🔍 Key Concepts

• Brayton cycle basic steps (compression, constant-pressure heat addition, expansion, exhaust) • What happens to pressure and volume in an ideal gas-turbine combustor • Differences between constant-volume vs constant-pressure combustion

💭 Think About

• Think about where combustion takes place in a gas turbine and what the compressor and turbine are doing to the air before and after combustion. • In an ideal Brayton cycle, during the heat addition (combustion) process, which property is assumed to stay nearly the same: pressure or volume? • Compare how pressure behaves in a diesel or Otto (reciprocating engine) cycle versus in a gas turbine’s combustion chamber.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify whether the Brayton cycle is defined by constant-pressure or constant-volume heat addition. • Consider if mass flow through the turbine actually increases during combustion, or if mass is mostly conserved while temperature and volume change. • Check which option best matches the idealized thermodynamic model of a gas turbine, not what might happen in every real detail.