City Basic

DesignMechanical Engineering

Dr. R. Vaira Vignesh

Assistant Professor (Selection Grade) – Research Track
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Amrita School of Engineering – Coimbatore
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Coimbatore Campus)

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Carnot Cycles
Carnot Cycle
▪ Best known reversible cycle – Carnot cycle

▪ Theoretical heat engine that operates on Carnot cycle – Carnot heat engine

▪ Carnot cycle – composed of four reversible processes

▪ Two isothermal process and two adiabatic process

▪ Executed either in a closed or a steady-flow system

▪ Consider a closed system that consists of a gas contained in an adiabatic
piston–cylinder device

▪ Insulation of the cylinder head – heat removed to bring the cylinder into
contact with reservoirs to provide heat transfer

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Carnot Cycle
Reversible Isothermal Expansion (process 1-2, TH = constant)

▪ State 1 - Temperature of the gas is TH and cylinder head is in close contact

with a source at temperature TH

▪ Gas is allowed to expand slowly, doing work on the surroundings

▪ Gas expands, the temperature of the gas tends to decrease

▪ As soon as the temperature drops by an infinitesimal amount dT, some heat
is transferred from reservoir into gas, raising gas temperature to TH

▪ Gas temperature is kept constant at TH

▪ Amount of total heat transferred to the gas during this process is QH

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Carnot Cycle
Reversible Adiabatic Expansion (process 2-3, temperature drops from TH to TL)

▪ At state 2, reservoir that was in contact with the cylinder head is removed
and replaced by insulation so that the system becomes adiabatic

▪ Gas continues to expand slowly

▪ Does work on surroundings until its temperature drops from TH to TL

(state 3)
▪ Piston is assumed to be frictionless and the process to be quasi-equilibrium

▪ Process is reversible as well as adiabatic

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Carnot Cycle
Reversible Isothermal Compression (process 3-4, TL = constant)

▪ At state 3, insulation at the cylinder head is removed, and the cylinder is

brought into contact with a sink at temperature TL

▪ Piston is pushed inward by an external force, doing work on the gas

▪ Gas is compressed, its temperature tends to rise

▪ As soon as it rises by an infinitesimal amount dT, heat is transferred from the

gas to the sink, causing the gas temperature to drop to TL

▪ Gas temperature remains constant at TL; Continues until piston reaches state 4

▪ Amount of heat rejected from the gas during this process is QL

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Carnot Cycle
Reversible Adiabatic Compression (process 4-1, temperature rises from TL to TH)

▪ State 4 - low-temperature reservoir is removed, the insulation is put back on

the cylinder head

▪ Gas is compressed in a reversible manner, so the gas returns to its initial state
(state 1)

▪ Temperature rises from TL to TH during this reversible adiabatic compression

process, which completes the cycle.

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Carnot Cycle
▪ Area under curve 1-2-3 – work done by the gas
during the expansion part of the cycle, and

▪ Area under curve 3-4-1 – work done on the gas

during the compression part of the cycle

▪ Area enclosed by the path of the cycle (area 1-2-3-

4-1) – difference between these two and represents
the net work done during the cycle

▪ Carnot cycle cannot be achieved in reality,

▪ Efficiency of actual cycles – improved by attempting

to approximate Carnot cycle more closely

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Carnot Principles
▪ Kelvin–Planck and Clausius statements - two conclusions pertain to thermal
efficiency of reversible and irreversible (i.e., actual) heat engines drawn –
Carnot principle

▪ Efficiency of an irreversible heat engine is always less than the

efficiency of a reversible one operating between the same two
reservoirs

▪ Efficiencies of all reversible heat engines operating between the same

two reservoirs are the same
▪ Two statements can be proved by demonstrating that the violation of
either statement results in the violation of second law of thermodynamics

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Thermodynamic Temperature Scale
▪ All reversible heat engines have same thermal efficiency when operating between the same two reservoirs

▪ Efficiency of a reversible engine is independent of the working fluid employed and its properties, the
way the cycle is executed, or the type of reversible engine used

▪ Energy reservoirs are characterized by their temperatures, the thermal efficiency of reversible heat
engines is a function of the reservoir temperatures only

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Carnot Heat Engine
▪ Hypothetical heat engine that operates on the reversible Carnot cycle – Carnot heat engine

▪ QH is heat transferred to the heat engine from a high-temperature reservoir at TH, and QL is heat rejected to
a low-temperature reservoir at TL

▪ Reversible heat engines – heat transfer ratio in the preceding relation can be replaced by the ratio of the
absolute temperatures of the two reservoirs

▪ Carnot Efficiency

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Carnot Refrigerator and Carnot Heat Engine
▪ Refrigerator / heat pump that operates on the reversed Carnot cycle - Carnot refrigerator / Carnot heat
pump

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Problems and Discussions

A person claims to have developed a new reversible heat-engine cycle that has a higher theoretical efficiency
than the Carnot cycle operating between the same temperature limits. How do you evaluate this claim?

