The Brayton cycle, also known as the Joule cycle, is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the working process of a heat engine and is widely used in fields such as gas turbines and aircraft engines. The following are the basic principles, composition process, efficiency calculation and application scenarios:
Basic principle
Operating on the basis of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, it generates high temperature and high pressure gas by burning fuel, pushing the turbine to rotate and do work, converting heat energy into mechanical energy.
Constituent process
Isentropic compression process: Air in the environment is sucked in and compressed by a compressor, increasing pressure and temperature. In this process, there is no heat exchange between the air and the outside world, and the entropy remains unchanged.
Isobaric heating process: the compressed air enters the combustion chamber and is mixed with the fuel to burn, releasing a lot of heat energy. Because the pressure of the combustion chamber changes very little, it can be regarded as an isobaric process, in which the air absorbs heat and the temperature rises significantly.
Isentropic expansion process: high-temperature and high-pressure gases enter the turbine and push the turbine blades to rotate and do external work. This process also has no heat exchange with the outside world, and the entropy is unchanged, but the gas pressure and temperature are reduced.
Isobaric heat release process: the exhaust gas after work is discharged into the atmosphere, heat exchange with the outside world, the heat is released to the environment, and the initial state is restored to complete a cycle.