CHEMISTRY ASSIGNMENT

Topic: Application of Thermodynamics in our day to day life

as well as in industries.

NAME: NACHIKETA SINGH

ROLL NO: 22053170
SECTION: B-22

THERMODYNAMICS- AN INTRODUCTION

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals

with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation
to energy, entropy, and the physical properties
of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is
governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which convey a
quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical
quantities, but may be explained in terms
of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics.
Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics
in science and engineering, especially physical
chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering and mechanical
engineering, but also in other complex fields such
as meteorology.

The initial application of thermodynamics to mechanical heat

engines was quickly extended to the study of chemical
compounds and chemical reactions. Chemical thermodynamics
studies the nature of the role of entropy in the process of
chemical reactions and has provided the bulk of expansion and
knowledge of the field. Other formulations of thermodynamics
emerged. Statistical thermodynamics, or statistical mechanics,
concerns itself with statistical predictions of the collective
motion of particles from their microscopic behavior.

A description of any thermodynamic system employs the four

laws of thermodynamics that form an axiomatic basis. The first
law specifies that energy can be transferred between physical
systems as heat, as work, and with transfer of matter. The
second law defines the existence of a quantity called entropy,
that describes the direction, thermodynamically, that a system
can evolve and quantifies the state of order of a system and
that can be used to quantify the useful work that can be
extracted from the system.
APPLICATION OF THERMODYNAMICS IN
INDUSTRIES
1. OIL REFINERIES:

Thermodynamics is basic to Chemical Engineering but also to

heat engines, fuel cells and in any situation where energy is
transferred. It allows one to calculate what the maximum
efficiency of any process can be.

Oil Refineries have Catalytic Reforming Units. These normally

operate at temperature and pressure such that certain
compounds in the boiling range of kerosene are converted to
aromatics - such as benzene - and which produce hydrogen as a
by-product. To produce petroleum based solvents that are free
of because of cancer risk of them to people breathing the
vapour when using them, Catalytic Reformers are made to
operate in reverse.
 It would add hydrogen to any aromatics in the feedstock,
converting them to cyclohexane (in the case of benzene) or
similar. The hydrogen came from the other Catalytic Reformer,
working normally. The process conditions are altered mainly by
reducing the temperature and increase in pressure as well.
The chemical process of removing hydrogen to make aromatics
is, like many such processes, reversible. And in this case, which
is less usual, the required conditions for the de-aromatisation
process lay within the design limits of the Catalytic reformer.
The point is that knowledge of the thermodynamics of the
reaction allows a fairly precise calculation of the required
process conditions for the reverse reaction.

2. REFRIGERATION-
Refrigeration is one of the most important utilities in food
processing. It is possible to understand because of
thermodynamics. A working fluid, any one of many synthetic
chemicals, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, is converted from gas
to liquid and then back again by changing its pressure, which
then changes the temperature at which it vaporizes or
condenses. Most fluids boil or condense at higher
temperatures when at higher pressure. Thus, a working fluid
can be compressed to a pressure such that it will condense
against ambient air, typically at 90˚F. If the pressure is reduced,
by passing through a valve, a mixture of liquid and vapor results
at a much lower temperature.

The vapor can be returned to the compressor while the liquid is

vaporized by the heat of the cooling load (evaporated). There
are sophisticated modifications of this simple cycle, but air
conditioners, coolers, and freezers all operate on the same
fundamental principle.

The thermodynamic concepts involved include phase change,

heats of vaporization and of condensation (usually the same),
heat exchange, and theoretical efficiency. The efficiency of a
refrigeration cycle is expressed as the coefficient of
performance (COP) equal to the amount of cooling provided
divided by the work required in equivalent units.

3. THE BRIDGE BETWEEN AERO-THERMO

PERFORMANCE AND VEHICLE WEIGHT-
One can think of mission fuel as being a form of stored work
potential, which implies that there must be a relationship
between mission fuel weight and usage of thermodynamic
work potential. In other words, there must be a relationship
between aerothermodynamic performance and weight.

