ME 201: Basic Thermodynamics

1. A gas in a piston cylinder assembly undergoes an expansion process for which the relationship between pressure and volume is given by

The initial pressure is 3 bar, the initial volume is 0.1 m , and the nal volume is 0.2 m .
Determine the work for the process, in kJ, if
(a) n = 1.5, (b) n = 1.0, and (c) n = 0.
2. A closed, rigid tank contains Refrigerant 134a, initially at 100 C. The refrigerant is cooled
until it becomes saturated vapour at 20 C. For the refrigerant, determine the initial and
nal pressures, each in bar, and the heat transfer, in kJ/kg. Kinetic and potential energy
eects can be ignored.
3. Refrigerant 134a enters the evaporator of a refrigeration system operating at steady state
at -4 C and quality of 20% at a velocity of 7 m/s. At the exit, the refrigerant is a saturated
vapour at a temperature of -4 C. The evaporator ow channel has constant diameter. If
the mass ow rate of the entering refrigerant is 0.1 kg/s, determine
(a) the diameter of the evaporator ow channel, in cm.
(b) the velocity at the exit, in m/s.
4. Refrigerant 134a enters a horizontal pipe operating at steady state at 40 C, 300 kPa and
a velocity of 40 m/s. At the exit, the temperature is 50 C and the pressure is 240 kPa.
The pipe diameter is 0.04 m. Determine
(a) the mass ow rate of the refrigerant, in kg/s,
(b) the velocity at the exit, in m/s, and
(c) the rate of heat transfer between the pipe and its surroundings, in kW.
5. Steam enters a turbine operating at steady state with a mass ow of 10 kg/min, a specic
enthalpy of 3100 kJ/kg, and a velocity of 30 m/s. At the exit, the specic enthalpy is
2300 kJ/kg and the velocity is 45 m/s. The elevation of the inlet is 3 m higher than at
the exit. Heat transfer from the turbine to its surroundings occurs at a rate of 1.1 kJ per
kg of steam owing. Determine the power developed by the turbine, in kW.
6. Air enters a compressor operating at steady state at 1.05 bar, 300 K, with a volumetric ow
rate of 12 m /min and exits at 12 bar, 400 K. Heat transfer occurs at a rate of 2 kW from
the compressor to its surroundings. Assuming the ideal gas model for air and neglecting
kinetic and potential energy eects, determine the power input, in kW.
7. Refrigerant 134a enters a compressor operating at steady state as saturated vapour at
0.12 MPa and exits at 1.2 MPa and 70 C at a mass ow rate of 0.108 kg/s. As the

refrigerant passes through the compressor, heat transfer to the surroundings occurs at a
rate of 0.32 kJ/s. Determine at steady state the power input to the compressor, in kW.
8. Steam enters a counterow heat exchanger operating at steady state at 0.07 MPa with
a specic enthalpy of 2431.6 kJ/kg and exits at the same pressure as saturated liquid.
The steam mass ow rate is 1.5 kg/min. A separate stream of air with a mass ow rate of
100 kg/min enters at 30 C and exits at 60 C. The ideal gas model with = 1.005 kJ/kg.K
can be assumed for air. Kinetic and potential energy eects are negligible. Determine
(a) the quality of the entering steam and
(b) the rate of heat transfer between the heat exchanger and its surroundings, in kW.
9. Air enters an insulated turbine operating at steady state at 8 bar, 1127 C and exits at
1.5 bar, 347 C. Neglecting kinetic and potential energy changes and assuming the ideal
gas model for the air, determine
(a) the work developed, in kJ per kg of air owing through the turbine.
(b) whether the expansion is internally reversible, irreversible, or impossible.
10. Water at 20 bar, 400 C enters a turbine operating at steady state and exits at 1.5 bar.
Stray heat transfer and kinetic and potential energy eects are negligible. A hard-to-read
data sheet indicates that the quality at the turbine exit is 98%. Can this quality value be
correct? If no, explain. If yes, determine the power developed by the turbine, in kJ per
kg of water owing.
11. Steam at 240 C, 700 kPa enters an open feedwater heater operating at steady state with
a mass ow rate of 0.5 kg/s. A separate stream of liquid water enters at 45 C, 700 kPa
with a mass ow rate of 4 kg/s. A single mixed stream exits at 700 kPa and temperature
T. Stray heat transfer and kinetic and potential energy eects can be ignored. Determine
(a) T, in C, and
(b) the rate of entropy production within the feedwater heater, in kW/K.
12. Air at 600 kPa, 330 K enters a well-insulated, horizontal pipe having a diameter of 1.2 cm
and exits at 120 kPa, 300 K. Applying the ideal gas model for air, determine at steady
state
(a) the inlet and exit velocities, each in m/s,
(b) the mass ow rate, in kg/s, and
(c) the rate of entropy production, in kW/K.
13. Air in a piston-cylinder assembly is compressed isentropically from state 1, where

