Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 1

Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems

4.1 Objectives
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

● describe, in general terms, the first law of thermodynamics

● define the first law at it applies to closed (fixed mass) systems
● define the first law at it applies to steady-flow systems
● apply the first law for closed and steady-flow systems to common engineering
arrangements including: nozzles and diffusers; turbines and compressors; throttling
valves; and heat exchangers
● analyse systems, perform calculations, and solve problems using the above concepts and
tools.

4.2 Build up your understanding

Presentation
View the power point presentation for module 4 as this presentation should help
you identify the key elements from this module.

4.2.1 Moving boundary work

Reading activity 4.1
Section 4.1

Polytropic processes:

● When the behaviour of closed systems was studied closely, it was observed that, for some
of them, the relationship between pressure and volume followed a trend: PVn = const.
Any process which followed this trend is called a “polytropic process” and the index n is
called the “polytropic constant”.
● If a process is adiabatic and reversible (i.e. isentropic), then the polytropic constant equals
the ratio of specific heats (i.e. n = k). This is the ideal situation. For a general polytropic
process (i.e. n < k), there is heat transfer across the boundary, and so the change in
internal energy is due to the combination of both work and heat transfer. The polytropic
constant is a short-cut method of determining the work in these cases.

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 2

● For a particular value of n, the percentage change in P is bigger than the percentage
change in V (by the power n). For a constant change in volume, when the volume is
smaller, then the pressure change is bigger, so it is harder to compress a fluid the more it
is compressed.1
● For higher values of n, more effort is required to change the volume (i.e. the pressure
needs to change by more to achieve the same volume change). This is because more of
the effort is being converted to (useful) work instead of being lost as heat. This means
that when trying to compress a fluid, it is harder but more efficient; when a fluid expands,
it more effectively transfers the energy into work and produces more power.
● There are other processes for which some other model (besides PVn = const) is
appropriate (e.g. constant pressure or constant temperature).

The formula for the boundary work is:

2
wb   Pdv
1

The specific formulae for various processes are: Constant pressure (isobaric):

wb  P  v2  v1 

Constant temperature (isothermal):

v2
wb  P1v1 ln
v1
v2
 RT ln
v1

Polytropic (Pvn = const):

 n 1 n
P2 v2  Pv R T2  T1  RT1  P2  
wb  1 1
      1
1 n 1 n 1  n  P1  
 

Isentropic (Pvk = const):

 k 1
R T2  T1  RT1  P2  
k
P2 v2  Pv
wb  1 1
     1
1 k 1 k 1  k  P1  
 

Note
The formulae for boundary work here are slightly different to those for steady-
flow work in Module 7.2.9: be careful to use the correct one.
1
Thanks to Gerard A. for the discussion that resulted in this description

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 3

Exercise 4.1
Textbook problem 4.11 (7th Ed.):

A mass of 5 kg of saturated water vapour at 300 kPa is heated at constant

pressure until the temperature reaches 200oC. Calculate the work done by the
steam during this process.

● Work in a constant pressure process

● Section 4.1, Example 4.2
● Identify specific volumes at start and finish from tables, calculate work.
● Answer: 165.9 kJ

Exercise 4.2
Textbook problem 4.10 (7th Ed.):

A frictionless piston–cylinder device initially contains 50 L of saturated liquid

refrigerant-134a. The piston is free to move, and its mass is such that it
maintains a pressure of 500 kPa on the refrigerant. The refrigerant is now heated
until its temperature rises to 70oC. Calculate the work done during this process.

● Work in a constant pressure process

● Section 4.1, Example 4.2
● Identify specific volumes at start and finish from tables, find mass of R134a,
calculate work.
● Answer: 1,600 kJ

Exercise 4.3
Textbook problem 4.13 (5th Ed.):

Nitrogen at an initial state of 300 K, 150 kPa, and 0.2 m3 is compressed slowly
in an isothermal process to a final pressure of 800 kPa. Determine the work done
during this process.

