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UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
B.ENG. (HONS.) COURSE
YEAR 1 SEMESTER II
MAY/JUNE 2006 SESSION OF EXAMINATIONS


MEC1205 Thermodynamics I 23
rd
June 2006


0915 1115 hours



This paper contains FOUR questions. You are to attempt THREE.


Stationery: Steam Tables
Use of calculators is allowed



1. (a) State the non-flow energy equation.

For a flow process, sketch a diagram showing the control volume of a flow process and
derive the flow energy equation. State which one of the terms is the enthalpy and why
is enthalpy defined this way.
State whether (or not) enthalpy is a property and why.
(8 marks)


(b) A turbine operating under steady flow conditions receives steam at the following
state: pressure 13.8 bar; specific volume 0.143 m
3
/kg; specific internal energy
2590 kJ/kg; velocity 30 m/s. The state of steam leaving the turbine is as follows:
pressure 0.35 bar; specific volume 4.37 m
3
/kg; specific internal energy 2360 kJ/kg;
velocity 100 m/s. Heat is rejected to the surroundings at the rate of 0.25 kW and the
rate of steam flow through the turbine is 0.38 kg/s. Calculate:

(i) the specific enthalpy at the inlet and outlet of the steam turbine
(ii) the power developed by the turbine.

If you were able to choose an outlet velocity to maximise the power output, while
keeping the same the inlet and outlet states of the steam, what would this velocity be?
What is the new power developed for this chosen velocity?
(22 marks)







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2. (a) Derive the expression for work for a polytropic, non-flow process i.e.

1
1 1 2 2

=
n
v p v p
W

(8 marks)

(b) 1 kg of a fluid expands reversibly according to a linear law from 4.2 bar to 1.4 bar;
the initial and final volumes are 0.004 m
3
and 0.02 m
3
. The fluid is then cooled
reversibly at constant pressure, and finally compressed reversibly at constant
temperature back to the initial conditions of 4.2 bar and 0.004 m
3
.
Calculate:
(i) the work done in each process
(ii) the net work of the whole cycle
(iii) the net heat supplied of the whole cycle.

Sketch the cycle on a p-v diagram.
(22 marks)


3. (a) Derive the expression C =

pv that describes the adiabatic process and shows the

importance of the ratio of specific heats .
(10 marks)

(b) The relative molecular mass of carbon dioxide, CO
2
, is 44. Taking the ratio of
specific heats, , for CO
2
as 1.3, and assuming CO
2
to be a perfect gas, calculate:
(i) the specific gas constant, R,
(ii) the specific heat capacities at constant pressure and constant volume, c
p
and c
v
.

50 kg of CO
2
needs to be stored in a pressurized tank. What is the required volume of
the tank if the tank pressure is 100 bar gauge and the temperature is 20
o
C.
The tank valve is opened for some time until the tank pressure is observed to fall to
50 bar gauge. If the expansion process in the tank is assumed to be reversible adiabatic,
what would be the temperature of the CO
2
inside the tank at the instant when the
pressure fell to 50 bar gauge.
Take atmospheric pressure to be 10
5
Pa.
(20 marks)


4. The dryness fraction of steam is to be determined by passing a sample first through a
separating calorimeter, which merely separates some of the liquid physically from the
vapour, and then through a throttling calorimeter. The following results have been
noted:
Steam main pressure 10 bar
Pressure after throttle 1 bar
Temperature after throttle 128
o
C
Mass collected in separator 0.86 kg
Mass collected after throttling 11.6 kg
Find the dryness fraction of the sample.

What is the minimum dryness fraction of steam at 10 bar that could be measured when
using the throttling calorimeter alone with an outlet pressure of 1 bar? Explain your
reasoning behind this calculation.
(30 marks)