EN601 FOUNDATION FOR ENERGY

ENGINEERING
ASSIGNMENT-1
TOPIC: OTTO CYCLE
NAME: JAMI PRUDHVI RAJ
DEPARTMENT: DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENGINEERING
ROLL NO: 202319007
SECTION: MTech I YEAR
INTRODUCTION TO POWER CYCLES:
Two important areas of application for thermodynamics are power generation and
refrigeration. Both are usually accomplished by systems that operate on a
thermodynamic cycle. Thermodynamic cycles can be divided into two general
categories power cycles and refrigeration cycles.
The devices or systems used to produce a net power output are often called
engines, and the thermodynamic cycles they operate on are called power cycles.
The devices or systems used to produce a refrigeration effect are called
refrigerators, air conditioners, or heat pumps, and the cycles they operate on are
called refrigeration cycles.
Thermodynamic cycles can also be categorized as gas cycles and vapor cycles,
depending on the phase of the working fluid. In gas cycles, the working fluid
remains in the gaseous phase throughout the entire cycle, whereas in vapor cycles
the working fluid exists in the vapor phase during one part of the cycle and in the
liquid phase during another part.
Thermodynamic cycles can be categorized yet another way: closed and open
cycles. In closed cycles, the working fluid is returned to the initial state at the end
of the cycle and is recirculated. In open cycles, the working fluid is renewed at
the end of each cycle instead of being recirculated. In automobile engines, the
combustion gases are exhausted and replaced by fresh air–fuel mixture at the end
of each cycle. The engine operates on a mechanical cycle, but the working fluid
does not go through a complete thermodynamic cycle.
BASIC CONSIDERATIONS IN ANALYSIS OF POWER
CYCLES:
The cycles encountered in actual devices are difficult to analyse because of the
presence of complicating effects, such as friction, and the absence of sufficient
time for establishment of the equilibrium conditions during the cycle. To
make an analytical study of a cycle feasible, we have to keep the complexities at
a manageable level and utilize some idealizations.
When the actual cycle is stripped of all the internal irreversibilities and
complexities, we end up with a cycle that resembles the actual cycle closely but
is made up totally of internally reversible processes. Such a cycle is called an
ideal cycle.

Heat engines are designed for the purpose of converting thermal energy to
work, and their performance is expressed in terms of the thermal efficiency which
is the ratio of the net work produced by the engine to the total heat input. Heat
engines that operate on a totally reversible cycle, such as the Carnot cycle, have
the highest thermal efficiency of all heat engines operating between the same
temperature levels. That is, nobody can develop a cycle more efficient than the
Carnot cycle.
The ideal cycles are internally reversible, but, unlike the Carnot cycle,
they are not necessarily externally reversible. That is, they may involve
irreversibilities external to the system such as heat transfer through a finite
temperature difference. Therefore, the thermal efficiency of an ideal cycle, in
general, is less than that of a totally reversible cycle operating between the same
temperature limits.
The idealizations and simplifications commonly employed in the analysis
of power cycles can be summarized as follows:
• The cycle does not involve any friction. Therefore, the working fluid
does not experience any pressure drop as it flows in pipes or devices
such as heat exchangers.
• All expansion and compression processes take place in a quasi equilibrium
manner.
• The pipes connecting the various components of a system are well
insulated, and heat transfer through them is negligible.
Property diagrams such as the P-v and T-s diagrams have served as valuable aids
in the analysis of thermodynamic processes. On both the P-v and T-s diagrams,
the area enclosed by the process curves of a cycle represents the net work
produced during the cycle which is also equivalent to the net heat transfer for that
cycle according to first law of thermodynamics.
The T-s diagram is particularly useful as a visual aid in the analysis of ideal
power cycles. An ideal power cycle does not involve any internal irreversibilities,
and so the only effect that can change the entropy of the working fluid during a
process is heat transfer.
GAS POWER CYCLES: OTTO CYCLE
A) OVER VIEW OF RECIPROCATING ENGINES
The reciprocating engine (basically a piston–cylinder device) is one of the rare
inventions that has proved to be very versatile and to have a wide range of
applications. It is the powerhouse of the vast majority of automobiles, trucks, light
aircraft, ships, and electric power generators, as well as many other devices.

