Mechanical Technology
Module: Thermodynamics
Lecture 5
FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
(CLOSED SYSTEMS: RELATED PROBLEMS)
(MASS AND ENERGY ANALYSIS OF CONTROL VOLUMES)
Asnaf Aziz
Problem 1
The following table gives data, in kJ, for a system undergoing a thermodynamic cycle consisting
of four processes in series. For the cycle, kinetic and potential energy effects can be neglected.
Determine (a) the missing table entries, each in kJ. (b) whether the cycle is a power cycle or a
refrigeration cycle.
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Problem 2
A gas undergoes a thermodynamic cycle consisting of three processes:
Process 1–2: compression with pV =constant, from p1=1 bar, V1 =1.6 m3 to V2
=0.2 m3, U2 -U1=0
Process 2–3: constant pressure to V3=V1
Process 3–1: constant volume, U1-U3=3549 kJ
There are no significant changes in kinetic or potential energy. Determine the
heat transfer and work for Process 2–3, in kJ. Is this a power cycle or a
refrigeration cycle?
3
Problem 3
• A closed system consisting of 5 kg of a gas undergoes a process during which the
relationship between pressure and specific volume is pv1.3 = constant. The process
begins with p1 = 1 bar, v1 = 0.2 m3/kg and ends with p2 = 0.25 bar. Determine the
final volume, in m3, and plot the process on a graph of pressure versus specific
volume.
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Practice Problem (Solved Example: Book M Moran)
• Air is contained in a vertical piston–cylinder assembly fitted with an electrical
resistor. The atmosphere exerts a pressure of 1 bar on the top of the piston, which
has a mass of 45 kg and a face area of 0.09 m2. Electric current passes through the
resistor, and the volume of the air slowly increases by 0.045 m3 while its pressure
remains constant. The mass of the air is 0.27 kg, and its specific internal energy
increases by 42 kJ/kg. The air and piston are at rest initially and finally. The piston–
cylinder material is a ceramic composite and thus a good insulator. Friction
between the piston and cylinder wall can be ignored, and the local acceleration of
gravity is g =9.81 m/s2. Determine the heat transfer from the resistor to the air, in
kJ, for a system consisting of (a) the air alone, (b) the air and the piston.
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Quiz 1 (Sec-A)
• A vertical piston–cylinder device contains a gas at a pressure of 100 kPa.
The piston has a mass of 5 kg and a diameter of 12 cm. Pressure of the gas
is to be increased by placing some weights on the piston. Determine the
local atmospheric pressure and the mass of the weights that will double the
pressure of the gas inside the cylinder
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Mass and Volume Flow Rates
Volume flow rate
Mass flow
rate
The average velocity Vavg is The volume flow rate is the
defined as the average speed volume of fluid flowing through a
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through a cross section. cross section per unit time.
Conservation of Mass Principle
The conservation of mass principle for a control volume: The net mass transfer
to or from a control volume during a time interval t is equal to the net change
(increase or decrease) in the total mass within the control volume during t.
General conservation of mass in rate form
or
Conservation of mass principle
for an ordinary bathtub. 8
Mass Balance for Steady-Flow
Processes
During a steady-flow process, the total amount of mass contained within a
control volume does not change with time (mCV = constant).
Then the conservation of mass principle requires that the total amount of mass
entering a control volume equal the total amount of mass leaving it.
For steady-flow processes, we are
interested in the amount of mass flowing per
unit time, that is, the mass flow rate.
Multiple inlets
and exits
Single
stream
Many engineering devices such as nozzles,
diffusers, turbines, compressors, and
pumps involve a single stream (only one
inlet and one outlet).
Conservation of mass principle for a two-
inlet–one-outlet steady-flow system. 9
Special Case: Incompressible Flow
The conservation of mass relations can be simplified even further when
the fluid is incompressible, which is usually the case for liquids.
Steady,
incompressible
Steady,
incompressible
flow (single stream)
However, for steady flow of liquids, the volume flow
rates, as well as the mass flow rates, remain
constant since liquids are essentially incompressible
substances.
During a steady-flow process, volume
flow rates are not necessarily conserved
although mass flow rates are. 10
FLOW WORK AND THE
ENERGY OF A FLOWING FLUID
Flow work, or flow energy: The work (or energy)
required to push the mass into or out of the control
volume. This work is necessary for maintaining a
continuous flow through a control volume.
In the absence of acceleration, the force
applied on a fluid by a piston is equal to the
Schematic for flow work. force applied on the piston by the fluid.11
Total Energy of a Flowing Fluid
The flow energy is
automatically taken
care of by enthalpy.
h = u + Pv In fact, this is the
main reason for
defining the
property enthalpy.
The total energy consists of three parts for a nonflowing fluid and four parts for a
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flowing fluid.
Energy Transport by Mass
When the kinetic and potential energies
of a fluid stream are negligible
When the properties of the mass at
each inlet or exit change with time
as well as over the cross section
The product m ii is the energy
transported into control volume by
mass per unit time. 13
ENERGY ANALYSIS OF STEADY-FLOW
SYSTEMS
Under steady-flow conditions, the mass
and energy contents of a control volume
remain constant.
Many engineering systems such
as power plants operate under
steady conditions.
Under steady-flow conditions,
the fluid properties at an inlet
or exit remain constant (do not
change with time). 14
Mass and Energy balances
for a steady-flow process
Mass A water
balance heater in
steady
operation.
Energy
balance
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Energy balance relations with sign conventions
(i.e., heat input and work output are positive)
Steady Flow Case
SFEE
when kinetic and potential energy
changes are negligible
Some energy unit equivalents
Under steady operation,
shaft work and electrical
work are the only forms of
work a simple compressible
system may involve. 16
