What is a Diesel Cycle?

Welcome back MechanicalEI, Did you know that the world's largest engine which makes a whopping 109,000 horsepower runs on the diesel cycle? This makes us wonder, What is a Diesel Cycle? Before we jump in, check out the previous part of this series to learn about what the Otto cycle is? Now, Diesel cycle makes use of spontaneous ignition of fuel from the heat generated during the compression of air in the combustion chamber. It consists of the following processes: Process 1 is isentropic compression of the fluid in the form of Work done by the piston to compress the air. Process 2 is reversible constant pressure heating where in fuel undergoes combustion. Process 3 is isentropic expansion where work is done by the fluid to push the piston. This produces usable work. Process 4 is reversible constant volume cooling where in the residue exhaust is vented out. The dual cycle as the name suggests is a combination of the Otto Cycle and the Diesel Cycle. Here the heat addition occurs partly at constant pressure and partly at constant volume. It consists of the following processes: Process 1 is a reversible adiabatic compression, process 2 is a constant volume heat addition. Process 3 is a constant pressure heat addition. Process 4 is a reversible adiabatic expansion and process 5 is a constant volume heat rejection. Hence, We first saw what the Diesel cycle is and then went on to learn about what the dual cycle is?

In the next episode of MechanicalEI find out what Stirling and Erricsson Cycle are?

Attributions: