Home Test – Thermodynamics

Section – A: Thermodynamic Cycles

1. Air at 100 𝑘𝑃𝑎 and 250𝐶 enters into a compressor of an ideal Brayton cycle and exits at 1000 𝑘𝑃𝑎 The maximum
temperature during the cycle is 11270𝐶. Determine
(a) the pressure and temperature at each states of the cycle.
(b) the compressor work, turbine work and net work per kg of air, and
(c) the cycle efficiency.

2. An ideal Brayton cycle has a pressure ratio of 12. The pressure and temperature at the compressor inlet are 100
𝑘𝑃𝑎 and 270𝐶 respectively. The maximum temperature during the cycle is 12000𝐶. If the mass flow rate of air is
8 𝑘𝑔/𝑠, determine the power output and efficiency of the cycle.

3. The compressor and turbine of an ideal gas turbine each have isentropic efficiencies of 80 %. The pressure ratio
is 10. The minimum and maximum temperatures are 300 𝐾 and 1200 𝐾 respectively. Determine:
(a) the net work per kg of air,
(b) the thermal efficiency of the cycle, and
(c) Compare both of these for a cycle with ideal compressor and turbine.

4. Air at the beginning of the compression stroke in an air standard Otto cycle is at 100 𝑘𝑃𝑎 and 300 𝐾. The
temperature of the air before and after the expansion stroke are 1550 𝐾 and 650 𝐾 respectively. If the air
circulation rate is 3 𝑘𝑔/𝑚𝑖𝑛, determine the compression ratio, air standard efficiency and the power output.

5. The following data are obtained for a four stroke petrol engine:
Cylinder bore = 14 𝑐𝑚
Stroke length = 15 𝑐𝑚
Clearance volume = 231 𝑐𝑚3
Determine:
(a) the ratio of clearance volume and swept volume,
(b) the compression ratio, and
(c) the thermal efficiency.

6. In an ideal Otto cycle, heat added to the system due to combustion is twice the heat rejected through the exhaust
gas. Determine the thermal efficiency and compression ratio of the
engine.

7. The following data are given for a four stroke diesel engine:
Cylinder bore = 14 𝑐𝑚

Stroke length = 25 𝑐𝑚

Clearance volume = 350 𝑐𝑚3

Determine the air standard efficiency, if fuel injection takes place at constant pressure for 5 % of the stroke.

8. An engine working on a diesel cycle has a compression ratio of 16 and the cut off takes place at 8 % of the stroke.
Determine its air standard efficiency.

9. Air at the beginning of compression stroke in an ideal Diesel cycle is at 100 𝑘𝑃𝑎 and 295 𝐾 and the compression
ratio is 20. Determine the maximum temperature during the cycle to have an efficiency of 65 %.
10. A steam power plant operates on a simple Rankine cycle between the pressure limits of 2 𝑀𝑃𝑎 and 20 𝑘𝑃𝑎. The
temperature of the steam at the turbine inlet is 4000𝐶, and the mass flow rate of steam is 50 𝑘𝑔/𝑠. Determine:
(a) the thermal efficiency of the cycle, and
 (b) the net power output of the plant.

11. An ideal Rankine cycle operates between a boiler pressure of 4 𝑀𝑃𝑎 and a condenser pressure of 10 𝑘𝑃𝑎. The
exit steam from the turbine should have a quality of 96 % and the power output of the turbine should be 80 𝑀𝑊.
Determine
(a) the minimum boiler exit temperature,
(b) the efficiency of the cycle, and

(c) the mass flow rate of steam.

12. Superheated steam at 8 𝑀𝑃𝑎, 5000𝐶 enters into turbine of a steam power plant working on a Rankine cycle. The
steam leaves the condenser as saturated liquid at 8 𝑘𝑃𝑎. The turbine and pump have isentropic efficiencies of 90
% and 80 % respectively. For the cycle, determine:
(a) the net work per kg of steam,
(b) the heat supplied into the boiler per kg of steam, and
(c) the thermal efficiency.

Section – B: Second Law

1. An inventor claims to have developed an engine that takes in 105 MJ at a temperature of 400 K, rejects 42
MJ at a temperature of 200 K, and delivers 15 kWh of mechanical work. Would you advise investing money
to put this engine in the market?

