Lecture 11.

Real Heat Engines and

refrigerators (Ch. 4)

• Stirling heat engine

• Internal combustion engine (Otto cycle)
• Diesel engine
• Steam engine (Rankine cycle)
• Kitchen Refrigerator

www.physics.rutgers.edu/~wdwu/351/Lecture11.ppt
 Carnot Cycle
- is not very practical (too slow), but operates at the maximum efficiency allowed by
the Second Law.

P 1 1–2 isothermal expansion (in contact with TH)

absorbs 2–3 isentropic expansion to TC
heat
3–4 isothermal compression (in contact with TC)
2 4–1 isentropic compression to TH
(isentropic  adiabatic+quasistatic)
TH
4 3 TC Efficiency of Carnot TC
cycle for an ideal gas: emax  1 
rejects heat TH
(Pr. 4.5)
V
S On the S -T diagram, the work done is
3 2
the area of the loop:
contained in gas

 dU  0   TdS   PdV
entropy

4 The heat consumed at TH (1 – 2) is the area

1
surrounded by the broken line:
TC TH T QH  TH S H  SC  S - entropy
contained in gas
 Stirling heat engine
Stirling engine – a simple, practical heat
engine using a gas as working substance. It’s
more practical than Carnot, though its
efficiency is pretty close to the Carnot
maximum efficiency. The Stirling engine T
2 3
contains a fixed amount of gas which is T2
transferred back and forth between a "cold"
and and a "hot" end of a long cylinder. The
T1 4
"displacer piston" moves the gas between the 1
two ends and the "power piston" changes the
internal volume as the gas expands and V1 V2
contracts.

Page 133, Pr. 4.21

 Stirling heat engine
The gases used inside a Stirling engine never leave the engine. There
are no exhaust valves that vent high-pressure gasses, as in a gasoline or
diesel engine, and there are no explosions taking place. Because of this,
Stirling engines are very quiet. The Stirling cycle uses an external heat
source, which could be anything from gasoline to solar energy to the heat
produced by decaying plants. Today, Stirling engines are used in some
very specialized applications, like in submarines or auxiliary power
generators, where quiet operation is important.

T
2 3
T2

T1 4
1

V1 V2
 Efficiency of Stirling Engine
In the Stirling heat engine, a working substance, which may be assumed to be an
ideal monatomic gas, at initial volume V1 and temperature T1 takes in “heat” at
constant volume until its temperature is T2, and then expands isothermally until its
volume is V2. It gives out “heat” at constant volume until its temperature is again T1
and then returns to its initial state by isothermal contraction. Calculate the efficiency
and compare with a Carnot engine operating between the same two temperatures.

Q12  CV T2  T1  
nRT2  T1   0
3
T 1-2 W12  0
2 3 2
T2 V 
V2 V2
dV
2-3 Q23   PdV  nRT2   nRT2 ln  2   0 Q23  W23
V1 V1
V  V1 
T1
Q34  CV T1  T2   nRT1  T2   0
4 3
1 3-4 W34  0
2
 V1 
V1 V1
dV
V1 V2
4-1 Q 41  V PdV  nRT 1
V2
V
 nRT1 ln    0 Q41  W41
 V2 
2

1 QH Q12  Q23 2 T2  T1   T2 ln V2 / V1 

3
T2 3 1
     
e W Q23  Q41 T2  T1 ln V2 / V1  T2  T1 2 ln V2 / V1  emax
 Internal Combustion Engines (Otto cycle)
- engines where the fuel is burned inside the engine
cylinder as opposed to that where the fuel is burned
outside the cylinder (e.g., the Stirling engine). More
economical than ideal-gas engines because a small
engine can generate a considerable power.
Otto cycle. Working substance – a mixture of air
and vaporized gasoline. No hot reservoir – thermal
3
P energy is produced by burning fuel.
ignition

01 intake (fuel+air is pulled into the cylinder

by the retreating piston)
2 12 isentropic compression
4 23
exhaust

isochoric heating
Patm 0 34 isentropic expansion
1
intake/exhaust 4  1  0 exhaust

V2 V1 V
 Otto cycle (cont.)
V2 - maximum cylinder volume
V1 - minimum cylinder volume
 1
 V2  T1 V2
The efficiency: e 1   1 V1
- the compression ratio
(Pr. 4.18)  V1  T2  = 1+2/f - the adiabatic exponent

For typical numbers V1/V2 ~8 ,  ~ 7/5  e = 0.56, (in reality, e = 0.2 – 0.3)
(even an “ideal” efficiency is smaller than the second law limit 1-T1/T3)
3
P S
ignition

3 Q0 4
S1
2 QH
4
QC
exhaust

Patm 0 S2 2 Q0
1 1
intake/exhaust

V2 V1 V V2 V1 V
 Diesel engine
 Qc
e 1 (Pr. 4.20)
 Qh
 1  1
1  2 : adiabatic, TV
1 1  T V
2 2

f 2
2  3: isobaric,  Qh  nR T3  T2 
2
3  4 : adiabatic, T3V3 1  T4V4 1
f
4  1: isochoric, V4  V1 ,  Qc  nR T4  T1 
2

 V2 
e 1  
 1


1  
V3 
V2 1
 V1   V3
V2 1
 Steam engine (Rankine cycle)

hot reservoir, TH P Boiler processes

water
3
at P = const,
QH Sadi
Q=dHCarnot
2
Pump
Boiler Turbine
heat
Turbine
work
1
4 steam
Pump

Water+steam
heat

condense V

NOT an ideal gas!

Condenser
H  U  PV ,   Q  P   H  P
1  2 : isothermal   adiabatic 
QC

cold reservoir, TC 2  3: isobaric,  Qh  H 3  H 2

3  4 : adiabatic
4  1: isobaric,  Qh  H 4  H1
 Steam engine (Rankine cycle)

hot reservoir, TH P Boiler processes

water
3
at P = const,
QH Sadi
Q=dHCarnot
2
Pump
Boiler Turbine
heat
Turbine
work
1
4 steam
Pump

Water+steam
heat

condense V

H 4  H1 H  H1
e 1 1 4  4.12
Condenser H3  H2 H 3  H1
QC
Here H2  H1 , water is almost incompressible.
cold reservoir, TC
S3  S4  S3gas  x  S4gas  1  x   S4liquid
H 4  x  H 4gas  1  x   H 4liquid
 Kitchen A liquid with suitable characteristics (e.g., Freon) circulates
through the system. The compressor pushes the liquid
Refrigerator through the condenser coil at a high pressure (~ 10 atm).
The liquid sprays through a throttling valve into the
evaporation coil which is maintained by the compressor at
a low pressure (~ 2 atm).

condenser
P processes
2 at P = const,

liquid
3
 Q=dH
throttling
valve
compressor
4 1
cold reservoir gas
(fridge interior) liquid+gas
T=50C
evaporator V

QC H1  H 4 H  H4
COP    1
QH  QC H 2  H 3   H1  H 4  H 2  H1
The enthalpies Hi can be found in tables.
hot reservoir H 3  H 4 ,  H 3liquid  x  H 4liquid  1  x   H 4gas
(fridge exterior)
T=250C S2  S1  T2  H 2 T2 , P2 