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ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES-FENG 123

LECTURE NOTES VOLUME 2

BY

ING. SAHR T. NYALLOMA

Department of Mechanical & Maintenance Engineering

Fourah Bay College
University of Sierra Leone
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WHAT IS ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS?

Thermodynamics can be defined as the science of energy and the transformation of that
energy into work and heat. Such transformation result in changes in the state of matter
which can result in changes on a wider scale in society. Energy can be viewed as an agent of
change (physical, chemical, and social).

The word thermodynamics stems from the Greek word therme (heat) and dynamis (Power),
which is most descriptive of the early effort to convert heat to power. In contemporary
times the same name is broadly interpreted to include all aspects of energy and energy
transformation, including power generation, refrigeration, and relationships among the
properties of matter.

The study of engineering thermodynamics is based on two fundamental laws. The First law
of thermodynamics is simply an expression of the conservation of energy principle, and it
asserts that energy is a thermodynamic property.

The second law of thermodynamics asserts that energy has quality as well as quantity, and
actual processes occur in the direction of decreasing quality of energy. It also gives an
indication of the limitation on the energy transformation process.

APPLICATION AREAS OF THERMODYNAMICS

All activities or applications in nature whether engineering or not involves some interaction
between energy and matter, thus it is hard to imagine an area that does not relate to
thermodynamics in some manner. Therefore an essential part of engineering education has
long been developing a good understanding of basics principles of thermodynamics.

One does not need to go that far to see some application area of thermodynamics. In-fact
one may not need to go anywhere at all. These areas are right around and within us. The
heart is constantly pumping blood to all part of the human body, various energy conversions
occur in trillions of body cells, and the body heat generated is constantly rejected to the
environment. The human comfort is closely tied to the rate of this metabolic heat rejection.
The rate of heat transfer can be controlled by adjusting our clothing to the environmental
conditions.

An ordinary house is in some respects an exhibition hall filled with wonders of

thermodynamics. Many household utensils and appliances are designed in part or wholly by
the use of thermodynamic principles. The electric and gas cookers, coal and fuel wood
cookers, air conditioning and refrigerating systems, pressure cookers, electric irons etc. are
all examples of thermodynamic application. Thermodynamics on a larger scale plays a
prominent part in the design and analysis of automobile engines, rockets, jet engines, power
plants (coal, oil, gas or nuclear ) solar collectors, and the design of vehicles from ordinary
cars to airplanes. Energy efficient homes are designed on the basis of minimizing heat loss in

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cold and heat gain in hot temperatures. The size, location, and the power input of the fan of
computers is also selected after analysis that involves thermodynamics.

Figure 1.0 Application areas of Engineering Thermodynamics

DEFINITIONS OF SOME BASIC TERMINOLOGY

Every science or field of study has a unique set of vocabularies/jargons associated with it.
Engineering Thermodynamics is no exception. Clear definition of basic terms and concept
forms a sound foundation for the development and understanding of the science and hence
prevents possible misunderstanding.

A System

A system with respect to thermodynamics is defined as a region of space or quantity of

matter chosen for study. A system may be categorized into three groups for enhanced
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understanding; an open system (control volume), a closed system (control mass) and an
isolated system.

An open system (control volume).This is a type of system that interacts with the
surrounding by allowing mass and volume transfer across its boundary. Examples of open
systems include compressors, turbines, nozzles, heat exchanges, automobile engines etc.
These are steady flow energy devices that can be studied by selecting the region
within/immediately without the device as the control volume.

Figure 1.2 Example of an open system (control volume). An automobile engine.

A closed system (control mass). This is a type of system which interacts with the
surroundings on a limited scale. It allows the flow of energy but does not allow the transfer
of mass across its boundary. Hence a closed system always has a constant mass within its
boundary. A typical example of a closed system is a gas in a piston-cylinder assembly.
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Figure 1.3 Example of a closed system. A gas in a piston-cylinder assembly.

An isolated system. This is a type of system that does not interact with its surroundings by
allowing for the transfer of either energy or mass across its boundary. Practical examples of
this of system include; a perfect thermally insulated system, a radioactive substance
contained within a very thick lead container etc.

Perfect thermal
insulation

Figure 1.4 An isolated system.

Boundary

The boundary of a system is the interface between a system and its surroundings. The
boundary of a system is always conceptual though it may coincide with a real physical
surface.

Surroundings

This is the remainder of the universe outside the boundary of a system. In practice we
consider only the immediate environment of the system.

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University of Sierra Leone
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Properties (State Variables) Of a System

Any characteristic of a system is called its property. Some familiar properties of

thermodynamic system include pressure, temperature, volume and mass. This list can be
extended to include less familiar ones as thermal conductivity, coefficient of expansion etc.
Not all properties are independent; some are defined in-terms of others such as density etc.
properties are considered to be either intensive or extensive.

