Dodd 1

Corwin Dodd
Professor Doty
MEEG 341
21 October 2015
Exergy
A system goes through many processes through which the system requires different forms
of energy to perform. Exergy is the energy available to be used until the system reaches
equilibrium with its surroundings known as dead state. Once the system is in dead state, there is
no exergy. This describes why exergy is destroyed rather than conserved because the energy that
is used during a process is irreversible since energy cannot be created. Exergy can be completely
destroyed when a spontaneous change to the dead state occurs. The exergy of a system considers
the internal energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, volume, and entropy of a system at its
current state and at dead state. Generally, exergy is often destroyed when there is a temperature
change, correlating with the entropy change of the system and the surroundings. Exergy is
different from energy in the fact that energy is conserved where exergy is destroyed. Although
exergy is destroyed, the value of exergy can never be negative. A negative value of energy simple
determines whether energy is leaving the system or entering the system depending on
convention. As an engineer, exergy is important because optimizing exergy can lead to a more
cost effective product. For instance, exergy balance can be taken into consideration and be
applied to locations, types, and magnitudes of energy resource waste to develop strategies for
more effective waste use. Also exergy can be used to measure the sustainability level of a system
which narrows the focus to cost effective solutions and thus an overall better product.