A thermodynamic cycle consists of a collection
of components connected together in some appropriate fashion. The components
CyclePad knows about include compressors, turbines, heaters, coolers, pumps,
mixers, splitters, throttles, and heat exchangers. CyclePad describes connections
in terms of the properties of the material at the connection, that is,
the properties of the stuff that is flowing between the components.
Simple Rankine Cycle
In the above diagram, for example, you will see that
there are four components: a heater, a turbine, a cooler, and a pump. These
components are connected via four stuffs, S1, S2, S3, and S4.
The major source of information about the cycle is
the set of parameters associated with each stuff and each component. CyclePad
knows what parameters are associated with each component and with each
stuff. It knows that the set of what parameters are relevant can vary;
when a stuff is saturated, for example, its dryness (quality) becomes relevant,
and a turbine which is not approximated as isentropic requires some specification
of its presumed efficiency. Part of your job as a designer is selecting
numerical values and modeling assumptions to see if a particular design
can satisfy your performance criteria (e.g., desired work output, efficiency,
etc.)