● Work in an isothermal process

● Section 4.1, Example 4.3
● Apply isothermal work equation.
● Answer: -50.2 kJ

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 4

Exercise 4.4
Textbook problem 4.14 (7th Ed.):

A mass of 2.4 kg of air at 150 kPa and 12oC is contained in a gas-tight,

frictionless piston–cylinder device. The air is now compressed to a final pressure
of 600 kPa. During the process, heat is transferred from the air such that the
temperature inside the cylinder remains constant. Calculate the work input
during this process.

● Work in an isothermal process

● Section 4.1, Example 4.3
● Use gas constant for air, apply isothermal work equation.
● Answer: -272 kJ

Exercise 4.5
Textbook problem 4.18 (7th Ed.):

A frictionless piston–cylinder device contains 2 kg of nitrogen at 100 kPa and

300 K. Nitrogen is now compressed slowly according to the relation
1.4
PV = const until it reaches a final temperature of 360 K. Calculate the work
input during this process.

● Work in a polytropic process

● Section 4.1
● Moving boundary work – Polytropic process
● Use gas constant for nitrogen, apply polytropic equation.
● Answer: -89.0 kJ

4.2.2 Energy balance for closed systems

Reading activity 4.2
Section 4.2

Provides details of the first law as applied to closed systems (where no mass
crosses the boundary).

The major terms are: Heat transfer, Work and Internal energy (enthalpy is not
commonly used).

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 5

Exercise 4.6
Textbook problem 4.69 (7th Ed.):

A student living in a 4 m x 6 m x 6 m dormitory room turns on her 150 W fan

before she leaves the room on a summer day, hoping that the room will be cooler
when she comes back in the evening. Assuming all the doors and windows are
tightly closed and disregarding any heat transfer through the walls and the
windows, determine the temperature in the room when she comes back 10 hour
later. Use specific heat values at room temperature, and assume the room to be at
100 kPa and 15oC in the morning when she leaves.

● Energy balance, closed system, ideal gas

● Section 4.2, Examples 4.5 and 4.9
● Identify R and Cv for air. Calculate volume and mass of air. Calculate
electrical work done by the fan (power x time). Ein is simply Win, and Eout is
zero. Neglect change in KE and PE, so calculate T2 from E  mCv (T2  T1 ) .

● Answer: 58.2oC

Exercise 4.7
Textbook problem 4.71 (5th Ed.):

A piston-cylinder device contains 4 kg of argon at 250 kPa and 35oC. During a

quasi-equilibrium, isothermal expansion process, 15 kJ of boundary work is
done by the system, and 3 kJ of paddle-wheel work is done on the system.
Determine the heat transfer for this process.

● Energy balance, closed system, ideal gas

● Section 4.2, Examples 4.9 and 4.10
● Recognize that u  0 for ideal gas isothermal process. Hence Ein  Eout .
● Answer: 12 kJ in

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 6

Exercise 4.8
Textbook problem 4.91 (7th Ed.):

An ordinary egg can be approximated as a 5.5 cm diameter sphere. The egg is

initially at a uniform temperature of 8oC. and is dropped into boiling water at
97oC. Taking the properties of the egg to be   1020kg / m3 and
C p  3.32kg / kJ .o C , determine how much heat is transferred to the egg by the
time the average temperature of the egg rises to 80oC.

● Energy balance, closed system, solids

● Section 4.2, Example 4.12
● Volume of sphere, V  D3 / 6 , and calculate egg mass, m  V . Heat
transfer from mC (T2  T1 ) .
● Answer: 21.2 kJ

4.2.3 Specific heats

Reading activity 4.3
Section 4.3

The constant pressure and constant volume specific heats are important. You
need to remember that cv is used with internal energy and cp is used with
enthalpy. Note that there is only one specific heat for both liquids and solids
because they are incompressible, so you only use cv and cp for gasses.

