Thermodynamics

III:
2nd Law & Cycles

“It just don’t get no

better than this…”
Objectives
• Understand types of state changes
• Comprehend thermodynamic cycles
• Comprehend the 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics to include entropy,
reversibility, & the Carnot cycle
• Determine levels of output and
efficiency in theoretical situations
State Changes
• In addition to using flow/no-flow
classifications for thermo
processes, it is helpful to look at
what happens to a medium also
• Isobaric: pressure remains
constant throughout process (some
pistons)
• q12 = h2 - h1
State Changes
• Isometric: volume remains
constant during entire process
• q12 = u2 - u1
• Adiabatic: no transfer of heat to or
from medium during process ->
usually in a rapid process
• w = u2 - u1
Thermodynamic Cycles
• Def’n: a recurring series of
thermodynamic processes through which
an effect is produced by transformation
or redistribution of energy
• One classification:
• Open: working fluid taken in, used, &
discarded
• Closed: working medium never leaves cycle,
except through leakage; medium undergoes
state changes & returns to original state
Five Basic Elements of
all Cycles
• Working substance: transports
energy within system
• Heat source: supplies heat to the
working medium
• Engine: device that converts the
thermal energy of the medium into
work
• Heated: heat added in engine itself
• Unheated: heat received in some
device separate from engine
Five Basic Elements of
all Cycles
• Heat sink/receiver: absorbs heat
from the working medium
• Pump: moves the working medium
from the low-pressure side to the
high-pressure side of the cycle
• Examples:
• Closed, unheated engine: steam cycle
• Open, heated engine: gasoline engine
Basic Thermodynamic
Cycle

HEAT SOURCE

Qin
Working
Substance
Engine W

Qout

Pump HEAT SINK

Second Law of
Thermodynamics
• Reversibility:
• the characteristic of a process which
would allow a process to occur in the
precise reverse order, so that the
system would be returned from its final
condition to its initial condition, AND
• all energy that was transformed or
redistributed during the process would
be returned from its final to original form
Second Law of
Thermodynamics
• Def’n 1: (Clausius statement) no
process is possible where the sole result
is the removal of heat from a low-temp
reservoir and the absorption of an equal
amount of heat by a high temp reservoir
• Def’n 2: (Kelvin-Planck) no process is
possible in which heat is removed from
a single reservoir w/ equiv amount of
work produced
Second Law of
Thermodynamics
• Overall: NO thermodynamic cycle can
have a thermal efficiency of 100% (i.e.,
cannot convert all heat into work)
• Quick review:
• 1st Law: Conservation/transformation of
energy
• 2nd Law: Limits the direction of processes
& extent of heat-to-work conversions
Entropy
• Def’n: theoretical measure of thermal
energy that cannot be transformed into
mech. Work in a thermodynamic
system
• It is an index of the unavailability of
energy or the reversibility of a process
• In all real processes, entropy never
decreases -> entropy of universe is
always rising
Carnot Cycle
• Second Law states that no thermo
system can be 100% efficient, and
no real thermal process is
completely reversible
• A French engineer, Carnot, set out to
determine what the max efficiency
of a cycle would be if that cycle
were ideal and completely reversible
Carnot Cycle
• All heat is supplied at a single high
temp and all heat is rejected at a
single low temp
• Carnot used a simple cycle
Carnot Cycle

TSource

Qin
Working
Substance
Engine W

Qout

Pump TSink
Carnot Cycle
• Carnot Principle: the max thermal
efficiency depends only on the
difference between the source and
sink temps
• Does not depend on property of
fluid, type of engine, friction, or fuel
• Example:
Questions?