-c,

15

~Mk
Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals

~ -\-t> ~v. ~ ~ S~<,~ t

~
su :::5----------------------,- - - I
1.8 - - - - - - - - - - - -:- - - - =- - -

o ' __
o 7 days
1-

FIGURE 1.8 The contaminant concentration profile for Example 1.7.

1.4 ENERGY FUNDAMENTALS

Just as we are able to use the law of conservation of mass to write mass balance equa-
tions that are fundamental to understanding and analyzing the flow of materials, we
can in a similar fashion use the first law of thermodynamics to write energy balance
equations that will help us analyze energy flows.
One definition of energy-is that it is the capacity for doing work, where work can
be described by the product of force and the displacement of an object caused by that
force. A simple interpretation of the second law ofthermodynamics suggests that when
work is done there will always be some inefficiency;that is, some portion of the energy
put into the process will end up as waste heat. How that waste heat affects the environ-
ment is an important consideration in the study of environmental engineering and sci-
ence.
Another important term to be familiar with is power. Power is the rate of doing
work, so it has units of energy per unit of time. In SI units power is given in joules per
second (J/s) or kilojoules per second (kl/s). In honor of the Scottish engineer James
Watt, who developed the reciprocating steam engine, the joule per second has been
named the watt (1 Jls = 1 W = 3.412 Btu/hr).

The First Law of Thermodynamics

The first law of thermodynamics says, simply, that energy can be neither created nor
destroyed. Energy may change forms in any given process, as when chemical energy in
a fuel is converted to heat and electricity in a power plant, or when the potential
energy of water behind a dam is converted to mechanical energy as it spins a turbine in
a hydroelectric plant. No matter what is happening, the first law says we should be able
to account for every bit of energy as it takes part in the process under study, so that in
the end we have just as much as we had in the beginning. With proper accounting, even
nuclear reactions involving conversion of mass to energy can be treated.
To apply the first law it is necessary to define the system being studied, much as was
done in the analysis of mass flows. Realize that the system can be anything that we want
to draw an imaginary boundary around-it can be an automobile engine, or a nuclear
power plant, or a volume of gas emitted from a smokestack. Later, when we explore the
topic of global temperature equilibrium, the system will be the earth itself. Once a
boundary has been defined, the rest of the universe becomes the surroundings. Just
 "<,

