Thermodynamic cycles may be used to model real devices and systems, typically by making a series of assumptions. simplifying assumptions are often necessary to reduce the problem to a more manageable form. For example, as shown in the figure, devices such a gas turbine or jet engine can be modeled as a Brayton cycle.  The actual device is made up of a series of stages, each of which is itself modeled as an idealized thermodynamic process. Although each stage which acts on the working fluid is a complex real device, they may be modelled as idealized processes which approximate their real behavior.  If energy is added by means other than combustion, then a further assumption is that the exhaust gases would be passed from the exhaust to a heat exchanger that would sink the waste heat to the environment and the working gas would be reused at the inlet stage.
The difference between an idealized cycle and actual performance may be significant. For example, the following images illustrate the differences in work output predicted by an ideal Stirling cycle and the actual performance of a Stirling engine:
As the net work output for a cycle is represented by the interior of the cycle, there is a significant difference between the predicted work output of the ideal cycle and the actual work output shown by a real engine.  It may also be observed that the real individual processes diverge from their idealized counterparts; e.g., isochoric expansion (process 1-2) occurs with some actual volume change.