Any gas, when compressed, rises in temperature. Conversely, if it is made to do work while expanding, the temperature will drop. Use is made of the sensible heat only (although it is, of course, the basis of the air liquefaction process).
The main application for this cycle is the air-conditioning and pressurization of aircraft. The turbines used for compression and expansion turn at very high speeds to obtain the necessary pressure ratios and, consequently, are noisy. The COP is lower than with other systems.
The normal cycle uses the expansion of the air to drive the first stage of compression, so reclaiming some of the input energy (Figure 2.12).