16 Chapter 1 Massand Energy Transfer Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals 17

because a boundary has been defined, however, does not mean that energy and/or mate- The added complications associated with gases that change pressure and volume
rials cannot flow across that boundary. Systems in which both energy and matter can flow are most easily handled by introducing another thermodynamic property of a sub-
across the boundary are referred to as open systems, while those in which energy is stance called enthalpy. The enthalpy H of a substance is defined as
allowed to flow across the boundary, but matter is not, are called closed systems.
Since energy is conserved, we can write the following for whatever system we H = U+ PV (1.32)
have defined:
where U is its internal energy, P is its pressure, and V is its volume. The enthalpy of a
unit mass of a substance depends only on its temperature. It has energy units (kJ or
T otal energy ) (Total energy ) (Total energy) ( Net change )
crossing boundary + of mass - of mass = of energy in (1.30) Btu) and historically it was referred to as a system's "heat content." Since heat is cor-
( as heat and work entering system leaving system the sjstem rectly defined only in terms of energy transfer across 1t_system's boundaries, heat con-
tent is a somewhat misleading descriptor and is not used much anymore.
For closed systems, there is no movement of mass across the boundary so the sec- When a process occurs without a change of volume, the relationship between
ond and third term drop out of the equation. The accumulation of energy represented by internal energy and temperature change is given by
the right side of (1.30) may cause changes in the observable, macroscopic forms of
energy, such as kinetic and potential energies, or microscopic forms related to the atomic
IiU = m cvIiT (1.33)
and molecular structure of the system. Those microscopic forms of energy include the
The analogous equation for changes that occur under constant pressure involves enthalpy
kinetic energies of molecules and the energies associated with the forces acting between
molecules, between atoms within molecules, and within atoms. The sum of those micro- IiH = m cp IiT (1.34)
scopic forms of energy is called the system's internal energy and is represented by the
symbol U. The total energy E that a substance possesses can be described then as the For many environmental systems the substances being heated are solids or liq-
sum of its internal energy U, its kinetic energy KE, and its potential energy PE: uids for which Cv = cp = c and IiU = IiH. We can then write the following equation
for the change in energy stored in a system when the temperature of mass m changes
E = U + KE + PE (1.31) by an amount IiT:
In many applications of (1.30) the net energy added to a system will cause an Change in stored energy = m c IiT (1.35)
increase in temperature. Waste heat from a power plant, for example, will raise the tem-
perature of cooling water drawn into its condenser. The amount of energy needed to Table 1.3 provides some examples of specific heat for several selected substances.
raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by 1 degree is called the specific heat. It is worth noting that water has by far the highest specific heat of the substances listed;
The specific heat of water is the basis for two important units of energy, namely the in fact, it is higher than almost all common substances. As will be noted in Chapter 5,
British thermal unit, or Btu, which is defined to be the energy required to raise 1 lb of this is one of water's very unusual properties and is in large part responsible for the
water by 1°F, and the kilocalorie, which is the energy required to raise 1 kg of water by major effect the oceans have on moderating temperature variations of coastal areas.
1 "C, In the definitions just given, the assumed temperature of the water is 15°C (59 OF).
Since kilocalories are no longer a preferred energy unit, values of specific heat in the SI
system are given in kJ/kg DC, where 1 kcal/kg °C = 1 Btu/Ib OF = 4.184 kJ/kg "C,
For most applications, the specific heat of a liquid or solid can be treated as a sim-
ple quantity that varies slightly with temperature. For gases on the other hand, the con- TABLE 1.3 Specific Heat Capacityc of SelectedSubstances
cept of specific heat is complicated by the fact that some of the heat absorbed by a gas
(kJ/kg -ci (kcal/kg °C, Btu/lb OF)
may cause an increase in temperature and some may cause the gas to expand, doing
work on its environment. That means it takes more energy to raise the temperature of Water (15°C) 4.18 1.00
a gas that is allowed to expand than the amount needed if the gas is kept at constant Air (20"C) 1.01 0.24
volume. The specific heat at constant volume Cv is used when a gas does not change vol- Aluminum 0.92 0.22
Copper 039 0.09
ume as it is heated or cooled, or if the volume is allowed to vary but is brought back to Dry soil 0.84 0.20
its starting value at the end of the process. Similarly, the specific heat at constant pres- lee 2.09 0.50
sure cp applies for systems that do not change pressure. For incompressible substances, Steam (100 0c)' 2.01 0.48
that is liquids and solids under the usual circumstances, Cv and cp are identical and we Water vapor (20°C)' 1.88 0.45
will just use the symbol c. For gases, cp is greater than Cv' 'Constant pressure values.

-,
1','
18 Chapter 1 Mass and Energy Transfer Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals 19

EXAMPLE 1.8 A Water Heater

How long wouldit take to heat the water in a 4O-gallon electric water heater from 50of to 140of
if the heating element delivers 5 kW? Assume all of the electricalenergy is converted to heat in Boiling water
the water,neglectthe energy required to raise the temperature of the tank itself, and neglect any
heat lossesfrom the tank to the environment.
Solution The first thing to note is that the electric input is expressed in kilowatts,which is a E
measure of the rare of energy input (i.e.,power).To get total energy delivered to the water, we
must multiply rate X time. Letting /it be the number of hours that the heating element is on ~
gives
Energy input = 5 kW X 601 hrs = 5 601 kWhr !
Assuming no losses from the tank and no water withdrawn from the tank during the heating
period, there is no energy output:
Energy output 0
The change in energy stored correspondsto the water warmingfrom 50OF to 140"E Using(1.35) Heat added to 1 kg of ice (kJ) -
along with the fact that water weighs8.34lb/ gal gives FIGURE 1.9 Heat needed to convert 1 kg of ice to steam. To change the temperature of 1 kg of ice, 2.1 kJ/ DCare
Change in energy stored = mctu needed. To completely melt that ice requires another 333 kJ (latent heat of fusion). Raising the temperature of that
liquid water requires 4.184 kJ/ 'C, and converting it to steam requires another 2257 kJ (latent heat of vaporization).
= 40 gal x 8.34Ib/gal x 1 Btu/lboF X (140 - 50)oF To raise the temperature of 1 kg of steam (at atmospheric pressure) requires another 2.0 kJ/ 'c.
= 30 X 103 Btu
Setting the energy input equal to the change in stored energy and converting units using
Table 1.1 yields where m is the mass and L is the latent heat of fusion or vaporization.
Figure 1.9 illustrates the concepts of latent heat and specific heat for water as it
5601 kWhr x 3412Btu/kWhr 30 x 10 Btu
3

