ER100

Energy Toolkit III:

Energy Thermodynamics

Lecture 7 9/12/10
 Outline

• What can you do with Thermodynamics?

• 1st Law of Thermodynamics
• 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
• Carnot System
• Efficiency
• Thermodynamic Diagrams
 What use is thermodynamics?
• For different energy sources compare:
– Efficiency
– Amount of fuel needed
– Pollution produced
• Use as a tool for improving energy systems
– Analyze each part of a power plant (pumps, turbine,
heat exchangers, etc.)
• Analyze alternative energy scenarios
– Ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen
 What you can’t do with
thermodynamics?
• Thermodynamics provides limits (overall
fuel and emissions totals), but
• Kinetics tells you how fast something will
occur (matters when secondary pollutants
formed, e.g. NOx, and what other reactions
will take place)
Some Questions That Can Be Answered

• How much coal must be mined to meet all of the

U.S.’s electricity needs?
Some Questions That Can Be Answered

• How much coal must be mined to meet all of the

U.S.’s electricity needs?
• How much coal could be saved by increasing the
average power plant efficiency by 5%?
Some Questions That Can Be Answered

• How much coal must be mined to meet all of the

U.S.’s electricity needs?
• How much coal could be saved by increasing the
average power plant efficiency by 5%?
• How much could SO2, CO2, and other pollutants
be reduced by that efficiency increase?
Some Questions That Can Be Answered

• How much coal must be mined to meet all of the

U.S.’s electricity needs?
• How much coal could be saved by increasing the
average power plant efficiency by 5%?
• How much could SO2, CO2, and other pollutants
be reduced by that efficiency increase?
• How many fewer power plants would need to be
built in California if we increased our efficiency
by 10% by 2020?
Coal Fired Steam Power Plant

Joliet, IL
 1st Law of Thermodynamics

Water in

Water out
 1st Law of Thermodynamics
• Conservation of Energy Principle

Ein Esystem Eout

Esystem = Ein - Eout

 Earth Energy Balance

Energy from Sun

EARTH
Energy
Stored

Energy Radiated to Space

 Earth Energy Balance

Energy from Sun

EARTH
Energy
Stored

Energy Radiated to Space

Estored = Ewind + Eplants + Eheat + etc. = Esun - Elost

 Steady-State Condition

• Under steady-state conditions, there is no

change in the stored energy of the system.

Esystem = 0 = Ein – Eout

or Ein = Eout
 Energy Balance for a Power Plant
Efuel = 1000 MJ

1000 MJ Power
Plant
Energy from Fuel
 Energy Balance for a Power Plant
Efuel = 1000 MJ

Power Euseful = 350 MJ

1000MJ 350MJ
Plant
Useful Energy (Work)
Energy from Fuel

Efuel = Euseful + Ewaste

 Energy Balance for a Power Plant
Efuel = 1000 MJ

Power Euseful = 350 MJ

1000MJ 350MJ
Plant
Useful Energy (Work)
Ewaste = 650 MJ
Energy from Fuel

650MJ
Wasted Energy

Efuel = Euseful + Ewaste

1000 MJ = 350 MJ + 650 MJ
 Power Balance for a Power Plant
1 W = 1 J/s

1000MW Power 350MW

Plant

650MW

Pin = Pout
Pout = Pout 1 + P out 2
Pfuel = Puseful + Pwaste
 Power Balance for a Power Plant
Pin = 1000 MW
Pout = 350 MW + 650MW

1000MW Power 350MW

Plant

650MW

Pfuel = Puseful + Pwaste

Power Plant
 Parts of a power plant
• Energy Source
– Combustion: Coal, natural gas, oil, biomass, garbage
• Heat Generated
– Boiler: Coal burned, heats water, creates steam
– Combustion Chamber: CH4 burned, hot gases
• Work Produced
– High pressure steam or hot gases turn turbine blades
• Wasted Heat Removed/Exhaust Treatment
– hot water dumped into a body of water
– exhaust gases dumped into atmosphere
• Some waste heat can be recovered
 Connection to Environment

• Fuel Side: Mining, drilling, transporting

• Waste Heat Side:
– Increase temperature of body of water
• Affect fish, algae blooms, etc.
– Pollutants in waste heat stream
• Air pollutants
• Pollutants in waste water stream
• Environmental justice
– Location, impact & management of power plants
 Heat Engine
• Used to approximate thermal systems
High Temp. Source of Heat
Qhigh

Heat Wnet
Engine

Qlow
Low Temp. Sink of Waste Heat

Energy Balance: Qhigh = Wnet + Qlow

 Forms of Energy
High Temp Source of Heat: This is the source of energy that drives the power
plant (heat of combustion, geothermal heat source, nuclear reactor, etc.).
 Forms of Energy
High Temp Source of Heat: This is the source of energy that drives the power
plant (heat of combustion, geothermal heat source, nuclear reactor, etc.).

