Ambo University Hachalu Hundessa Campus

School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Thermodynamics
Chapter Three
The First Law of Thermodynamics

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2023/2024
By: Abubeker N.
 Energy Transfer by Heat and Work
 Energy can cross the boundary of a closed
system in two distinct forms: heat and work
(Fig.3.1 ).
 Heat and work are two different ways of
transferring energy from one system to
another. FIGURE 3–1
Energy can cross the
 The distinction between Heat and Work is
boundaries of a closed
important in the field of thermodynamics. system in the form of
heat and work.

2
 Cont.…
 Heat is the transfer of thermal energy between systems,
while work is the transfer of mechanical energy between
two systems.
 Heat is not a property. Energy transferred across the
boundary of a system in the form of heat always results
from a difference in temperature between the system and
its immediate surroundings.

3
 Cont…
 Heat is defined as the form of energy that is transferred
between two systems (or a system and its surroundings)
by virtue of a temperature difference (Fig. 3–2).

4
 Cont…
 A process during which there is no heat transfer is called
an adiabatic process.

FIGURE 3–3 During an adiabatic process, a system

exchanges no heat with its surroundings.
5
 Cont…
 Heat is transferred by three mechanisms: conduction,
convection, and radiation.
 Conduction is the transfer of energy from the more
energetic particles of a substance to the adjacent less
energetic ones as a result of interaction between particles.

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 Cont…
 Convection is the transfer of energy between a solid
surface and the adjacent fluid that is in motion, and it
involves the combined effects of conduction and fluid
motion.
 Radiation is the transfer of energy due to the emission of
electromagnetic waves (or photons).

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 Cont…
 Work is the energy transfer associated with a force acting
through a distance.
 A rising piston, a rotating shaft, and an electric wire
crossing the system boundaries are all associated with
work interactions.

8
 Cont.…
 Heat and work are directional quantities, and thus the
complete description of a heat or work interaction
requires the specification of both the magnitude and
direction.
 The generally accepted formal sign convention for heat
and work interactions is as follows:
 heat transfer to a system and work done by a system are
positive;
 heat transfer from a system and work done on a system are
negative.
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 Cont.…
 Another way is to use the subscripts in and out to indicate
direction.
 When the direction of a heat or work interaction is not known,
we can simply assume a direction for the interaction (using the
subscript in or out) and solve for it.
 A positive result indicates the assumed direction
is right.
 A negative result, on the other hand, indicates
that the direction of the interaction is the opposite
of the assumed direction

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 The first law of Thermodynamics
 The first law of thermodynamics, also known as the
conservation of energy principle, provides a sound basis
for studying the relationships among the various forms of
energy and energy interactions.
 Based on experimental observations, the first law of
thermodynamics states that energy can be neither created
nor destroyed during a process; it can only change forms.

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 Energy Balance
 The conservation of energy principle can be expressed as follows:
֍ The net change (increase or decrease) in the total energy of the
system during a process is equal to the difference between the total
energy entering and the total energy leaving the system during that
process.
 Total Energy   Total Energy   The Change in Total 
 
  =  
 Entering the System   Leaving the System   Energy of the System 

Ein  Eout  Esystem

֍ This relation is often referred to as the energy balance and is

applicable to any kind of system undergoing any kind of process.
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 Cont…
• The energy balance can be written more explicitly as
Ein  Eout  (Qin  Qout )  (Win  Wout )  ( Emass ,in  Emass ,out )  ESystem

• Or on a rate form, as

Ein  Eout byNetheat,

energy transfer  ESystem Change in internal, kinetic,  kJ 
work and mass potential, etc..energies

  
Ein  Eout 
Rate of net energy transfer
by heat, work and mass
 
  E System 
Rate change in internal, kinetic,
potential, etc..energies
 kW 
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 Energy Change of a System, ΔEsystem
 The determination of the energy change of a system
during a process involves the evaluation of the energy of the
system at the beginning and at the end of the process, and
taking their difference. That is,
Energy change = Energy at final state - Energy at initial state
ΔEsystem =Efinal - Einitial = E2 - E1
֍ Note that energy is a property, and the value of a property
does not change unless the state of the system changes.