601 = 1.76hr
. passes through its three phases from ice, to water, to steam.
Values of specific heat, heats of vaporization and fusion, and density for water are
given in Table 1.4 for both SI and USCS units. An additional entry has been included in
the table that shows the heat of vaporization for water at 15°C. This is a useful number
that can be used to estimate the amount of energy required to cause surface water on
There are two key assumptions implicit in (1.35). First, the specific heat is the earth to evaporate. The value of 15 °C has been picked as the starting temperature
assumed to be constant over the temperature range in question, though in actuality it since that is approximately the current average surface temperature of the globe.
does vary slightly. Second, (1.35) assumes that there is no change of phase as would One way to demonstrate the concept of the heat of vaporization while at the
occur if the substance were to freeze or melt (liquid-solid phase change) or evaporate same time introducing an important component of the global energy balance that will
or condense (liquid-gas phase change). be encountered in Chapter 8 is to estimate the energy required to power the global
When a substance changes phase, energy is absorbed or released without a hydrologic cycle.
change in temperature. The energy required to cause a phase change of a unit mass
from a solid to liquid (melting) at the same pressure is called the latent heat offusion
or, mor~ correctly, the enthalpy of fusion. Similarly, the energy required to change
phase from liquid to vapor at constant pressure is called the latent heat of vaporization TABLE 1.4 Important Physical Properties of Water
or the enthalpy of vaporization. For example, 333 kJ will melt 1 kg of ice (144 Btu/lb)
Property SIUnits USCS Units
while 2257 kJ are required to convert 1 kg of water at 100 °C to steam at the same tem-
perature (970 Btu/lb), When steam condenses or when water freezes, those same Specific heat (15 DC) 4.184 kJ/kgDC 1.00 Btu/lboF
amounts of energy are released. To account for the latent heat stored in a substance we Heat of vaporization (I00 DC) 2257 kJ/kg 972 Btu/lb
can include the following in our energy balance: Heat of vaporization (IS DC) 2465 kJ/kg 1060 Btu/lb
Heat of fusion 333 kJ/kg 144 Btu/Ib
Energy released or absorbed in phase change = mL (1.36) Density (at 4 DC) 1000.00 kg/m' 62.4lb/ft'

