Chapter 8

Exergy : A Measure of Work Potential

AVAILABLE ENERGY, REVERSIBLE WORK,

AND IRREVERSIBILITY
Study Guide in PowerPoint

to accompany

Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, 8th edition

by Yunus A. Çengel and Michael A. Boles

Intoduction to ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS

R.E. SONTTAG and C.
By Dr. prof .Abdullah Marashli
The first law of thermodynamics deals with the quantity of energy and asserts that energy
cannot be created or destroyed.
The second law, however, deals with the quality of energy. More specifically, it is
concerned with the degradation of energy during a process, the entropy generation,
and the lost opportunities to do work.
The second law of thermodynamics has proved to be a very powerful tool in the optimization of
complex thermodynamic systems and examine the performance of engineering devices in light
of the second law of thermodynamics.
We start our discussions with the introduction of exergy (also called availability), which is
the maximum useful work that could be obtained from the system at a given state in
a specified environment, and we continue with the reversible work, which is the
maximum useful work that can be obtained as a system undergoes a process between two
specified states.
Next we discuss the irreversibility (also called the exergy destruction or lost work),
which is the wasted work potential during a process as a result of irreversibilities, and we define
a second-law efficiency.
We then develop the exergy balance relation and apply it to closed systems and
control volumes.
The term availability was made popular in the United States by the M.I.T. School of Engineering
in the 1940s. Today, an equivalent term, exergy, introduced in Europe in the 1950s, has found
global acceptance partly because it is shorter, it rhymes with energy and entropy, and it can
be adapted without requiring translation. In this text the preferred term is exergy.
 EXERGY: WORK POTENTIAL OF ENERGY
The energy content of the universe is constant, just as its mass content is. Yet at times
of crisis we are bombarded with speeches and articles on how to “conserve” energy. As
engineers, we know that energy is already conserved. What is not conserved is
exergy, which is the useful work potential of the energy. Once the exergy is wasted, it
can never be recovered. When we use energy (to heat our homes, for example), we are
not destroying any energy; we are merely converting it to a less useful form, a form of
less exergy.
If we have energy source we need to estimate the work potential of the source—that
is, the amount of energy we can extract as useful work.
Exergy and the Dead State:
The useful work potential of a system at the specified state is called
exergy(availability or available energy)
. Exergy is a property and is associated with the state of the system and the
environment. A system that is in equilibrium with its surroundings has zero exergy and
is said to be at the dead state. The exergy of the thermal energy of thermal reservoirs
is equivalent to the work output of a Carnot heat engine operating between the
reservoir and the environment. The work potential of the energy contained in a system
at a specified state is simply the maximum useful work that can be obtained from the
system.
Work = f(initial state, process path, final state)
In an exergy analysis, the initial state is specified and
thus it is not a variable.
The work output is maximized when the process
between two specified states is executed in a reversible
Finally, the system must be in the dead state at the end of
the process to maximize the work output.
A system is at the temperature and pressure of its
environment (in thermal and mechanical equilibrium); it
has no kinetic or potential energy relative to the
environment (zero velocity and zero elevation above a
reference level); and it does not react with the
environment (chemically inert), no unbalanced magnetic,
electrical, and surface tension effects between the
system and its surroundings.
A system delivers the maximum possible work as it QH, TH
undergoes a reversible process from the specified initial
state to the state of its environment, that is, the dead state.
This represents the useful work potential of the system at
the specified state and is called exergy. Q O , TO
Surroundings are everything outside the system boundaries.
The immediate surroundings refer to the portion of the surroundings that is
affected by the process,
and environment refers to the region beyond the immediate surroundings whose
properties are not affected by the process at any point.

