Second Law of Thermodynamics 5.

19

T1 - T2 1
or, =
T1 6

T1
or, =6
T1 - T2
The coefficient of performance of Carnot heat pump is (Eq. (5.17))
T1
COPHP = =6
T1 - T2
From Eq. (5.5), we have
COPHP = COPR + 1
Therefore, the coefficient of performance of Carnot refrigerator is COPR = 5.

Example 5.3 A Carnot heat engine operates between a source at 1000 K and a sink at 300 K. If the
heat engine is supplied with heat at a rate of 800 kJ/min. Determine (a) the thermal
efficiency, and (b) the power output of this heat engine.

Solution Temperature of source, T1 = 1000 K

Temperature of sink, T2 = 300 K
(a) Thermal efficiency of a Carnot cycle is to be (Eq. (5.13))

T2
hCarnot = 1 –
T1
300
= 1- = 0.7 or 70%
1000
(b) From Eq. (5.1), one can write

Wnet Wnet
hth, Carnot = 0.7 = =
Q1 800
60

or, Wnet = 9.33 kJ/s = 9.33 kW

Example 5.4 A Carnot heat engine receives 650 kJ of heat from a source of unknown temperature
and rejects 250 kJ of it to a sink at 24ºC. Determine the thermal efficiency of the heat
engine and the temperature of the source.

Solution Temperature of sink is given, T2 = 24ºC = 297 K

Let the temperature of source be T1 K
Heat transferred to the Carnot engine is, Q1 = 650 kJ
5.20 Engineering Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

Heat rejected by the Carnot engine is Q2 = 250 kJ

Thermal efficiency of the heat engine is found to be (Eq. (5.1))
Q2 250
h th,Carnot = 1 - = 1- = 0.6154
Q1 650
The efficiency of a Carnot cycle is found to be (Eq. (5.13))
T2
hCarnot = 1 -
T1
297
Thus, 1- = 0.6154
T1
or, T1 = 772.23 K = 499.23 C

Example 5.5 A heat engine operates between a source at 550°C and a sink at 25°C. If heat is
supplied to the heat engine at a steady rate of 1200 kJ/min. Determine the maximum
power output of this heat engine.

Solution A heat engine delivers maximum power only when it is a Carnot heat engine.
Thermal efficiency of Carnot heat engine is

T2 25+273 298
th, Carnot = 1- = 1- =1 - = 0.6379
T1 550+273 823

Rate of heat transferred to the engine is given as Q1 = 1200 kJ/min = 1200 kJ/60s
= 20 kJ/s = 20 kW
Now, from the condition of maximum power delivery, we get
Wmax
th, Carnot =
Q1

or, Wmax = hmax ¥ Q1 = 0.6379 ¥ 20 = 12.76 kW

Example 5.6 A Carnot heat engine is operating between a source at T1 and a sink at T2. If it is
desired to double the thermal efficiency of this engine by changing only the source
temperature keeping sink temperature constant, what should be the new source tem-
perature be?

T2
Solution The efficiency of a Carnot engine is given by Eq. (5.13) as hCarnot = 1 -
T1
Let Tnew be the source temperature so that the efficiency becomes 2hCarnot . Thus,
 Second Law of Thermodynamics 5.21

T2
1- = 2hCarnot
Tnew

T2 Ê T ˆ
or, 1- = 2 Á1 - 2 ˜
Tnew Ë T1 ¯
T2 2T
or 1- = 2- 2
Tnew T1
T2 2T
or, - 2 =1
Tnew T1
T2 2T
or, = 2 -1
Tnew T1
T2
or, Tnew =
2T2
-1
T1

Example 5.7 Consider a heat engine that receives heat at the rate of 1 MW at a high temperature of
550°C and rejects energy to the ambient at 27°C while work is produced at the rate of
450 kW. Find out how much heat is discarded to the ambient and engine efficiency.
Also compare both of these values with a Carnot heat engine operating between the
same two reservoirs.

Solution Rate of Heat transferred to the engine is Q1 = 1 MW = 1000 kW

Rate of work output is W = 450 kW

Thermal efficiency of engine is found to be
W 450
h th, Engine = = = 0.45 or 45%
Q1 1000

Rate of heat discarded by the engine is Q2 = Q1 - W = 1000 - 450 = 550 kW

Thermal efficiency of Carnot heat engine is found to be

T2 27+273 300
h th, Carnot = 1 - = 1- = 1- = 0.6355 or 63.55%
T1 550+273 823
Rate of work output by Carnot heat engine
WCarnot = hCarnot Q1 = 0.6355 ¥ 1000 = 635.5 W

hengine 0.45
= = 0.708
hCarnot heat engine 0.6355
5.22 Engineering Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

Example 5.8 An inventor comes to an industrialist and claims to have developed a heat engine that
receives 700 kJ of heat from a source at 500 K and produces 300 kJ of net work while
rejecting the waste heat to a sink at 290 K. What would you advise to the industrialist,
he should invest or not.

Solution The maximum possible efficiency of a heat engine is the same as the efficiency of a
Carnot heat engine operating between the same source and sink and is given by
T2
h th, max = hCarnot = 1 -
T1
where, T1 is the source temperature and T2 is the sink temperature.
The efficiency of a Carnot heat engine is
T2 290
hCarnot = 1 - = 1- = 0.42
T1 500
The efficiency of the heat engine is
W 300
hther = = = 0.4285
Q1 700
Since the efficiency of the heat engine is higher than the efficiency of Carnot heat
engine operating between the same source and sink, his claim is not reasonable.

Example 5.9 An inventor claims to have developed a refrigeration system that removes heat from
the closed region at –12°C and transfers it to the surroundings at 25°C while main-
taining a COP of 6.5. Is this a reasonable claim? Why?

