Apparatus

The apparatus utilized in this experiment is referred to as the ideal gas rig; and has two cylinders consisting of interconnected valves and pumps. These components facilitate atmospheric air transfer between the two cylinders. The main components and their respective functions include:

1. High-pressure cylinder- to contain gas at low temperatures that generate high pressure while occupying a small volume.
2. Low-pressure cylinder- contains gas at high temperatures at low pressures.
3. Pressure control and display console – monitors the pressure in the chambers and display the measured values.
4. LP cylinder pump coupling – is used to join the low-pressure cylinder to the gas turbine.
5. HP cylinder pump coupling – connects the cylinder pump to the turbine.
6. Needle valve- a thin tapering section that opens and closes the pump.
7. LP cylinder thermocouple – it detects the variation in temperature with changes in the LP cylinder pressure.
8. HP cylinder thermocouple – also detects the changes in temperature of the air contained in the high-pressure cylinder.
9. Ball valve- it opens and closes the openings to the respective cylinders thus preventing backflow of the pumped air; they include:
10. LP cylinder ball valve
11. HP cylinder ball valve

Procedure

Air got pumped from the low pressure into the high-pressure cylinder and then bled back slowly to achieve an isothermal state. The following steps followed:

First recorded the surrounding ambient temperature and pressure of the atmosphere by use of a thermometer and barometer respectively.

Then evaluated the pressure cylinders as outlined in the procedures that involved isolation of the cylinders from the atmosphere as well as from each other; while pumping air into the LP cylinder the pressure of the high-pressure one was observed and the results recorded accordingly.

After the evaluation of HP cylinder’s pressure the data recording device was started thus logging the pressures and temperatures in both chambers during the experiment.

The following procedure bled air from the HP cylinder to the low pressure one through the opening of the needle valve completely.

The next step was to acquire data was saved to a USB disk for further interpretation and analysis using excel datasheets.

The second and fifth steps were repeated with the valve to reduce the rate of air-bleed to equalize pressure and noted the impact on the temperature variations throughout the process; took 4 data sets for the investigation.

Results

The raw data collected from the experiment undergo initial data analysis which involves the presentation of the results in excel spreadsheets that facilitating in-depth studies. The processed results are displayed in a graph plotted to represent the relationship between both pressures and temperature against the time taken for the selected data set. The data is first converted to their respective absolute values by adding atmospheric pressure to the HP cylinder results and subtracting from those of the LP cylinder whereas the temperatures were coveted through the addition of 273.5 k to both values. The analysis is focused on demonstrating the temperature points at which both cylinders are at a near constant hence the proximity to an isothermal condition. This aspect implies that the isothermal region is determined through approximation to a more significant extent and plays a vital role in obtaining the best potential value of the regions volume ratio according to the data sets in question. The ideal gas equation is instrumental in the process of demonstrating the relationship between the pressure and temperature as well as deriving the volume ratio expression. The final data is also as a result of the comparison between the value of volume ratio prescribed by the manufacturer that is 1.84 which indicates the level of accuracy and reliability of the outcome based on the percentage difference.

The plot proves that the ideal gas law (pv = RT) is true given the air is pumped under different atmospheric pressure temperatures. The point at which the plots tend to intersect is the region that depicts an isothermal state, and at this point, the masses of the cylinders are at equilibrium. This relation facilitates the derivation of the best possible VR values. The processed results in this experiment produce the following plot to illustrate the ideal gas relationship:

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