Otto Cycle Research Articles

Special coupled quantum Otto and Carnot cycles

Two special coupled spins, one is an arbitrary spin-s and the other is a fixed spin-1/2, are proposed as the working substance of the quantum Otto and Carnot cycles. The quantum adiabatic stages of the cycles are considered the simultaneous changes of the frequencies of the spins and the interaction strength in which all the energy gaps of the working substance are changed by the same ratios in the two quantum adiabatic stages. The role of quantum interactions and the spin-s on the performance of the quantum cycles is investigated in detail. It is found that the thermal efficiencies of the cycles are independent of the spin-s and the interaction strength and are also equivalent to their classical counterparts. The work output of the cycles is found to be significantly enhanced by the quantum interactions. Compared to the uncoupled case, the coupled working substance with a smaller spin-s is found to produce more useful work in the weak coupling regime, while the harvested work with a smaller spin-s is less in the strong coupling regime. The concept of local thermodynamics and the role of inner friction are also addressed for the proposed quantum Otto and Carnot cycles.

Conceptual study of scroll-type rotary gasoline Internal Combustion Engine

This paper reports the study of a conceptual gasoline Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) using scroll type rotary device rather than conventional piston as the main engine component. The proposed innovate engine adopts Humphrey Cycle to maximize the power performance of ICE. A performance comparison of the Humphrey Cycle, Otto cycle and Brayton cycle has firstly been conducted and studied. The effects of using different designed compression ratio under variable expansion ratio have been investigated, which identify the optimal operational conditions under different compression/expansion ratio of the engine. A case study has been conducted to study the performance of small scale scroll-type rotary ICE. Results pointed out under designed compression ratio from 2:1 to 10:,1 the effective energy efficiency of the scroll-type rotary ICE ranges from 0.41 to 0.55 and the effective power from the system ranges from 2.88 to 15.82 kW.

A self-contained quantum harmonic engine

We propose a system made of three quantum harmonic oscillators as a compact quantum engine for producing mechanical work. The three oscillators play respectively the role of the hot bath, the working medium and the cold bath. The working medium performs an Otto cycle during which its frequency is changed and it is sequentially coupled to each of the two other oscillators. As the two environments are finite, the lifetime of the machine is finite and after a number of cycles it stops working and needs to be reset. Remarkably, we show that this machine can extract more than 90% of the available energy during 70 cycles. Differently from usually investigated infinite-reservoir configurations, this machine allows the protection of induced quantum correlations and we analyse the entanglement and quantum discord generated during the strokes. Interestingly, we show that high work generation is always accompanied by large quantum correlations. Our predictions can be useful for energy management at the nanoscale, and can be relevant for experiments with trapped ions and experiments with light in integrated optical circuits.

Exploring the Effect of Frictional Heat on Rate of Fuel Combustion by ICE through Modeling and Simulation with Reference to ICE Parameters.

Otto cycle operations of ICEs have relatively higher capacities and efficiency. Factors of efficiency, emission, fuel consumption and output power are considered during design and construction of ICEs. Engine size, engine weight, number of pistons, swept volume, cylinder arrangement and number of valves all differs in accordance to type of ICE. Fundamental principle of ICE is burning of air – fuel mixture of appropriate proportions in air tight chamber to produce heat energy for motion. Fossil fuel of diesel and gasoline obtained from underground are the main fuels used by ICEs. The engine block houses cylinders, pistons rings, connecting rods and pistons. At top seals of cylinders are located inlet valves, outlet valves and channels. Crankcase houses crankshaft and bearings whiles the sump serves as reservoir for lubrication oil. Lubrication oil also known as lubricant reduces friction between moving surfaces in ICEs through piston ring grooves. Connecting rod is the linkage between crankshaft and piston. Gudgeon – pin transmits combustion force from piston to connecting rod then to crankshaft. Thus, crankshaft converts reciprocating motion of piston to cyclic motion. During operations of ICEs, friction occurs between pistons with piston rings collectively and inner walls of cylinder. Frictional effects account for about thirty five percent (35%) of total heat generated in ICEs. The methodology adopted by this article is modeling and simulating frictional models by previous authors. These models were incorporated with ICE parameters before modeling and simulation again. Objectively, graphical results show reduction in heat generation due to friction.

Quantum Otto heat engine with three-qubit [formula omitted] model as working substance

A quantum Otto heat engine is established with a three-qubit Heisenberg XXZ model with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interaction under a homogeneous magnetic field as the working substance. The quantum Otto engine is composed of two quantum isochoric processes and two quantum adiabatic processes. Here we have restricted Bc∕Bh=Jc∕Jh=r in the two adiabatic processes, where r is the adiabatic compression ratio. The work output and efficiency are calculated for our cycle. The possible adiabatic compression ratios and the ratios of work output between our working substance and a single spin under the same external conditions in the Otto cycle are analyzed with different DM interaction parameters and anisotropic parameters. The effects of pairwise entanglements on the heat engine efficiency are discussed.

