Examination of the Otto and Stirling Cycles in Thermodynamics

Sakina Abbas, Joseph DeSpain, Carel Lewis, and Andrew Weaver1

1
Texas A&M University; Department of Mechanical Engineering

Abstract. This report overviews the historical background, development, and thermodynamic conventions of
the Otto and Stirling Cycles. The Otto Cycle is found in engines used for automobiles and consists of a spark
ignition engine. Nikolaus Otto, around the late 1800s, was the first to create a working four-stroke engine that
used a coal gas to air mixture that would fuel his engine. The Otto cycle was then created and now is also
known as the four-stroke principle which most commonly uses spark plugs to ignite the fuel added. The fuel
is contained in a closed system of a certain mass that is taken through different process to output work. Each
Otto Cycle has four stages that is passes through, expansion, cooling, compression, and combustion. The Otto
Cycle consists of two isentropic and two isochoric processes. The isentropic processes insinuates there is no
loss of energy and therefore no heat transfer during those two processes. The heat transfer occurs in both of
the isochoric processes. The Stirling Cycle is found in engines usually attached to a machine that requires
a continuous power intake, such as solar power plants. Robert Stirling in 1816 created the first example of
a closed system air engine which then was known to be the Stirling Cycle. The Stirling engine is known as
an external combustion engine that isolates the combustion process using a heat exchanger boundary. This
cycle also consists of four stages, compression, heat addition, expansion, and heat removal. The Stirling Cycle
consists of two isothermal processes and two isochoric processes. The Stirling Cycle has a high efficiency
due to the heat exchanger mechanism which allows for no heat to be lost or wasted during the process. The
fluid contained in a Stirling Engine can be any gas that will not change states when being heated or cooled,
such as hydrogen. Both cycles output a certain amount of work to power their relative machines in the proper
environment they are created for.

