Thermo 6.6: Carnot Cycle, Carnot Heat Engine, Carnot Efficiency

This segment is all about the Carnot Cycle. Both the Carnot Heat Engine and Refrigeration cycle (AKA reversed Carnot Cycle) are reversible cycles and represent the theoretical maximum efficiency and coefficient of performance (COP) for a given heat source and heat sink temperatures represented in absolute thermodynamics temperature scale (Kelvin and Rankine). We also discuss the Carnot Principles and discuss that all irreversible cycles have lower efficiency than reversible Carnot Cycle. We end the segment by discussing the quality of thermal energy and state that the higher the temperature, the higher the quality of energy. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2019664. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.