This lightweight educational presentation of basic thermodynamic cycles is primarily intended to learners in vocational training whose initial knowledge in thermodynamics are low.

We show in particular that essential concepts can be presented without resorting to a function that can be difficult to understand for beginners, entropy.

In a second step, this concept is introduced as simply as possible for those who wish to understand its value, but others may well do without it.

The downloadable document below is an excerpt from the first edition of the book Energy Systems. Since its publication in 2011, this presentation has been slightly modified.

It is this new version that is used in the Online course 2022.

This method has been adopted for the pedagogy presented in the MOOC Thermodynamic Conversion of Heat (in French).