__ _ L

.i->

"-
zu Chapter 1 Mass and Energy Transfer
Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals 21
EXAMPLE 1.9 Power for the Hydrologic Cycl
e
Global rainfall has been estimated EXAMPLE 1.10 Thermal Pollution of a River
to average about 1 m of water per
5.10 x 10" m' of the earth 's surface. year across the entire A coal-fired power plant converts \
Find the energy required to cause that one-third of the coal's energy into
orate each year. Com pare this to the much wate r to evap- trical powe r outpu t of the plant is electrical energy. The elec-
estimated 1987 world energy consu 1000 MW. The other two-thirds of
and comp are it to the average rate mption of 3.3 x 10" kJ fuel is rejected to the envir onme nt the energy conte nt of the
at which sunlight is absorbed at the as waste heat. Abou t 15 perce nt of
which is abou t 168 W 1m2 surface of the earth, smokestack and the other 85 perce the waste heat goes up the
nt is taken away by cooling water that .
river. The river has an upstream flow is drawn from a nearby
Solution In Table 1.4 the energy requi of 100.0 m'ls and a temp eratu re of
20.0 "C.
red to vaporize 1 kg of 15°C water a. If the cooling water is only allow
global temp eratu re) is given as 2465 (roughly the average ed to rise in temp eratu re by 10.0
kJ.The total
energy required to vaporize all of that from the strea m would be required? "C, what flow rate
water is
Energy need ed = 1 m/yr x 5.10 X b. What would be the river temp eratu
10" m' x 10' kg/rn:' x 2465 kJ/kg re just after it receives the heate d cooli
ng water?
= 1.25 x 1021 k.l/yr
This is roughly 4000 times the 3.3 x
Solu tion Since 1000 MW represents
one-third of the power delivered to
10" kJIyr of energy we use to powe total rate at which energy enter s the the plant by fuel, the
Averaged over the globe, the energ r our society. power plant is
y required to power the hydrologic
cycle is
W In ut ower Outp ut power = 1000 MW e = 3000
1.25 X 10" J/yr x I-I P P Efficiency MW
113 '
365 day/y r x 24 hr/da y x 3600 Js Notice the subscript on the input
s/hr x 5.10 x 10'4 m' = 78W /m' track of the various forms of energ
and outpu t power in the preceding
equation. To help keep
which is equivalent to almost half y, it is common to use MW, for therm
of the 168 W/m 2 of incoming sunlig al power and MW e for
surface (see Figure 8.13). It might also ht absorbed by the earth 's electrical power.
be noted that the energ y required to Total losses to the cooling water
high into the atmo spher e once it has raise the water vapo r and stack are therefore 3000 MW
evap orate d is negligible comp ared 2000 MW. Of that 2000 MW, - 1000 MW =
tion. (See Problem 1.20 at the end to the heat of vaporiza-
of this chapter.)
• Stack losses 0.15 x 2000 MW, =
300 MW,
and
Cool ant losses = 0.85 x 2000 MW,
= 1700 MW,
a. Finding the cooling water need
Man y pract ical envi ronm ental engin ed to remove 1700 MW, with a temp
eerin g prob lems invol ve the flow of 10.0 °C will require the use eratu re increase tI T
ter and ener gy acros s syste m boun of both mat- of (1.37) along with the specific
darie s (ope n syste ms). For exam 4184 J/kg °C, given in Table 1.4: heat of water,
mon for a hot liqui d, usua lly wate ple, it is quite com-
r, to be used to deliv er heat to
proc ess or, the oppo site, for wate a pollu tion cont rol Rate of change in stored energy =
r to be used as a coola nt to remo mcts T
In such cases , there are ener gy flow ve heat from a proce ss.
to be modi fied as follows:
rates and fluid flow rates and Equa
tion (1.35) need s
1700 MW, = m
kg/s x 4184 J/kg °C x lO.O°C x 1 MW 6
1(10 J/s)
_ 1700 _
m - 4184 x 10.0 x 10 6 - 40.6 ,
Rate of chan ge of store d ener gy
= mctl T
x 10 kg/s
(1.37)
wher e m is the mass flow rate acros or, since 1000 kg equals 1 rrr' of water
s the syste m boun dary , given by , the flow rate is 40.6 m'ls.
flow rate and dens ity, and tl T is the prod uct of fluid b. To find the new temp eratu re
the chan ge in temp eratu re of the of the river, we can use (1.37) with
the heat to, or away from , the fluid that is carry ing 1700 MW, being
proc ess. For exam ple, if wate r released into the river, which again
is bein g used to cool a has a flow rate of 100.0 m'/s.
m
steam pow er plan t, then woul
d be the mass flow rate of cool ant
incre ase in temp eratu re of the cooli and tl T woul d be the
Rate of change in stored energy =

e
ng wate r as it pass es throu gh the mctl T
dens er. Typi cal units for ener gy stear n plan t's con-
rates inclu de watts , kJ/s, or Btu/
rates migh t typic ally be in kg/s
or Ib/hr .
hr. whil e mass flow 1700 MW x X~J/S)
The use of a local river for pow = 4.1 °C
er plan t cooli ng is com mon , and 100.00 m'ls x 10' kg/m ' x 4184
exam ple illus trate s the appr oach the follo wing J/kg °C
that can be take n to com pute
temp eratu re that resul ts. In Chap the incre ase in river so the temp eratu re of the river will
ter 5, some of the envi ronm ental be elevated by 4.1 °C, making it 24.1
mal pollu tion will be expl ored . impa cts of this ther- "C,
The results of the calculations just
perfo rmed are shown in Figure 1.10.
for a nuclear plant are asked for in Similar calculations
Problem 1.18.
IIIIl

~.:'\
 ~.