<b>Analysis of lubricant oil contamination and degradation and wear of a biogas-fed otto cycle engine

The increasing deployment of biodigesters for the treatment of waste on farms and the use of the biogas generated in the production of energy have highlighted the need for knowing the influence of this fuel on internal combustion engines. This study aimed to analyze the influence of filtrated biogas on lubricant oil contamination and degradation, as well as on engine wear and corrosion. Lubricant oil samples were collected every 75 engine operating hours (EOH) and then correlated between each other and with a sample of new oil, determining the elements present in the biogas that contribute to lubricant oil contamination and degradation, as well as lubricant oil performance in the course of EOH and engine wear. The results demonstrate that hydrogen sulfide affects the performance of the lubricant oil and engine wear. Among the metals, we observed that the copper concentration exceeded the maximum limit recommended in the literature. As for the additives, the variation in concentrations of magnesium impacted on lubricant performance. By monitoring lubricant oil quality were able to extend the engine oil change interval of this study by 50%, what resulted in a savings of 33.3% in the cost of lubricant per hour worked.

Quantum Otto engine with exchange coupling in the presence of level degeneracy.

We consider a quasistatic quantum Otto cycle using two effectively two-level systems with degeneracy in the excited state. The systems are coupled through isotropic exchange interaction of strength J>0, in the presence of an external magnetic field B which is varied during the cycle. We prove the positive work condition and show that level degeneracy can act as a thermodynamic resource, so that a larger amount of work can be extracted than in the nondegenerate case, both with and without coupling. We also derive an upper bound for the efficiency of the cycle. This bound is the same as derived for a system of coupled spin-1/2 particles [G. Thomas and R. S. Johal, Phys. Rev. E 83, 031135 (2011)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.83.031135], i.e., without degeneracy, and depends only on the control parameters of the Hamiltonian, being independent of the level degeneracy and the reservoir temperatures.

Quantum Heat Engine and Negative Boltzmann Temperature**Support from the National Science Foundation of China under Grants Nos. 11375012, 11534002, and The Recruitment Program ofGlobal Youth Experts of China

To clarify the ambiguity on negative Boltzmann temperature in literature, we study the Carnot and the Otto cycle with one of the heat reservoirs at the negative Boltzmann temperature based on a canonical ensemble description. The work extraction, entropy production and the efficiency of these cycles are explored. Conditions for constructing and properties of these thermodynamic cycles are elucidated. We find that the apparent “violation” of the second law of thermodynamics in these cycles are due to the fact that the traditional definition of thermodynamic efficiency is inappropriate in this situation. When properly understanding the efficiency and the adiabatic processes, in which the system crosses over “absolute ZERO” in a limit sense, the Carnot cycle with one of the heat reservoirs at a negative Boltzmann temperature can be understood straightforwardly, and it contradicts neither the second nor the third law of thermodynamics. Hence, negative Boltzmann temperature is a consistent concept in thermodynamics. We use a two-level system and an Ising spin system to illustrate our central results.

High Temperature ORC Systems

ORC systems are well known as the best available technology for electricity production from low temperature heat sources -such as geothermal ones - and continuous technical development is done to optimize performances by means of finding new working fluids and improved design criteria and thermodynamic cycles.With regard to medium and high temperature heat sources exploitation for electric power production, ORC technology and Steam Rankine Cycle solutions are competing in terms of power production, capital expenditures and O&M costs to become the preferred choice on a case-by-case basis.Commercially available ORC technology is currently limited to a maximum working fluid operating temperature of about 300°C, leading to a strong limitation on performances achievable. Finding new working fluids that could operate at Higher Temperatures and developing the related technical solutions, will enable to improve ORC technology competiveness also in other niches that now are Steam Rankine Cycles territory. Very High Temperature ORC technology will lead to new solutions for both power only production and cogeneration, allowing ORC technology to enter market segments traditionally belonging to other technologies (e.g. Steam Rankine Cycles, Otto Cycles, Bryton Cycles, etc.).The paper will present the technical and industrial development on High Temperature ORC systems, potential market development and a technology comparison to other generation technologies.

A quantum heat engine based on Tavis-Cummings model

This paper will investigate a four-stroke quantum heat engine based on the Tavis-Cummings model. The cycle of the heat engine is similar to the Otto cycle in classical thermodynamics. The relationship between output power as well as cycle efficiency and external physical system parameters are given. Under this condition, the entanglement behavior of the system will be studied. The system can show considerable entanglement by strictly controlling relevant parameters. Unlike common two-level quantum heat engines, efficiency is a function of temperature, showing interesting and unexpected phenomena. Several ways to adjust engine properties by external parameters are proposed, with which the output power and efficiency can be optimized. The heat engine model exhibits high efficiency and output power with the participation of a small number of photons, and decay rapidly as the number of photons increases in entangled area but shows interesting behaviors in non-entangled area of photon numbers.