Qhigh: This is the heat transferred from the hot source.

 Forms of Energy
High Temp Source of Heat: This is the source of energy that drives the power
plant (heat of combustion, geothermal heat source, nuclear reactor, etc.).

Qhigh: This is the heat transferred from the hot source.

Heat Engine: This includes the working parts of the power plant
(including pumps, turbines, heat exchangers, condensers, etc.).
 Forms of Energy
High Temp Source of Heat: This is the source of energy that drives the power
plant (heat of combustion, geothermal heat source, nuclear reactor, etc.).

Qhigh: This is the heat transferred from the hot source.

Heat Engine: This includes the working parts of the power plant
(including pumps, turbines, heat exchangers, condensers, etc.).

Wnet: This is the net amount of work that exits the power plant. A turbine
generates energy, but the pumps and compressors use energy.
 Forms of Energy
High Temp Source of Heat: This is the source of energy that drives the power
plant (heat of combustion, geothermal heat source, nuclear reactor, etc.).

Qhigh: This is the heat transferred from the hot source.

Heat Engine: This includes the working parts of the power plant
(including pumps, turbines, heat exchangers, condensers, etc.).

Wnet: This is the net amount of work that exits the power plant. A turbine
generates energy, but the pumps and compressors use energy.

Qlow: This is the rejected or waste heat, which is dumped to a cold source (i.e.
river, atmospheric air, lake, etc.).
 Forms of Energy
High Temp Source of Heat: This is the source of energy that drives the power
plant (heat of combustion, geothermal heat source, nuclear reactor, etc.).

Qhigh: This is the heat transferred from the hot source.

Heat Engine: This includes the working parts of the power plant
(including pumps, turbines, heat exchangers, condensers, etc.).

Wnet: This is the net amount of work that exits the power plant. A turbine
generates energy, but the pumps and compressors use energy.

Qlow: This is the rejected or waste heat, which is dumped to a cold source (i.e.
river, atmospheric air, lake, etc.).

Low Temp Sink of Waste Heat: This is the reservoir (river, air, lake, etc.) that
the waste heat is dumped into.
 1st Law Efficiency
 what you want 
Efficiency   
what you pay for 


Several names:
I =1st Law, Actual, or Thermal Efficiency

 I = Wnet/Qin = (Qhigh-Qlow)/Qhigh
 Energy Balance for a Power Plant

Ein=1000 MJ from fuel

Eout=350 MJ useful energy
1000MJ Power 350MJ +650 MJ wasted energy
Plant
Energy from Fuel Useful Energy (Work)

650MJ
Wasted Energy

 I = Wnet/Qin

 I=350MJ/1000MJ = 0.35 = 35%

Second Law of Thermodynamics
• Order tends to disorder, concentration tends
to chaos
• No process can occur that only transfers
energy from a cold body to a hot body (heat
must flow from hot to cold)
• Nothing’s perfect - no process can occur
that converts a given quantity of thermal
energy into an equal quantity of mechanical
work (always some degradation-always
some wasted energy)
 2nd Law of Thermodynamics,
alternate statements:
• states in which direction a process can take
place
– heat does not flow spontaneously from a cold to
a hot body
– heat cannot be transformed completely into
mechanical work
– it is impossible to construct an operational
perpetual motion machine
 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and
Carnot Efficiency
2nd Law: Heat cannot be converted to work without creating some
waste heat.

Carnot Efficiency: The net work produced and the heat into the
system only depend on temperatures. No thermal system can be
more efficient than the Carnot efficiency.

Important: Temperatures must be in units of Kelvin or Rankin.

c = Wnet/Qhigh = (Thigh - Tlow)/(Thigh) K = ºC + 273.15

 c = 1 - (Tlow/Thigh) R = ºF + 459.67
 Heat Engine
High Temp. Source of Heat Thigh
Qhigh

Heat Wnet
Engine

Qlow

Low Temp. Sink of Waste Heat Tlow

c = 1 - (Tlow/Thigh)
Energy Balance: Wnet = Qhigh - Qlow
 Availability and Unavailability
• To transfer heat there must be a temperature
difference (hot to cold - 2nd Law)
• When the working fluid reaches Tlow no
more energy can be used – although the
working fluid still contains energy
• The energy that is used is called “available”
energy
• The waste energy is called “unavailable”
energy
 2 nd Law Efficiency
The 2nd law efficiency is a comparison of the
system’s thermal efficiency to the maximum
possible efficiency.