The immediate surroundings of a hot The atmosphere contains a tremendous

amount of energy, but no exergy.
potato are simply the temperature gradient
zone of the air next to the potato.
Exergy Forms:
Now let’s determine the exergy of various forms of energy.
1-Exergy of kinetic energy
Kinetic energy is a form of mechanical energy and can be converted directly into work. Kinetic
energy itself is the work potential or exergy of kinetic energy independent of the temperature
and pressure of the environment. 
V2
Exergy of kinetic energy: xke  ke  (kJ/kg)
2
2-Exergy of potential energy
Potential energy is a form of mechanical energy and can be converted directly into work.
Potential energy itself is the work potential or exergy of potential energy independent of the
temperature and pressure of the environment.
Exergy of potential energy:
xpe  pe  gz (kJ/kg)
3-Useful Work
The work done by work producing devices is not always entirely in a useable form. Consider
the piston-cylinder device shown in the following figure.

p0
DV

The work done by the gas expanding in the piston-cylinder device is the boundary work and can
be written as
 W  P dV  ( P  P0 ) dV  P0 dV
  Wb, useful  P0 dV
 W  Wb, useful   P0 dV
The actual work done by the gas is
 Wb, useful  P0 (V2  V1 )

The word done on the surroundings is Wsurr   P0 dV  P0 (V2  V1 )

Any useful work delivered by a piston-cylinder device is due to the pressure above the
atmospheric level.
The difference between the actual work W and the surroundings work Wsurr is called the
useful work Wu:
W  W W
u surr

Figure a shows an irreversible process, and, because the heat transfer and work for this process
are zero, the area underneath the dashed line has no significance. Figure b shows the reversible
process, and area 1–2–b–a–1 represents the work on the P–v diagram and the heat transfer on
the T–s diagram
Example 1 A wind turbine with a 12-m-diameter rotor, as shown in Fig., is to be installed at a
location where the wind is blowing steadily at an average velocity of 10 m/s. Determine the
maximum power that can be generated by the wind turbine. Air is at standard conditions of 1
atm and 250C, and thus its density is 1.18 kg/m3.
SOLUTION
the kinetic energy

Example 2 Consider a large furnace that can transfer heat at a temperature of 1200 K
at a steady rate of 3000 kW. Determine the rate of exergy flow associated with this heat transfer.
Assume an environment temperature of 300 K.
SOLUTION: The exergy of this heat energy is its useful work potential, that is, the maximum
possible amount of work that can be extracted from it. his corresponds to the amount of work
that a reversible heat engine operating between the furnace and the environment can produce.
The thermal efficiency of this reversible heat engine is

1-300/1200=0.75=75%
The exergy of this furnace is equivalent to the power produced by the reversible heat engine:
Wmax=Wrev=ηth,revxQ=0.75X3000=2250kW
The evaluation of exergy alone is not sufficient for studying engineering devices operating
between two fixed states ,because when evaluating exergy, the final state is always assumed to
be the dead state
The isentropic efficiencies are also of limited use because the exit state of the model
(isentropic) process is not the same as the actual exit state and it is limited to adiabatic
processes.
Reversible Work
Reversible work Wrev is defined as the maximum amount of useful work that can be produced (or
the minimum work that needs to be supplied) as a system undergoes a process between the
specified initial and final states. This is the useful work output (or input) obtained when the
process between the initial and final states is executed in a totally reversible manner.
Irreversibility
The difference between the reversible work Wrev and the useful work Wu is due to the
irreversibilities present during the process and is called the irreversibility I. It is equivalent to the
exergy destroyed and is expressed as
I  X destroyed  T0 Sgen  Wrev, out  Wu, out  Wu, in  Wrev, in
where Sgen is the entropy generated during the process. For a totally reversible process, the
useful and reversible work terms are identical and thus irrevers­ibility is zero.
The entropy change in an irreversible process is larger than the change in a reversible process for
the same δQ and T. This can be written out in a common form as an equality
When Δsgen=0 ?
Irreversibility can be viewed as the wasted work potential or
the lost opportunity to do work. It represents the energy that
could have been converted to work but was not.
Exergy destroyed represents the lost work potential and is
also called the wasted work or lost work.
When the final state is the dead state, the reversible
work equals exergy.
The irreversibility is equivalent to the exergy destroyed
Irreversibility is a positive quantity for all actual
(irreversible) processes since Wrev ≥Wu for work
producing devices ,
and Wrev ≤ Wu for work-consuming devices.
A heat engine receives heat from a source at 1200 K at a rate of 500 kJ/s and rejects the waste
heat to a medium at 300 K (Fig.).The power output of the heat engine is 180 kW. Determine the
reversible power and the irreversibility rate for this process.