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) production and gasification in a pilot plant integrated with an Otto cycle ICE through Aspen plus™ modelling: Thermodynamic and economic viability

This work deals with the development of a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) gasification pilot plant using air as a gasification agent. A downdraft fixed bed reactor is integrated with an Otto cycle Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Modelling was carried out using the Aspen Plus™ software to predict the ideal operational conditions for maximum efficiency. Thermodynamics package used in the simulation comprised the Non-Random Two-Liquid (NRTL) model and the Hayden-O'Connell (HOC) equation of state. As expected, the results indicated that the Equivalence Ratio (ER) has a direct influence over the gasification temperature and the composition of the Raw Produced Gas (RPG), and effects of ER over the Lower Heating Value (LHV) and Cold Gasification Efficiency (CGE) of the RPG are also discussed. A maximum CGE efficiency of 57–60% was reached for ER values between 0.25 and 0.3, also an average reactor temperature values in the range of 680–700°C, with a peak LHV of 5.8MJ/Nm3. RPG was burned in an ICE, reaching an electrical power of 50kWel. The economic assessment of the pilot plant implementation was also performed, showing the project is feasible, with power above 120kWel with an initial investment of approximately US$ 300,000.

Fuel consumption in an air blower for agricultural use under different operating conditions

ABSTRACT Evaluation of fuel consumption in internal combustion engines (ICE) of agricultural machinery and equipment is important in determining the performance under various operating conditions, especially when using biofuels. This study consisted of experimental evaluation of the gasoline (petrol)/ethanol consumption in a two-stroke 1-cylinder ICE, Otto cycle, functioning as an air blower for agriculture and related applications. A methodology for tests of non-automotive ICE, based on ABNT/NBR technical standards, was considered. The presented results refer to operation with commercial and non-commercial fuel blends. Characteristic curves for the tested equipment are presented, identifying consumption conditions and trend in the whole operating range of angular speeds (RPM), for five fuel blends (gasoline/ethanol). For the operating conditions of minimum and maximum angular speeds, 20 and 30% ethanol blends had the highest and lowest fuel consumptions, respectively.

Stability, Control, and Constraint Enforcement of Piston Motion in a Hydraulic Free-Piston Engine

A free-piston engine (FPE) requires stabilizing feedback control to manage piston motion and ensure safe operation. A high-fidelity model, which simulates the FPE behavior by combining dynamic, thermodynamic, and hydraulic submodels, is exploited as an engine surrogate for control development. A control-oriented model implicitly describes the FPE piston turnaround position using energy balance principles for an idealized Otto cycle. Local eigenvalues of the control-oriented model suggest that the FPE system is open-loop unstable. The control system relies on dynamic inversion and state feedback to stabilize the plant and track a target piston turnaround position. A robust reference governor is introduced to manage load changes, such that the piston position does not violate constraints, even in the presence of parameter uncertainty. In high-fidelity simulations, the reference governor constrains piston turnaround position to ±0.5 mm of the target during a load change.

Nonlinear Robust Control of Atkinson Cycle Engine

In this research, a second order sliding mode (SOSM) strategy to control the Atkinson cycle engine breathing subsystem with an alternative late intake valve closing (LIVC) scheme is presented. The control framework based on extended mean value engine model (EMVEM) of the Atkinson cycle engine in view of fuel economy is evaluated for the standard Federal Urban Driving Schedule (FUDS) and US06 driving cycles. In this context, the authors have already proposed a control-oriented EMVEM model of the Atkinson cycle engine with variable intake valve actuation, well suited for SOSM design. To demonstrate the benefits of the VCR Atkinson cycle engine over conventional Otto cycle engine, in the presence of auxiliary loads and uncertain road loads, its EMVEM model is simulated by using a precisely tuned super-twisting controller having similar specifications as that of the conventional gasoline engine. The resulting approach confirms the significant decline in engine part load losses and improvement in the thermal efficiency and, accordingly, exhibits considerable enhancement in the fuel economy of the VCR Atkinson cycle engine over Otto cycle engine during the wide operating range.

Quantum optomechanical straight-twin engine

We propose a realization of a quantum heat engine in a hybrid microwave-optomechanical system that is the analog of a classical straight-twin engine. It exploits a pair of polariton modes that operate as out-of-phase quantum Otto cycles. A third polariton mode that is essential in the coupling of the optical and microwave fields is maintained in a quasidark mode to suppress disturbances from the mechanical noise. We also find that the fluctuations in the contributions to the total work from the two polariton modes are characterized by quantum correlations that generally lead to a reduction in the extractable work compared to its classical version.