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 cont.…
 Also, energy can exist in numerous forms such as internal
(sensible, latent, chemical, and nuclear), kinetic, potential,
electric, and magnetic, and their sum constitutes the total
energy E of a system.
 In the absence of electric, magnetic, and surface tension
effects (i.e., for simple compressible systems), the change in
the total energy of a system during a process is the sum of
the changes in its internal, kinetic, and potential energies
and can be expressed as
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 Cont…
 Most systems encountered in practice are stationary, that
is, they do not involve any changes in their velocity or
elevation during a process.
 Thus, for stationary systems, the changes in kinetic and
potential energies are zero (that is, ΔKE = ΔPE = 0), and
 the total energy change relation in above Eq. reduces to
ΔE = ΔU for such systems.

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 Mechanisms of Energy Transfer, Ein and Eout
 Heat Transfer, (Q)
• Heat transfer to a system (heat gain) increases the energy of the
molecules and thus the internal energy of the system and heat transfer
from a system (heat loss) decreases.
 Work Transfer, (W)
• Work transfer to a system (i.e., work done on a system) increases the
energy of the system, and work transfer from a system (i.e., work done
by the system) decreases .
 Mass Flow, (m)
• When mass enters a system, the energy of the system increases
because mass carries energy with it (in fact, mass is energy). Likewise,
when some mass leaves the system, the energy contained within the
system decreases .
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 The first law of closed system
 For the closed system where the mass never crosses the system
boundary, then the energy balance is
 Q in -Q out +W in -W out = E system
Closed system undergoing a cycle
 For a closed system undergoing a cycle, the initial and final
states are identical, and thus
Esystem  E2  E1  0
Ein  Eout  0
Ein  Eout
 
Wnet ,out  Qnet ,in W net ,out  Q net ,in
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 Cont.…

 If the total energy is a combination of internal energy, kinetic

energy and potential energy

E  U  KE  PE
m(V22  V12 )
Q12  W12  U 2  U1    mg ( Z 2  Z1 )
2

 For negligible changes in kinetic and potential energy

Q12  U 2  U1   W12
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 Cont.…
Internal energy
• The internal energy includes some complex forms of energy
show up due to translation, rotation and vibration of molecules.
• It is designated by U and it is extensive property.
• Or per unit mass as, specific internal energy,
U
u
m
• If we take two phase as liquid and vapor
at a given saturation pressure or
temperature U  U f Ug
mu  m f u f  mg u g
20 u  u f  xu fg
 Cont.…
 Enthalpy
 It is another extensive property which has a unit of energy and it is
denoted by H.
 The enthalpy is a convenient grouping of the internal energy,
pressure, and volume and is given by
H  U  PV W12  Pdv  P (V2  V1 )
 The enthalpy per unit mass is, h  H
m
h = u + Pv W12  PV2  PV1
Q12  U 2  U1   W12
Q12  U 2  U1    PV2  PV1 
Q12  U 2  PV2   U1  PV1 
21 Q12  H 2  H1 h  h f  xh fg
 Cont.…
 Specific Heat
 It defined as; the energy required to raise the
temperature of a unit mass of a substance by one
degree.
 It is an intensive property of a substance that will
enable us to compare the energy storage capability of
various substances. The unit is K J K g℃ or K J K.gK
 In thermodynamics, we are interested in two kinds of
specific heats: specific heat at constant volume and
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specific heat at constant pressure.
 Cont.…
 The specific heat at constant volume can be viewed
as the energy required to raise the temperature of the
unit mass of a substance by one degree as the volume is
maintained constant.
 Here the boundary work is zero because the volume is
constant
 From first law δQ  dU
 Per unit mass  q  du
Cv dT  du  du 
Cv   
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 dT v
 q  Cv dT
 Cont.…
 The specific heat at constant pressure Cp can be
viewed as the energy required to raise the temperature
of the unit mass of a substance by one degree as the
pressure is maintained constant.
 From first law δQ  dU  PdV  d  U  PV   dH
 Per unit mass  q  dh
 Where C p dT  dh
 dh 
 q  C p dT Cp   
 dT p
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 Internal Energy, Enthalpy, and
Specific Heats of Ideal Gases
 We defined an ideal gas as a gas whose temperature, pressure,
and specific volume are related by
Pv  RT
 From the specific heat relation du  Cv dT
u2  u1  Cv dT

