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Carnot Cycle

The Carnot cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle consisting of four reversible processes involving any substance. It involves two isothermal expansions and compressions and two adiabatic processes between a high temperature reservoir (TH) and low temperature reservoir (TL). The work done during the expansion is greater than the work required for compression, resulting in a net work output. The Carnot cycle defines the maximum possible efficiency (ηth) for any heat engine operating between two temperature reservoirs, where ηth = 1 − (TL/TH). Decreasing the high or low temperature reduces the Carnot efficiency.

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20 views6 pages

Carnot Cycle

The Carnot cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle consisting of four reversible processes involving any substance. It involves two isothermal expansions and compressions and two adiabatic processes between a high temperature reservoir (TH) and low temperature reservoir (TL). The work done during the expansion is greater than the work required for compression, resulting in a net work output. The Carnot cycle defines the maximum possible efficiency (ηth) for any heat engine operating between two temperature reservoirs, where ηth = 1 − (TL/TH). Decreasing the high or low temperature reduces the Carnot efficiency.

Uploaded by

Humaid Shaikh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Carnot Cycle

Idealized thermodynamic cycle consisting of four reversible processes (any


substance):
Reversible isothermal expansion (1-2, TH=constant)
Reversible adiabatic expansion (2-3, Q=0, THTL)
Reversible isothermal compression (3-4, TL=constant)
Reversible adiabatic compression (4-1, Q=0, TLTH)

1-2

2-3

3-4

4-1

The Carnot Cycle-2


Work done by gas = PdV, area under the
process curve 1-2-3.
dV>0 from 1-2-3
1
PdV>0
2
3

Work done on gas = PdV, area under the


process curve 3-4-1
subtract
1

Net work
2
4

Since dV<0
PdV<0
2

The Carnot Principles


The efficiency of an irreversible heat engine is always less than the efficiency of
a reversible one operating between the same two reservoirs. th, irrev < th, rev
The efficiencies of all reversible heat engines operating between the same two
reservoirs are the same. (th, rev)A= (th, rev)B
Both Can be demonstrated using the second law (K-P statement and Cstatement). Therefore, the Carnot heat engine defines the maximum efficiency
any practical heat engine can reach up to.
Thermal efficiency th=Wnet/QH=1-(QL/QH)=f(TL,TH) and it can be shown that
th=1-(QL/QH)=1-(TL/TH). This is called the Carnot efficiency.
For a typical steam power plant operating between TH=800 K (boiler) and
TL=300 K(cooling tower), the maximum achievable efficiency is 62.5%.

Example
Let us analyze an ideal gas undergoing a Carnot cycle between two
temperatures TH and TL.
1 to 2, isothermal expansion, U12 = 0
QH = Q12 = W12 = PdV = mRTHln(V2/V1)
2 to 3, adiabatic expansion, Q23 = 0
(TL/TH) = (V2/V3)k-1 (1)
3 to 4, isothermal compression, U34 = 0
QL = Q34 = W34 = - mRTLln(V4/V3)
4 to 1, adiabatic compression, Q41 = 0
(TL/TH) = (V1/V4)k-1 (2)
From (1) & (2), (V2/V3) = (V1/V4) and (V2/V1) = (V3/V4)
th = 1-(QL/QH )= 1-(TL/TH) since ln(V2/V1) = ln(V4/V3)
It has been proven that th = 1-(QL/QH )= 1-(TL/TH) for all Carnot engines since

Carnot Efficiency

Efficiency

A Carnot heat engine operating between a high-temperature source at 900 K


and reject heat to a low-temperature reservoir at 300 K. (a) Determine the
thermal efficiency of the engine. (b) If the temperature of the hightemperature source is decreased incrementally, how is the thermal efficiency
1
changes with the temperature.
0.8
Lower TH
TL
300
0.6
th 1 1
0.667 66.7%
Th( T )
TH
900
0.4

Fixed T 300( K ) and lowering T


L

0.2

300
(T ) 1
T
th

200

Fixed T 900( K ) and increasing T

th

Efficiency

The higher the temperature, the higher the "quality"


of the energy: More work can be done

T
(T ) 1
900

600

800

1000

T
Temperature (TH)

400

TH( TL )

Increase TL

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

200

400

600

800

TL
Temperature (TL)

1000

Carnot Efficiency
Similarly, the higher the temperature of the low-temperature sink, the more
difficult for a heat engine to transfer heat into it, thus, lower thermal efficiency
also. That is why low-temperature reservoirs such as rivers and lakes are
popular for this reason.
To increase the thermal efficiency of a gas power turbine, one would like to
increase the temperature of the combustion chamber. However, that sometimes
conflict with other design requirements. Example: turbine blades can not
withstand the high temperature gas, thus leads to early fatigue. Solutions: better
material research and/or innovative cooling design.
Work is in general more valuable compared to heat since the work can convert
to heat almost 100% but not the other way around. Heat becomes useless when
it is transferred to a low-temperature source because the thermal efficiency will
be very low according to th=1-(TL/TH). This is why there is little incentive to
extract the massive thermal energy stored in the oceans and lakes.

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