Important Aspects of Ericsson Cycle
The Ericsson engine based on Ericsson cycle is an external combustion engine since the burning of the working fluid occurs outside the engine. This is opposite to the internal combustion (IC) engines in which the burning of fuel occurs inside the engine.
Due to practical problems the principle of Ericsson cycle is not used in the piston and cylinder types of engines; rather it is used in the gas turbines that have large number of stages with a number of heat exchangers, insulators and reheaters. The Ericsson cycle can be most closely compared with the Stirling cycle. Ericsson cycle is now more popularly know as Brayton cycle.