2. If a refrigerator is used for heating purposes in winter so that the atmosphere becomes the cold body and
the room to be heated becomes the hot body, how much heat would be available for heating for each kW
input to the driving motor? The COP of the refrigerator is 5, and the electromechanical efficiency of the
motor is 90%. How does this compare with resistance heating?

3. Using an engine of 30% thermal efficiency to drive a refrigerator having a COP of 5, what is the heat input
into the engine for each MJ removed from the cold body by the refrigerator?

4. An electric storage battery which can exchange heat only with a constant temperature atmosphere goes
through a complete cycle of two processes. In process 1–2, 2.8 kWh of electrical work flow into the battery
while 732 kJ of heat flow out to the atmosphere. During process 2–1, 2.4 kWh of work flow out of the
battery.

(a) Find the heat transfer in process 2–1.

(b) If the process 1–2 has occurred as above, does the first law or the Second law limit the maximum
possible work of process 2–1? What is the maximum possible work?
(c) If the maximum possible work were obtained in process 2–1, what will be the heat transfer in the
process?

5. A household refrigerator is maintained at a temperature of 2°C. Every time the door is opened, warm
material is placed inside, introducing an average of 420 kJ, but making only a small change in the
temperature of the refrigerator. The door is opened 20 times a day, and the refrigerator operates at 15% of
the ideal COP. The cost of work is Rs. 2.50 per kWh. What is the monthly bill for this refrigerator? The
atmosphere is at 30°C.

6. A heat pump working on the Carnot cycle takes in heat from a reservoir at 5°C and delivers heat to a
reservoir at 60°C. The heat pump is driven by a reversible heat engine which takes in heat from a reservoir at
840°C and rejects heat to a reservoir at 60°C. The reversible heat engine also drives a machine that absorbs
30 kW. If the heat pump extracts 17 kJ/s from the 5°C reservoir, determine
(a) The rate of heat supply from the 840°C source
(b) The rate of heat rejection to the 60°C sink.
7. A heat engine is used to drive a heat pump. The heat transfers from the heat engine and from the heat pump
are used to heat the water circulating through the radiators of a building. The efficiency of the heat engine is
27% and the COP of the heat pump is 4. Evaluate the ratio of the heat transfer to the circulating water to the
heat transfer to the heat engine.

8. A heat engine operates between the maximum and minimum temperatures of 671°C and 60°C respectively,
with an efficiency of 50% of the appropriate Carnot efficiency. It drives a heat pump which uses river water
at 4.4°C to heat a block of flats in which the temperature is to be maintained at 21.1°C. Assuming that a
temperature difference of 11.1°C exists between the working fluid and the river water, on the one hand, and
the required room temperature on the other, and assuming the heat pump to operate on the reversed
Carnot cycle, but with a COP of 50% of the ideal COP, find the heat input to the engine per unit heat output
from the heat pump. Why is direct heating thermodynamically more wasteful?

9. A reversible engine works between three thermal reservoirs, A, B and C. The engine absorbs an equal
amount of heat from the thermal reservoirs A and B kept at temperatures TA and TB respectively, and rejects
heat to the thermal reservoir C kept at temperature TC. The efficiency of the engine is α times the efficiency
of the reversible engine, which works between the two reservoirs A and C. prove that

10. Consider an engine in outer space which operates on the Carnot cycle. The only way in which heat can be
transferred from the engine is by radiation. The rate at which heat is radiated is proportional to the fourth
power of the absolute temperature and to the area of the radiating surface. Show that for a given power
output and a given T1, the area of the radiator will be minimum when 4T2 = 3T1.

11. Prove that the COP of a reversible refrigerator operating between two given temperatures is the
maximum.

12. A heat engine operating between two reservoirs at 1000 K and 300 K is used to drive a heat pump which
extracts heat from the reservoir at 300 K at a rate twice that at which the engine rejects heat to it. If the
efficiency of the engine is 40% of the maximum possible and the COP of the heat pump is 50% of the
maximum possible, what is the temperature of the reservoir to which the heat pump rejects heat? What is
the rate of heat rejection from the heat pump if the rate of heat supply to the engine is 50 kW?

Section – C: Entropy
1. On the basis of the first law fill in the blank spaces in the following table of imaginary heat
engine cycles. On the basis of the second law classify each cycle as reversible, irreversible, or
impossible.

