{i} family name; William Rankine (1820-1872), Scottish engineer and physicist, namesake for Rankine temperature scale; unit of temperature on the Rankine scale
Ideal cyclical sequence of changes of pressure and temperature of a fluid, such as water, used in an engine, such as a steam engine. Described in 1859 by William Rankine, it is used as a standard for rating the performance of steam power plants. In the Rankine cycle, the working substance of the engine undergoes four successive changes: (1) heating at constant volume (as in a boiler), (2) evaporation and superheating (if any) at constant pressure, (3) isentropic expansion in the engine, and (4) condensation at constant pressure with return of the fluid to the boiler. See also Carnot cycle
{i} scale of absolute temperature that uses the same degrees as those of the Fahrenheit scale (freezing point of water is 491.69 degrees and the boiling point of water is 671.69 degrees)
born July 5, 1820, Edinburgh, Scot. died Dec. 24, 1872, Glasgow Scottish engineer and physicist, one of the founders of thermodynamics. His classic Manual of the Steam Engine and Other Prime Movers (1859) was the first attempt at a systematic treatment of the theory of steam engines. He worked out a thermodynamic cycle of events (the Rankine cycle) that was used as a standard for the performance of steam-power installations in which a condensable vapour provides the working fluid
born July 5, 1820, Edinburgh, Scot. died Dec. 24, 1872, Glasgow Scottish engineer and physicist, one of the founders of thermodynamics. His classic Manual of the Steam Engine and Other Prime Movers (1859) was the first attempt at a systematic treatment of the theory of steam engines. He worked out a thermodynamic cycle of events (the Rankine cycle) that was used as a standard for the performance of steam-power installations in which a condensable vapour provides the working fluid