Chapter 3
The Second Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy
3.1 Heat is added to a heat engine at the rate
of 45,000,000 kJ/h. If the power output of the
engine is 5000 kW, what is the thermal
efficiency of the engine? What is the rate of heat
rejection by the engine?
3.2 The power output of a heat engine is
12,500 kW. If the thermal efficiency of the
engine is 40%, what is the rate of heat addition
to the engine? What is the rate of heat rejection
by the engine?
3.3 A refrigerator removes heat from a cold
body at the rate of 760,000 kJ/h. If the
coefficient of performance of the refrigerator is
4.0, what is the power input to the refrigerator in
kilowatts? What is the amount of heat rejected
by the refrigerator?
3.4 Heat is added to the refrigerator at the
rate of 12,000 kJ/min. If the power input to the
refrigerator is 60 kW, what is the coefficient of
performance of the refrigerator?
3.5 A refrigerator, having a coefficient of
performance of 4, removes heat from a cold
body at the rate of 12,000 Btu/min. What is the
horsepower input to the refrigerator?
3.6 A heat pump delivers heat to a room at
the rate of 200,000 kJ/h. What is the power, in
kilowatts, required to run the heat pump if the
coefficient of performance of the heat pump is
4.0?
3.7 If a heat engine of 30% thermal
efficiency is used to drive a refrigerator having a
coefficient of performance of 4, what is the heat
input into the engine for each kJ removed from
the cold body by the refrigerator?
3.8 A reversible heat engine, operating in a
cycle, receives energy from a high-temperature
reservoir at 1800 K and rejects heat to a low-
temperature reservoir at 320 K. Determine the
entropy change of the two heat reservoirs when
5000 kJ is added to the heat engine in each
cycle. What is the entropy change of the
universe?
3.9 A reversible heat engine, operating in a
cycle, receives energy from a high-temperature
reservoir at 3000°R. If the thermal efficiency of
the heat engine is 40%, what is the temperature
of the low-temperature reservoir that will accept
the heat rejected by the engine?
3.10 A heat engine, operating in a cycle,
receives heat from a high temperature reservoir
at TH = 2000 K and rejects heat to a low
temperature reservoir at TL = 300 K, shown in
the figure below. Determine whether this
machine is reversible, irreversible, or impossible
for the following cases
(a) QH = 1000 J, Wnet = 900 J
(b) QH = 2000 J, QL = 300 J
(c) Wnet = 1500 J, QL = 500 J
 3.12 It is proposed to produce power by
taking advantage of the thermal gradients that
are present in certain parts of the ocean. If
maximum ocean temperature available near the
surface is 30°C and a minimum temperature
near the ocean bottom is 5°C, what is the
maximum possible thermal efficiency of such a
heat engine?

3.13 A person claims to have developed a

heat engine that, operating in a cycle between 30
and 5°C, will produce 100 kJ of work at the
expense of 1000 kJ of heat addition fer each
cycle. Verify this claim by comparing the actual
thermal efficiency with the maximum possible
3.11 A refrigerator, operating in a cycle, thermal efficiency.
removes heat from a low-temperature reservoir
at TL = 250 K and rejects heat to a high- 3.14 A heat pump delivers 10 kJ/s of heat to a
temperature reservoir at TH = 300 K, as shown in room maintained at 25°C, and receives heat
the figure below. Determine whether this from a reservoir at -10°C. If the actual
machine is reversible, irreversible, or impossible coefficient of performance is 50% of that of an
for the following cases: ideal heat pump operating between the same
temperature limits, what is the actual power, in
(a) QL = 1000 J, Wnet = 250 J kilowatts, required to run the heat pump?
(b) QL = 2000 J, QH = 2400 J
(c) QH = 3000 J, Wnet = 500 J 3.15 A refrigerator operates between 100 and
20°F. It requires twice as much work for a given
amount of refrigeration as does an ideal
refrigerator operating between the same
temperature limits. What is the actual
horsepower required to produce refrigeration of
24,000 Btu/min?

3.16 A reversible heat engine receives heat

from a high-temperature reservoir at TH and
rejects heat at 1000 K. A second reversible heat
engine receives the heat rejected by the first heat
engine at 1000 K and rejects heat to a low-
temperature reservoir at 300K. If we want the
same thermal efficiency for both engines, what
is TH? Repeat this problem for equal net work on
both engines.

3.17 Two reversible refrigerators are

connected in series. The first one removes heat
from a cold reservoir at TL and discharges heat at
10°C. The second refrigerator absorbs the heat
discharged by the first at 10°C, and it in turn
discharges heat to the environment at 25°C. If
we want the same coefficient of performance for
both refrigerators, what is TL? Repeat this
problem for same net work input for both
refrigerators.

3.18 A heat pump operates between a low-

temperature reservoir at 40°F and a high-
temperature reservoir at 70°F. If the heat pump
has a coefficient of performance of 2.5 and
delivers heat at the rate of 10,000 But/h,
calculate the rate of lost work generated. What is
the ideal power needed to deliver the same
amount of heat?

3.19 The scheme shown in the figure below

may be used to produce high-temperature
process heat by making use of a low-temperature
heat source. If the thermal efficiency of the real
engine is only equal to 60% of that of the
reversible engine operating between the same
temperature limits, and the coefficient of
performance of the real heat pump is only equal
to 60% of that of the perfect heat pump for given
conditions, determine for the production of each
unit of heat at 425 K the amount of heat we need
from the heat source at 373 K.
3.20 A heat engine receives heat reversibly.
in the amount of 200 kJ from a heat reservoir at
600 K. A reversible adiabatic expansion process
next reduces the temperature of the system to
300 K. Heat in the amount of 150 kJ is then
reversibly transferred to a heat sink at 300 K.
The cycle is closed by an adiabatic compression
process.
(a) Show that the adiabatic compression
process is irreversible.
(b) What is the lost work for the cycle if the
environmental temperature is 300 K?

3.21 A closed system undergoes a process in

which the entropy change of the system is +25
J/k. During the process, the system receives
6000 J from a heat reservoir at 300 K. Is the
process reversible, irreversible, or impossible?

3.22 A closed system receives 10 kJ of heat

from a heat reservoir and produces 20 kJ of
work in changing from state 1 to state 2. Can we
return the system to its initial state by an
adiabatic process? Justify your answer.
3.23 The volume of a closed system in a
cylinder is doubled in a reversible isothermal
process at 25°C with no change in its internal
energy. Determine the work done by, the system
in kJ/kg.

3.24 A gas is compressed in a piston cylinder

assembly. The internal energy and entropy
changes of the gas are 24 Btu/lbm and 0.07
Btu/lbm-°R, respectively. The work input to the
gas is 80 Btu/lbm. Heat transfer to or from the
gas is with the surroundings at a temperature of
70°F. Determine the amount of entropy
generation for each pound of gas compressed.

3.25 A 50-ohm resistor carrying a constant

direct current of 20 A is kept at a constant
temperature of 100°C. The energy dissipated by
the resistor is received by the air of the
surroundings, which remains at the constant
temperature of 25°C. In a time interval of 2
hours, what is the: amount of entropy created in
the universe, in J/K.

3.26 A fluid is being cooled under steady-

state steady-flow conditions in a heat exchanger
by rejecting heat to the surrounding air, which is
at 25°C. Fluid enters with an enthalpy value of
2326.1 kJ/kg and an entropy value of 7.508
kJ/kg - K. Fluid leaves with an enthalpy value of
162.5 kJ/kg and an entropy value of 0.555 kJ/kg
- °K. Changes in potential and kinetic energies
are negligible. Show that this heat-transfer
process is irreversible.