Cycle Temperature Rate of Heat Flow Rate of Efficiency

work
Source Sink Supply Rejection Output
(a) 327°C 27°C 420 kJ/s 230 kJ/s …kW
(b) 1000°C 100°C …kJ/min 4.2 MJ/min … kW 65%
(c) 750 K 300 K …kJ/s …kJ/s 26 kW 65%
(d) 700 K 300 K 2500 …kcal/h 1 kW —
kcal/h

2. The latent heat of fusion of water at 0°C is 335 kJ/kg. How much does the entropy of 1 kg of ice
change as it melts into water in each of the following ways:
(a) Heat is supplied reversibly to a mixture of ice and water at 0°C.
 (b) A mixture of ice and water at 0°C is stirred by a paddle wheel.

3. Two kg of water at 80°C are mixed adiabatically with 3 kg of water at 30°C in a constant pressure
process of 1 atmosphere. Find the increase in the entropy of the total mass of water due to the mixing
process (cp of water = 4.187 kJ/kg K).

4. In a Carnot cycle, heat is supplied at 350°C and rejected at 27°C. The working fluid is water which, while
receiving heat, evaporates from liquid at 350°C to steam at 350°C. The associated entropy change is 1.44
kJ/kg K.
a) If the cycle operates on a stationary mass of 1 kg of water, how much is the work done per cycle, and how
much is the heat supplied?
b) If the cycle operates in steady flow with a power output of 20 kW, what is the steam flow rate?

5. A heat engine receives reversibly 420 kJ/cycle of heat from a source at 327°C, and rejects heat
reversibly to a sink at 27°C. There are no other heat transfers. For each of the three hypothetical
amounts of heat rejected, in (a), (b), and (c) below, compute the cyclic integral of dQ/T. from these
results show which case is irreversible, which reversible, and which impossible:
(a) 210 kJ/cycle rejected
(b) 105 kJ/cycle rejected
(c) 315kJ/cycle rejected

6. Calculate the entropy change of the universe as a result of the following processes:
(a) A copper block of 600 g mass and with Cp of 150 J/K at 100°C is placed in a lake at 8°C.
(b) The same block, at 8°C, is dropped from a height of 100 m into the lake.
(c) Two such blocks, at 100 and 0°C, are joined together.

7. A system maintained at constant volume is initially at temperature T1, and a heat reservoir at the lower
temperature T0 is available. Show that the maximum work recoverable as the system is cooled to T0 is

8. A body of finite mass is originally at temperature T1, which is higher than that of a reservoir at temperature
T2. Suppose an engine operates in a cycle between the body and the reservoir until it lowers the
temperature of the body from T1 to T2, thus extracting heat Q from the body. If the engine does work W,
then it will reject heat Q–W to the reservoir at T2. Applying the entropy principle, prove that the maximum
work obtainable from the engine is W(max) = Q – T2(S1 – S2). Where S1 – S2 is the entropy decrease of the
body. If the body is maintained at constant volume having constant volume heat capacity Cv = 8.4 kJ/K which
is independent of temperature, and if T1 = 373 K and T2 = 303 K, determine the maximum work obtainable.

9. Each of three identical bodies satisfies the equation U = CT, where C is the heat capacity of each of the
bodies. Their initial temperatures are 200 K, 250 K, and 540 K. If C = 8.4 kJ/K, what is the maximum amount
of work that can be extracted in a process in which these bodies are brought to a final common
temperature?

10. In the temperature range between 0°C and 100°C a particular system maintained at constant volume
has a heat capacity.
Cv =A+2BT With A=0.014J/K and B=4.2×10-4 J/K2
A heat reservoir at 0°C and a reversible work source are available. What is the maximum amount of work
that can be transferred to the reversible work source as the system is cooled from 100°C to the temperature
of the reservoir?

11. (a) An aluminium block (cp = 400 J/kg K) with a mass of 5 kg is initially at 40°C in room air at 20°C. It is cooled
reversibly by transferring heat to a completely reversible cyclic heat engine until the block reaches 20°C. The
 20°C room air serves as a constant temperature sink for the engine. Compute (i) the change in entropy for
the block, (ii) the change in entropy for the room air, (iii) the work done by the engine.
(b) If the aluminium block is allowed to cool by natural convection to room air, compute (i) the change in
entropy for the block, (ii) the change in entropy for the room air (iii) the net the change in entropy for the
universe

12. Two bodies of equal heat capacities C and temperatures T1 and T2 form an adiabatically closed system. What
will the final temperature be if one lets this system come to equilibrium (a) freely? (b) Reversibly? (c) What is
the maximum work which can be obtained from this system?