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Problems and Discussions

From a work-production perspective, which is more valuable: (a) thermal energy reservoirs at 675 K and 325 K
or (b) thermal energy reservoirs at 625 K and 275 K?

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Problems and Discussions

A Carnot heat engine operates between a source at 1000 K and a sink at 300 K. If the heat engine is supplied
with heat at a rate of 800 kJ/min, determine (a) the thermal efficiency and (b) the power output of this heat
engine.

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Problems and Discussions

A heat engine is operating on a Carnot cycle and has a thermal efficiency of 55% The waste heat from this
engine is rejected to a nearby lake 60°F at a rate of 800 Btu/min. Determine (a) the power output of the
engine and (b) the temperature of the source.

Note: Fahrenheit to Rankine: 0 °F = 459.67 °R

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Problems and Discussions

A Carnot heat engine receives 650 kJ of heat from a source of unknown temperature and rejects 250 kJ of it
to a sink at 24°C. Determine (a) the temperature of the source and (b) the thermal efficiency of the heat
engine.

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Problems and Discussions

In an effort to conserve energy in a heat-engine cycle, somebody suggests incorporating a refrigerator that
will absorb some of the waste energy QL and transfer it to the energy source of the heat engine. Is this a
smart idea? Explain.

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Problems and Discussions

During an experiment conducted in a room at 25°C, a laboratory assistant measures that a refrigerator that
draws 2 kW of power has removed 30,000 kJ of heat from the refrigerated space, which is maintained at
-30°C. The running time of the refrigerator during the experiment was 20 min. Determine if these
measurements are reasonable.

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Problems and Discussions

A refrigerator is to remove heat from the cooled space at a rate of 300 kJ/min to maintain its temperature at
-8°C. If the air surrounding the refrigerator is at 25°C, determine the minimum power input required for this
refrigerator.

20
Problems and Discussions

A heat pump is used to maintain a house at 25°C by extracting heat from the outside air on a day when the
outside air temperature is 4°C. The house is estimated to lose heat at a rate of 110,000 kJ/h, and the heat
pump consumes 4.75 kW of electric power when running. Is this heat pump powerful enough to do the job?

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Problems and Discussions

A heat pump is to be used for heating a house in winter. The house is to be maintained at 78°F at all times.
When the temperature outdoors drops to 25°F, the heat losses from the house are estimated to be 70,000
Btu/h. Determine the minimum power required to run this heat pump if heat is extracted from (a) the
outdoor air at 25°F and (b) the well water at 50°F

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Problems and Discussions

A heat pump creates a heating effect of 32,000 Btu/h for a space maintained at 530 R while using 1.8 kW of
electrical power. What is the minimum temperature of the source that satisfies the second law of
thermodynamics?

1 kW 3412.142 BTU/hr

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Problems and Discussions

The structure of a house is such that it loses heat at a rate of 3800 kJ/h per °C difference between the indoors
and outdoors. A heat pump that requires a power input of 4 kW is used to maintain this house at 24°C.
Determine the lowest outdoor temperature for which the heat pump can meet the heating requirements of
this house.

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Problems and Discussions

Determine the minimum work input required to remove 1 kJ of heat from liquid helium at 3 K when the
outside temperature is 300 K.

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 ▪ [email protected]

Thank You ▪ [email protected]

▪ sites.google.com/site/rvairavignesh
▪ www.amrita.edu/faculty/r-vairavignesh
The contents and images in the presentation are obtained from internet or articles or books that may be protected by copyright. The
presentation is distributed freely but only for classroom instruction or the use of students. The presentation may not be retained or
disseminated. Any further use of this material may be in violation of Exceptions To Infringement Under Copyright Act, 1957 (Government
of India)

Please do not remove the credit line on the title page and republish the file as your own, in whole or in part.