35 C, to state 2, where the specic volume is one-tenth of the specic volume at state 1.
Applying the ideal gas model with

= 1.4, determine (a)

, in C and (b) the work, in

kJ/kg.
14. Air at 1600 K, 30 bar enters a turbine operating at steady state and expands adiabatically
to the exit, where the temperature is 830 K. If the isentropic turbine eciency is 90%,

determine
(a) the pressure at the exit, in bar, and
(b) the work developed, in kJ per kg of air owing. Assume ideal gas behaviour for the
air and ignore kinetic and potential energy eects.
15. Water vapour at 5 bar, 320 C enters a turbine operating at steady state with a volumetric
ow rate of 0.65 m /s and expands adiabatically to an exit state of 1 bar, 160 C. Kinetic
and potential energy eects are negligible. Determine for the turbine
(a) the power developed, in kW,
(b) the rate of entropy production, in kW/K, and
(c) the isentropic turbine eciency.
16. Air at 290 K, 100 kPa enters a compressor operating at steady state and is compressed
adiabatically to an exit state of 420 K, 330 kPa. The air is modelled as an ideal gas, and
kinetic and potential energy eects are negligible. For the compressor,
(a) determine the rate of entropy production, in kJ/K per kg of air owing, and
(b) the isentropic compressor eciency.
17. Air at 1.3 bar, 423 K and a velocity of 40 m/s enters a nozzle operating at steady state and
expands adiabatically to the exit, where the pressure is 0.85 bar and velocity is 307 m/s.
For air modelled as an ideal gas with

= 1.4, determine for the nozzle (a) the temperature

at the exit, in K, and (b) the isentropic nozzle eciency.

18. A vapour-compression refrigeration cycle operates with refrigerant 134a and a pressure of
0.10 MPa in the evaporator and 1.2 MPa in the condenser. The uid leaves the evaporator superheated by 6.43 C and leaves the condenser subcooled by 4.32 C. Calculate the
coecient of performance of the cycle if the adiabatic compressor has an eciency of (a)
100 and (b) 84 percent.
19. Air is used as the working uid in a simple ideal Brayton cycle that has a pressure ratio of
12, a compressor inlet temperature of 300 K, and a turbine inlet temperature of 1000 K.
Determine the required mass ow rate of air for a net power output of 70 MW, assuming
both the compressor and the turbine have an isentropic eciency of (a) 100 percent and
(b) 85 percent. Assume constant specic heats at room temperature.
20. Consider a steam power plant that operates on a reheat Rankine cycle and has a net power
output of 80 MW. Steam enters the high-pressure turbine at 10 MPa and 500 C and the
low-pressure turbine at 1 MPa and 500 C. Steam leaves the condenser as a saturated liquid
at a pressure of 10 kPa. The isentropic eciency of the turbine is 80 percent, and that of
the pump is 95 percent. Show the cycle on a T-s diagram with respect to saturation lines,
and determine (a) the quality (or temperature, if superheated) of the steam at the turbine
exit, (b) the thermal eciency of the cycle, and (c) the mass ow rate of the steam.