Moving Boundary Work

One form of mechanical work

frequently encountered in practice is
associated with the expansion or
compression of a gas in a piston
cylinder device.
During this process, part of the
boundary (the inner face of the piston)
moves back and forth.
This expansion and compression is
often called as Boundary Work.

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Consider the gas enclosed in the piston
cylinder device shown in Fig.
The initial pressure of the gas is P, the
total volume is V, and the cross sectional
area of the piston is A.
The total boundary work done during
the entire process as the piston moves is
obtained by adding all the differential
works from the initial state to the final
state

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Example # 4-3: A pistoncylinder device initially contains 0.4
m3 of air at 100 kPa and 80C. The air is now compressed to 0.1
m3 in such a way that the temperature inside the cylinder
remains constant. Determine the work done during this process.
(Cengel)

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Example # 2.1 : A gas in a pistoncylinder assembly undergoes
an expansion process for which the relationship between
pressure and volume is given by

The initial pressure is 3 bar, the initial volume is 0.1 m3, and the
final volume is 0.2 m3. Determine the work for the process, in
kJ, if n = 1.3. (MORAN)
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Example # 2.2 : Four-tenths kilogram of a certain gas is
contained within a pistoncylinder assembly. The gas undergoes
a process for which the pressure volume relationship is

The initial pressure is 3 bar, the initial volume is 0.1 m3, and the
final volume is 0.2 m3. The change in specific internal energy of
the gas in the process is u2 - u1 = -55 kJ/kg. There are no
significant changes in kinetic or potential energy. Determine the
net heat transfer for the process, in kJ
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Example # 4-5 : A pistoncylinder device contains 25 g of
saturated water vapor that is maintained at a constant pressure of
300 kPa. A resistance heater within the cylinder is turned on and
passes a current of 0.2 A for 5 min from a 120-V source. At the
same time, a heat loss of 3.7 kJ occurs. Find the final
temperature of steam. (cengel).
 THE IDEAL-GAS EQUATION OF STATE
Any equation that relates the pressure, temperature, and
specific volume of a substance is called an equation of
state.
The simplest and best-known equation of state for substances
in the gas phase is the ideal-gas equation of state.
=
where the constant of proportionality R is called the gas
constant.

where Ru is the universal gas constant and M is the molar

mass

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Ex# 4-63 : An insulated pistoncylinder device contains 100 L
of air at 400 kPa and 25C. A paddle wheel within the cylinder is
rotated until 15 kJ of work is done on the air while the pressure
is held constant. Determine the final temperature of the air.
Neglect the energy stored in the paddle wheel. (cengel).