Brayton cycle

The Brayton cycle is a thermodynamic cycle in which a gas is compressed, heated at constant pressure, expanded to produce work, and cooled at constant pressure. It idealizes gas turbines and jet engines.

Isentropic process: A thermodynamic process with constant entropy, idealized as reversible and adiabatic. Ideal compressor and turbine stages are modeled as isentropic.
Jet engine: An engine that produces thrust by accelerating and expelling a stream of gas. Turbojet and turbofan cores operate on an open Brayton-cycle basis.
Thermodynamic cycle: A sequence of thermodynamic processes that returns a working system to its initial state. The Brayton cycle is one idealized sequence within this broader class.
Rankine cycle: A thermodynamic cycle that uses a vapor, commonly water, through pumping, heating, expansion, and condensation. Unlike Brayton systems, Rankine plants condense their working fluid after expansion.
Thermal efficiency: The fraction of supplied heat or fuel energy converted into useful work. The cycle’s pressure ratio and component performance govern how much input energy becomes net work.
Compressor: A device that raises a gas’s pressure by supplying mechanical work. The cycle begins by consuming work to compress its working gas.
Combined cycle power plant: A power plant that uses gas-turbine exhaust to generate steam for a second turbine. It captures Brayton-cycle exhaust heat in a bottoming Rankine cycle.
Pressure: Force exerted per unit area by a fluid or other material. Pressure ratios set the ideal cycle’s compressor and turbine states.
Otto cycle: An ideal thermodynamic cycle with heat addition and rejection at constant volume, used to model spark-ignition engines. Its constant-volume combustion idealization contrasts with Brayton’s constant-pressure heat addition.
Pressure ratio: The ratio of a system’s higher pressure to its lower pressure. For an ideal Brayton cycle, pressure ratio strongly influences thermal efficiency and specific work.

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