Intensive properties are those properties whose values are independent of the size or
extent of the system and may vary from place to place within the system. Examples include
pressure, temperature, density etc.

Extensive Properties are those properties whose values depend on the size or extent of the
system. Mass, Volume, Total energy enthalpy, entropy etc. are some examples of extensive
properties of matter.

M
Extensive Proerties
V

T T

P P Intensive Proerties

 

State

The state of a system is the values of all the properties of a system at any given instant. At a
given state, all the properties of a system have fixed values. It must be noted that a change
in the value of even one property of a system is enough to change its states.

The State Postulate

It has been established that the state of a system is describe by the values of its properties.
It must be noted that we do not need to specify all the properties in order to fix a state.
Once a sufficient number of properties are specified, the rest of the properties assume
certain values automatically. That is specifying a certain number of properties is sufficient to
fix a state. The number of properties required to fix the state of a system is given by the
state postulate which state that “the state of a simple compressible system is completely
specified by two independent intensive properties”.
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A Process

When a system at some initial state of equilibrium is made to change to a different state, it
is said to undergo a process. A process can be described by the values of the properties
between any two points.

Path of a Process

This is the locus of points which describes the complete sequence of equilibrium state
through which a system passes.

Figure1.7 A process between states 1 and 2 and the process path.

Equilibrium

The word equilibrium is used to describe a state of balance. When a system is in equilibrium
there are no net driving forces or unbalanced potential within the system. There are
basically four types of equilibriums and a system is not in thermodynamic equilibrium until
the conditions for all four types of equilibriums are satisfied.

Thermal equilibrium: this is a state of equilibrium of a system wherein the temperature is

the same throughout the entire system. (i.e. there is no temperature differential within the
system)

Mechanical equilibrium: this is said to exist within a system when there is no pressure
change at any point of the system with time, though there may exist a pressure differential
within the system with depth.

Phase equilibrium: is said to exist within a system when the mass of each phase reaches an
equilibrium level and stays there.
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Chemical equilibrium: this is said to exist within a system if its chemical composition does
not change with time.

Heat Engine

A heat engine is any device that is capable of converting heat transfer into work. All internal
combustion (IC) engines are heat engines.

Reversible Process (Reversibility)

This is a process that is capable of proceeding in the forward and backward direction
without leaving any trace on the surroundings. That is for a reversible process, both the
system and the surroundings are returned to their initial states at the end of the reversible
process. This is possible if the net heat and net work exchange between the system and
surroundings is zero. A process can be internally or externally reversible.

Irreversible Process (Irreversibility)

When a process proceeds in such a manner so that it cannot retrace the process path
backwards to relocate to its initial state due to either the loss of work or heat transfer to the
surrounding, it is said to be an irreversible process. Irreversible processes leave a trace on
the system surroundings such that both the system and its surroundings locate to a new
equilibrium state.

Cyclic Process

A system is said to have undergo a cyclic process if it proceeds from an initial state and
through a series of equilibrium states is taken to a given final state and then is restored back
to its initial state through a series of other equilibrium states.

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Qnet=Wnet

Figure 1.8 A cyclic process

Equation of State

An equation of state is the mathematical relationship between the independent states

properties needed to specify an equilibrium state of a system. For a system of fixed mass
the equilibrium state can be specified by a general equation of the form

f(P, V, T) = 0

The relationship between heat and work transfer for a system is shown below.
HEAT IN
(QIN)

WORK OUT
WORK IN
(WOUT)
(WIN)

HEAT OUT
(QOUT)
Figure 1.9 Sign conventions for work-heat interaction in a thermodynamic system
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University of Sierra Leone
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ENERGY SYMBOL SIGN DIRECTION SIGN DIRECTION

Heat Q Positive +ve Entering Negative –ve Leaving
System System
Work W Positive +ve Leaving Negative –ve Entering
System Sytem

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University of Sierra Leone
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FOURAH BAY COLLEGE-USL

ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES-FENG 123

ASSIGNMENT 1-DUE ON TUESDAY 21 JUNE 2020

The Figure QI below shows a wind turbine –electric generator mounted atop a tower. As
wind blows steadily across the turbine blades, electricity is generated. The electrical output
of the generator is fed to a storage battery.

(a) What type of systems are the wind turbine-electric generator and electricity
storage battery systems? Justify your answers.

(b) Draw separate boundaries using dash lines for the two systems identified in (a).
(attach the diagram to your answers to (a))

Figure Q1

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Q2. (a) With respect to Engineering Thermodynamics define a system. Distinguish between the
types with examples.

(b) The Figure Q2 below shows an electrically powered gas stirrer powered by a
battery through a motor located between the battery and the stirrer.

What type of systems are the systems A, B, and C? Justify your answers by
considering mass and energy transfer.

System C

Figure Q2

Department of Mechanical & Maintenance Engineering

Fourah Bay College
University of Sierra Leone