Maybe you should ask this in a different topic, on patent law rather than thermodynamics. General opinions don't matter so much here, the law does. Here is what James Boyle, in his (quite interesting) book on intellectual property The Public Domain says about it: "The invention needs to be novel and have utility, or usefulness;  I cannot get a patent over something that would have been an obvious idea to an insider in the relevant field of technology [......] Follow-on innovators who improve on my idea can get a patent on that improvement. They can block me from using the improvement. I can block them from using the original invention"  (p. 163).

I don't think any of the thermodynamic cycles are, were, or even could be patented. On the website http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/09/26/invention-to-patent-101-everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started/id=62023/ it is stated that ideas cannot be patented, you need to have at least a concept of an invention (not necessarily a working prototype though) based on the idea: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/02/15/protecting-ideas-can-ideas-be-protected-or-patented/id=48009/

As far as I know,  the Carnot, Diesel, Rankine or any of the other thermodynamic cycles were never patented. Certainly the engines built based on those cycles have tons of patents protecting specific technology. In the unlikely case that an engine based on the cycle you want  to expand upon is patented, in view of what Boyle says, you need to negotiate use of that piece of technology to be able to get your invention going. The owner of the patent for the cycle would not be allowed to use your invention either, so maybe there is some ground for negotiation there.

If you have something you believe would qualify I would consult a lawyer specialized in that kind of thing.  Often universities have departments helping you with that. However, if you work at a university you may  also have signed a contract stating that anything you invent will be their property, even if you invented it in your spare time. I have no idea if this is also the case in Mexico, or for the university you work for.

Maybe you should ask this in a different topic, on patent law rather than thermodynamics. General opinions don't matter so much here, the law does. Here is what James Boyle, in his (quite interesting) book on intellectual property The Public Domain says about it: "The invention needs to be novel and have utility, or usefulness;  I cannot get a patent over something that would have been an obvious idea to an insider in the relevant field of technology [......] Follow-on innovators who improve on my idea can get a patent on that improvement. They can block me from using the improvement. I can block them from using the original invention"  (p. 163).

I don't think any of the thermodynamic cycles are, were, or even could be patented. On the website http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/09/26/invention-to-patent-101-everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started/id=62023/ it is stated that ideas cannot be patented, you need to have at least a concept of an invention (not necessarily a working prototype though) based on the idea: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/02/15/protecting-ideas-can-ideas-be-protected-or-patented/id=48009/

As far as I know,  the Carnot, Diesel, Rankine or any of the other thermodynamic cycles were never patented. Certainly the engines built based on those cycles have tons of patents protecting specific technology. In the unlikely case that an engine based on the cycle you want  to expand upon is patented, in view of what Boyle says, you need to negotiate use of that piece of technology to be able to get your invention going. The owner of the patent for the cycle would not be allowed to use your invention either, so maybe there is some ground for negotiation there.

If you have something you believe would qualify I would consult a lawyer specialized in that kind of thing.  Often universities have departments helping you with that. However, if you work at a university you may  also have signed a contract stating that anything you invent will be their property, even if you invented it in your spare time. I have no idea if this is also the case in Mexico, or for the university you work for.

Dear Sosimo

I agree with Gert. In general on would not protect a configuration where you just add equipment, but I think you can look at patenting a configuration where you integrate cycles in one new configuration that have certain commercial benefits. 

Gerro

The patent officer at a Dutch university (TUE, a technical university) estimates the cost at about $80000,-- for six years for a patent in Europe, the US and Japan. This includes the cost of the application (a process that often takes  more than a year, since it has to be checked that your device is truly new), which costs about $20000,--.  After that you can start applying for patents in various countries. That is not counting the number of hours of work (which is, I get the impression, actually a lot)

He also states that nine out of ten patents never make any money, and even for those that do deliver the profit is rarely more than a few ten thousands. Most of the time patent holders strategy is to sell their patents to a company  as soon as possible, and make a small profit. Or to find an industrial partner, but then don't expect to get a lot of money out of that either.  The company will need to do a lot of additional research before a finished product can be put on the market, and your contribution in terms of providing the idea will be considered negligible. As will be your share in the profits.

And Remi Cornwall mentioned something else I indeed forgot to say: don't publish anything about your invention before applying for a patent. In Europe, at least, you can then no longer apply. I don't know about other countries, I think the US is the same.

I'd give you the link, but the site is in Dutch, so that is probably not very useful.

Each and every thermodynamic cycles are different from each other. So, if you put new device in an existing thermodynamic cycle it will destroy the cycle and it's working principle. But for your experimental purpose you can place a new device in an existing cycle for observing the changes. As far as I think there may be occurred some process change.

This article will be helpful for you.