The Carnot Cycle

Idealized thermodynamic cycle consisting of four reversible processes (any

substance): Reversible isothermal expansion ( !"# T$%constant) Reversible adiabatic expansion ("!&# '%(# T $T)) Reversible isothermal compression (&!*# T)%constant) Reversible adiabatic compression (*! # '%(# T )T$)

!"

"!&

&!*

*!

The Carnot Cycle!"

+or, done by gas % -d.# area under the process curve !"!&/ d.2( from !"!& -d.2( " &

+or, done on gas % -d.# area under the process curve &!*! subtract 0et 1or, " * & " 3ince d.4( -d.4( &

The Carnot -rinciples

The efficiency of an irreversible heat engine is al1ays less than the efficiency
of a reversible one operating bet1een the same t1o reservoirs/ th# irrev 4 th# rev The efficiencies of all reversible heat engines operating bet1een the same t1o reservoirs are the same/ (th# rev)5% (th# rev)6 6oth Can be demonstrated using the second la1 (7!- statement and C! statement)/ Therefore# the Carnot heat engine defines the maximum efficiency any practical heat engine can reach up to/ Thermal efficiency th%+net8'$% !(')8'$)%f(T)#T$) and it can be sho1n that th% !(')8'$)% !(T)8T$)/ This is called the Carnot efficiency/ 9or a typical steam po1er plant operating bet1een T $%:(( 7 (boiler) and T)%&(( 7(cooling to1er)# the maximum achievable efficiency is ;"/<=/

>xample
)et us analyze an ideal gas undergoing a Carnot cycle bet1een t1o temperatures T$ and T)/ to "# isothermal expansion# ? " % ( '$ % ' " % + " % -d. % mRT$ln(."8. ) " to &# adiabatic expansion# '"& % ( (T)8T$) % (."8.&),! ( ) & to *# isothermal compression# ?&* % ( ') % '&* % +&* % ! mRT)ln(.*8.&) * to # adiabatic compression# '* % ( (T)8T$) % (. 8.*),! (") 9rom ( ) @ (")# (."8.&) % (. 8.*) and (."8. ) % (.&8.*) th % !(')8'$ )% !(T)8T$) since ln(."8. ) % ln(.*8.&) It has been proven that th % !(')8'$ )% !(T)8T$) for all Carnot engines since

Carnot >fficiency
5 Carnot heat engine operating bet1een a high!temperature source at A(( 7 and reBect heat to a lo1!temperature reservoir at &(( 7/ (a) Cetermine the thermal efficiency of the engine/ (b) If the temperature of the high! temperature source is decreased incrementally# ho1 is the thermal efficiency changes 1ith the temperature/ (/: )o1er T$ TL &(( (/; th = = = (/;;D = ;;/D= Th ( T ) TH A(( (/*

9ixed T = &((( K ) and lo1ering T

)

>fficiency

(/" ( "(( *(( ;(( :(( (((

&(( (T ) = T
th H H

T Temperature (T$)

The higher the temperature# the higher the EFualityE of the energy: Gore 1or, can be done
>fficiency T$ ( T) )

(/: (/; (/* (/" ( "((

Increase T)

9ixed T = A((( K ) and increasing T

$

T (T ) = A((
L th H

*((

;((

:((

(((

T) Temperature (T))

Carnot >fficiency
3imilarly# the higher the temperature of the lo1!temperature sin,# the more difficult for a heat engine to transfer heat into it# thus# lo1er thermal efficiency also/ That is 1hy lo1!temperature reservoirs such as rivers and la,es are popular for this reason/ To increase the thermal efficiency of a gas po1er turbine# one 1ould li,e to increase the temperature of the combustion chamber/ $o1ever# that sometimes conflict 1ith other design reFuirements/ >xample: turbine blades can not 1ithstand the high temperature gas# thus leads to early fatigue/ 3olutions: better material research and8or innovative cooling design/ +or, is in general more valuable compared to heat since the 1or, can convert to heat almost ((= but not the other 1ay around/ $eat becomes useless 1hen it is transferred to a lo1!temperature source because the thermal efficiency 1ill be very lo1 according to th% !(T)8T$)/ This is 1hy there is little incentive to extract the massive thermal energy stored in the oceans and la,es/