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Exergy: The Quality of Energy

Exergy is defined as the potential of energy to be converted into useful work. It quantifies the quality of energy based on how close the energy is to equilibrium with the environment. The document derives equations to calculate the exergy of heat and matter flows, which are necessary for exergy analysis of chemical and energy conversion plants. Specifically, it shows that the exergy of heat is equal to the maximum theoretical useful work possible during heat transfer between the heat source and environmental temperatures, accounting for continuously changing temperature conditions during real heat transfer processes.

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Carlos g.L
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13 views

Exergy: The Quality of Energy

Exergy is defined as the potential of energy to be converted into useful work. It quantifies the quality of energy based on how close the energy is to equilibrium with the environment. The document derives equations to calculate the exergy of heat and matter flows, which are necessary for exergy analysis of chemical and energy conversion plants. Specifically, it shows that the exergy of heat is equal to the maximum theoretical useful work possible during heat transfer between the heat source and environmental temperatures, accounting for continuously changing temperature conditions during real heat transfer processes.

Uploaded by

Carlos g.L
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Exergy

The quality of energy


Definition of the quantity exergy
• The quantity exergy is indicated as “the potential to convert energy into
work”. Obviously the meaning of this quantity is limited to kinds of energy
for which the potential to produce work does not equal the energy content,
that is kinds of energy that can not be converted fully into work.
• Heat, work and flows of matter have to be considered for the analysis of
chemical plants and energy conversion plants. An exergy analysis of these
types of plants will require exergy values for heat and flows of matter. In
this chapter equations will be derived that can be used to determine these
exergy values.
• In general it may be expected that a thermodynamic system, which is not in
equilibrium with its environment, has the potential to produce work. In this
respect an amount of matter can be seen as a thermodynamic system.
• The maximum amount of work will be derived when the system is brought
into equilibrium with the environment in a reversible way. This maximum
amount of work is defined as the exergy of the system.
• As a consequence of this definition it is obvious that the exergy of a system
is zero when it is fully in equilibrium with the environment.
The exergy of heat
• Suppose that an amount of heat dQ, at temperature T, is supplied to a
reversible power cycle that uses the environment, at temperature T0, as the
cold reservoir. The work obtained from this cycle becomes:

T0
dWrev  (1  )  dQ
T
• The remaining heat is transferred to the environment at temperature T0.
This heat cannot exchange energy with the environment any longer and is
therefore supposed to be in (thermal) equilibrium with the environment.
This means that the amount of work dWrev produced by the cycle is the
exergy dEx of the quantity of heat dQ.
• In practise heat is usually extracted from fluid flows that are cooled down
during heat transfer. Extracting heat then occurs under continuously
changing temperature conditions. When during a heat transfer process the
condition of the heat source changes from condition 1 to condition 2, the
exergy of the heat derived from the heat source becomes:

• This equation can be used generally to determine the exergy of an amount


of heat.

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