1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction to The Otto Cycle

The Otto Cycle is an thermodynamic cycle that observes

the process that are inside a typical spark ignition pis-
ton engine. The engine could either consist of 2-stroke
or 4-stroke cycles, but most commonly the 4-stroke is
used. A spark ignition engine consists of a combustion
process where the air/fuel mixture is ignited using a spark
plug. The fuel contained could either be petrol or gasoline
that allows the engine to be lightweight and attain higher
speeds due to the fuel being burned simultaneously. These
engines are most commonly found in automobiles. The
fuel is introduced in the engine as a mixture with air, the
mixture is then forced into the engine through a carbure-
tor. The carburetor mechanism is used to determine the
amount of flow and speed of the fuel going into the en-
gine. The quality of the mixture is also controlled by the Figure 1. Normal Combustion in a Spark Ignition Engine
carburetor by observing how much air is needed to create
an ideal mixture for the spark ignition engine. For the fuel
to be ignited a spark plug is powered using a battery which
then starts the burning process.
The first spark ignition engine was built in 1876 where
the Otto Cycle was then discovered. The Otto Cycle ob- is applied. The Otto Cycle is constructed to analyze the
serves the effects on the mass of the mixture when differ- amount of net work needed in the engine to move a auto-
ing pressures, temperatures, volumes, and transfer of heat mobile in any relative environment.
Figure 2. Displacer Stirling Engine
1.2 Introduction to The Stirling Cycle
The Stirling Cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that analyzes
the different classes of Stirling engines. The purpose of
a Stirling engine is to take a fluid, that is then recycled
continuously throughout the engine to produce power. To
understand the operation of a Stirling Engine, one has to
comprehend the functionality of the components. Stirling
Engine, also known as a heat engine operates through si-
multaneous processes of compressing and expanding air
or other fluids such as hydrogen or helium. A Stirling En-
gine consists of a closed system with one side that is hot
and the other side that is cold. The gas inside the engine is
being continuously rotated between the hot and cold sides
of the engine using a piston assembly. When the gas is
leaning towards the hot side, the pressure is higher which
expands the piston; when the gas is towards the cold side
the pressure is lower which contracts the piston. The two
pistons have different tasks on hand, one piston is used to
move the gas between the heat source and the heat sink,
the other piston is used to take the work that is being out-
putted and through the cranks power the machine. The
Stirling engine also has a very high efficiency compared
to others due to a heat exchanger which is incorporated
to pick up heat when the hot gas is moving through, this
allows for no heat to be lost or wasted to the atmosphere.
A Stirling Engine is ideal to be used in situations where
there needs to be continuous power being produced, such
as solar power plants or high-efficiency combined heat and
power plants. The Stirling Cycle is a closed system that
takes a fixed amount of fluid and while changing the pres-
sure the system then outputs work.
2 Origins and Societal Implementation
2.1 Implementation of The Otto Cycle
This section will overview the history and development
of the Otto Cycle. Necessary figures and equations will
be added. To understand the history behind the Otto cy-
cle, we must first delve into the past of inventor him-
selfNikolaus Otto. Interestingly enough, Otto wasnt an
engineer by trade; however, he and his brother were fasci-
nated with engines. After learning of a new engine called
the Lenoir engine, the brothers built a copy of the engine
and from then on Otto started his progression toward the
Figure 3. The First Commercially Successful 4-Cycle I.C. En-
gine
development of the early internal combustion engine. It
wasnt until 1862 that Otto started to break ground on the
four-cycle engine. The engine that he created, however,
broke within a few minutes of running, but this did not de-
ter Otto. Unfortunately for Otto, he wouldnt progress his
research on the four-cycle combustion engine until nearly
a decade after his first experiments for various reasons.
Research is by no means cheap, so Otto had to look for
investors to fund his vision. Luckily a man by the name of
Eugen Langen liked Ottos vision so much that they even-
tually created a company for the sole purpose of engineer-
ing engines. Although, Ottos intention was to produce a 4
cycle internal combustion engine, Otto and Langens com-
pany actually developed an atmospheric engine shortly af-
ter the company was founded. Believe it or not the engine
was actually commercially successful and compared to to-
days standards only produced 3 horsepower and it needed
a whopping 10 ft of room to operate. It wasnt until 1876,
12 years after the Otto Langen engine, that the four-cycle
internal combustion engine finally come into fruition with
the help of Franz Rings and Herman Schumm.
2.2 Implementation of The Stirling Cycle
The Stirling engine has an interesting history timeline.
The reason being, the design and patent submitted in 1816
preceded the birth of thermodynamics and the writing
of M. Sadi Carnot by some 40 years[10]. Stirling de-
signed an engine before the advent of thermodynamics it-
self, and incredibly, the Stirling engine is still used till this
day. The man reason for Stirlings drive to produce such
an engine was actually a safety reason. During his time,
steam engines were in heavy use and, unfortunately, ma-
terial science hadnt progressed enough to make steam en-
gines reliably safe. The problem was the boilers would ex-
plode causing high pressure steam to injure factory work-
ers. With Stirlings goal in mind he set out to engineer
the Stirling engine, which did see some production usage.
However, a man by the name of Bessimer found a way
Figure 4. The Apparatus of Robert Stirlings 1816 Patent
to mass produce steel and eventually the Stirling engine
was overshadowed for nearly a century. Around the 1930s
the Stirling engine finally found a usethey were used as a
generator for radios in remote parts of the world that were
secluded from the grid. The Stirling engine fortunately
was continually funded into present day, and thanks to the
incredible reversibility of the Stirling cycle the most com-
mon usage is actually for cooling.
3 Current State and Research
3.1 Quantum Mechanics in The Otto Cycle
Thermodynamic cycles are of great interest to current re-
searchers because of the connections they form between
other branches of science and because they fulfill energy
demands of modern societies. One particularly interest-
ing connection between thermodynamic cycles and other
scientific fields is between the Otto cycle and quantum
mechanics. The quantum Otto cycle serves as a bridge
between macroscopic thermodynamic study and thermo-
dynamics devices made up of only a single quantum ele-
ment. This research uses an Otto cycle with a harmonic
oscillator as a medium to study these elements, and is es-
pecially helpful because the Otto cycle can be analytically
tracked. A discussion of this research can be found in Ron-
nie Kozloff and Yair Rezeks article. It emphasizes the re-
lationship between the system state and quantum observ-
ables. This research opens many opportunities for study
in the field of thermodynamics as well. For example, the
relationship of quantum elements to the system allows re-
searchers to study the effect of noise on the system.
3.2 Hybrid Electric Vehicles and the Atkinson
Cycle
Hybrid electric vehicles have become an appealing com-
mercial option in new green-energy vehicles. The en-
gines of these vehicles have adopted the use of a converted
Figure 5. The Atkinson Cycle, which employs a smaller com-
pression stroke than the Otto Cycle
variant of the Otto Cycle called the Atkinson cycle, which
implements a late-intake valve closing process to reduce
pumping losses and inputted work as it decreases the com-
pression stroke. Thus, the result of this late-closing pro-
cess will result in more energy delivered from the com-
busted gas to the piston during the expansion and higher
engine effectiveness as compared to the Otto Cycle; how-
ever, it decreases the compression ratio of the cycle, lead-
ing to lower power density and torque provided to the
crankshaft. With these limitations in play, design opti-
mization of the Atkinson cycle has become economically
feasible by testing hardware under low-to-medium speed
and loading conditions, which is an accurate assumption
for the typical usage of the smaller hybrid electric vehicles
in the general public. Specifically, components that have
been optimized as compared to the Otto Cycle under these
assumptions have been the increase in the excess air co-
efficient (or increase in air in the air-to-fuel ratio) and the
decrease in brake specific fuel consumption, both of which
lead to higher thermal efficiency and fuel economy rat-
ing. Conclusively, by strengthening the late-intake valve
process through means of further decreasing fuel volume
used, the hybrid electric vehicles have become an ideal
purchase for consumers with highway commutes and lim-
ited parking space.
3.3 LTD Stirling Cycle Applications
One of the obvious constraints of using the Stirling cy-
cle for economical purposes involves the requirement of
high temperature differences in the two external reservoirs
of the cycle, which requires strong, expensive material for
the working piston. This has led to research devoted to
finding applications for LTD (Low Temperature Differen-
tial) Stirling engines that can produce some sort of work
at low building cost and at low maintenance requirements.
In practice, though LTDs do not achieve high efficiencies
on the basis as their high temperature counterparts, they
 Figure 7. P-V Diagram of an Otto Cycle
Figure 6. Working Principle of the Solar-Stirling Converter