'<,

/-~

-.-.-----

22 Chapter 1 Massand Energy Transfer

Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals 23

Electrical output Stack heat

lOOOMW, 300MW,

Work
W
Cooling water 1700 MW,
Q,: 40.6 m3;s
T,: 30.0°C

Q,: 100.0 m3;s FIGURE 1.11 Definition of terms for a Carnot engine.
Stream~ Q,:100.Om3;s
T,: 20.0°C T,: 24.loC
FIGURE 1.10 Cooling water energy balance for the 33.3 percent efficient. 1000 MW,
Example 1.10. power plant of The most efficient heat engine that could possibly operate between
the two heat
reservoirs is called a Carnot engine after the French engineer Sadi
Carnot, who first
develope d the explanat ion in the 18205. Analysis of Carnot engines
shows that the
The Second law of Thermodynamics most efficient engine possible, operating between two temperat ures,
Th and Te, has an
In Example 1.10, you will notice that a relatively modest fraction efficiency of
of the fuel energy
containe d in the coal actually was converte d to the desired output,
electrical power, T,
and a rather large amount of the fuel energy ended up as waste heat 11max -
- 1 - -T (1.39)
rejected to the
environm ent. The second law of thermodynamics says that there will h
always be some
waste heat; that is, it is impossible to devise a machine that can convert
heat to work where these are absolute temperat ures measured using either the
with 100 percent effihency. There will always be "losses" (though, by Kelvin scale or
the first law, the Rankine scale. Conversions from Celsius to Kelvin and Fahrenhe it to
energy is not lost; it is merely converte d into the lower-quality, less useful Rankine are
form of low-
temperat ure heat).
K = °C + 273.15 (1.40)
The steam-el ectric plant just describe d is an example of a heat engine,
a device R = OF + 459.67
studied at some length in thermody namics. One way to view the steam (1.41)
plant is that it
is a machine that takes heat from a high-tem perature source (the
burning fuel), con- One immedia te observat ion that can be made from (1.39) is that the
verts some of it into work (the electrica l output), and rejects the maximum
remaind er into a possible heat engine efficiency increases as the temperat ure of
low-tem perature reservoir (the river and the atmosph ere). It turns the hot reservoir
out that the max- increases or the temperat ure of the cold reservoir decreases. In fact,
imum efficiency that our steam plant can possibly have depends since neither infi-
on how high the nitely hot temperat ures nor absolute zero temperat ures are possible,
source temperat ure is and how low the temperat ure is of the reservoir we must con-
accepting the clude that no real engine has 100 percent efficiency, which is just a
rejected heat. It is analogou s to trying to run a turbine using water restatem ent of the
that flows from a second law.
higher elevation to a lower one. The greater the differenc e in elevation
, the more Equation (1.39) can help us understa nd the seemingly low efficiency
power can be extracted . of thermal
power plants such as the one diagramm ed in Figure 1.12. In this plant,
Figure 1.11 shows a theoretic al heat engine operating between two fuel is burned in
heat reser- a firing chamber surround ed by metal tubing. Water circulating through
voirs, one at temperat ure T; and one at T,. An amount of heat energy this boiler tub-
Qb is transferr ed ing is converte d to high-pressure, high-tem perature steam. During
from the hot reservoir to the heat engine. The engine does work this conversion of
Wand rejects an chemical to thermal energy, losses on the order of 10 percent occur
amount of waste heat Q, to the cold reservoir. The efficiency of this due to incomple te
engine is the ratio combust ion and loss of heat up the smokestack. Later, we shall
of the work delivered by the engine to the amount of heat energy consider local and
taken from the hot regional air pollution effects caused by these emissions as well as their
reservoir: possible role in
global warming.
The steam produced in the boiler then enters a steam turbine, which
W is in some
Efficiency 11 =Q (1.38) ways similar to a child's pinwheel. The high-pressure stearn expands
as it passes
h through the turbine blades, causing a shaft that is connecte d to the
generato r to spin.
24 Chapter 1 Mass and Energy Transfer
Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals 25

New fossil-fuel-fired power plants have efficiencies around 40 percent. Nuclear

plants have materials constraints that force them to operate at somewhat lower tem-
peratures than fossil plants, which results in efficiencies of around 33 percent. The aver-
age efficiency of all thermal plants actually in use in the United States, including new
Stearn ~ and old (less efficient) plants, fossil and nuclear, is close to 33 percent. That suggests the
Boiler following convenient rule of thumb:

For every 3 units of energy entering the average thermal power plant, approximately
1 unit is converted to electricity and 2 units are rejected to the environment as waste heat.