Note that 195 kW of power potential is wasted during this process as a

result of irreversibilities. Also, the 500 - 375 = 125 kW of heat rejected to
the sink is not available for converting to work and thus is not part of the
irreversibility. Why????
Example 3 -A 500-kg iron block shown in Fig. is initially at 2000C and is allowed to cool to 270C
by transferring heat to the surrounding air at 270C. Determine the reversible work and the
irreversibility for this process. The specific heat value Cpavg=0.45 kJ/kg·K

since heat transfers from the iron and to the heat engine are equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction. Substituting and performing the integration, the reversible work is determined to be

is the total heat transfer from the iron block to the heat engine. The reversible work for this
problem is found to be 8191 kJ, which means that 8191 (21 percent) of the 38,925 kJ of heat
transferred from the iron block to the ambient air could have been converted to work.
The irreversibility for this process is determined from its definition,
Second-Law Efficiency:
The second-law efficiency is a measure of the performance of a device relative to the
performance under reversible conditions for the same end states and is given by

For heat engines and other th Wu

II  
work-producing devices th , rev Wrev
For refrigerators, heat pumps, and other work- COP Wrev
 II  
consuming devices (compressors). COPrev Wu

The engine B has a greater work potential available to it (70

percent of the heat supplied as compared to 50 percent for
engine A), and thus should do a lot better than engine A.
The first-law efficiency alone is not a realistic measure of
performance of engineering devices. To overcome this
deficiency, we define a second-law efficiency ηII as the ratio of
the actual thermal efficiency to the maximum possible
That is, engine A is converting 60 percent of the available work potential to useful work. This
ratio is only 43 percent for engine B.
The second-law efficiency cannot exceed 100 percent, its value
should range from zero in the worst case (complete destruction of
exergy) to one in the best case (no destruction of exergy).

Note that the exergy can be supplied or recovered at

various amounts in various forms such as heat, work,
kinetic energy, potential energy, internal energy, and
enthalpy. The second-law
efficiency of naturally
occurring processes is
zero if none of
the work potential is
recovered.
For a heat engine, the exergy expended is the decrease in the exergy of the heat transferred
to the engine, which is the difference between the exergy of the heat supplied and the exergy of
the heat rejected. (The exergy of the heat rejected at the temperature of the surroundings is
zero.) The net work output is the recovered exergy.
For a refrigerator or heat pump, the exergy expended is the work input since the work
supplied to a cyclic device is entirely consumed. The recovered exergy is the exergy of the heat
transferred to the high-temperature medium for a heat pump, and the exergy of the heat
transferred from the low-temperature medium for a refrigerator.
For a heat exchanger with two unmixed fluid streams , usually the exergy expended is
the decrease in the exergy of the higher-temperature fluid stream, and the exergy recovered is
the increase in the exergy of the lower temperature fluid stream.
In the case of electric resistance heating, the exergy expended is the electrical energy the
resistance heater consumes from the resource of electric grid. The exergy recovered is the
exergy content of the heat supplied to the room, which is the work that can be produced by a
Carnot engine receiving this heat.
Second-Law Efficiency of Resistance Heaters
Example 4-A dealer advertises that he has just received a shipment of electric resistance
heaters for residential buildings that have an efficiency of 100 percent (Fig.) Assuming an
indoor temperature of 210C and outdoor temperature of 100C, determine the second-law
efficiency of these heaters.

