UNIVERSITY OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

B.A.Sc. Utilities Engineering

January 12, 2009

CCTD101B Engineering Thermodynamics1 (Lecture Notes 1)

Basic Concepts and Definitions

1. Applied Thermodynamics....................................................................................................................1
1.2 Basic concepts and definitions..........................................................................................................1
1.2.1 Thermodynamic systems...........................................................................................................1
1.3 Properties, states and processes....................................................................................................3
1.3.1 Properties...............................................................................................................................3
1.3.2 States......................................................................................................................................4
1.3.4 Processes................................................................................................................................5
1.3.4 Thermodynamic cycle...........................................................................................................6
1.4 Units for some thermodynamic properties....................................................................................7
1.4.1 Density and specific volume..................................................................................................7
1.4.2 Pressure, p..............................................................................................................................7
1.4.3 Temperature...........................................................................................................................8
1.5 Conservation of mass....................................................................................................................9
1.5.1 Steady Flow...............................................................................................................................9

1. Applied Thermodynamics
The science of the relationship between heat, work, and system properties. It is concerned with the
means necessary to convert heat energy from available sources (such as chemical fuel, nuclear energy,
renewable energy) into mechanical work.

Thermodynamics describe phenomena on a macroscopic basis. Kinetic theory is used to describe a

system on a microscopic basis.

1.2 Basic concepts and definitions

1.2.1 Thermodynamic systems

System Boundary

Surroundings Surroundings
System

Relationship between a system, its surrounding and the system boundary

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 1

System a quantity of matter or any region of space to which we direct attention for purposes of
analysis. It may be as simple as a free body or as complex as an entire chemical refinery. We may want
to study a quantity of matter contained within a closed, rigid walled tank, or we may want to consider
something as a pipeline through which natural gas flows. The composition of the matter inside the
system may be changing through chemical or nuclear reactions. The shape or volume of the system
being analysed may not necessarily be constant, as when a gas in a cylinder is compressed by a piston or
a balloon is inflated. A system is broadly divided into two categories; open and closed.

Surroundings everything external to the system that in some way influences the system. Usually the
term surroundings is restricted to those things outside the system that in some way influence the system

System boundary The system is separated from the surroundings by the system boundary, which may
either be fixed or movable; it may even be imaginary. The system boundary is normally depicted by use
of dashed or broken lines. The choice of a particular boundary defining a particular system is governed
by the convenience it allows in the subsequent analysis.

In the figure below, the gas in the cylinder is considered the system. When the cylinder is heated the gas
temperature will increase and the piston will rise so that the system boundary moves. Heat and work
cross the system boundary during this process, but the matter comprising the system can always be
identified.

Piston-Cylinder arrangement showing a movable system boundary

Types of Systems

Closed system if a system is defined as a particular quantity of matter, then the system always contain
the same matter, no matter crosses the system boundary, and the mass of the system is constant. Such a
system is called a closed system. A closed system may also be referred to as a control mass.

An isolated system is one that is not influenced in any way by the surroundings. No heat or work
crosses the boundary. This is a special case of the closed system. An example of this may be two systems
interacting with each other.

An open system is defined as a region of space within a prescribed boundary that matter may cross, e.g.
an air compressor, which has a flow of a mass of air into and out of the device. The open system
surrounds the device under consideration. An open system is often referred to as a control volume and
its boundary a control surface. These two terms are completely interchangeable with open system and
system boundary. The control surface is the surface of the control volume. Mass, heat and work can
flow across the control surface.

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 2

Example of an open system (control volume): an automobile engine. Observe that air, fuel and exhaust gas cross the
boundary.

The choice of a system boundary is governed by two considerations:

(1) what is know about the possible system, particularly at its boundaries
(2) the objectives of the analysis

For example, consider the sketch below of an air compressor connected to a storage tank. The system
boundary shown on the figure encloses the compressor , tank, and all of the piping. This boundary might
be selected if the electrical power input were known and the objective of the analysis were to determine
how long the compressor may operate for the pressure in the tank to rise to a specific vale. A control
volume comprising only the compressor might be chosen if the condition of the air entering and exiting
the compressor were known, and the objective were to determine the electric power input.