13. A resistor of 30 ohms is maintained at a constant temperature of 27°C while a current of 10 amperes is
allowed to flow for 1 sec. Determine the entropy change of the resistor and the universe.
If the resistor initially at 27°C is now insulated and the same current is passed for the same time, determine
the entropy change of the resistor and the universe. The specific heat of the resistor is 0.9 kJ/kg K and the
mass of the resistor is 10 g.

14. An adiabatic vessel contains 2 kg of water at 25°C. By paddle-wheel work transfer, the temperature of water
is increased to 30°C. If the specific heat of water is assumed constant at 4.187 kJ/kg K, find the entropy
change of the universe.

15. A copper rod is of length 1 m and diameter 0.01 m. One end of the rod is at 100°C, and the other at 0°C. The
rod is perfectly insulated along its length and the thermal conductivity of copper is 380 W/mK. Calculate the
rate of heat transfer along the rod and the rate of entropy production due to irreversibility of this heat
transfer.

16. A body of constant heat capacity Cp and at a temperature Ti is put in contact with a reservoir at a higher
temperature Tf. The pressure remains constant while the body comes to equilibrium with the reservoir.
Show that the entropy change of the universe is equal to

𝒙𝟐 𝒙𝟑 𝒙𝟒
Prove that entropy change is positive. Given 𝒍𝒏 (𝟏 + 𝒙) = 𝒙 − + − … (where x < 1)
𝟐 𝟑 𝟒

17. Show that if two bodies of thermal capacities C1 and C2 at temperatures T1 and T2 are brought to the same
temperature T by means of a reversible heat engine, then

18. 36 g of water at 30°C are converted into steam at 250°C at constant atmospheric pressure. The specific heat
of water is assumed constant at 4.2 J/g K and the latent heat of vaporization at 100°C is 2260 J/g. For water
vapour, assume pV = mRT where R = 0.4619 kJ/kg K, and Cp/R = a+bT+cT2, where a=3.634, b=1.195×10-3 K-1
and c=0.135×10-6 K-2. Calculate the entropy change of the system.
 Answer Key

Section – A

1. 1000 kPa, 573.5 K, 1000 kPa, 1400 K, 100 kPa, 725.12 K; 278.735 kJ/kg, 678.248 kJ/kg, 399.51 kJ; 48.205 %
2. 3526.406 kW; 50.83 % 3. 230.599 kJ/kg, 26.96 %; 446.089 kJ/kg, 48.205 %
4. 8.1, 56.67 %, 16.43 kW 5. 0.1, 11, 61.68 % 6. 50 %, 5.657

7. 65.7 % 8. 60.42 % 9. 1886 K

10. 29.94 %, 44.83 MW 11. 799.090C, 41.77 %, 4.856 kg/s

12. 1155.54 kJ/kg, 3214.58 kJ/kg, 35.95 %

Section – B
1. No, maximum possible output is 14.58 KWh
2. 5.3995 kW
3. 666.67 kJ
4. (a) – 708 kJ (b) Second law, W2–1 = 9348 kJ (c) Q2–1 = 0
5. Rs. 118.80
6. (a) 47.61 kW; (b) 34.61 kW
7. 1.81
8. 0.79 kJ/kJ heat input
9. ---
10. ---
11. ---
12. 326.5 K, 86 kW

Section – C
1. a) Irreversible, (b) Irreversible, (c) Reversible, (d) Impossible
2. a) 1.2271 kJ/K b) 0
3. 0.0576 kJ/K
4. (a) 465.12, 897.12 kJ/kg, (b) 0.043 kg/s
5. (a) Reversible, (b) Impossible, (c) Irreversible
6. (a) 6.69 J/K, (b) 2.095 J/K, (c) 3.64 J/K
7. ---
8. 58.96 kJ
9. 756 kJ
10. 4.508 J
11. (a) – 134 J/K, + 134 J/K, 740 J; (b) – 134 J/K, + 136.5 J/K, 2.5 J/K
12. Tf = T1+T2, 𝑐(𝑇% + 𝑇& − 2/𝑇% 𝑇&
13. (ΔS)resistor = 0, (ΔS)univ = 10 J/K ; ( Δ S) univ = 6.72 J/K
14. 0.139 kJ/K
15. 2.985 W, 0.00293 W/K
16. ---
17. ---
18. 277.8 J/K