The advertised heater has a COP of 1 its mean the efficiency of 100
percent or for each unit of electric energy (work) consumed, the heater
will supply the house with 1 unit of energy (heat)
The second-law efficiency of this resistance heater is

or
4-Exergy of change of a system : The property exergy is the work potential of a system in a
specified environment and represents the maximum amount of useful work that can be
obtained as the system is brought to equilibrium with the environment.
Unlike energy, the value of exergy depends on the state of the environment as well as the state
of the system. The exergy of a system that is in equilibrium with its environment is
zero. Dead state(p0,To),. Thermo-mechanical exergy , no chemical reactions.
4-1 Exergy of a Fixed Mass:
Nonflow (or Closed System) Exergy
Consider heat transferred to or from a closed system whenever there is a temperature
difference across the system boundary. The exergy for a system may be determined by
considering how much of this heat transfer is converted to work entirely. Let’s take a second
look at the following figure.
Consider a piston–cylinder device that contains a fluid of
mass m at temperature T and pressure P.
The system (the mass inside the cylinder) has a
volume V, internal energy U, and entropy S.
Taking the heat transfer to be from the system to its surroundings, the conservation of
energy is
 Ein   Eout  dEsystem
0   Q   W  dU
The work is the boundary work and can be written as
 W  P dV  ( P  P0 ) dV  P0 dV
  Wb, useful  P0 dV
Any useful work delivered by a piston-cylinder device is due to the pressure above the
atmospheric level.

To assure the reversibility of the process, the heat transfer occurs through a reversible heat
engine.
T0 Q
 WHE  th Q  (1  ) Q   Q  T0
T T
 Qnet  Q
dS  
T T
 WHE   Q  T0 dS
 Q   WHE  T0 dS
   WHE  T0 dS    Wb, useful  P0 dV   dU
 Wtotal useful   Wb, useful   WHE
  dU  P0 dV  T0 dS
Integrating from the given state (no subscript) to the dead state (0 subscript), we have
Wtotal useful  (U 0  U )  P0 (V0  V )  T0 ( S0  S )
 (U  U 0 )  P0 (V  V0 )  T0 ( S  S0 )
This is the total useful work due to a system undergoing a reversible process from a given
state to the dead state, which is the definition of exergy.

Including the kinetic energy and potential energy, the exergy X of a closed system is
2
V
X  (U  U 0 )  P0 (V  V0 )  T0 ( S  S0 )  m  mgz
2
on a unit mass basis, the closed system (or nonflow) exergy F =X/m is
2
V
  (u  u0 )  P0 (v  v0 )  T0 ( s  s0 )   gz
2
 (e  e0 )  P0 (v  v0 )  T0 ( s  s0 )

e= u+v2/2+gz
Here, u0, v0, and s0 are the properties of the system evaluated at the dead state. Note that
the exergy of the internal energy of a system is zero at the dead state is zero since
u = u0, v = v0, and s = s0 at that state.
The exergy change of a closed system during a process is simply the difference between the
final and initial exergies of the system,

If the final state is the dead state (p0,T0,) its mean u2=u0,v2=v0, S2=S0, e2=e0
For stationary closed systems, the kinetic and potential energy terms drop out.
When the properties of a system are not uniform, the exergy of the system can be determined
by integration from V is the volume of the system and r is density.
Note that exergy is a property. Therefore, the exergy change of a system is zero if the state of the
system or the environment does not change during the process. For example, the exergy change
of steady flow devices such as nozzles, compressors, turbines, pumps, and heat exchangers in
a given environment is zero during steady operation.
The exergy of a closed system is either positive or zero. It is never negative.
4-2 Exergy of flow :
The energy needed to force mass to flow into or out of a control volume is the flow work per
unit mass.
wflow  Pv
The exergy of flow work is the excess of flow
work done against atmospheric air at P0 to
displace it by volume v. According to the
above figure, the useful work potential due to
flow work is

