ME523 Advanced Thermodynamics

Assignment 1: Review of Basic Thermodynamics

Instructions:
 Make suitable assumptions and state them.
 Assignments are to be written by hand in A4 sheets.
 A single PDF file is the preferable mode of submission.

1. A piston-cylinder assembly as shown in the figure 1 contains 1 kg

of air. The assembly is perfectly insulated and contains an electric
heater, which can be controlled. The air is initially at 2 bar
pressure and 300 K temperature. It is desired to decompress it to
1 bar pressure and 300 K temperature.

(a) Construct four different processes to achieve the desired final

state. Show these processes on 𝑃 − 𝑣 and 𝑇 − 𝑠 diagrams.
(b) Calculate the electrical work done on the system (contents of
the cylinder) for each of the four processes.
(c) Discuss your results in the light of the laws of
thermodynamics.
Figure 1: Piston Cylinder Assembly

2. Figure 2 illustrates an experimental apparatus for steady-state testing of Refrigerant R-134a

shell-and-tube evaporators having a capacity of 100 kW. As shown by the dashed lines on the
figure, two subsystems provide refrigerant and a water-glycol mixture to the evaporator. The
water-glycol mixture is chilled in passing through the evaporator tubes, so the water-glycol
subsystem must reheat and recirculate the mixture to the evaporator. The refrigerant subsystem
must remove the energy added to the refrigerant passing through the evaporator, and deliver
saturated liquid refrigerant at 20°C. For each subsystem, draw schematics showing layouts of
heat exchangers, pumps, interconnecting piping, etc. Also, specify the mass flow rates, heat
transfer rates, and power requirements for each component within the subsystems, as
appropriate.

Figure2: Experimental Apparatus for testing R-134a