do actually achieve high efficiencies in that lower temper-

atures foster less frictional and mechanical losses within
the gas piston. Over the past few decades, the develop-
ment of economical solar energy panels has created the
opportunity for LTD Stirling Engines to have a renewable
heat reservoir at relative constant temperature . With im-
plementation of the panel at the top of a gas piston cylin-
der, heat can be provided to initiate the Stirling cycle as
the piston moves down to then transfer the heated volume
of air to a liquid piston in order to pump water. The waste
heat of this process exiting at the cold reservoir end of
the gas piston cylinder effectively remains at a tempera-
Figure 8. T-S Diagram of an Otto Cycle
ture not damaging to the apparatuss walls. The usage
of these systems remains rather small-scale; however, the
low-temperature, low-pressure conditions of LTDs allows
for a higher degree in freedom to adjust the mechanical Alternatively, in a cold air standard analysis of an in-
intricacies of the pistons movement. This has included ternal combustion engine, specific heats are assumed con-
further research in piston operating frequency and reso- stant at their ambient temperature values.
nance to create highly efficient LTD Stirling engines, as
their overall conception models Carnot efficiency.

4.2 Ideal Processes of the Otto Cycle

4 Important Thermodynamic Relations The following processes encompass the definition of the
ideal Otto Cycle, which is subject to Air Standard Analysis
4.1 Air Standard Analysis of an Internal conditions. The processes enumeration is assigned based
Combustion Engine on Figures 3 and 4, respectively.

