Carnot cycle
Article
The Carnot cycle is an ideal reversible thermodynamic cycle proposed by Sadi Carnot. It establishes the maximum possible efficiency of a heat engine operating between two fixed temperatures.
The cycle consists of two isothermal processes and two adiabatic processes. During isothermal expansion, the working substance absorbs heat from a hot reservoir; during adiabatic expansion, its temperature falls without heat transfer.
The substance is then compressed isothermally while rejecting heat to a cold reservoir, followed by adiabatic compression that restores the original temperature and state. Because every stage is reversible, no entropy is produced within the ideal cycle.
Carnot efficiency depends only on the absolute temperatures of the hot and cold reservoirs. No real engine can exceed this efficiency, and real machines fall below it because of friction, finite temperature differences, leakage, and other irreversibilities.
Source details and credits
- Source / publisher: Wikipedia
- URL type: WWW
- Credits: Wikipedia
- URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot_cycle