Air Compressor and Tank

(Tutorial question 2)

1.3 Properties, states and processes

1.3.1 Properties
A thermodynamic property is a quantity that describes the state of a system and is independent of the
path to the state, i.e. the history, e.g. mass, volume, energy, pressure and temperature. Any combination
of observable characteristics such as the product of pressure and temperature is also a property and such
properties can be thought of as indirectly observable characteristics of a system e.g. density. Other
properties that cannot be directly observed, can be defined by means of the laws of thermodynamics.
Two such properties are internal energy and entropy.

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 3

At a given state each property has a definite value that can be assigned without knowledge of how the
system arrived at that state. Therefore, the change in the value of a property as the system is altered from
one state to another is determined solely by the two end states and is independent of the particular way
the change of state occurred. That is, the change is independent of the details of the process.

Thermodynamic properties are either intensive or extensive.

Extensive properties vary directly with mass, e.g. mass, total volume and depend on the size or extent of
a system. The value of an extensive property for an overall system is the sum of its value for the parts
into which the system is divided, i.e. it is additive.

Intensive properties are independent of mass, and are not additive, e.g. temperature, pressure, specific
volume. The system has the same value for any part of a homogenous system as it does for the whole
system. Extensive properties per unit mass are intensive. An intensive property can be measured without
knowledge of the systems mass.

If the value of any extensive property is divided by the mass of the system, the resulting property is
intensive and is called a specific property. A specific property is normally depicted by use of common
letters e.g. Specific Volume, v V m ..
Consider a homogenous system divided into two parts, A and
A B:

mT m A m B
Extensive Property
B VT V A VB

TT T A TB (TT TA TB
But Intensive Property
T A B T A B

(Tutorial question 3)

1.3.2 States
A state refers to a combination of two or more observable macroscopic thermodynamic properties. The
state of a system is defined by the values of its properties. If a system has the same property values at
two different times, then the system are at identical states.

A phase is a quantity of matter that is homogeneous throughout in both chemical composition and
physical structure. In each phase the substance may exist at various thermodynamic states. Phases of
water would be steam, liquid, and ice. A system can compose of one or more phases. For example, a
system of steam and water comprise two phases. When more than one phase is present, the phases are
separated by phase boundaries. Note that gases, say oxygen and nitrogen can be mixed in any proportion
to form a single gas phase

A pure substance is one that is uniform and invariable in chemical composition, A pure substance can
exist in more than one phase but must its chemical composition must be the same in each phase. For
example, a mixture of water and steam form a system with two phases and can be regarded as a pure
substance because each phase has the same composition. A uniform mixture of gases can be regarded as
a pure substance provided it remains a gas and does not react chemically.

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 4

A related unit of mass is the mole. A mole is a quantity of a substance having a mass numerically equal
to its molecular weight, M. For example, 1 kilogram mole of oxygen is 32 kg.
n = m/M n = no. of moles, m = mass, kg, M = molecular weight, kg/Kmol

Equilibrium
A system is in thermal equilibrium when the temperature is the same throughout the system, i.e. thermal
equilibrium is directly related to temperature.

A system is in thermodynamic equilibrium if no changes can occur in the state of the system without
the aid of an external stimulus. We can test if a system is in equilibrium by isolating it and observing
whether any changes in it occur.

For the system to be equilibrium:

the temperature must be the same throughout the system;
there can be no eddying motions of the fluid; and
the system must be homogenous throughout or contain finite number of homogenous parts. (Note
that this is not sufficient to specify thermodynamic equilibrium since for example, an iron/ water
vapour/ air mixture consist of homogenous parts but is in non-equilibrium due to rusting.

Thermodynamics usually deal with systems in equilibrium since this allows properties e.g. p and T to be
assigned single specific values.

The state of a closed system is easy to specify. For open systems, assume the fluid passes through a
series of equilibrium states, i.e. the system is broken up into sections with each section being modeled as
a closed system.