wflow, energy  Pv  P0 v
Thus, the exergy of flow energy is

xflow energy  Pv  P0 v  ( P  P0 )v
Flow Exergy: Since flow energy is the sum of nonflow energy and the flow energy,
the exergy of flow is the sum of the exergies of nonflow exergy and flow exergy.
x flowing fluid  xnonflowing fluid  xflow exergy
2
V
 (u  u0 )  P0 (v  v0 )  T0 ( s  s0 )   gz  ( P  P0 )v
2
2
V
 (u  Pv)  (u0  P0 v0 )  T0 ( s  s0 )   gz
2
2
V
 (h  h0 )  T0 ( s  s0 )   gz
2 
The flow (or stream) exergy is given by V2
  (h  h0 )  T0 ( s  s0 )   gz
2
The exergy of flow can be negative if the pressure is lower than atmospheric
pressure.
The exergy change of a fluid stream as it undergoes a process from state 1 to
state 2 is 
V22  V12
   2  1  (h2  h1 )  T0 ( s2  s1 )   g ( z2  z1 )
2
EXAMPLE 5 Work Potential of Compressed Air in a Tank
A 200-m3 rigid tank contains compressed air at 1 MPa and 300 K. Determine how much work
can be obtained from this air if the environment conditions are P 0=100 kPa and To=300 K.

The work potential of the

system is 281 MJ, and thus a
maximum of 281 MJ of useful
work can be obtained from
the compressed air stored in
the tank in the specified
environment. Why ????
EXAMPLE 6 Exergy Change During a Compression Process
Refrigerant-134a is to be compressed from 0.14 MPa and -10 0C to 0.8 MPa and 500C
steadily by a compressor. Taking the environment conditions to be 20 0C and 95 kPa,
determine the exergy change of the refrigerant during this process and the minimum
work input that needs to be supplied to the compressor per unit mass of the refrigerant.
The properties of the refrigerant at the inlet and the exit states are

The exergy change of the refrigerant during this compression process is

determined directly from

Therefore, the exergy of the refrigerant increases during compression by 38.0 kJ/kg. The exergy
change of a system in a specified environment represents the reversible work in that
environment, which is the minimum work input required for work-consuming devices such as
compressors. Therefore, the increase in exergy of the refrigerant is equal to the minimum work
that needs to be supplied to the compressor:
5-Exergy Transfer by Heat, Work, and Mass:
Exergy can be transferred by heat, work, and mass flow, and exergy transfer accompanied by heat,
work, and mass transfer are given by the following.
5-1Exergy transfer by heat transfer:
By the second law we know that only a portion of heat transfer at a temperature above the
environment temperature can be converted into work. The maximum useful work is produced
from it by passing this heat transfer through a reversible heat engine. The exergy transfer by heat
is
Exergy transfer by heat:  T0 
X heat  1  Q
 T 
This relation gives the exergy transfer accompanying heat transfer Q whether T is greater than or
less than T0. When T > T0, heat transfer to a system increases the exergy of that system and heat
transfer from a system decreases it(the exergy and heat transfer are in the same direction)
The exergy transferred with heat is zero when T = T0 at the point of transfer.
when T < T0. In this case, the heat transfer Q is the heat rejected to the cold medium (the
waste heat), and it should not be confused with the heat supplied by the environment at T0(the
exergy and heat transfer are in opposite directions).
When the temperature T≠cte at the location where heat transfer is taking place is not
constant, the exergy transfer accompanying heat transfer is determined by integration to be
Note that entropy generation is always
by exergy destruction and that heat
transfer Q at a location at temperature T
is always accompanied by entropy
transfer in the amount of Q/T and exergy
transfer in the amount of (1-T0/T)Q.