The basis of the Otto Cycle is defined upon a certain set of
ideal conditions. In an air standard analysis of an internal
combustion engine, which are the conditions assumed for
the Otto Cycle, the following conditions are assumed:
A fixed amount of air modeled as an ideal gas is the
working fluid.
The combustion process is replaced by an external
source heat transfer.
There is no exhaust and intake processes like an ac-
tual engine. The cycle is completed by a constant volume
heat transfer process taking place while the piston is at
maximum volume.
All processes are internally reversible.
Process 1-2: An isentropic compression of the air as the
piston moves from maximum to minimum volume.
Process 2-3: A constant volume heat transfer to the air
from an external source while the piston is at minimum
volume.
Process 3-4: An isentropic expansion of the air as the
piston moves from minimum to maximum volume.
Process 4-1: A constant volume heat rejection from the
air to an external source while the piston is at maximum
volume.
4.3 Thermodynamic Equations of the Otto Cycle In order to retrieve specific internal energies prescribed by
the energy balance equations of the Otto Cycle, the param-
The energy balance of the closed system is shown be- eter vr is used to relate states using the compression ratio,
low. Regarding the mechanical processes of the Piston- as shown below.
Cylinder apparatus of the Otto Cycle, kinetic and potential
effects may be neglected. V2 vr1
vr2 = vr1 =
V1 r
Q W = U + KE + PE ; (KE = 0, PE = 0)
V4
By rearrangement of the energy balance for the Otto Cy- vr4 = vr3 = rvr3
V3
cle, work input during process 1-2 and work output during
process during process 3-4 are as shown below, both of In cold air standard analysis, where specific heats are as-
which are given in positive terms. sumed constant, the following relations of thermodynam-
ics is applied.
W12
= u2 u1 ; (dQ = 0) T2 v1 k1
m = ( ) ; (s2 = s1 , constant k)
T1 v2
W34
= u3 u4 ; (dQ = 0)
m cp
k=
By rearrangement of the energy balance for the Otto Cy- cv
cle, heat added during process 2-3 and heat rejection dur-
ing process during process 4-1 are shown as the equations u (T 2 ) u (T 1 ) = cv (T 2 T 1 )
below, both of which are given in positive terms. Thus, by assuming constant specific heats, the following
Q23 relation is met with the compression ratio as shown below
= u3 u2 ; (dW = 0) of the Otto Cycle under cold air standards.
m
Q41 T2 V1 k1
= u4 u1 ; (dW = 0) = ( ) = rk1
m T1 V2
The net work of the Otto Cycle is the work output sub-
tracted by the work input of the cycle, and the respective T4 V3 k1 1
= ( ) = k1
equation is shown below. T3 V4 r

Wcycle W34 W12 Additionally, by assuming constant specific heats, the ther-
= = (u3 u4 ) (u2 u1 ) mal efficiency under Cold Air Standard Analysis can be
m m m
successfully defined as shown below.
Alternatively, the net work of the Otto Cycle is the heat
added subtracted by the heat rejection of the cycle, and the cv (T 4 T 1 ) T 1 [T 4 /(T 1 1)]
Otto Cycle (C.S .A.) = 1 = 1
respective equation is shown below. cv (T 3 T 2 ) T 2 [T 3 /(T 2 1)]

Wcycle Q23 Q41 Given the isentropic processes described during process 1-
= = (u3 u2 ) (u4 u1 ) 2 and process 3-4 of the reversible Otto cycle, the follow-
m m m
ing relations of temperature ratios exist as shown below.
The thermal efficiency of the Otto Cycle is the ratio of the
work of the cycle to the heat added to the cycle, and the T4 T3
respective equation under Air Standard Analysis is shown =
T1 T2
below.
Wcycle (u3 u2 ) (u4 u1 ) u4 u1 Thus, the thermal efficiency under Cold Air Standard
Otto Cycle (A.S .) = = =1 Analysis can be further rearranged due to the temperature
Q23 u3 u2 u3 u2
ratio relation as shown below.
Given the constant volume processes described during
process 2-3 and process 4-1 of the Otto cycle, the follow- T1
Otto Cycle (C.S .A) = 1
ing relations of volume exist as shown below. T2

V3 = V2 ; V4 = V1 Additionally, by implementing the definition of the com-

pression ratio, the thermal efficiency under Cold Air Stan-
The compression ratio, which is the ratio of the maximum dard Analysis can be further rearranged as shown below.
volume to minimum volume in the internal combustion en-
gines cylinder, is shown below and is defined accordingly T2
= rk1
since the cycle is reversible. T1

V1 V4 1
r= = Otto Cycle (C.S .A.) = 1
V2 V3 rk1
 Figure 10. P-V Diagram of a Stirling Cycle
Figure 9. Compression Ratio vs. Thermal Efficiency of an Otto
Cycle

