CHEMISTRY ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC: Application of Thermodynamics in

Industry and day to day life.

NAME- ADITI KUMARI

ROLL NO- 22053133
SECTION- B-22
 THERMODYNAMICS- AN OVERVIEW

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals

with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation
to energy, entropy, and the physical properties
of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is
governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which convey a
quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical
quantities, but may be explained in terms
of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics.
Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics
in science and engineering, especially physical
chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering and mechanical
engineering, but also in other complex fields such
as meteorology.

The initial application of thermodynamics to mechanical heat

engines was quickly extended to the study of chemical
compounds and chemical reactions. Chemical thermodynamics
studies the nature of the role of entropy in the process of
chemical reactions and has provided the bulk of expansion and
knowledge of the field. Other formulations of thermodynamics
emerged. Statistical thermodynamics, or statistical mechanics,
concerns itself with statistical predictions of the collective
motion of particles from their microscopic behavior.

A description of any thermodynamic system employs the four

laws of thermodynamics that form an axiomatic basis. The first
law specifies that energy can be transferred between physical
systems as heat, as work, and with transfer of matter. The
second law defines the existence of a quantity called entropy,
that describes the direction, thermodynamically, that a system
can evolve and quantifies the state of order of a system and
that can be used to quantify the useful work that can be
extracted from the system.
 APPLICATION OF THERMODYNAMICS IN DAY
TO DAY LIFE

1. SALT USED ON ICY ROADS IN WINTERS-

Ice forms when the temperature of water reaches 32
degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), and that
includes ice on roadways. Road salt works by lowering
the freezing point of water via a process called freezing
point depression. The freezing point of the water is
lowered once the salt is added, so it the salt makes it
more difficult for water to freeze. A 10-percent salt
solution freezes at 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6 Celsius),
and a 20-percent solution freezes at 2 degrees
Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius).

The key is, there has to be at least a tiny bit of water on

the road for freezing point depression to work. That's
why you often see trucks pre-treat roads with a brine
solution (a mixture of salt and water) when ice and snow
is forecast. If the roads are dry and the DOT simply puts
down road salt, it likely won't make much of a
difference. But pre-treating with a brine solution can
help ice from ever forming, and will help reduce the
amount of road salt trucks will need to spread to de-ice
later.

2. SUFFOCATION IN A CROWDED ROOM-

The Human Body obeys the laws of thermodynamics. Consider
the experience of being in a small crowded room with lots of
other people. In all likelihood, you’ll start to feel very warm and
will start sweating. This is the process your body uses to the
itself off. Heat from your body is transferred to the sweat. As
the sweat absorbs more and more heat it evaporates from your
body, becoming more disordered and transferring heat to the
air, which heats up the air temperature of the room. Many
sweating people in a crowded room, “closed system”, will
quickly heat things up. This is both the first and second laws of
thermodynamics in action. No heat is lost; it is merely
transferred, and approaches equilibrium with maximum
entropy.

3. PHOTOSYNTHESIS-
Thermodynamics of photosynthesis has been a subject of
interest to the scientific community.This work reveals that
traditional thermodynamic relationships may be used to
calculate and project photosynthesis. Solar energy is required
for the chemical reaction of green matter production. When
the size of the green matter expands, less solar energy is
received by the surroundings and more chemical energy is
stored in plants and vegetation. If everything else is the same,
the increase in the chemical energy produced is equal to the
decrease in the heat of the biosphere and vice versa.
Photosynthesis expansion is thus equivalent to heat transfer
from the biosphere to the green matter. Plants surrounding air
may be assumed as a heat reservoir at air dry bulb
temperature, Tdb. The colder air enclosed by the space of the
green matter may be assumed as a cold reservoir at air wet
bulb temperature, Twb, and photosynthesis may be
represented by a Carnot engine cycle. The thermal efficiency of
the cycle is equal to 1-(Twb/Tdb)0.5. If everything else is the
same, the difference, Tdb-Twb, is a limiting factor of terrestrial
photosynthesis. Based on this understanding, equations to
predict growth of the green matter and tree diameter are
derived and validated based on observations. Other findings
include photosynthesis global average thermal efficiency is
between 0.61% and 0.72%, and seasonal greening is nearly
0.80%. Neglecting deforestation, surface greening trend with
climate change is between 0.23% and 0.28% annually.
 APPLICATION OF THERMODYNAMICS IN
INDUSTRIES

1. REFRIGERATION-

Refrigeration is one of the most important utilities in food

processing. It is possible to understand because of
thermodynamics. A working fluid, any one of many synthetic
chemicals, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, is converted from gas
to liquid and then back again by changing its pressure, which
then changes the temperature at which it vaporizes or
condenses. Most fluids boil or condense at higher
temperatures when at higher pressure. Thus, a working fluid
can be compressed to a pressure such that it will condense
against ambient air, typically at 90˚F. If the pressure is reduced,
by passing through a valve, a mixture of liquid and vapor results
at a much lower temperature.

The vapor can be returned to the compressor while the liquid is

vaporized by the heat of the cooling load (evaporated). There
are sophisticated modifications of this simple cycle, but air
conditioners, coolers, and freezers all operate on the same
fundamental principle.

The thermodynamic concepts involved include phase change,

heats of vaporization and of condensation (usually the same),
heat exchange, and theoretical efficiency. The efficiency of a
refrigeration cycle is expressed as the coefficient of
performance (COP) equal to the amount of cooling provided
divided by the work required in equivalent units.

2. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT-

A typical power plant has an electric generating capacity of
1000MWe. The heat source in the nuclear power plant is a
nuclear reactor. As is typical in all conventional thermal power
stations, the heat is used to generate steam which drives a
steam turbine connected to a generator that produces
electricity. The turbines are heat engines subject to the
efficiency limitations imposed by the second law of
thermodynamics. In modern nuclear power plants, the overall
thermodynamic efficiency is about one-third (33%), so
3000MWth of thermal power from the fission reaction is
needed to generate 1000MWe of electrical power.

3. OIL REFINERIES-
Thermodynamics is basic to Chemical Engineering but also to
heat engines, fuel cells and in any situation where energy is
transferred. It allows one to calculate what the maximum
efficiency of any process can be.

Oil Refineries have Catalytic Reforming Units. These normally

operate at temperature and pressure such that certain
compounds in the boiling range of kerosene are converted to
aromatics - such as benzene - and which produce hydrogen as a
by-product. To produce petroleum based solvents that are free
of because of cancer risk of them to people breathing the
vapour when using them, Catalytic Reformers are made to
operate in reverse.
 It would add hydrogen to any aromatics in the feedstock,
converting them to cyclohexane (in the case of benzene) or
similar. The hydrogen came from the other Catalytic Reformer,
working normally. The process conditions are altered mainly by
reducing the temperature and increase in pressure as well.
The chemical process of removing hydrogen to make aromatics
is, like many such processes, reversible. And in this case, which
is less usual, the required conditions for the de-aromatisation
process lay within the design limits of the Catalytic reformer.
The point is that knowledge of the thermodynamics of the
reaction allows a fairly precise calculation of the required
process conditions for the reverse reaction.