ApplicationsoftheFirstLawtoHeatEngines

I. Thermodynamiccyclesandheatengines(VW,S&B:

Chapter9)
Thissectionofthecourseisdevotedtodescribingthebasicfundamentalsofhowvariousheat
engineswork(e.g.arefrigerator,anICengine,ajet).Youwillalsolearnhowtomodelthese
heatenginesasthermodynamiccyclesandhowtoapplytheFirstLawofThermodynamicsto
estimatethermalefficiencyandworkoutputasafunctionofpressuresandtemperaturesat
variouspointsinthecycle.Thisiscalledidealcycleanalysis.Theestimatesyouobtainfrom
theanalysisrepresentthebestachievableperformancethatmaybeobtainedfromaheatengine.
Inreality,theperformanceofthesesystemswillbesomewhatlessthantheestimatesobtained
fromidealcycleanalysisyouwilllearnhowtomakemorerealisticestimatesin16.050.
Wewilldealwithonly"airstandard"thermodynamiccycles,whereweignorethechangesin
propertiesoftheworkingfluidbroughtaboutbytheadditionoffuelorthepresenceof
combustionproducts(wedoofcourseaccountfortheheatreleasethatoccursduetothe
combustionofthefuelairmixture).Ingeneralthisisagoodassumptionsinceintypical
combustionapplicationsthefuelaccountsforonlyabout5%ofthemassoftheworkingfluid.
Therearesomegoodanimationsofvarioustypesofengineshere:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/

A. TheOttoCycle(VW,S&B:9.13)
TheOttocycleisanidealizationofasetofprocessesusedbysparkignitioninternal
combustionengines(2strokeor4strokecycles).Theseenginesa)ingestamixtureof
fuelandair,b)compressit,c)causeittoreact,thuseffectivelyaddingheatthrough
convertingchemicalenergyintothermalenergy,d)expandthecombustionproducts,and
thene)ejectthecombustionproductsandreplacethemwithanewchargeoffuelandair.
Thevariousstepsareillustratedonpage9ofthesenotes.Aniceanimationcanbefound
here:http://techni.tachemie.unileipzig.de/otto/index_e.htmlandhere:
http://www.rawbw.com/~xmwang/myGUI/OttoG.html
Wemodelallofthesehappeningsbyathermodynamiccycleconsistingofasetof
processesallactingonafixedmassofaircontainedinapistoncylinderarrangement.
Theexhaustandintakeprocessesarereplacedbyconstantvolumecooling.
1.
2. Representationoftheheatengineasathermodynamiccycle.
(Ingestmixtureoffuelandair)

12Compressmixturequasistaticallyandadiabatically
23Igniteandburnmixtureatconstantvolume(heatisadded)
34Expandmixturequasistaticallyandadiabatically
41Coolmixtureatconstantvolume
(thenrepeat)
work~Force*distance~
fueluse~heatadded~T3T2
efficiency~workout/fueluse

3. Methodforestimatingthermalefficiencyandworkoutput(applicationoftheFirst
LawofThermodynamics).

a. Networkdonebysystem=workofexpansion+workofcompression()
Bothexpansionandcompressionareadiabaticso
w=(u3u4)(u2u1)
Assuminganidealgaswithconstantcv
w=cv[(T3T4)(T2T1)]
b. Whiletheaboveexpressionisaccurate,itisnotallthatuseful.Wewould
liketoputtheexpressionintermsofthetypicaldesignparameters:the
compressionratio(v1/v2=v4/v3),andtheheataddedduringcombustion
(qcomb.=cv(T3T2)).
Foraquasistatic,adiabaticprocess,

sowecanwritethenetworkas

wealsoknowthat

so

andfinally,thedesiredresultintermsoftypicaldesignparameters:

c. Thethermalefficiencyofthecycleis

so

(Notethatwecouldalsorewritethisas:

showingthattheefficiencyofanOttocycledependsonlyonthetemperature
ratioofthecompressionprocess.)

B. BraytonCycle(VW,S&B:9.89.9,9.12)

TheBraytoncycleisanidealizationofasetofthermodynamicprocessesusedingas
turbineengines,whetherforjetpropulsionorforgenerationofelectricalpower.Youcan
findsomeniceillustrationsofgasturbineenginesathttp://www.rolls
royce.com/education/default.jsp(clickthelinkatlowerleft"Takeajourneythroughajet
engine")andathttp://www.prattwhitney.com/how.htm.

1. Componentsofagasturbineengine

Schematicsoftypicalmilitarygasturbineengines.Top:turbojetwithafterburning,
bottom:GEF404lowbypassratioturbofanwithafterburning(HillandPeterson,
1992).

2. Thethermodynamiccycle
Thecycleconsistsoffourprocesses:a)quasistaticadiabaticcompressioninthe
inletandcompressor,b)constantpressureheatadditioninthecombustor,c)quasi
staticadiabaticexpansionintheturbineandexhaustnozzle,andfinallyd)constant
pressurecoolingtogettheworkingfluidbacktotheinitialcondition.
12Adiabatic,quasistaticcompressionininletand
compressor
23Combustfuelatconstantpressure(i.e.addheat)
34Adiabatic,quasistaticexpansioninturbine

a.takeworkoutanduseittodrivethecompressor
b.takeremainingworkoutanduseittoacceleratefluidforjet
propulsion,ortoturnageneratorforelectricalpowergeneration.
41Cooltheairatconstantpressure
Thenrepeat

