5- The Second Low Of Thermodynamics

5-1 Introduction To The

Second Low Of Thermodynamics
It is a common experience that a cup of a hot coffee
left in a cooler room eventually cools off . This process
satisfies the first law of thermodynamics since the
amount of energy lost by the coffee is equal to the
amount gained by the surrounding air. Now let us
consider the reverse process- the hot coffee getting
even hotter in a cooler room as a result of heat transfer
from the room air. We all know that this process never
takes place. Yet , doing so will not violate the first law
as long as the amount of energy lost by the air is equal
to the amount gained by the coffee.
It is clear from the above that this process proceed in a
certain direction and not in the reverse direction.
The first law places no restrictions on the direction
of a process , but satisfying the first law does not
ensure that process will actually occur. This
inadequacy of the first law to identify whether a
process can take place is remedied by introducing
another general principle , the second law of
thermodynamics . The use of the second law is not
limited to identifying the direction of processes . The
second law also assert that energy has quality as well
as quantity, is also used in determining the theoretical
limit of the performance of commonly used
engineering systems, such as heat engine and
refrigerators ,as well as predicting the degree of
completion of chemical reactions.

Note: A process will not occur unless it satisfies both

the first and the second laws of thermodynamics.
5-2Heat Energy: Work can easily be converted to
other forms of energy , but converting other forms of
energy to work is not that easy. The mechanical work
done by the shaft shown in
Fig(1) , for example is first
converted to the internal
energy of the water. This
energy may then leave the
water as heat, any attempt
to reserve this process will
fail. That is transferring heat to the FIG(1)
water will not cause the shaft to rotate. From this and
other observation we can conclude that work can be
converted to heat directly and completely ,but
converting heat to work required to use of some
special devices. These devices are called heat engine.
Heat engines differ considerably from one another, but
all can be characterized by the following:
1- They receive heat from a high Temp source .
2-They convert part of this heat to work.
3-They reject the remaining
heat to a low Temp sink ,Fig(2)
4-They operate on a cycle.
Note : heat engines and other cyclic
devices usually involves a fluid to and
from which heat is transferred while
undergoing a cycle. This fluid is called
the working fluid. FIG(2)
The work-producing device
that best fit into the
definition of a heat engine
is the steam power plants,
which is an external
combustion engine, that is,
the combustion process
take place out side the
engine Fig(3).

FIG(3)
The various quantities shown on Fig(3) are as follows :
amount of heat supplied to steam in boiler
from a high-temperature source (furnace).
amount of heat rejected from steam in
condenser to a low-temperature sink
(the atmosphere , a river , etc.).
amount of work delivered by steam as it
expands in turbine .
amount of work required to compress
water to boiler pressure.
Note : the directions of the heat and work interactions
are indicated by the subscripts in and out . Therefore ,
all four quantities described above are always positive.
The net work output of this plant is simply the
difference between the total work output of the plant
and the total work input.

The net work output of the system is also equal to

the net heat transfer to the system:
Thermal Efficiency :
The fraction of the heat input
that is converted to net work
output is a measure of the
performance of a heat engine
and is called the thermal
efficiency ( ) Fig(4) FIG(4)
For heat engines , the desired output is the net work
output , and the required input is the amount of heat
supplied to the working fluid. Then the thermal
efficiency of a heat engine can be expressed as :
Cyclic devices of practical interest such as heat engines
refrigerators and heat pumps operate between a
high-Temp medium (or reservoir)at
temperature and low –Temp
medium(or reservoir) at Temp ..To
bring uniformity to the treatment
of heat engines , refrigerators , and
heat pumps, Fig(5) we defined the
following two quantities:
magnitude of heat transfer
Between cyclic device and high-Temp FIG(5)
medium at Temp .
magnitude of heat transfer between cyclic
device and low-Temp medium at Temp .
Note:
Thermal efficiency relations for any heat engine
can be expressed as:

Example1: Heat is transferred to heat engine from a

furnace at a rate of 80MW. If the rate of waste heat
rejection to a near by river is 50MW, determine the
net power out put and the thermal efficiency for this
heat engine.
Solution:

Neglecting the heat losses that may

occur from the working fluid as it
passes through the pipes and other
components, the net power output
of this heat engine is determined from:

Then the thermal efficiency is determine from:

That is, the heat engine

converts 37.5%of the heat it receives to work

Example2:
A car Engine with power output of 65hp has a thermal
efficiency of 24%. Determine the fuel consumption rate
of this car if the fuel has a heating value of 19,000Btu/
Ibm(that is, 19,000 Btu of energy is released for each
Ibm of fuel Burned).