1.3.4 Processes

P
2 1 and 2 are different states
1-2 represents a process
C 1-A-2, 1-B-2 and 1-C-2 represent different paths for the same process
B
A
1
v

Whenever one or more of a systems properties change, a change in state occurs. A change of a system
from one state to another is called a process. The path of the process is the series of states through which
the system passes during the process. Processes are of two types:

1. Quasi equilibrium (quasi static) a reversible process. Process can be plotted by a firm/ solid
line. During a process, the system passes through a series of only equilibrium states, so that the
system at any instant is in equilibrium or infinitesimally close to being in equilibrium. The
system can be returned to its initial state along the same path

2. Non-equilibrium process an irreversible process. The states cannot be plotted since the path is
not defined. But as the system is in equilibrium at the end points, it can be plotted by a dotted
line.
CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 5
A reversible process (not the same as a cyclic process) for a system is defined as a process, once having
taken place, can be reversed and in so doing leaves no change in either system or surroundings. Factors
that render a process irreversible are:
Friction.
Unrestrained expansion.
Heat transfer through a finite temperature difference.
Mixing of two different substances.

Properties describe the state of a system only when it is in equilibrium. When equilibrium do not exist,
the states of a system can be described for an ideal or quasi equilibrium process, i.e. one in which the
deviation from thermodynamic equilibrium is infinitesimal, and all the states through which the system
passes in such a process may be considered as equilibrium states. When a system is not in equilibrium
no properties can be described.

Processes in which one property remains constant:

Isothermal constant temperature.
Isobaric (isopiestic) constant pressure.
Isochoric constant volume.

1.3.4 Thermodynamic cycle

x
Two cyclic Processes

When a system in a given initial state goes through a number of different changes of states or processes
and finally returns to its initial state, the system undergoes a cycle. The net change in any property for
any cycle is zero. Therefore dx 0 where x is a property of the system.

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 6

1.4 Units for some thermodynamic properties

1.4.1 Density and specific volume

Density (), kg/m3, is defined as the mass of a substance divided by the volume the substance occupies
or the mass per unit volume.
m

V

Specific Volume (v), m3/kg, is defined as the volume per unit mass or the reciprocal of density:
V 1
v
m

Weight (w), N, is the force of gravity of a substance. It depends on both the mass of the substance and
the gravitational field strength

Specific weight () is defined as the weight of a substance divided by its volume, or the weight per unit
volume:
w mg
g
V V

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a substance to some standard density.
(Tutorial questions 4, 5)

1.4.2 Pressure, p
Pressure is defined as the normal force exerted by a system on a unit area of its boundary. The pressure
may vary from place to place on the system boundary, even when the system is in equilibrium. For
example, a system consisting of a fluid in a closed tank. For a fluid in static equilibrium

dp (dz ) where is the specific weight (varies with p and T) of the fluid. The minus sign
indicates elevation z is measured upwards.

For liquids which are only slightly compressible, can be assumed constant with respect to pressure so
that dp (z ) g (z )

A manometer is a simple instrument that indicates a pressure difference by balancing a measurable

length of fluid column against the pressure difference. Based on this, dp h gh . A barometer
measures atmospheric pressure, and a manometer measures pressure difference between a system and
the atmosphere.

The pressure is the same at all points of a gas in equilibrium. The SI unit is the Pascal, Pa, and it is
commonly measured in bars. 1 bar = 101325 Pa = 0.1 MPa. A standard atmosphere, 1 atm = 101325
Pa.

Absolute pressure, pabs , is measured relative to a perfect vacuum (0 Pa), and gauge pressure, pgauge , is
measured relative to atmospheric pressure, patm.
p abs p atm p gauge

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 7

For pressures below atmospheric pressure, the gauge pressure is negative and the term vacuum is
applied to the gauge pressure.

p1

p1 gauge

p1 abs

p2 vacuum
patm p2

p2 abs
p=0

(Tutorial questions 6-10)

1.4.3 Temperature
Hot and cold are qualitative measurements of temperature. Temperature cannot be assigned specific
values (like mass) but rather values relative to some point. Values are measurable because as
temperature changes, several properties of the system changes, e.g. electrical resistance of a steel wire,
change in volume of mercury, pressure change in gas, etc. these are used to measure establish
temperature values. Thermometers measure temperature by coming in equilibrium with the body.