 Or taking average value of specific heat for narrow temperature

difference
u2  u1  Cave ,v (T2  T1 )

dh  C p T  dT h2  h1  C p dT

h2  h1  Cave , p (T2  T1 )
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 Relation between CP and CV for Ideal
Gases
h  u  RT dh  du  RdT
 Replacing dh by C p dT and du by Cv dT we have

C p dT  Cv dT  RdT
C p  Cv  R
 At this point, we introduce another ideal-gas property
called the specific heat ratio k, defined as
Cp
K
Cv
C p  KCv KCv  Cv  R

R Cp K
Cv  Cp  R Cp  R
K 1 K K 1
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 Internal Energy, Enthalpy, and
Specific Heats of Solids and Liquids
 A substance whose specific volume (or density) is constant
is called an incompressible substance.
 The specific volumes of solids and liquids essentially
remain constant during a process. Therefore, liquids and
solids can be approximated as incompressible substances.
 It can be mathematically shown that the constant-volume
and constant-pressure specific heats are identical for
incompressible substances.
 The specific heat can be expressed as

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C p  Cv  C
 Examples
1. The initial pressure and volume of a piston-cylinder
arrangement is 200kPa and 1m3 respectively. 2000kJ of
heat is transferred to the system and the final volume is
2m3. Determine the change in the internal energy of the
fluid.

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 Cont.…
2. A piston–cylinder device initially contains 0.8 m3 of
saturated water vapor at 250 kPa. At this state, the
piston is resting on a set of stops, and the mass of the
piston is such that a pressure of 300 kPa is required to
move it. Heat is now slowly transferred to the steam
until the volume doubles. Show the process on a P-v
diagram with respect to saturation lines and determine
(a) the final temperature,
(b) the work done during this process, and
(c) the total heat transfer.
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 Cont.…
3.A piston-cylinder contains steam initially at 1MPa,
450oC and 2.5m3. Steam is allowed to cool at constant
pressure until it first start condensing. Show the
process on a T-v diagram with respect to saturation
lines and determine.
a) The mass of the steam
b) The final temperature
c) The amount of heat transfer.

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 Cont.…
4. A piston–cylinder device initially contains steam at 200 kPa,
200°C, and 0.5 m3. At this state, a linear spring is touching the
piston but exerts no force on it. Heat is now slowly transferred to
the steam, causing the pressure and the volume to rise to 500 kPa
and 0.6 m3, respectively. Show the process on a P-v diagram with
respect to saturation lines and determine
(a) the final temperature,
(b) the work done by the steam,
(c) the total heat transferred.

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 The First Law of the Control Volume

 The conservation of mass and the conservation of energy

principles for open systems or control volumes apply to
systems having mass crossing the system boundary or control
surface.
 In addition to the heat transfer and work crossing the system
boundaries, mass carries energy with it as it crosses the system
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boundaries.
  Hence the conservation of mass principle can be used to relate
mass which entering and leaving a system. It can be expressed
as
 The net mass transfer to or from a control volume during a
process (a time interval t) is equal to the net change (increase
or decrease) in the total mass within the control volume during
that process (t). That is,
 Total mass entering   Total mass leaving   Net change in mass 
 -
  =
  
 the CV during Δt   the CV during Δt   within the CV during Δt 
min  mout  mCV (kg )  
  m  V
m in  m out  dmCV / dt (kg / s)
 Thermodynamic processes involving control volumes can be
considered in two groups: steady-flow processes and
unsteady-flow processes.
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 Steady state process
 The flow through a control volume is at steady state if, “the
property of the substance at a given position within or at the
boundaries of the control volume do not change with time”.
 During a steady-flow process, the total amount of mass
contained within a control volume does not change with time
(mCV= constant).
 