Fuel ~w'l The following example uses this rule of thumb for power plant efficiency com-
_I I bined with other emission factors to develop a mass and energy balance for a typical
~ C~ling water
t
Air
Boiler
feed pump
t ;

Condenser -.,.... Warm water out

coal-fired power plant.

EXAMPLE 1.11 Mass and Energy Balance for a Coal-fired Power Plant
FIGURE 1.12 A fuel-fired, steam·electric power plant.
Typicalcoal burned in power plants in the United States has an energy content of approximately
24 kJ/ g and an average carbon content of about 62 percent. For almost all new coal plants,Clean
Air Act emission standards limit sulfur emissions to 260 g of sulfur dioxide (SO,) per million kJ
While the turbine in Figure 1.12 is shown as a single unit, in actuality turbines have of heat input to the plant (130 g of elemental sulfur per 106 kJ). They also restrict particulate
many stages, with steam exiting one stage and entering another, gradually expanding emissions to 13 g/10 6 kJ.Suppose the average plant burns fuel with 2 percent sulfur content and
and cooling as it goes. The generator converts the rotational energy of a spinning shaft 10 percent unburnable minerals called ash. About 70 percent of the ash is released asfly ash and
into electrical power that goes out onto transmission lines 'for distribution. A well- about 30 percent settles out of the firingchamber and is collected as bottom ash. Assume this is a
designed turbine may have an efficiency that approaches 90 percent, while the genera- typical coal plant with 3 units of heat energy required to deliver 1 unit of electrical energy.
tor may have a conversion efficiency even higher than that. 8. Per kilowatt-hour of electrical energy produced, find the emissions of SO" particulates,
The spent steam from the turbine undergoes a phase change back to the liquid and carbon (assume all of the carbon in the coal is released to the atmosphere).
state as it is cooled in the condenser. The condenser pressure is below atmospheric b. How efficient must the sulfur emission control system be to meet the sulfur emission
pressure, which helps pull steam through the turbine, thereby increasing the turbine limitations?
efficiency. The condensed stearn is then pumped back to the boiler to be reheated. Co How efficient must the particulate control system be to meet the particulate emission
The heat released when the stearn condenses is transferred to cooling water that limits?
circulates through the condenser. Usually, cooling water is drawn from a lake or river,
heated in the condenser, and returned to that body of water, in which case the process Solution
is called once-through cooling. A more expensive approach, which has the advantage 8. We first need the heat input to the plant. Since 3 kWhr of heat are required for each
of requiring less water, involves use of cooling towers that transfer the heat directly 1 kWhr of electricity delivered,
into the atmosphere rather than into a receiving body of water. In either case, the
Heat input 1 kJ/s
rejected heat is released into the environment. In tel'ms'tlf lM'heat engine concept .. = 3 kWhr heat x kW x 3600s/hr = 10,800kJ
kWhr eIectncrty
shown in Figure 1.11, the cold reservoir temperature is thus determined by the temper-
ature of the environment. The sulfur emissions are thus restricted to
Let us estimate the maximum possible efficiency that a thermal power plant such . . BOgS )(
as that diagrammed in Figure 1.12 can have. A reasonable estimate of T might be the
S ermssions = 1066kJ x 10,800kJ/kWhr = 1.40g S/kWhr
b
temperature of the stearn from the boiler, which is typically around 600°C. For To we The molecular weight of S02"!S 32 + 2 x 16 = 64, half of which is sulfur.Thus, 1.4 g of S
might use an ambient temperature of about 20°C. Using these values in (1.39), and corresponds to 2.8 g of SO" so 2.8 g SO,/kWhr would be emitted.
remembering to convert temperatures to the absolute scale, gives Particulate emissions need to be limited to

7J ma> = 1 -
(20 + 273)
(600 + 273) = 0.66 = 66 percent Particulate emissions = 1~~ ~ x 10,800kJ/kWhr = 0.14 g/k Whr
To find carbon emissions,let us first find the amount of coal burned per kWhr:
 "b cnapter 1 Mass and Energy Transfer

Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals 27

. 10,800 kJ/kWhr
CO~lnput = 24kJ/gco ai 450g coal/kWhr The Camot efficiency limitation provides insight into the likely performa
Therefore,since the coal is 62 percent carbon, nce of
other types of thermal power plants in addition to the steam plants
just described. For
. . 0.62g C example, there have been many proposal s to build power plants
450g coal that would take
Carbon emissions =- --
X - - - = 280g C/kWhr advantag e of the temperat ure difference between the relatively warm
g coal kWhr surface waters
b, Burning450g coal containing2 percent sulfur willrelease 0.02 of the ocean and the rather frigid waters found below. In some locations
x 450 = 9.0g of S.Since , the sun heats
the allowable emissionsare 1.4g,the removalefficiency must be the ocean's top layer to as much as 30°C, while several hundred meters
down, the tem-
perature is a constant 4 or 5°C. Power plants, called ocean thermal
energy conversion
S removal efficiency = 1 - ~:~ = 0.85 = 85 percent (OTEe) systems, could be designed to operate on these small temperat
ure differences
in the ocean. However, as the following example shows, they would be
c. Since 10 percent of the coal is ash and 70 percent of that is flyash,the quite inefficient.
ated willbe total flyash gener-

FIyash generated = 0.70 x 0.10 x 450g coal/kWhr = 31.5g fly ash/kWhr EXAMPLE 1.12 OTEC System Efficiency
The allowable particulate matter is restricted to 0.14g/ kWhr, so controls Consider an OTEC systemoperating between30°C and 5 "C. What would be
must be the maximumpos-
installed that have the following removalefficiency: sibleefficiency for an electricgeneratingstation operating with these temperatu
res?
. . QW Solution Using(1.39), we find
Particulate removal efficiency = 1 - 31:5" = 0.995 = 99.5 percent
(5 + 273)
In Chapter 7 we willsee how these emission control systemswork. 1Jma>< = 1 -(30 + 273) = 0.08 = 8 percent
II An even lowerefficiency, estimated at 2 to 3 percent fo~ a real plant, would
be expected. II

The complete mass and energy balance for this coal plant is diagramm
ed in Conductiveand Convective Heat Transfer
Figure 1.13. In this diagram it has been assumed that 85 percent of
the waste heat is
removed by cooling water and the remaining 15 percent is lost in stack When two objects are at different temperat ures, heat will be transferr
ponding to the conditions given in Example 1.10). gases (corres- ed from the hot-
ter object to the colder one. That heat transfer can be by conducti
on when there is
direct physical contact between the objects; by convection when there
is a liquid or gas
between them; or by radiation, which can take place even in the absence
of any physi-
cal medium between the objects.
Conducti ve heat transfer is usually associated with solids, as one
molecule
To atmosphere vibrates the next in the lattice. The rate of heat transfer in a solid is proportio
I kWhr electricity 1.4 g S (2.8 g S02) nal to the
thermal conductivity of the material. Metals tend to be good thermal
(3600 kJ) 0.14 g fly ash conductors,
280gC which makes them very useful when high heat-tran sfer rates are desired.
Other materi-
1080 kJ als are much less so, with some being particularly poor thermal
3kWhr conducto rs (which
(lO,800kJ) 33.3% makes them potentially useful as thermal insulation).
efficient
85% S,
99.5% Convective heat transfer occurs when a fluid at one temperat ure comes
450 g coal power in con-
280gC particulate tact with a substanc e at another temperat ure. For example, warm air
(including: 280 g C plant
31.5 g fly ash removal in a house in the
45 gash. 9 g S) winter that comes in contact with a cool wall surface will transfer heat
9gS to the wall. As
that warm air loses some of its heat, it becomes cooler and denser, and
13.5 g bottom ash it will sink, to be
replaced by more warm air from the interior of the room. Thus there
31.36 g ash is a continuo us
6120 kJ to cooling water 7.6 g S t moveme nt of air around the room and with it a transfere nce of heat
from the warm
to disposal room air to the cool wall. The cool wall, in tum, conducts heat to the
cold exterior sur-
FIGURE 1.13 Energy and mass balance for a coal-fired power plant
generating I kWhr of electricity (see face of the house, where outside air removes the heat by convection.
Example 1.11).
Figure 1.14 illustrates the two processes of convection and conducti
on through a
hypothetical wall. In addition, there is radiative heat transfer from objects
in the room

.......~

L
.9

":';",,:,~:e:'_ • •-~",.