The Zeroth law of thermodynamics

Temperature is difficult to define so the Zeroth law of thermodynamics attempts to do so in terms of
equality of temperature:

When two bodies have equality of temperature with a third body, they in turn have equality of
temperature with each other.

Two bodies have equality of temperature when no observable change in temperature occurs when they
are in thermal communication. The SI unit for temperature is the Celsius, (C; the Kelvin, K, is also
used. K = (C + 273.15)

A numerical scale of temperature permits temperature to be specified quantitatively. One way to

establish a temperature scale is first to assign numerical values to certain accurately reproducible
temperatures. Two that are used are the ice point and the steam point. The ice point is defined as the
equilibrium temperature of a mixture of ice and air-saturated liquid water at 1 atm. The steam point is
defined as the equilibrium temperature of pure liquid water in contact with its vapour at 1 atm. These
two temperatures are used as reference temperatures because they are accurately reproducible in any
laboratory.
(Tutorial question 11)

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 8

1.5 Conservation of mass
Since a closed system is defined as a particular quantity of matter, the system always contains the same
matter and no matter crosses the boundary. Therefore the mass of the system is constant. This is a
statement of the principle of conservation of mass for a closed system.

For an open system, matter may cross the boundary, so the amount of mass within the system may
change. Conservation of mass requires that:

Rate of increase of mass within the system = net rate of mass influx across boundary

d
dt dVol VdA VdA
inlets outlets
This result of the conservation of mass principle is called
the continuity equation. (V = fluid velocity at system
boundary)

dm
For one dimensional flow at each inlet and exit VA VA
dt inlets exits
(Tutorial questions 12 - 16)

1.5.1 Steady Flow

The flow through an open system is steady flow if all properties at each point within the system remain
constant with respect to time. Property values vary from one point to another within a steady flow
system, but at each point they are constant with time. For steady flow the following must be true:

1. the properties of the fluids crossing the boundary remain constant at each point of the
boundary.
2. the flow rate at each section where matter crosses the boundary is constant.
3. the rate of mass flow into the system equals the rate of mass flow out. Consequently, the
amount of mass within the system is constant.
4. the volume of the system remains constant. The system boundary must be rigid.
5. all interactions with the surroundings occur at a constant rate.

The continuity equation for steady flow is therefore VdA VdA . For one dimensional
inlets exits

VA exits
flow this becomes inlets VA .
1V1 A1 2V2 A2
For a frequently encountered case of a single inlet and a single exit m

Example Problem
A wind turbine electric generator is mounted atop a tower. As wind blows steadily across the turbine blades,
electricity is generated. The electrical output of the generator is fed to a storage battery.
a) Considering only the wind turbine-electric generator as the system, identify locations on the system
boundary where the system interacts with the surroundings. Describe changes occurring within the
system with time.
b) repeat for a system that includes only the storage battery

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 9

Analysis
(a) In this case, there is air flowing across the boundary of the control volume. Another principal interaction
between the system and the surroundings is the electric current passing through the wires. From the
macroscopic perspective, such an interaction is not considered a mass transfer. With a steady wind, the
turbine-generator is likely to develop steady state operation where the rotational speed of the blades is
constant and a steady electric current is generated.

(b) The principal interaction between the system and its surroundings is the electric current passing into the
battery through the wires. As noted in part (a), this interaction is not considered a mass transfer. The
system is a closed system. As the battery is charged and chemical reactions occur within it, the
temperature of the battery surface may become somewhat elevated and a thermal interaction might occur
between the battery and the surroundings. This interaction is likely to be of secondary importance.
oooOooo

CCTD101B Basic Concepts & Definitions 10