The Idealized Diesel Cycle
The image on the left shows a p-V diagram for the ideal Diesel cycle; where is pressure and is specific volume. The ideal Diesel cycle follows the following four distinct processes (The color references refer to the color of the line on the diagram.):
- Process 1 to 2 is isentropic compression of the fluid (blue colour)
- Process 2 to 3 is reversible constant pressure heating (red)
- Process 3 to 4 is isentropic expansion (yellow)
- Process 4 to 1 is reversible constant volume cooling (green)
The Diesel is a heat engine: it converts heat into work. The isentropic processes are impermeable to heat: heat flows into the loop through the left expanding isobaric process and some of it flows back out through the right depressurizing process, and the heat that remains does the work.
- Work in is done by the piston compressing the working fluid
- Heat in is done by the combustion of the fuel
- Work out is done by the working fluid expanding on to the piston (this produces usable torque)
- Heat out is done by venting the air
Read more about this topic: Diesel Cycle
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