3. Estimatingtheperformanceoftheengine
OurobjectivewiththeBraytoncycleisthesameasfortheOttocycle.Firstto
deriveexpressionsforthenetworkandthethermalefficiencyofthecycle,and
thentomanipulatetheseexpressionstoputthemintermsoftypicaldesign
parameterssothattheywillbemoreuseful.
First,rememberfromtheFirstLawwecanshowthatforanycyclicprocessheat
andworktransfersarenumericallyequal
u=qw
ufinal=uinitialthereforeu=0andq=wor
Thisfactisoftenusefulforsolvingthermodynamiccycles.Forinstanceinthis
example,wewouldliketofindthenetworkofthecycleandwecouldcalculate
thisbytakingthedifferenceoftheworkdoneallthewayaroundthecycle.Or,
sinceq=w,wecouldjustaswellconsiderthedifferencebetweentheheat
addedtothecycleinprocess23,andtheheatrejectedbythecycleinprocess41.
a. heataddedbetween23(combustor):
FirstLawintermsofenthalpyforanidealgasundergoingaquasistatic
process:
q=dhvdporq=cpdTvdp

atconstantpressure
qadded=cpTorqadded=cp(T3T2)
b. heatrejectedbetween41:
similarly
qadded=cpTorqrejected=cp(T4T1)
c. workdoneandthermalefficiency:
w=q=qaddedqrejected=cp[(T3T2)(T4T1)]
Brayton=(qaddedqrejected)/qadded=[(T3T2)(T4T1)]/(T3T2)
Again,whiletheseexpressionsareaccurate,theyarenotallthatuseful.We
needtomanipulatethemtoputthemintermsoftypicaldesignparameters
forgasturbineengines.Forgasturbineenginesthemostusefuldesign
parameterstousefortheseequationsareoftentheinlettemperature(T1),the
compressorpressureratio(p2/p1),andthemaximumcycletemperature,the
turbineinlettemperature(T3).
d. Rewritingequationsintermsofdesignparameters:

so

with
becomes

andfortheefficiency

butfromabove

so

e. Performanceplots

Intheplotabove,TR=T3/T1.Notethatforagiventurbineinlettemperature,T3,(which
issetbymateriallimits)thereisacompressorpressureratiothatmaximizesthework.

HereisafunNASAlinkwhereyoucandesignyourownengine:
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K12/airplane/ngnsim.html

C. GeneralizedRepresentationofThermodynamicCycles(VW,S&B:6.1)

Notethatheatenginescanberepresentedgenerallyas:
atransferofheatfromahightemperaturereservoirtoadevice+
arejectionofheatfromadevicetoalowtemperaturereservoir
+
networkdoneonsurroundings

D. Toobtaindataforanoperatinggasturbineengine(theonethat

providespowertoMIT!)checkoutthefollowinglinks:
http://cogen.mit.edu/
and
http://cogen.mit.edu/unified/

E.RefrigerationCycles
Refrigerationcyclestakeinworkfromthesurroundingsandtransferheat
fromalowtemperaturereserviortoahightemperaturereservior.
Schematically,theylooklikethediagramgivenabove,butwiththedirection
ofthearrowsreversed.Theycanalsoberecognizedonthermodynamic
diagramsasclosedloopswithacounterclockwisedirectionoftravel.A
moredetailedphysicaldescriptionisgivenbelow.

Theobjectiveofarefrigeratoristolowertheinternalenergyofabodyatlow
temperature(thefood)andtransferthatenergytothehighertemperature
surroundings(theroomtherefrigeratorisin).Itrequireswork(typicallyin
theformofelectricalenergy)todothis.Themediumfortheenergy
exchangeisaworkingfluid(arefrigerant)thatcirculatesinaloopthrougha
seriesofdevices.Thesedevicesacttoaddandremoveenergyfromthe
workingfluid.Typicallytheworkingfluidintheloopisconsideredthe
thermodynamicsystem.Sometimesthefluidusedalternatesbetweengas
phaseandliquidphase,butthisdetailisnotimportantforunderstandingthe
basicprocess.Asimplifiedschematicisshonabove.
Astherefrigerantcirculatesaroundtheloop,itsinternalenergy(and
temperature)isalternatelyraisedandloweredbyaseriesofdevices.Inthis
manner,theworkingfluidsothatitiscolderthantherefrigeratorairatone

pointandhotterthantheairintheroomatanotherpoint.Thusheatwillflow
intheappropriatedirectionasshownbythetwoarrowsintheheat
exchangers.Startingintheupperrighthandcornerofthediagram,firstthe
internalenergyisloweredeitherbypassingthroughasmallturbineor
throughanexpansionvalve.Inthesedevices,workisdonebytherefrigerant
soitsinternalenergyislowered.Theinternalenergyisloweredtoapoint
wherethetemperatureoftherefrigerantislowerthanthatoftheairinthe
refrigerator.Aheatexchangerisusedtotransferenergyfromtheair(and
food)intherefrigeratortothecoldrefrigerant(energytransferredbyvirtue
ofatemperaturedifferenceonly=heat).Thislowerstheinternalenergyof
theair/foodandraisestheinternalenergyoftherefrigerant.Thenapumpor
compressorisusedtodoworkontherefrigerantaddingadditionalenergyto
itandthusfurtherraisingitsinternalenergy.Electricalenergyisusedto
drivethepumporcompressor.Theinternalenergyoftherefrigerantisraised
toapointwhereitstemperatureishotterthanthetemperatureoftheroom.
Therefrigerantisthenpassedthroughaheatexchanger(thecoilsattheback
oftherefrigerator)sothatenergyistransferredfromtherefrigeranttothe
surroundings.Asaresult,theinternalenergyoftherefrigerantisreducedand
theinternalenergyofthesurroundingsisincreased.Itisatthispointwhere
theinternalenergyofthefoodandtheenergyusedtodrivethecompressor
orpumparetransferredtothesurroundings.Therefrigerantthencontinues
ontotheturbine,repeatingthecycle.