Solution The maximum COP of a refrigeration system is the same as the COP of a Carnot
refrigeration system operating between the same source (T1) and sink (T2) and is
given by (see Eq. (5.16))

T2 261
COPCarnot = = = 7.05
T1 - T2 298 - 261
Actual COP of the refrigeration system is given as 6.5.
Since the actual COP is less than that of Carnot refrigeration system, the claim is
reasonable.

Example 5.10 Two Carnot heat engines work in series between the source and sink temperatures of
600 K and 300 K respectively. If both engines develop equal power, determine the
intermediate temperature.

Solution The arrangement is shown in Fig. 5.17.

Let the intermediate temperature be T2.
 Second Law of Thermodynamics 5.23

For the heat engine 1, Reservoir T1 = 600 K

Q1 T Q1
= 1
Q2 T2

Q1 - Q2 T -T E1 W
= 1 2
Q2 T2
T2
Q2
W T -T
= 1 2 (5.18)
Q2 T2
E2 W
For the heat engine 2,

Q3 T Q3
= 3
Q2 T2 Reservoir T3 = 300 K

Q2 - Q3 T -T Figure 5.17
= 2 3
Q2 T2

W T - T3
= 2 (5.19)
Q2 T2
Equating Eqs (5.18) and (5.19), we get

T1 – T 2 = T 2 – T3

T1 + T3 600 + 300
T2 = = = 450 K
2 2
The intermediate temperature is 450 K.

Example 5.11 Two Carnot heat engines work in series between the source and sink temperatures of
900 K and 400 K respectively. If both engines have equal efficiencies, determine the
intermediate temperature.

Solution The arrangement is shown in Fig. 5.18.

For the heat engine 1,

Q2 T
= 2
Q1 T1

Q1 - Q2 T -T
= 1 2
Q1 T1
5.24 Engineering Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

T1 - T2 Reservoir T1 = 900 K
h1 = (5.20)
T1 Q1

For the heat engine 2,

W1
Q3 T E1
= 3
Q2 T2
T2
Q2 - Q3 T - T3 Q2
= 2
Q2 T2
W2
T - T3 E2
h2 = 2 (5.21)
T2
Equating Eqs (5.20) and (5.21), we get Q3
T2 2 = T1 T3
Reservoir T3 = 400 K
T2 = T1T3 = 900 ¥ 400 = 600 K
Figure 5.18
The intermediate temperature is 600 K.

Example 5.12 A reversible power cycle is used to drive a reversible heat pump cycle. The power
cycle takes in Q1 heat units at T1 and rejects Q 2 heat units at T2. The heat pump
abstracts Q4 from the sink at T4 and discharges Q3 at T3. Develop an expression for
Q
the ratio 3 in terms of the four temperatures.
Q1

Reservoir T1 Reservoir T3

Q1 Q3

W Heat
Heat pump
engine

Q2 Q4

Reservoir T2 Reservoir T4

Figure 5.19
 Second Law of Thermodynamics 5.25

Solution The arrangement is depicted in Fig. 5.19. From reversible heat engine cycle, we get
W T
h= = 1- 2
Q1 T1

Ê T ˆ
or, W = Q1 Á 1 - 2 ˜
Ë T1 ¯
From reversible heat pump cycle, we have
Q3 T3
COPHP = =
W T3 - T4

Ê T ˆ
or, W = Q3 Á1 - 4 ˜
Ë T3 ¯
Since heat engine drives the heat pump, therefore
Ê T ˆ Ê T ˆ
Q3 Á1 - 4 ˜ = Q1 Á 1 - 2 ˜
Ë T3 ¯ Ë T1 ¯
T1 - T2
Q3 T1 T (T - T )
= = 3 1 2
Q1 T3 - T4 T1 (T3 - T4 )
T3

Example 5.13 A reversible heat engine which takes in heat from a reservoir at 840ºC and rejects
heat to a reservoir at 60 ºC. The heat engine drives a reversible heat pump which
takes in heat from a reservoir at 5 ºC and delivers heat to a reservoir at 60 ºC. The
reversible heat engine also drives a machine that absorbs 30 kW. If the heat pump
extracts 17 kJ/s from the 5 ºC reservoir, determine (i) the rate of heat supply from the
840 ºC source, and (ii) the rate of heat ejection to 60 ºC sink.

Solution The arrangement is schematically presented in Fig. 5.20.

The efficiency of the reversible heat engine is
T2
hHE = 1 -
T1

333
= 1- = 0.7008
1113
The coefficient of performance of the reversible heat pump is

Q3 T3 333
COPHP = = = = 6.05
WHP T3 - T4 333 - 278
5.26 Engineering Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

Reservoir Reservoir
T1 = 840 °C = 1113 K T3 = 60 °C = 333 K

Q1 Q3

WHE WHP Heat

Heat pump
engine

Q2 WM = 30 kW Q4

Reservoir Reservoir
T2 = 60 °C = 333 K T4 = 5 °C = 278 K

Figure 5.20

Further, COP can be expressed as

Q3
COPHP = = 6.05
Q3 - Q4

or Q3 = 30.37 kW ÎÈ∵ Q4 = 17 kW ˚˘
Thus, WHP = Q3 = Q4 = 20.37 - 17 = 3.37 kW
The rate of work done by the heat engine is

WHE = 30 + 3.37 = 33.37 kW

Further, the efficiency of the heat engine can be expressed as

WHE
hHE = = 0.7008
Q1

WHE 33.37
or Q1 = = = 47.62 kW
hHE 0.7008

Thus Q2 = Q1 - WHE = 47.62 - 33.37 = 14.25 kW

Rate of heat rejection to 60 ºC sink is Q2 + Q3 = 14.25 + 20.37 = 34.62 kW