Note that exergy transfer by heat is zero

for adiabatic systems.
 5-2 Exergy transfer by work
Exergy is the useful work potential, and the exergy transfer by work can simply be expressed
as
W  Wsurr (for boundary work)
Exergy transfer by work: X work 
W (for other forms of work)
Where Wsurr  P0 (V2  V1 ) , P0 is atmospheric pressure, and V1 and V2 are the initial and final
volumes of the system. The exergy transfer for shaft work and electrical work is equal to the
work W itself.
Note that exergy transfer by work is zero for systems that have no work.
There is no useful work transfer associated with boundary work when the
pressure of the system is maintained constant at atmospheric pressure.
5-3 Exergy transfer by mass
Mass flow is a mechanism to transport exergy, entropy, and energy into or out
of a system. As mass in the amount m enters or leaves a system the exergy
transfer is given by
X mass  m
Note that exergy transfer by mass is zero for systems that involve no flow.
Exergy flow associated with a fluid stream when the fluid properties are
variable can be determined by integration from

where Ac is the cross-sectional area of the flow and Vn is the local velocity
normal to dAc.
6-The Decrease of Exergy Principle and Exergy Destruction
The exergy of an isolated system during a process always decreases or, in the limiting case of a
reversible process, remains constant. This is known as the decrease of exergy principle and is
expressed as
X isolated  ( X 2  X 1 )isolated  0

since T0 is the thermodynamic temperature of the environment and

thus a positive quantity, Sgen ≥ 0, and thus T0Sgen ≥ 0.

For an isolated system, the decrease in exergy equals exergy destroyed.

Exergy Destruction
Irreversibility's such as friction, mixing, chemical reactions, heat transfer through finite
temperature difference, unrestrained expansion, non-quasi-equilibrium compression, or
expansion always generate entropy, and anything that generates entropy always destroys
exergy. The exergy destroyed is proportional to the entropy generated as expressed as

X destroyed  T0 S gen
Note that exergy destroyed is a positive quantity for any actual process and becomes zero for
a reversible process. Exergy destroyed represents the lost work potential and is also called the
irreversibility or lost work.
 The decrease of exergy principle does not imply that the exergy of a system
cannot increase. The exergy change of a system can be positive or negative
during a process, but exergy destroyed cannot be negative. The decrease of
exergy principle can be summarized as follows:
 0 Irreversible proces

X destroyed  0 Reversible process
 0 Impossible process


The more irreversible a process is, the larger the exergy

destruction during that process.
No exergy is destroyed during a reversible process
(Xdestroyed,rev = 0).

This relation serves as an alternative criterion to determine

whether a process is reversible, irreversible, or impossible.
7-Exergy Balances :CLOSED SYSTEMS
Exergy balance for any system undergoing any process can be expressed as

 Total   Total   Total   Change in the 

       
 exergy 
  exergy 
  exergy 
  total exergy 
 entering   leaving   destroyed   of the system 
       

General: X X  X destroyed  X system kJ

 in   out      
Net exergy transfer Exergy Change
by heat, work, and mass destruction in exergy
General, rate
form:
X
in  X out  X destroyed  X system kW
         
Rate of net exergy transfer Rate of exergy Rate of change
by heat, work, and mass destruction of exergy

the exergy change of a system during a

process is equal to the difference between the
net exergy transfer through the system
boundary and the exergy destroyed within the
system boundaries as a result of
irreversibilities.
 General, unit-mass wh  T  
basis: X heat   1  0  Q
ere  T 
( xin  xout )  xdestroyed  xsystem Xwork  Wuseful
X mass m 
X system  dX system / dt
For a reversible process, the exergy destruction term, Xdestroyed, is zero.
Considering the system to be a general control volume and taking the positive direction of
heat transfer to be to the system and the positive direction of work transfer to be from the
system, the general exergy balance relations can be expressed more explicitly as
 T0 
 1  T  Qk  W  P0 (V2  V1 )    mi i   me e  X destroyed  X 2  X 1
 k 