4.2.4 Internal energy, enthalpy, and specific heats of ideal gasses

Reading activity 4.4
Section 4.4

Specific heats are functions of temperature, so the correct definition of changes in internal
energy or enthalpy involves integration: Eqs. (4-25) and (4-26). This process is normally used
to perform accurate calculations when using computers, where polynomial expressions
similar to Table A-2(c) are implemented. (It is also common when conducting simulations to
know the enthalpy and use numerical methods, such as those learned in ENG3103, to find the
temperature based on polynomial expressions for the specific heat.)

You can see in Table A-2 some values of specific heat as functions of temperature, while
Tables A-17–A-25 list values of internal energy and enthalpy as functions of temperature. For

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 7

hand calculations, you can use “representative” (average) values of specific heats, as shown
in Eqs. (4-27) and (4-28). This average can be calculated by taking the average of the specific
heats at the extreme temperatures:

c T1   c T2 
cave 
2

alternatively, the specific heat at the average temperature returns a similar value.

 T  T2 
cave  c  1 
 2 

If the temperature does not vary much from room temperature, then the value at 300K in
Table A-2(a) can be used.

The other important quantity in this section is the ratio of specific heats, represented here
using the symbol k, but also commonly using the symbol . Many ideal gas properties relate
to the value of k, especially isentropic behaviour, which is described in Module 7 and used in
Module 8.

Exercise 4.9
Textbook problem 4.49 (5th Ed.) (parts b and c only):

Determine the enthalpy change ∆h of nitrogen, in kJ/kg, as it is heated from 600

to 1000 K, using (a) the empirical specific heat equation as a function of
temperature (Table A-2c), (b) the CP value at the average temperature (Table A-
2b), and (c) the CP value at room temperature (Table A-2a).

Enthalpy change from CP(T2 – T1)

● Sections 4.3 and 4.4, Example 4.7

● Find CP at 800 K, then find CP at 300 K
● Answers: (b) 448.4 kJ/kg (c) 415.6 kJ/kg

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 8

Exercise 1
Text problem 4.60 (7th Ed.) (parts b and c only):

Determine the internal energy change ∆u of hydrogen, in kJ/kg, as it is heated

from 200 to 800 K, using (a) the empirical specific heat equation as a function of
temperature (Table A-2c), (b) the Cv value at the average temperature (Table A-
2b), and (c) the Cv value at room temperature (Table A-2a).

● Internal energy change from Cv(T2 – T1)

● Sections 4.3 and 4.4, Example 4.7
● find Cv at 500 K (the average temperature), then find Cv at 300 K
● Answers: (b) 6233 kJ/kg (c) 6110 kJ/kg

4.2.5 Internal energy, enthalpy, and specific heats of solids and liquids
Reading activity 1
Section 4.5

As noted previously, because solids and liquids are incompressible, there is only
a single specific heat that describes all changes in energy.

Modules 9 and 10 will use the second point after Eq. (4-37), that the change in
enthalpy in a pump can be calculated based on the change in pressure
(v2 = v1 = v by definition):

h  v  P2  P1 

4.2.6 Interactive thermodynamic tutorial

Interactive activity
Participate in the Interactive Thermo Tutorial for Chapter 4 on the CD that came
with the text.

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 Module 4 – Energy analysis of closed systems 9

4.3 Review your understanding

4.3.1 Multiple choice test

Computer
Attempt all the questions at the McGraw-Hill On-line Learning Center Multiple
Choice Quiz for Chapter 4.

4.3.2 Concept questions

Self assessment
Attempt the concept questions 4.1, 4.3, and 4.51.

● 4.1 boundary work

● 4.3 show 1 kPa.m3 = 1 kJ
● 4.51 energy balance for closed system ideal gas

4.3.3 Tutorial Sheet 4

Self assessment
Access Tutorial Sheet 4 and selected solutions here.

Access full solutions here.

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