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HW1 Solutions

1) The document provides homework problems for a thermodynamics class, including problems involving the first law of thermodynamics, property determinations, and thermodynamic processes. 2) Problem 5 asks students to calculate the initial volume of air needed to store 100 MJ of energy by compressing air adiabatically from 1 bar and 20°C to a higher pressure and 180°C. 3) Using the ideal gas law and properties of air, the calculated initial volume is 733 m3.

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Runner Scott
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58 views4 pages

HW1 Solutions

1) The document provides homework problems for a thermodynamics class, including problems involving the first law of thermodynamics, property determinations, and thermodynamic processes. 2) Problem 5 asks students to calculate the initial volume of air needed to store 100 MJ of energy by compressing air adiabatically from 1 bar and 20°C to a higher pressure and 180°C. 3) Using the ideal gas law and properties of air, the calculated initial volume is 733 m3.

Uploaded by

Runner Scott
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ENGN0720 Thermodynamics

HOMEWORK SET #1
First law, closed systems; thermodynamic property determinations
Due Thursday, Feb. 6th, 4 pm

Notes:
-These problems require careful use of units! Please write out units on ALL numbers
and use conversion factors as needed.
-It is acceptable to ignore the conversion between atm and bar.

Problem 1. Gedankenexperiment (use Google translate for this, if you want)

(a) the energy of an isolated system cannot change (T / F) 



Ans: T

(b) the energy of an adiabatic system cannot change (T / F)


Ans: F (work can do done on it)

(c) a closed system operating in steady state cannot produce power (T / F)


Ans: F (Heat can come in and power can go out.)

(d) an ideal gas undergoing an isothermal process has a constant internal energy (T/F)
Ans: T (U for ideal gases depends only on T)

(e) Steam always has a temperature of 100 C


Ans: F (only 1 bar saturated steam has this requirement)

(f) the minimum energy of a two-molecule system occurs when the two molecular centers are
separated by the collision diameter.
Ans: F

(g) Electrical work is performed on a perfectly insulated system with no kinetic or potential
energy changes. Its internal energy must increase.
Ans: T (see first law, closed system)

Problem 2. Air as an ideal gas at room temperature and pressure (20 oC, 1 bar) is enclosed in a
cylinder and capped with a frictionless, massless piston. The outside pressure slowly drops, and
in response the gas expands, pushing the piston upwards. The process happens slowly, giving
plenty time for heat transfer to occur across the cylinder walls, which keeps the gas temperature
constant at its initial value. If the gas volume increases by a factor of 5 in response to the
pressure decrease, calculate the work done and the heat transfer, per mole of gas.

Ans: ΔU =Q−W

∫
Since T is constant, U is constant. Q = W. Now W = PdV. Since P is changing, we cannot

pull it outside of the integral. Use ideal gas law (PV = RT, rearranged as P = RT /V ) and sub
in. So the work out put:

( V1 )
RT 1 V2
∫ V ∫V
W= dV = RT dV = RT ln = 8.314J/(mol ⋅ K)(293K)ln5 = 3920J/mol

The heat transfer is inward, also at 3.92kJ/mol.

Problem 3. Let’s practice looking up property values! (This will be very useful later)

For each of the following processes, give the internal energy change in kJ/kg or J/mol.

(a) pure water vapor at 100 oC, 1 bar condenses to saturated liquid in a constant P
process
Ans: This starting vapor is saturated (100 oC matches 1 bar). If P is constant, then T is
also constant (P and T are coupled in boiling and condensation processes), so the final
condition is still 100 oC, 1 bar but the phase is saturated liquid. Using the saturated
steam table ΔU for the transition from saturated vapor to saturated liquid is
546.0 − 2539.9 = − 1993.9kJ/ kg

(b) H2O at 10 oC and 20 bar, is heated at constant pressure to 40 oC


Ans: Note that at 20 bar, both of these phases are still liquid water. So the easiest way
to get ΔU is to use the incompressible substance approximation and say that
ΔU = CΔT and the heat capacity of liquid water around room temperature is widely
known to be 1 cal/g-C, which is equal to 4.2 J/g-K or 4.2 kJ/kg-K.
ΔU is therefore 4.2 × 30K = 126kJ/ kg

(c) an ideal gas (average Cp in this temperature range is 24 J/mol-K) is heated in a


cylinder with a piston from 50 C to 100 C causing the volume to increase. (Note the end
state is still an ideal gas)
Ans: ΔU = cvΔT
cv = cp − R = 24 − 8.314 = 15.7J/mol ⋅ K
ΔU = 15.7 × 50oC = 785J/mol ⋅ K
Note: it does not matter that the volume is increasing. We use Cv because this is an
ideal gas, and ΔU is just a function of T alone. Get the two T values right, and ΔU will
be right.

(d) Superheated steam cools from 240 oC, 1 bar to 160 oC, 0.35 bar
Ans: Superheated steam tables (from lecture 3 slides) give
2718 − 2601 = 117kJ/ kg

(e) saturated liquid water at 100 oC is boiled and further heated to 160 oC, all at
constant pressure.
Ans: This requires steam table look ups.
Saturated liquid water at 100 oC is: 418.94 kJ/kg.
The final phase is superheated steam (because we continued to heat beyond 100 oC.)
The final P must be 1 bar, because the initial state was at 1 bar if the water was
“saturated”. Looking this up on the superheated table gives: 2597.8 kJ/kg.
The difference, ΔU, is: 2179kJ/ kg

Problem 4. Saturated steam at 1.1227 MPa in a closed, rigid container is cooled to 50


o
C, while remaining in the container. Describe the final contents (pressure, phases, and
mass percentages of each phase).
Ans: p0 = 1.1227Pa = 11.227bar saturated steam.
From steam table, T0 = 185oC, vg = 0.176m3 / kg (using interpolation)
Cool to 50oC: psat = 0.1235bar = 12.35kPa
vf = 1.0121 × 10−3m3 / kg, vg = 12.032m3 / kg
Closed rigid container: constant mass volume.
Let x be the quality of the mixture.
vf,0 = x vg, 50 oC + (1 − x)vf, 50 oC
0.176m3 / kg = x(12.031m3 / kg) + (1 − x)(1.0121 × 10−3m3 / kg)
x = 1.45 × 10−2
So T = 50oC, ρ = 0.1235bar, saturated water, 1.45% vapor, balance liquid.

Problem 5. Design of a compressed air energy storage system. One way to store
energy is to compress large volumes of air in large closed containers. We wish to store
100 MJ of energy by first filling a container with air, an ideal gas, at 20 oC and 1 bar,
and then doing 100 MJ of work to push down a sliding roof into the container and
compress the air adiabatically into a much smaller volume and higher pressure. (Later
it can be re-expanded to return the work, hence this is an energy storage technology)
If the final air temperature after compression is 180 C, calculate the size of the container
(which is the initial volume of air in m3), needed to store our 100 MJ.
Ans: State 0: air 20 oC, 1 bar

State 1: air 180 oC

m1 = m0 add 100 MJ, adiabatic


ΔU = Q − W = mcvΔT
Since it is adiabatic, Q =0
ΔU = mcvΔT = n c̄vΔT
R
For ideal gas: cv = ⇒ c̄v = 20.8J/(mol ⋅ K) (γ = 1.4 for air)
γ−1
ΔT = 180 − 20 = 160K
100 × 106 J
⇒ nair = = 3 × 104 mol
20.8J/(mol ⋅ K) ⋅ 160K
n RT
Ideal gas law: V =
P
(3 × 104 mol)(8.314J/(mol ⋅ K))(293.15K) 3
V0 = = 733m
1 × 105Pa

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