The basic components of a reciprocating engine are shown in the above figure
The piston reciprocates in the cylinder between two fixed positions called
the top dead centre (TDC) the position of the piston when it forms the
smallest volume in the cylinder and the bottom dead centre (BDC) the
position of the piston when it forms the largest volume in the cylinder.
The distance between the TDC and the BDC is the largest distance that the
piston can travel in one direction, and it is called the stroke of the engine.
The diameter of the piston is called the bore. The air or air–fuel mixture is
drawn into the cylinder through the intake valve, and the combustion products are
expelled from the cylinder through the exhaust valve.
The minimum volume formed in the cylinder when the piston is at TDC
is called the clearance volume. The volume displaced by the piston as it moves
between TDC and BDC is called the displacement volume. The ratio of the
maximum volume formed in the cylinder to the minimum (clearance) volume is
called the compression ratio r of the engine.
Reciprocating engines are classified as spark-ignition (SI) engines or
compression-ignition (CI) engines, depending on how the combustion
process in the cylinder is initiated. In SI engines, the combustion of the
air–fuel mixture is initiated by a spark plug. In CI engines, the air–fuel
mixture is self-ignited as a result of compressing the mixture above its self ignition
temperature. In the next section we discuss the Otto cycles which is the ideal
cycles for the SI and reciprocating engines.
B) OTTO CYCLE
The Otto cycle is the ideal cycle for spark-ignition reciprocating engines. It
is named after Nikolaus A. Otto, who built a successful four-stroke engine
in 1876 in Germany using the cycle proposed by Frenchman Beau de
Rochas in 1862. In most spark-ignition engines, the piston executes four
complete strokes (two mechanical cycles) within the cylinder, and the
crankshaft completes two revolutions for each thermodynamic cycle. These
engines are called four-stroke internal combustion engines. A schematic of
each stroke for a four-stroke spark-ignition engine is given below.

Initially, both the intake and the exhaust valves are closed, and the piston is
at its lowest position (BDC). During the compression stroke, the piston moves
upward, compressing the air–fuel mixture.
Shortly before the piston reaches its highest position (TDC), the spark plug fires
and the mixture ignites increasing the pressure and temperature of the system. The
high-pressure gases force the piston down, which in turn forces the crankshaft to
rotate, producing a useful work output during the expansion or power stroke. At
the end of this stroke, the piston is at its lowest position (the completion of the
first mechanical cycle), and the cylinder is filled with combustion products.
Now the piston moves upward one more time, purging the exhaust gases
through the exhaust valve (the exhaust stroke), and down a second time,
drawing in fresh air–fuel mixture through the intake valve (the intake
stroke). Notice that the pressure in the cylinder is slightly above the atmospheric
value during the exhaust stroke and slightly below during the intake
stroke.
In two-stroke engines, all four functions described above are executed in
just two strokes the power stroke and the compression stroke. In these
engines, the crankcase is sealed, and the outward motion of the piston is
used to slightly pressurize the air–fuel mixture in the crankcase, as shown in
figure.
The intake and exhaust valves are
replaced by openings in the lower
portion of the cylinder wall. During
the latter part of the power stroke, the
piston uncovers first the exhaust port,
allowing the exhaust gases to be
partially expelled, and then the intake
port, allowing the fresh air–fuel
mixture to rush in and drive most of
the remaining exhaust gases out of the
cylinder. This mixture is then
compressed as the piston moves
upward during the compression stroke
and is subsequently ignited by a spark
plug.
The two-stroke engines are generally less efficient than their four-stroke
counter parts because of the incomplete expulsion of the exhaust gases and
the partial expulsion of the fresh air–fuel mixture with the exhaust gases.
However, they are relatively simple and inexpensive, and they have high
power-to-weight and power-to-volume ratios, which make them suitable for
applications requiring small size and weight such as for motorcycles, chain
saws, and lawn mowers.
C) ANALYSIS OF FOUR STROKE or TWO STROKE CYCLES
The thermodynamic analysis of the actual four-stroke or two-stroke cycles
described is not a simple task. However, the analysis can be simplified
significantly if the air-standard assumptions are utilized.
AIR- STANDARD ASSUMPTIONS:
• The working fluid is air, which continuously circulates in a closed loop
and always behaves as an ideal gas.
• All the processes that make up the cycle are internally reversible.
• The combustion process is replaced by a heat-addition process from an
external source.
• The exhaust process is replaced by a heat-rejection process that restores
the working fluid to its initial state.
• Specific heats are constant and are evaluated at room temperature.
When these air standard assumptions are applied to actual cycle, the actual is
converted to ideal cycle which is schematically shown below.
The execution of the Otto cycle in a piston–cylinder device together with
a P-v diagram and the T-s diagram of the Otto cycle is given in the below figures.

The Otto cycle is executed in a closed system, and disregarding the

No work is involved during the two heat transfer processes since both take
place at constant volume. Therefore, heat transfer to and from the working
fluid can be expressed as

Then the thermal efficiency of the ideal Otto cycle under the air standard
assumptions becomes

Processes 1-2 and 3-4 are isentropic, and v2=v3 and v4=v1. Thus,

Substituting these equations into the thermal efficiency relation and simplifying
give
Where

r = Compression ratio
k = ratio of specific heat constants = cp/cv

The thermal efficiency of an ideal Otto cycle depends on the compression ratio
of the engine and the specific heat ratio of the working fluid. The thermal
efficiency of the ideal Otto cycle increases with both the compression ratio and
the specific heat ratio. This is also true for actual spark-ignition internal
combustion engines. A plot of thermal efficiency versus the compression
ratio is given in figure for k=1.4, which is the specific heat ratio value
of air at room temperature.

The second parameter affecting the thermal efficiency of an ideal Otto