MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2.005 Thermal-Fluids Engineering I, Spring 2013
Quiz 1 March 12, 2013
Instructions: Closed Book, no crib sheets. You are allowed a calculator and a writing instrument for this quiz. Please
show your work steps. State your assumptions and justify your equations. Partial credit will be awarded on careful and
clear arguments. Wrong unsupported numerical answers can only receive zero credit.

Problem 1: Questions on Laws of Thermodynamics (20 points)

a) (10 points) We have two solid objects in thermal contact with each other and isolated from the environment:
object 1 at temperature TC and object 2 at temperature TH where TC < TH. Does the First Law rule out the
possibility of heat transfer from object 1 to object 2? What is the implication of the Second Law for this process?
A qualitative answer is acceptable.

b) (10 points) Prove that for any cycle the following inequality (also known as Clausius inequality) holds.
Q
0
T
where T is the temperature at which the heat transfer Q occurs between the cycle and the environment.

Problem 2: Water Lifting Machine (50 points)

Shown in Figure 1a below is the initial state (State 1) of a water lifting system. The initial elevation of the piston is h1=1
m and the initial water depth above the piston is hw1 = 0.2 m. The density of water is = 1000 kg/m3. Above the water
there is atmospheric pressure, Patm =101 kPa. The force F (which could be applied by a horse, a wind mill, etc.) lifts the
piston and the water very slowly, until the piston has risen to an elevation h2 = 1.2 m and all the water has spread out on
the collection bin (State 2), as shown in Figure 1b. The water collection bin is very large, so that the water depth in that
bin is essentially zero. The piston can be considered thin, massless and adiabatic, with a cross-sectional area A = 0.2 m2.
The cylinder is adiabatic. The spring has a rigidity constant k = 104 N/m. The pulleys are frictionless. The gas within the
cylinder can be treated as ideal with R = 286 J/kg-K and cv = 719 J/kg-K. The initial pressure and temperature of the gas
are P1 = 101 kPa and T1 = 300 K, respectively. The acceleration of gravity is g = 9.8 m/s2.

a) (5 points) Calculate the value of the force F1 and the elongation of the spring x1 in the initial state.
b) (5 points) Find and sketch the pressure at the bottom of the water as a function of the elevation of the piston.
c) (5 points) Calculate the work done by the water pressure force exerted on the piston, as the piston elevation rises
from h1 to h2.
d) (15 points) Calculate the work done by the force F during the process 12. (Hint: take the gas + piston +
spring, but not the water, as your system.)

Fig. 1a Fig. 1b
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Now consider the system shown in Figure 2 below, which achieves the same objective (i.e. lifting the piston from h1 = 1
m to h2 = 1.2 m), but does so by transferring electric work very slowly to the gas through a massless wire. The initial
temperature of the gas is still T1 = 300 K.
e) (5 points) Find the initial pressure of the gas.
f) (10 points) Calculate the electric work transfer W12,el required to lift the water, and compare to the value found
in Part d above.
g) (5 points) Calculate the entropy generation during the process 12.

Fig. 2

Problem 3: Lenoir Cycle (30 points)

A cycle that was used in early engine development is the Lenoir cycle. The Lenoir heat engine employs an ideal gas
undergoing the following processes (all reversible for the gas):

12 Constant volume heat transfer resulting in temperature rise from low temperature TC to high temperature TH
23 Adiabatic expansion to State 3
31 Isobaric process back to State 1

For the Lenoir engine of interest here, the following data are given: TH = 700 K, TC = 300 K; the working fluid is one gram
of ideal gas (R = 286 J/kg-K, cv=719 J/kg-K). The pressure in State 1 is P1=105 Pa.

a) (8 points) Please sketch the Lenoir cycle on the P-V and T-S diagrams.
b) (18 points) Please calculate the heat and work transfer for each of the three processes of the cycle.
c) (4 points) Please determine the efficiency of the Lenoir heat engine and compare it to that of a Carnot engine
operating between the heat reservoirs at TH and TC. Explain the result.

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