The work used for vehicle motion must come from the work
potential stored in the fuel. Furthermore, there must be a one-
to-one correspondence between fuel weight and total usage of
work potential (loss incurred) during the mission. Therefore, it
should be possible to quantify losses incurred during the
mission (such as drag work, engine inefficiencies, etc.) in terms
of the fuel weight required to offset those losses.

At every instant in time, the fuel work potential is converted

into either air frame kinetic/potential energy or atmospheric
heat. For instance, a portion is lost as engine exhaust heat, and
an additional increment is lost as heat due to component
inefficiencies in the engine. A portion of the energy is lost as
kinetic energy in the exhaust flow due to the fact that
propulsive efficiency is less than unity. Finally, the useful thrust
work on the air frame must either be dissipated in the
atmosphere as drag work, or be stored as air frame
kinetic/potential energy.
Fig- Integration of Instantaneous work losses through an aircraft mission
to obtain total loss.

APPLICATION OF THERMODYNAMICS IN
DAY TO DAY LIFE

1. SUFFOCATION IN A CROWDED ROOM-

The Human Body obeys the laws of thermodynamics. Consider

the experience of being in a small crowded room with lots of
other people. In all likelihood, you’ll start to feel very warm and
will start sweating. This is the process your body uses to the
itself off. Heat from your body is transferred to the sweat. As
the sweat absorbs more and more heat it evaporates from your
body, becoming more disordered and transferring heat to the
air, which heats up the air temperature of the room. Many
sweating people in a crowded room, “closed system”, will
quickly heat things up. This is both the first and second laws of
thermodynamics in action. No heat is lost; it is merely
transferred, and approaches equilibrium with maximum
entropy.

2. TAKING A BATH-

Take a moment to imagine someone taking a really long bath.

The water in the bathtub is quite hot, reaching temperatures of
up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit during and immediately after
filling it. The water will then be turned off, and the person will
dive under it. Since the water is warmer than the person’s body
temperature, it initially seems comfortable to be in the water.
Eventually, though, some of the heat from the water will have
been transmitted to the person, bringing the two temperatures
together. Since this is not a closed system, the bath water will
eventually chill as heat is lost to the atmosphere over a period
of time.
The first law of thermodynamics occurs every time you take a
nice, long bath. Upon submerging your body into the bathtub
full of water, you will initially feel the comfortable warmth of
the water because its temperature is higher than your body
temperature.
However, after some time, the heat from the water will be
transferred to you, causing your body’s and the water’s
temperature to correspond. When a bit more time has passed,
you will notice that the water will begin to feel cool as the heat
is lost to the atmosphere. Likewise, the heat in your body will
dissipate, but not as much because your internal homeostatic
mechanisms will help to keep your body temperature at a
suitable level.

3. PHOTOSYNTHESIS-

Thermodynamics of photosynthesis has been a subject of

interest to the scientific community.This work reveals that
traditional thermodynamic relationships may be used to
calculate and project photosynthesis. Solar energy is required
for the chemical reaction of green matter production. When
the size of the green matter expands, less solar energy is
received by the surroundings and more chemical energy is
stored in plants and vegetation. If everything else is the same,
the increase in the chemical energy produced is equal to the
decrease in the heat of the biosphere and vice versa.
Photosynthesis expansion is thus equivalent to heat transfer
from the biosphere to the green matter. Plants surrounding air
may be assumed as a heat reservoir at air dry bulb
temperature, Tdb. The colder air enclosed by the space of the
green matter may be assumed as a cold reservoir at air wet
bulb temperature, Twb, and photosynthesis may be
represented by a Carnot engine cycle. The thermal efficiency of
the cycle is equal to 1-(Twb/Tdb)0.5. If everything else is the
same, the difference, Tdb-Twb, is a limiting factor of terrestrial
photosynthesis. Based on this understanding, equations to
predict growth of the green matter and tree diameter are
derived and validated based on observations. Other findings
include photosynthesis global average thermal efficiency is
between 0.61% and 0.72%, and seasonal greening is nearly
0.80%. Neglecting deforestation, surface greening trend with
climate change is between 0.23% and 0.28% annually.