When two thermodynamic systems are separated by an adiabatic wall,

neither heat nor chemical substances can travel from one to the other.

Sometimes in theoretical studies, one of the two systems is taken to be the

environment of the other. In that case, it is assumed that the transferred

work is reversible in the external environment, whereas in

thermodynamics, it is not. The quantity of work transferred is well defined

by macroscopic variables in the environment, which follows from the

assumption of reversibility in the environment. It's for this reason that the

concept of a "reversible work reservoir" is sometimes applied to the

environment.

An adiabatic enclosure is similar to an adiabatic wall. A system may have

both adiabatic and non-adiabatic boundary walls. Though adiabatic

transfer of energy as work is still possible across the adiabatic walls, the

system is not adiabatically enclosed when some of the components are not

adiabatic.
An essential prerequisite for the measurability of energy is the existence of

walls that do not permit the transfer of energy in the form of heat, as

stated by one widely cited author, Herbert Callen. This highlights the

significance of the adiabatic enclosure.

[1] While the existence of adiabatic enclosures is generally taken as a

given in thermodynamics, it is not generally stated as a separate axiom or

numbered law.