 T0    dVCV  dX CV
 1  T  Qk  W  P0
 dt 
  
m i i   me e  X destroyed 
dt
 k 
 where the subscripts are i = inlet, e = exit, 1 = initial state, and 2 = final state of the system.
For closed systems, no mass crosses the boundaries and we omit the terms containing the
sum over the inlets and exits.
8-EXERGY BALANCE: CONTROL VOLUMES: The exergy balance relations for control volumes
differ from those for closed systems in that they involve one more mechanism of exergy
transfer: mass flow across the boundaries

or

It can also be expressed in the rate form as

Exergy is transferred
the rate of exergy change within the control volume during a
into or out of a
process is equal to the rate of net exergy transfer through the control volume by
control volume boundary by heat, work, and mass flow mass as well as heat
minus the rate of exergy destruction within the boundaries and work transfer.
of the control volume.
When the initial and final states of the control volume are
specified, the exergy change of the control volume is
Exergy Balance for Steady-Flow Systems: Most control volumes encountered in practice such as
turbines, compressors, nozzles, diffusers, heat exchangers, pipes, and ducts operate steadily, and
thus they experience no changes in their mass, energy, entropy, and exergy contents as well as
their volumes.

for a steady-flow process

where the subscripts 1 and 2 represent inlet and exit states, ṁ is the mass flow rate, and the
change in the flow exergy is

a unit-mass basis

For the case of an adiabatic single-stream device with no work interactions, the
exergy balance relation further simplifies to Xdestroyed = ṁ(ψ1-ψ 2),
Reversible Work
The exergy balance relations presented above can be used to determine the reversible work
W rev by setting the exergy destroyed equal to zero. The work W in that case becomes the
reversible work.

Second-Law Efficiency of Steady-Flow Devices

the changes in kinetic and potential energies are negligible ,
For turbine Adiabatic
turbine,

, compressor
For an adiabatic heat exchanger with two unmixed fluid streams

However, if Tb > T0, then the exergy of the lost heat at the boundary should be included in the
recovered exergy:

Tb-the temperature of the boundary (the outer surface of the heat exchanger)

For an adiabatic mixing chamber where a hot steam 1 is mixed with a cold stream 2,
forming a mixture 3, the exergy resource is the hot fluid.

Page 458-462 problems

Example 7
Oxygen gas is compressed in a piston-cylinder device from an initial state of 0.8 m 3/kg and
25oC to a final state of 0.1 m3/kg and 287oC. Determine the reversible work input and the
increase in the exergy of the oxygen during this process. Assume the surroundings to be at
25oC and 100 kPa. We assume that oxygen is an ideal gas with constant specific heats. From
Table A-2, R = 0.2598 kJ/kgK. The specific heat is determined at the average temperature
T1  T2 (25  287) C
Tav    156 C
Table A-2(b) gives Cv, ave = 0.690 kJ/kgK. 2 2
 (156  273)K  429K
The entropy change of oxygen is
T  v 
s2  s1  Cv, ave ln  2   R ln  2 
 T1   v1 
 m3 
kJ  (287  273) K  kJ  0.1 
 kg 
 0.690 ln    0.2598 ln
kg  K  (25  273) K  kg  K  m3 
 0.8 kg 
 
kJ
 0.105
kg  K
We calculate the reversible work input, which represents the minimum work input Wrev,in in
this case, from the exergy balance by setting the exergy destruction equal to zero.