4.4 Design Parameters and Limitations for the Otto

Cycle

The definition of thermal efficiencies gives that Otto Cy-

cles efficiencies are increased when compression ratios
are increased. However, in design of actual internal com-
bustion engines, there are limitations to how high a com-
pression ratio can be. Combustion in an engine takes place
during a compression process after the intake valve that
has injected fuel has closed, which differs from the ideal-
ization presented as the Otto Cycles external heat source. Figure 11. T-S Diagram of a Stirling Cycle
Though the minimum volume can be decreased to increase
the compression ratio, smaller volumes will lead to higher
temperatures, which when high enough, will cause the fuel
to auto-ignite. Auto-ignition before combustive compres- 4.6 Thermodynamic Equations of the Stirling Cycle
sion is completed will create higher pressures in the cylin-
The energy balance of the closed system is shown be-
der, leading to high pressure valves and engine damage.
low. Regarding the mechanical processes of the Piston-
Cylinder apparatus of the Stirling Cycle, kinetic and po-
tential effects may be neglected.
4.5 Ideal Processes of the Stirling Cycle
Q W = U + KE + PE ; (KE = 0, PE = 0)
The following processes encompass the definition of the
ideal Stirling Cycle. The cycle reflects the presence of a U = mCv T
type of heat exchanger known as a regenerator. The pro- Process 1-2 and process 3-4 are isothermal, and given an
cesses enumeration is assigned based on Figures 6 and 7, ideal gas, the following relations are met.
respectively.
PV = mRT = constant
Process 1-2: An isothermal expansion at maximum tem-
perature accompanied by a heat input from an external U = mCv T = 0 ; (T = 0)
source.
Q = W ; (U = 0)
Process 2-3: A constant volume process accompanied by By rearrangement of the energy balance for the Stirling
an internal heat transfer from the gas to the regenerator. Cycle and isothermal ideal gas conditions, work output
and heat input during process 1-2 and work input and heat
Process 3-4: An isothermal compression at minimum output during process 3-4 are as shown below.
temperature accompanied by a heat rejection to an external
W12 Q12 V2
sink. = = RT H ln( )
m m V1
Process 4-1: A constant volume process accompanied by W34 Q34 V4
an internal heat transfer from the regenerator to the gas. = = RTC ln( )
m m V3
Process 2-3 and process 4-1 are constant volume pro- tremendous and costly sealing procedures on the wall of
cesses, so by rearrangement of the energy balance for the the cylinder.
Stirling Cycle, heat transfer to the regenerator during pro- Since the Stirling Cycle operates under the depen-
cess 2-3 and heat transfer from the regenerator from the dence of constant heat inputs and outputs, power output is
regenerator are as shown below. thereby behaves on a constant basis. This makes the nature
of changing power input (which is important for automo-
Q23
= Cv (T 3 T 2 ) biles, engines that require a basis of changing velocities)
m a rather slow and deliberate process of altering heat reser-
Q41 voirs.
= Cv (T 1 T 4 )
m
The net work of the Stirling Cycle is the work output sub-
tracted by the work input of the cycle; however, since work
output and work input are equivalent to heat input and heat 5 Summary
output, respectively, net work can be defined as below. The Otto and Stirling cycle both offer interesting oppor-
tunities of development that are supported by their funda-
Wcycle = Qin Qout
mental thermodynamic definitions and persistent histories.
The thermal efficiency of the Stirling Cycle is the ratio of The Otto Cycle has been implemented in most stan-
the work of the cycle to the heat added to the cycle, and dard automobile engines over its development through the
the respective equation is shown below. past century, and remains lucrative in the development of
alternative fuels by altering the relationship of its com-
Qin Qout Qout pression and power strokes. This development follows the
S tirling Cycle = =1
Qin Qin spirit of the cycles thermodynamic definition for thermal
efficiency, as air-fuel inputs must be made in consideration
Additionally, given the Stirling Cycle is reversible, the fol- of the engines compression ratio.
lowing relationship exists between the ratio of volumes The Stirling Cycle currently only plays minimal roles
during isothermal expansion and compression. for economical engine use due to its high cost of produc-
! tion. However, as this cycles thermal efficiency is thermo-
V2 V4
ln = ln( ) dynamically defined as Carnot efficiency and utilizes ex-
V1 V3
ternal combustion, it proposes to scientists and engineers
Qin TH a possibility to create a system that will require little main-
= tenance and potentially deliver work at comparatively high
Qout TC
efficiencies, and this is being seen prototypically using low
This gives a further rearrangement of the thermal effi- temperature differentials.
ciency of the Stirling Cycle. Its efficiency is equivalent
to that of Carnot Efficiency.
TC
S tirling Cycle = 1 6 References
TH
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