Deep-subwavelength lithography via graphene plasmons

We propose a realization of a quantum heat engine in a hybrid microwave-optomechanical system that is the analog of a classical straight-twin engine. It exploits a pair of polariton modes that operate as out-of-phase quantum Otto cycles. A third polariton mode that is essential in the coupling of the optical and microwave fields is maintained in a quasi-dark mode to suppress disturbances from the mechanical noise. We also find that the fluctuations in the contributions to the total work from the two polariton modes are characterized by quantum correlations that generally lead to a reduction in the extractable work compared to its classical version.

Exergy-based ecological performance of an irreversible Otto cycle with temperature-linear-relation variable specific heat of working fluid

Considering internal irreversibility loss (IIL), friction loss (FL) and heat transfer loss (HTL), an irreversible Otto cycle (IOC) model is built up by using air standard (AS) assumption. Based on finite-time thermodynamics (FTT), computing entropy generation rate (EGR) by using the irreversible losses in the cycle, the ecological function (EF) performance of the cycle is optimized when the specific heat (SH) of the working fluid (WF) varies with temperature with linear relation. Some important expressions, including efficiency, power output, EGR and EF, are obtained. Moreover, the effects of variable SH of WF and three losses on cycle performance are investigated. The research conclusion can provide some guidelines for the actual Otto cycle engine performance optimization.

Analyses of thermodynamic performance for the endoreversible Otto cycle with the concepts of entropy generation and entransy

In this paper, the endoreversible Otto cycle is analyzed with the entropy generation minimization and the entransy theory. The output power and the heat-work conversion efficiency are taken as the optimization objectives, and the relationships of the output power, the heat-work conversion efficiency, the entropy generation rate, the entropy generation numbers, the entransy loss rate, the entransy loss coefficient, the entransy dissipation rate and the entransy variation rate associated with work are discussed. The applicability of the entropy generation minimization and the entransy theory to the analyses is also analyzed. It is found that smaller entropy generation rate does not always lead to larger output power, while smaller entropy generation numbers do not always lead to larger heat-work conversion efficiency, either. In our calculations, both larger entransy loss rate and larger entransy variation rate associated with work correspond to larger output power, while larger entransy loss coefficient results in larger heat-work conversion efficiency. It is also found that the concept of entransy dissipation is not always suitable for the analyses because it was developed for heat transfer.

Performance of a quantum heat engine at strong reservoir coupling.

We study a quantum heat engine at strong coupling between the system and the thermal reservoirs. Exploiting a collective coordinate mapping, we incorporate system-reservoir correlations into a consistent thermodynamic analysis, thus circumventing the usual restriction to weak coupling and vanishing correlations. We apply our formalism to the example of a quantum Otto cycle, demonstrating that the performance of the engine is diminished in the strong coupling regime with respect to its weakly coupled counterpart, producing a reduced net work output and operating at a lower energy conversion efficiency. We identify costs imposed by sudden decoupling of the system and reservoirs around the cycle as being primarily responsible for the diminished performance, and we define an alternative operational procedure which can partially recover the work output and efficiency. More generally, the collective coordinate mapping holds considerable promise for wider studies of thermodynamic systems beyond weak reservoir coupling.

The Quantum Harmonic Otto Cycle

The quantum Otto cycle serves as a bridge between the macroscopic world of heat engines and the quantum regime of thermal devices composed from a single element. We compile recent studies of the quantum Otto cycle with a harmonic oscillator as a working medium. This model has the advantage that it is analytically trackable. In addition, an experimental realization has been achieved, employing a single ion in a harmonic trap. The review is embedded in the field of quantum thermodynamics and quantum open systems. The basic principles of the theory are explained by a specific example illuminating the basic definitions of work and heat. The relation between quantum observables and the state of the system is emphasized. The dynamical description of the cycle is based on a completely positive map formulated as a propagator for each stroke of the engine. Explicit solutions for these propagators are described on a vector space of quantum thermodynamical observables. These solutions which employ different assumptions and techniques are compared. The tradeoff between power and efficiency is the focal point of finite-time-thermodynamics. The dynamical model enables the study of finite time cycles limiting time on the adiabatic and the thermalization times. Explicit finite time solutions are found which are frictionless (meaning that no coherence is generated), and are also known as shortcuts to adiabaticity.The transition from frictionless to sudden adiabats is characterized by a non-hermitian degeneracy in the propagator. In addition, the influence of noise on the control is illustrated. These results are used to close the cycles either as engines or as refrigerators. The properties of the limit cycle are described. Methods to optimize the power by controlling the thermalization time are also introduced. At high temperatures, the Novikov–Curzon–Ahlborn efficiency at maximum power is obtained. The sudden limit of the engine which allows finite power at zero cycle time is shown. The refrigerator cycle is described within the frictionless limit, with emphasis on the cooling rate when the cold bath temperature approaches zero.