ENGN0720 Thermodynamics, 2020

HOMEWORK SET #2
Thermodynamic properties, mixtures, first law for open systems
Due Thursday, Feb. 13th, 4 pm

1. Heat is added to 200 moles of Argon, in the ideal gas state, in a closed, rigid container
and its temperature increases from 100 C to 300 C. Find the required heat input.

First law, closed system: U = Q - W. Because the container is “rigid”, it does not expand
and the W term is zero. So U = Q. To find Q let’s find U using property relations.

For ideal gases U can be found from the property relation: U = nCvT. How to get Cv?
You will not find Cv values for Ar in tables. Why not?

Argon in monatomic (one atom only, not capable of storing energy by rotation or vibration)
Because Ar stores energy only by translational energy, its Cp value is constant (independent
of T) at a value of (5/2)R. For this reason, its values are not found in tables.
Here we want Cv, not Cp, so we use: Cp = Cv + R for ideal gases, or Cv = Cp - R = (3/2)R.

So, combining the first law with the property relation, we get Q = n(3/2)RT.
Q = (200 moles)(3/2)(8.314 J/mol-K)(300-100)C = 498840 J = 499 kJ.
Ans: Q = 500 kJ

2. The Weather Channel reports that the current atmospheric air at 30 C has a
dewpoint of 16 C. What is the current relative humidity (%)?

If the dewpoint is 16 C, then the partial pressure of water vapor in the current atmospheric
air must be equal to Pvap (same as Psat) at 16 C. Using the saturated steam tables, Psat at
16 C is 0.01818 bar. At the actual T of 30 C, the P sat value (steam tables) is 0.04246 bar.
So, the relative humidity (RH) is PH2O actual/Psat = 0.01818 / 0.04246 = 0.428
Ans: RH = 43%

3. A fog bank exists at 10 C at 1 bar. Each m3 of this fog consists of 0.8 moles of liquid water in
the form of fine droplets suspended in air (which itself is also saturated with water vapor).
As the day progresses and sun heats the fog, what temperature is needed before all of the
droplets disappear by evaporation? Assume P is constant.

The air must be able to accommodate all of the H2O vapor there presently, plus all of the
suspended liquid after it evaporates. Let’s take a basis of 1 m3 of the starting fog. At the
start, the total moles in the vapor/gas phase are given by the ideal gas law:
n = PV/RT = (1 bar)(1 m3)(1000 lit/m3) / [(.08314 lit-bar/mol-K)(283 K)] = 42.5 moles
 Of that 42.5 moles, some are H2O vapor and that amount can be found knowing that the air
at 10 C is SATURATED with water vapor (it must be because it is in intimate contact with the
suspended droplets, so can be assumed to be in equilibrium with liq. water).
Psat at 10 C is 0.01228 bar (sat steam tables). At equilibrium this P sat = Pvap and the mole
fraction of water vapor, X = Pvap/Ptot = 0.01228/1 = 0.01228. The total moles of water vapor
present initially is thus X Ntot = 0.01228 x 42.5 = 0.52 moles H2O vapor.

So, after heating, all of the H2O is now in the vapor phase. Ntot for H2O vapor is thus 0.52 +
0.8 = 1.32 moles. The total vapor/gas phase moles are 42.5 + 0.8 = 43.3 moles. The final
H2O vapor mole fraction is 1.32 / 43.3 = 0.030. Back to the sat steam tables to find out what
temperature has a Psat of 0.030 bar ==> Ans. 24 C

4. Calculate the steady-state power output (kW) of a gas turbine that receives 5 kg/s of hot,
high pressure air (20 bar, 900 C) and exhausts a stream at 1 bar and 300 C. Note that the
equipment itself gets hot, and at steady state the outer shell loses 200,000 BTU/hr of heat to its
surroundings.

First law, open system gives: dE/dt = Q-dot - W-dot + m-dot (Hin-Hout).
dE/dt = 0 due to steady state. So we get: W-dot = Q-dot + m-dot (H in-Hout).

Here Q-dot = - 200,000 BTU/hr (1055 J/BTU)(1 hr/3600 sec) (1 kW/1000 W) = - 59 kW

H can be read directly off the air tables:

~ 1130 kJ/kg at 900 C (which is 1173 K)
~ 580 kJ/kg at 300 C (which is 573 K) (alternative: use Cp values for air)

W-dot = - 59 kW + 5kg/s*(1130-580) kJ/kg = 2690 kW (this is 2.7 MW)

5. Making steam. A steady-state 3-stage flow process is used to make a continuous stream of
superheated steam at 5 bar and 240 C. In stage 1, 20 kg/s of liquid water at 40 C and 5 bar
is pre-heated to its boiling point. As it passes through the stage 2 more heat is added to
create saturated steam. In stage 3 this steam is superheated to its final T of 240 C. The
pressure is 5 bar throughout.

Calculate the required heat flows (kW) for each of the 3 stage and comment. Which step
 (pre-heating, boiling, superheating) requires the largest energy input?
{Make a mental note of this comparison as it will be useful to you later}

Solution: see process sketch below. Note the actual equipment is not specified. Writing
the first law for open systems on any one of these stages gives:
dE/dt = Q-dot - W-dot + m-dot (Hin-Hout). dE/dt = 0 (steady state), and there is no work,
just heat addition. So, Q-dot = m-dot (Hout - Hin)

Stage 1 (pre-heating)
Hin = 167.57 kJ/kg (from sat steam table at 40 C, though not actually saturated - our approx)
Hout = 640.23 kJ/kg (from sat steam table: sat liq at 5 bar - this is actually saturated)
{note one could use CpT for stage 1 as an alternative since it is liquid all the way through}
multiply by m-dot to get Q-dot = 9450 kW (or 9.45 MW)

Stage 2 (boiling)]
Hout - Hin = 2108.5 kJ/kg {read directly as the “evap” term on the sat steam table at 5 bar
multiply by m-dot to get Q-dot = 42.17 MW)

Stage 3 (superheating)
Hin = 2748.7 kJ/kg (sat vap from sat steam table at 5 bar)
Hout = 2939.9 kJ/kg (from superheated steam tables at 5 bar and 240 C)
multiply by m-dot to get Q-dot = 3.8 MW)

So, the largest energy requirement is for the boiling stage, even though the T is not
changing in that stage! This steam, even before the superheating stage, carries most of
the energy that we just put in, and when it condenses, later on during use, it will give us up
its large energy content to our application. This is one of the reasons that steam is used as
an energy carrier.

6. H2O flows at steady state through a

valve with negligible heat loss ( sketch).

- Find the temperature at the exit.

- Calculate the specific volume of the H2O
product at the exit
- Sketch the process on a PV phase diagram.