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Assignment 1
1. An air-standard cycle is executed within a closed piston-cylinder system and consists of
three processes as follows:
1-2 V = constant heat addition from 100 kPa and 27oC to 700 kPa
2-3 Isothermal expansion until V3 = 7V2
3-1 P = constant heat rejection to the initial state Assume air has constant properties with
cv = 0.718 kJ/kg·K, cp = 1.005 kJ/kg·K, R = 0.287 kJ/kg·K, and k = 1.4. (a) Sketch the P-v and
T-s diagrams for the cycle. (b) Determine the ratio of the compression work to the
expansion work (the back work ratio). (c) Determine the cycle thermal efficiency.
Answers: (b) 0.440, (c) 26.6 percent
2. An air-standard cycle with variable specific heats is executed in a closed system and is
composed of the following four processes:
1-2 Isentropic compression from 100 kPa and 22oC to 600 kPa
2-3 v = constant heat addition to 1500 K
3-4 Isentropic expansion to 100 kPa
4-1 P = constant heat rejection to initial state (a) Show the cycle on P-v and T-s diagrams.
(b) Calculate the net work output per unit mass. (c) Determine the thermal efficiency.
3. Consider a Carnot cycle executed in a closed system with 0.6 kg of air. The temperature
limits of the cycle are 300 and 1100 K, and the minimum and maximum pressures that
occur during the cycle are 20 and 3000 kPa. Assuming constant specific heats, determine
the net work output per cycle.
4. Consider a Carnot cycle executed in a closed system with air as the working fluid. The
maximum pressure in the cycle is 1300 kPa while the maximum temperature is 950 K. If
the entropy increase during the isothermal heat rejection process is 0.25 kJ/kg·K and the
net work output is 100 kJ/kg, determine (a) the minimum pressure in the cycle, (b) the
heat rejection from the cycle, and (c) the thermal efficiency of the cycle. (d) If an actual
heat engine cycle operates between the same temperature limits and produces 5200 kW
of power for an air flow rate of 95 kg/s, determine the second law efficiency of this cycle.
5. An ideal Otto cycle has a compression ratio of 8. At the beginning of the compression
process, air is at 95 kPa and 27oC, and 750 kJ/kg of heat is transferred to air during the
constant-volume heat-addition process. Taking into account the variation of specific heats
with temperature, determine (a) the pressure and temperature at the end of the heat-
addition process, (b) the net work output, (c) the thermal efficiency, and (d) the mean
effective pressure for the cycle. Answers: (a) 3898 kPa, 1539 K, (b) 392.4 kJ/kg, (c) 52.3
percent, (d ) 495 kPa
6. A spark-ignition engine has a compression ratio of 8, an isentropic compression efficiency
of 85 percent, and an isentropic expansion efficiency of 95 percent. At the beginning of
the compression, the air in the cylinder is at 13 psia and 60oF. The maximum gas