dmCV 
min  m out  dmCV / dt   m CV  0
 
dt
min  m out
 
m in
  mout
 
in V in   out V out in   out incompressible assumption
   
34 V in  V out Vin Ain  Vout Aout
 Unsteady state process
 The properties within the control volume change with time but
remain uniform at any instant of time.
 Typical example:- filling and empting processes where most of
the cases average value of properties must be used.
dmcv
0
dt
dmcv  
  mi   m e
dt

dmcv  
 mi  me
dt

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 Some Steady-Flow
Engineering Devices
 Nozzles and Diffusers
 Nozzles and diffusers are commonly utilized in jet engines,
rockets, spacecraft, and even garden hoses.
 A nozzle is a device that increases the velocity of a fluid at the
expense of pressure.
 A diffuser is a device that increases the pressure of a fluid by
slowing it down.  
Ein  Eout
 
min  m out    Vi 2     Ve2 
Q net   mi  hi   gzi   W net   me  he   gze 
inlet  2  exit  2 
  
m1  m2  m   Vi 2    Ve2 
mi  hi    me  he  
 2   2 

37 Ve  2(hi  he )  Vi 2
 Turbines
 In steam, gas, or hydroelectric power plants, the device that
drives the electric generator is the turbine.
 As the fluid passes through the turbine, work is done against
the blades, which are attached to the shaft. As a result, the shaft
rotates, and the turbine produces work.
 
Ein  Eout
 
min  m out    Vi 2     Ve2 
Q net   mi  hi   gzi   W net   me  he   gze 
inlet  2  exit  2 
  
m1  m2  m   
mi hi  m e h e  W out
 
W out  m(hi  h e )
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 Compressors
 Compressors, as well as fans, are devices used to increase the
pressure of a fluid.
 Work is supplied to these devices from an external source
through a rotating shaft.
   Vi 2     Ve2 
Q net   mi  hi   gzi   W net   me  he   gze 
inlet  2  exit  2 
 
m in  m out  
 W net  m(h e  hi )
 
W net  m( hi  he )

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 Examples
1. Air enters an adiabatic nozzle steadily at 300kPa, 200°C,
and 30 m/s and leaves at 100kPa and 180 m/s. The inlet
area of the nozzle is 80 cm2. Determine (a) the mass flow
rate through the nozzle, (b) the exit temperature of the air,
and (c) the exit area of the nozzle.

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 2. The power output of an adiabatic steam turbine is 5 MW, and the
inlet and the exit conditions of the steam are as indicated in Figure
below.
a) Compare the magnitudes of h, ke,
and pe.
b) Determine the work done per unit mass
of the steam flowing through the turbine.
c) Calculate the mass flow rate of the
steam.

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 3. Steam flows steadily through an adiabatic turbine. The inlet
conditions of the steam are 10MPa, 450°C, and 80 m/s, and
the exit conditions are 10kPa, 92 percent quality, and 50 m/s.
The mass flow rate of the steam is 12 kg/s. Determine
(a) the change in kinetic energy,
(b) the power output, and
(c) the turbine inlet area.

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 4. Air at 100kPa and 280 K is compressed steadily to 600kPa
and 400 K. The mass flow rate of the air is 0.02 kg/s, and a
heat loss of 16 kJ/kg occurs during the process. Assuming the
changes in kinetic and potential energies are negligible,
determine the necessary power input to the compressor.

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 5.Steam at 0.4MPa, 300oC, enters an adiabatic nozzle with a
low velocity and leaves at 0.2MPa with a quality of 90%.
Find the exit velocity, in m/s.

6. Nitrogen gas is compressed in a steady-state, steady-flow,

adiabatic process from 0,1Mpa, 25oC. During the
compression process the temperature become 125oC. If the
mass flow rate is 0.2kg/s, determine the work done on the
nitrogen, in kW. (use cp=1.039kJ/ kg. K)

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