Solution:?????
Solution:
The amount of energy input required
to produce a power output of 65hp
is determined from the definition of
thermal efficiency:

To supply energy at this rate, the

engine must burn fuel at a rate of:

Since 19,000Btu of thermal is released for each Ibm of

fuel burned.
5-3 Reversible and Irreversible processes :
The second law of thermodynamics states that no
heat engine can have an efficiency of 100 percent.
what is the highest efficiency that a heat engine can
possibly have ? Before we can answer this question ,
we need to define an idealized process first , which is
called the reversible process. A eversible process is
defined as process which can be reversed with out
leaving any trace on the surroundings. This is possible
only if the net heat and net work exchange between
the system and the surroundings is zero for the
combined (original and reverse) process. Processes
that are not reversible are called irreversible
processes.
5-4 The Carnot Cycle: The efficiency of a heat-Engine
cycle greatly depends on how the individual processes
that make up the cycle are executed. The net work ,
thus the cycle efficiency , can be maximized by using
processes that require the least amount of work and
deliver the most , that is by using reversible processes.
Therefore , it is no surprise that the most efficient
cycles are the reversible cycle.
Reversible cycles can not achieved in practice because
the irreversibilities associated with each process can
not be eliminated. Heat engines and refrigerators that
works on reversible cycle serves as models to which
actual heat engines and refrigerators can be compared
Probably the best known reversible cycle is the Carnot
cycle. The theoretical heat engine that operates on the
Carnot cycle is called the Carnot heat engine . The
Carnot cycle is composed of four reversible processes.
The four reversible processes that make up the Carnot
cycle is as follows Fig(6):
1-2 reversible isothermal
expansion.
2-3 reversible adiabatic
expansion.
3-4 reversible isothermal
compression .
4-1 reversible adiabatic
compression. FIG(6)
5-5 The Carnot Principles:
Two conclusions pertain to the thermal efficiency of
reversible and irreversible heat engines , and they
known as the Carnot Principles .
They are expressed as follows:
1-The efficiency
of an irreversible heat engine
is always less than the efficiency of a reversible one
operating between the same two reservoirs.
2- The efficiencies of all reversible heat engines
operating between the same two reservoirs are the
same.
5-6 The Carnot Heat engine: The hypothetical heat
engine which operates on the reversible Carnot Cycle
is called the Carnot heat engine. The thermal efficiency
of any heat engine , reversible or irreversible is given
by:

for reversible heat engines, the heat transfer ratio in

the above relation can be replaced by the ratio of the
absolute temperatures to the two reservoir. Then the
efficiency of a Carnot engine , or any reversible heat
engine, becomes
Note:
1- For a reversible heat engine operating between two
reservoirs:

2-The thermal efficiencies of actual and reversible

heat engine operating between the same temperature
limits compare as follows :
Example 3 : A Carnot heat engine shown in fig(7) ,
receives 500kJ of heat per cycle from a high-Temp
source at 652C and rejects heat to a low-Temp
sink at 30C.
Determine:
(a)The thermal efficiency of
this Carnot engine.
(b)The amount of heat
rejected to the sink per cycle.

Solution: ???????

FIG(7)
Solution: (a) the Carnot heat engine, is a reversible
heat engine, and so it efficiency can be determined
from:

(b) The amount of heat rejected by this reversible

Heat engine is determined from:

Therefore the Carnot heat engine discharges 163.8kJ of

the 500kJ of heat it receives during each cycle to a low-
Temp sink.
Sheet4
Q1-What is a thermal energy reservoir?
Q2- Consider the process of boiling eggs. Can the boili-
ng water be treated as a thermal energy reservoir?

Q3- Is it possible for a heat engine to operate without

rejecting any waste heat to a low-Temp reservoir?

Q4- In the absence of any friction and other irrevers-

Iblities, can a heat engine have an efficiency of 100%?

Q5-Does a heat engine that has a thermal efficiency of

100% necessarily violate(a)the first law and(b) the
second law of thermodynamics? Explain.
Q6- A steam power plant receive heat from a furnace
At a rate of 280GJ/h. Heat losses to the surrounding
air from the steam as it passes through the pipes and
other components are estimated to be about 8GJ/h.
If the waste heat is transferred to the cooling water at
a rate of 145GJ/h, determine(a) the net power output
(b)the thermal efficiency of this power plant.
Q7-An automobile engine consume fuel at a rate of
5gal/h and delivers 70hp of power to the wheels. If the
fuel has heating value of 19,000Btu/Ibm and a density
of 50Ibm/ ft3 .
Determine the efficiency of this engine.
Q8- Why are engineers interested in reversible proce-
sses even though they can never achieved?

Q9- What are the two statements known as the

Carnot principles?

Q10-A Carnot heat engine operates between a source

at 1000K and a sink at 300K. If the heat engine is supp-
lied with heat at a rate of 800kJ/min, determine(a)the
thermal efficiency. (b) the power output of this heat
engine.