X X  X destroyed  X system
 in   out
Net exergy transfer
      Wrev,in  X 2  X 1
Exergy Change
by heat, work, and mass destruction in exergy
Therefore, the change in exergy and the reversible work are identical in this case.
Substituting the closed system exergy relation, the reversible work input during this process
is determined to be
wrev,in  2  1
 (u2  u1 )  P0 (v2  v1 )  T0 ( s2  s1 )
 Cv,ave (T2  T1 )  P0 (v2  v1 )  T0 ( s2  s1 )
kJ m 3 kJ
 0.690 (287  25)K  100 kPa(0.1  0.8)
kg  K kg m 3kPa
kJ
 (25  273)K( 0.105 )
kg  K
kJ
 142.1
kg
The increase in exergy of the oxygen is

kJ
x2  x1  2  1  wrev, in  142.1
kg
 Example 8 Steam enters an adiabatic turbine at 6 MPa, 600C, and 80 m/s and leaves at 50
kPa, 100C, and 140 m/s. The surroundings to the turbine are at 25C. If the power output
of the turbine is 5MW, determine
(a)the power potential of the steam at its inlet conditions, in MW.
(b) the reversible power, in MW.
(c)the second law efficiency.
We assume steady-flow and neglect changes
in potential energy.
The mass flow rate of the steam is determined from the
steady-flow energy equation applied to the actual process,

Ein  Eout  Esystems Conservation of mass for the steady flow

       gives
Rate of net energy transfer Rate of change m  m  msystem
by heat, work, and mass of energy  in  out   
2 Rate of net mass transfer Rate of change

V1 V22  of mass

m1 (h1  )  m2 (h2  )  Wout  0 1  m2  0

m
2 2
1  m2  m
m

  V12 V22  
W  m
  ( h1  h2 )    
The work done by the turbine and the out

  2 2 
mass flow rate are 
W
 
m out
( h1  h2 )  ke
 
 V22 V12 
ke    
where  2 2 
(140 m/s) 2  (80 m/s) 2  1kJ/kg 
  2 2 
2  1000 m /s 
kJ
 6.6
kg

 kJ
h  3658.8
P1  6 MPa   1 kg

T1  600o C   kJ
s1  7.1693
 kg  K
From the steam tables:
 kJ
h  2682.4
P2  50 kPa   2 kg

T2  100o C   kJ
s2  7.6953
 kg  K
 kJ
h  h  104.83
P0  100 kPa   0
o
f@25 C
kg

T0  25o C   kJ
s0  sf@25o C  0.3672
 kg  K
 W out
m 
(h1  h2 )  ke
5 MW  1000 kJ/s 

kJ  MW 
(3658.8  2682.4  6.6)
kg
kg
 5.16
s
The power potential of the steam at the inlet conditions is equivalent to its exergy at the inlet
state. Recall that we neglect the potential energy of the flow.
2
  V1 
 1  m  (h1  h0 )  T0 ( s1  s0 ) 
1  m  gz1 
 2 
 kJ kJ 
 (3658.8  104.83)  (298 K )(7.1693  0.3672)
kg kg kg  K 
  5.16 
 
s  (80m/s) 2  kJ/kg  
1

   2 2  
 2  1000 m /s  
kg  kJ   MW 
 5.16  1533.3  
s  kg   1000 kJ/s 
 7.91MW
 The power output of the turbine if there are no irreversibilities is the reversible power and is
determined from the rate form of the exergy balance applied on the turbine and setting the
exergy destruction term equal to zero.
X X  X destroyed  X system
 in   out      
Rate of net exergy transfer Rate of exergy Rate of change
by heat, work, and mass destruction of exergy

Xin  X out
  W
m 1 rev, out  m 2
W rev, out  m
 ( 2   1 )
 ( h1  h2 )  T0 ( s1  s2 )  ke  pe 
m
 kJ kJ 
 (3658.8  2682.4)  (298 K )(7.1693  7.6953)
kg  kg kg  K 
W rev, out  5.16 
s  kJ 
 6.6 
 kg 
kg  kJ   MW 
 5.16  1126.5  
s  kg   1000 kJ/s 
 5.81MW
W 5 MW
The second-law efficiency II     86.1%
is determined from Wrev 5.81MW
Problems 12-16-21-28-37-44-58-80-85-103