II = 2nd law efficiency (effectiveness)

I = 1st law efficiency or thermal efficiency
c = Carnot efficiency
I
 II 
C
 Efficiencies of the Power Plant
Ein=1000 MJ from fuel
Eout=350 MJ useful energy
+650 MJ wasted energy

1000MJ Power 350MJ

Plant
Energy from Fuel Useful Energy (Work)

Thigh=1100 K
650MJ
Wasted Energy
Tlow =300 K

 I= Wnet/Qhigh=350MJ/1000MJ = 0.35 = 35%

 c= 1 – Tlow/Thigh = 1 – 300K/1100K = 73%
 II=  I/  c = .35/.73 = 48 %
 Comparison of Efficiencies

Type Th (K) Tl (K) Carnot 1st Law 2nd Law

Eff. Eff. Eff.
Coal 800 300 62.5% 35% 56%

Nuclear 1200 300 75% 35% 47%

Geo- 525 350 33% 16% 48%

Thermal
 Entropy (Advanced)
• It is a measure of disorder:
more disorder = more entropy
• It is the measure of the unavailable energy of a
system
• Entropy is calculated as: S = Q/T

Steam (Gases)
S Liquid Water (Liquids)

Ice (Solids)
 Cycles
• Initial and final states are identical
E = E2 - E1 = 0
Q-W=0
Net heat transfer and net work during the cycle
are equal.
• Important Terms:
– Adiabatic: No heat is lost
– Isothermal: Constant temperature
– Isobaric: Constant pressure
 Carnot Temperature/Entropy
T Diagram
Thigh

Tlow

S1 S2 S
T = Temperature (K or R)
S = Entropy (J/K, Btu/R) = Q/T
 Carnot Temperature/Entropy
T Diagram
Qhigh 1-2: Constant temp heat
1 2
Thigh addition
2-3: Constant entropy
Tlow (adiabatic) work
4 Qlow 3
generation
3-4: Constant temp heat
rejection
S1 S2 S
T = Temperature (K or R) 4-1: Constant entropy
(adiabatic) work
S = Entropy (J/K, Btu/R) = Q/T
S2 – S1 = Qhigh/Thigh
S4 – S3 = Qlow/Tlow
 Area of Box is Wnet
T
Qhigh
Thigh 1 2 S = Q/T
Q = S * T
Tlow
4 Qlow 3

S1 S2 S
 Heat Added
T
Qhigh
Thigh 1 2 S = Q/T
Q = S * T
Tlow Qhigh = (S2 – S1)*Thigh
4 3

S1 S2 S
 Waste Heat
T
Qhigh
Thigh 1 2 S = Q/T
Q = S * T
Tlow Qhigh = (S2 – S1)*Thigh
4 Qlow 3
Qlow = (S4 – S3)*Tlow
Qlow

S1 S2 S
 Area of Box is Wnet
T
Qhigh
Thigh 1 2 S = Q/T
Q = S * T
Tlow Qhigh = (S2 – S1)*Thigh
4 Qlow 3
Qlow = (S4 – S3)*Tlow
Wnet = Qhigh - Qlow
S1 S2 S
 Area of Box is Wnet
T
Qhigh
Thigh 1 2 S = Q/T
Q = S * T
Tlow Qhigh = (S2 – S1)*Thigh
4 Qlow 3
Qlow = (S4 – S3)*Tlow
Wnet = Qhigh - Qlow
S1 S2 S
 Natural Gas Power Plant
T
Qhigh
Thigh 1 2 Carnot:
Wnet = area of rectangle
Tlow Natural Gas Plant:
4 Qlow 3
Wnet = area of blue box

S1 S2 S

• Realistic systems (coal, natural gas, nuclear power plants)

do not fill the entire box – therefore, they have not reached
the Carnot efficiency
• Recall Ideal Gas Law: PV = nRT
 QH
2 3
Combustion
Chamber

Compressor Turbine

Win Heat
Wout
Exchanger
1 4
QL
1-2: Air is compressed
2-3: Heat is added
3-4: Air turns turbine
4-1: Exhaust gases are cooled
 Carnot Diagram

4-1: Heat is transfer from high temp source at Thigh

1-2: Gas expands doing work (spinning a turbine) – no heat lost
2-3: Heat is rejected to cold temp source at Tlow
3-4: Gas is compressed (takes work) – no heat lost
 Problem solving

• Draw a sketch and identify the system

• List the given information
• Check for special processes and state any
assumptions
• Apply the conservation equations
• Draw a process diagram
• Determine the required properties and unknowns
 Example Problem
• A power plant running on a magical Carnot
engine operates between a combustion
burner at 1000K and a near by river at
300K. This power plant rejects heat at
200,000 kJ/hr. How much energy per
second is needed to run this power plant? If
it runs on natural gas, then how many kg of
natural gas is needed?