----
'---
 .'

<,

28 Chapter 1 Mass and Energy Transfer Section 1.4 Energy Fundamentals 29

is kept at 70 OF (this could be Chicago, for example). It has been proposed to the owner that
$1000 be spent to add more insulation to the ceiling, raising its total R value from 11 to 40
(ftl-oF-hr/Btu). The house is heated with electricity that costs 8 cents/kWhr.
a. How much money would the owner expect to save each year and how long would it take
for the energy savings to pay for the cost of insulation?
b. Suppose 1 million homes served by coal plants like the one analyzed in Example 1.11
could achieve similar energy savings.Estimate the annual reduction in SOl' particulate,
and carbon emissions that would be realized.

Solution
a. Using (1.42) to find the heat loss rate with the existing insulation gives
_ A(Ti To) 1500 ftl x (70 - 4O)oF _ 4090 /
q - R 11 (ftl OF hr/Btu) - Btu hr
FIGURE 1.14 Heat transfer through a simple wall.
After adding the insulation, the new heat loss rate will be
_ A (Ti - To) 1500 ftl x (70 - 4O)oF _
q - R 40 (ft? OF hr/Btu) - 1125 Btu/hr
to the wall, and from the wall to the ambient outside. It is conventional practice in the
building industry to combine all three processes into a single, overall heat-transfer The annual energy savings can be found by multiplying the rate at which energy is being
process that is characterized by the following simple equation: saved by the number of hours in the heating season. If we assume the electric heating
system in the house is 100 percent efficient at converting electricity to heat (reasonable)
A(Ti - To) and that it delivers all of that heat to the spaces that need heat (less reasonable, espe-
q = (1.42) cially if there are heating ducts, which tend to leak), then we can use the conversion
R
3412 Btu = 1 kWhr.
where
(4090 1125) Btu/hr
q = heat transfer rate through the wall (W) or (Btu/hr) Energy saved = 3412 Btu/kWhr X 24 hr/day x 30 day/me X 8 mo/yr
A = wall area (m") or (ft")
= 5005 kWhr/yr
T, = air temperature on one side of the wall (0C) or (OF)
To = ambient air temperature (0C) or (OF) The annual savings in dollars would be
R = overall thermal resistance (m 2_oC/W) or (hr-ft 2-OF/Btu)
Dollar savings = 5005 kWhr/yr x $O.08/kWhr = $400/yr
The overall thermal resistance R is called the R value. If you buy insulation at the hard- Since the estimated cost of adding extra insulation is $1000,the reduction in electricity
ware 2store, it will be designated as having an R value in the American unit system bills would pay for this investment in about 2l heating seasons.
(hr-ft - OF/Btu). For example, 3~-inch-thick fiberglass insulation is usually marked R- b. One million such houses would save a total of 5 billion kWhr/yr (nearly the entire
11, while 6 inches of the same material is R-19. annual output of a typical 1000 MW, power plant). Using the emission factors derived in
As the following example illustrates, improving the efficiency with which we Example 1.11,the reduction in air emissions would be
use energy can save money as well as reduce emissions of pollutants associated with
Carbon reduction = 280 g C/kWhr x 5 x 109 kWhr/yr x 10- 3 kg/g 1400 x 10' kg/yr
energy consumption. This important connection between energy efficiency and pol-
lution control has in the past been overlooked and underappreciated. However, as SOl reduction = 2.8 g SOJkWhr x 5 x 109 kWhr/yr x 10- 3 kg/g 14 x 10' kg/yr
will be described in Chapter 7, that situation has been changing. The 1990 amend- Particulate reduction = 0.14 g/kWhr x 5 x 109 kWhr/yr x 10- 3 kg/g 0.7 x 10' kg/yr II
ments to the Clean Air Act, for example, provide S02 emission credits for energy
efficiency projects.

Radiant Heat Transfer

EXAMPLE 1.13 Reducing Pollution by Adding Ceiling Insulation
l
Heat transfer by thermal radiation is the third way that one object can warm another.
A home with 1500 ft of poorly insulated ceiling is located in an area with an 8-month heating Unlike conduction and convection, radiant energy is transported by electromagnetic
season during which time the outdoor temperature averages 40°F while the inside temperature waves and does not require a medium to carry the energy. As is the case for other

~" ...