The irreversible Brayton cycle is usually used in gas turbine-based
power plants. In this study, energy and exergy analysis has been
performed for an irreversible Brayton cycle with a regenerator,
reheater, and intercooler for the first time. The influence of different
parameters such as the efficiency of the cycle's components is
examined based on the first and the second laws of thermodynamics.
The lost exergy in different components and the total exergy loss of the
irreversible Brayton cycle are calculated for various conditions. The
optimum pressure of the intercooler and the reheater is obtained for
different cases. An irreversible Brayton cycle with regenerator,
reheater, and intercooler is simulated in engineering equation solver
software and the optimum pressure in each simulation is determined
based on the first and the second laws of thermodynamics.