

Power generation is an important area of application of thermodynamics. The devices and systems used to produce a net power output are called engines and the thermodynamic cycles they operate on are called power cycles. In gas cycles, the working fluid remains in the gaseous phase throughout the entire cycle, while in vapour cycles the working fluid exists in the vapour phase during one part of the cycle and in the liquid phase during another part. Gas power systems include: Internal combustion engines Gas turbines Analysis of gas power cycles Actual gas power cycles are pretty complicated. For simpler analysis, we make several approximations, which are commonly known as the air-standard assumptions: 1. The working fluid is air, which continuously circulates in a closed loop and always behaves as an ideal gas. 2. All the processes that make up the cycle are internally reversible. 3. The combustion process is replaced by a heat-addition process from an external source. 4. The exhaust process is replaced by a heat rejection process that restores the working fluid to its initial state. Another assumption frequently made is that air has constant specific heats (values used are those at the room temperature). This assumption is known as cold-air-standard assumption.

Internal combustion engines In IC engines, energy is supplied to the working fluid by burning the fuel within the system boundaries. Two main types of internal combustion engines are: the spark-ignition engine and the compression-ignition engine. In a spark ignition engine, a mixture of fuel and air is ignited by a spark plug. In a compression-ignition engine (also called diesel engine), air is compressed to a high enough pressure and temperature so that combustion occurs spontaneously when fuel is injected. Basic components of reciprocating internal combustion engine This is basically a piston-cylinder device with two valves.

Mean effective pressure (MEP): MEP is a parameter used to describe the performance of reciprocating engines. It is the theoretical constant pressure that, if it acted on the piston during the power stroke, would produce the same net work as actually developed in one cycle. Wnet = MEP*Piston area*Stroke = MEP*displacement volume MEP = Wnet / (Vmax Vmin)

Otto cycle In four-stroke internal combustion engines, the piston executes four complete strokes within the cylinder. Initially, both the intake and the exhaust valves are closed and the piston is at the lowest position (BDC). Compression stroke: The piston moves upward, compressing the air-fuel mixture. Shortly before the piston reaches its highest point (TDC), the spark plug fires and the mixture ignites, increasing the pressure and temperature of the system. Expansion or power stroke: The high-pressure gases force the piston down. The piston in turn forces the crankshaft to rotate, producing a useful work output. Exhaust stroke: At the end of power stroke, the piston is at its lowest position and the cylinder is filled with combustion products. During the exhaust stroke the piston moves up, purging the exhaust products through the exhaust valve. Intake stroke: The piston moves down a second time, drawing in fresh air-fuel mixture through the intake valve.

Actual cycle

The actual cycle is pretty hard to analyze. Utilizing the air-standard assumptions, the analysis can be simplified. Otto cycle is the ideal cycle for spark ignition engines. It consists of the following processes: 1. Isentropic compression 2. Constant volume heat addition 3. Isentropic expansion 4. Constant volume heat rejection

Heat transfer to the working fluid: qin = u3-u2 Heat transferred from the working fluid: qout = u4- u1 Net work done wnet = qin qout Thermal efficiency: = wnet/ qin

Relationships for the isentropic processes 1-2 and 3-4: vr2 = vr1 (V2/V1) = vr1/r vr4 = vr1 (V4/V3) = rvr3 r being compression ratio, r = Vmax / Vmin = V1/V2 = V4/V3 If analysis is done on a cold air-standard basis, following expressions may be used: qin = u3-u2 = Cv (T3-T2) qout = u4-u1 = Cv (T4-T1) T2/T1 = (V1/V2)k-1 = rk-1 T4/T3 = (V3/V4)k-1 = 1 / rk-1 = 1- 1/ rk-1 Effect of compression ratio on performance Otto cycle thermal efficiency increases as the compression ratio increases. But the possibility of premature ignition of the fuel (known as autoignition, which produces an audible noise called engine knock), puts an upper limit on the compression ratios that can be used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines. Engine knock affects performance and damages the engine. Fuels formulated with tetraethyl lead have good antiknock characteristics, i.e. they allow higher compression ratios. But leaded gasoline forms compounds during the combustion process that are hazardous to health and pollute the environment.

Example: An ideal Otto cycle has a compression ratio of 8. At the beginning of the compression process, the air is at 100 KPa and 17oC, and 800 KJ /Kg of heat is transferred to air during the constant-volume heat-addition process. Accounting for the variation of specific heats of air with temperature, determine (a) the maximum temperature and pressure that occur during the cycle, (b) the net work output, (c) the thermal efficiency, and (d) the mean effective pressure for the cycle.

Air standard diesel cycle The diesel cycle is the ideal cycle for compression ignition engines. The spark plug is replaced by fuel injector in diesel engines. In diesel engine it is assumed that the heat addition occurs during a constant pressure process that starts with the piston at top dead center. The air standard diesel cycle consists of the following internally reversible processes in series: 1. Isentropic compression 2. Constant pressure heat addition 3. Isentropic expansion 4. Constant volume heat rejection

In diesel engine, qin = h3-h2 qout = u4-u1 Cold air assumptions: qin = Cp(T3-T2) qout = Cv(T4- T1) Thermal efficiency = wnet/qin A new quantity is defined for diesel engine. The cutoff ratio rc is defined as the ratio of the cylinder volumes after and before the combustion process: rc = V3 /V2 Efficiency of diesel engine: = wnet/ qin Example: An air-standard Diesel cycle has a compression ration of 18 and a cutoff ratio of 2. At the beginning of the compression process, air is at 0.1 MPa and 27oC. Determine (a) the temperature and pressure at the end of each process of the cycle, (b) the thermal efficiency, (c) the mean effective pressure. (M&S, P383)

Dual cycle
Approximating the combustion process in internal combustion engines as a constant volume or a constant pressure heat addition process is only a simplistic approach. More accurate approach would be to model the combustion process as a combination of two heattransfer processes: one at constant volume and the other at constant pressure. The ideal cycle based on this approach is called dual cycle.