SAMPLE PROBLEMS: Exergy Calculations

1. A parallel-shaft gearbox is planned to be installed on a new exercise machine. This gearbox

receives work through a high-speed shaft and then delivers work through a low-speed shaft. The
gearbox is cooled on its outer surface by convection with the surrounding air. A test is needed to
exam the performance of this gearbox. The gearbox receives 60 kW through a high-speed shaft.
The outer surface of the gearbox is 0.8 m 2. Heat transfer coefficient between the gearbox and its
surrounding air is 1.8 kW/m2-K and the temperature of the outer surface of the gearbox is 40 oC.
The ambient pressure is 1 bar, and the ambient temperature is 25 oC. Determine the work
delivered by this gearbox. Explore the exergy transfer of the gearbox and the exergy destruction.
SOLUTION:
To complete the test on the gear box, the work output from the gear
box, the exergy transfer, and the exergy destruction need to be
determined.
Assumptions:
The temperature on the outer surface is uniform.
The test process is steady.
(1) Determine the work delivered by the gearbox
Take the gear box as a closed system. The gearbox satisfies the
energy balance, which is
Ein - Eout = U
where
Ein = total energy transferred into the system
Eout = total energy transferred out of the system
U = Internal change of the gearbox
Since the test process is steady, properties inside the gearbox do not change. Work W in is
received through the high-speed shaft, work Wout is delivered through the low-speed shaft, and
heat is transferred from the outer surface of the gearbox to the ambient air. Therefore, the energy
balance becomes,
Win - Wout - Q = 0
where Win, Wout, and Q are positive numbers. In order to determine Wout, heat transferred from the
gearbox (Q) needs to be determined first.
For convection heat transfer, Q equals,
Q = Ah(Tb - T0) = 0.8(1,800)(40 - 25) = 21.6 kW
Win is given as 60 kW. Substitute Q and Win into the energy balance gives,
60 - Wout - 21.6 = 0
Wout = 38.4 kW
(2) Explore the exergy transfer of the gearbox and the exergy destruction
Exergy can be transferred by heat, work, and mass. Since this system is a closed
system, exergy of this gearbox is only transferred by heat and work.
Exergy transferred by heat is given as
XQ = (1 - T0/T)Q
Heat is transferred from the system to the surroundings, hence, Q is negative in the
above equation.

Heat transferred from the system results in exergy transferred from the system. Exergy transfer
by the shaft work is equal to the work itself. Hence, Xw,in = 60.0 kW and Xw,out = 38.4 kW
Exergy destruction is given as
Xdestroyed = T0Sgen

where
Sgen = entropy generation during the test process
Tb = ambient temperature, is given as 25oC
The entropy generation during the test process can be determined by the entropy
balance of the gearbox. That is,
Sin - Sout + Sgen = Ssystem
Since the test process is steady, no entropy change occurs inside the system.
Ssystem = 0
Then the entropy balance for the gearbox is simplified to:
Sgen = Sout - Sin
Note that entropy cannot be transferred by work. It can only be transferred by heat and mass.
Since the gearbox is a closed system, entropy is only transferred by heat.
Sgen = Sout - 0 = Q/Tb
where
Q = heat transfer from the gearbox, Q = 21.6 kW
Tb = temperature at the outer surface, is given
as 40oC
Substitute Q and Tb to the entropy balance yields,
Sgen = 21.6/(40+273)
Since Xdestroyed = T0Sgen, Exergy destruction can be determined as
Xdestroyed = T0Sgen = (25 + 273)(21.6/(40 + 273))
= 20.6 kW
Another way to determine the exergy destruction is: exergy destruction equals the difference
between the exergy in and exergy out, which is
Xdestroyed = Xin - Xout = 60.0 - 38.4 - 1.0 = 20.6 kW
The exergy analysis is summarized in the following table.
Rate of Exergy in:
high-speed shaft
60 kW
(100%)
Rate of Exergy out:
low-speed shaft
38.4 kW
(64%)
heat transfer
1.0 kW
(1.7%)
Rate of Exergy Destruction:
20.6 kW
(34.3%)
2. Pat is taking a thermodynamics course this semester and he tries to
connect his daily life with what he learned in class. Recently, he has
calculated how much entropy is generated when boiling eggs. Now, he
wanders how much exergy is destroyed when the eggs are boiled.
What is known:
The 6-cm-diameter spherical egg at 10oC is dropped into boiling
water.
The boiling water is at 100oC.
The egg has a density of 1,000 kg/m3 and a specific heat of 3.4
kJ/(kg-K).
The ambient pressure is 1 bar and the ambient temperature is 25 oC.
How much exergy is destroyed by boiling one egg to 100 oC?
SOLUTION:
Exergy destroyed by boiling an egg from 10oC to 100oC in 100oC water needs to be determined.
Assumptions:
Model both the egg and the water as incompressible substance.
Constant-specific-heat assumption is valid for both the water and the egg.
Kinetic and potential energy changes of the egg are negligible.
No work interaction is involved. Water remains 100 oC during the cooking process.
Take the egg as a system. It is a closed system since no mass flows in or out of the egg. The
exergy balance for a closed system is:

where 1 denotes the initial state and 2 denotes the final state. The assumption states that
no work interaction is involved, and the volume of the egg does not change during the cooking
process since eggs are incompressible. Thus, the exergy balance can be simplified as

Rearranging the above equation gives the expression of the exergy destruction. That is,

The first term on the right hand in the above equation represents the exergy transfer by
heat transfer. The egg is cooked from 10oC to 100oC in 100oC water. Assuming the boundary of
the egg remains at 100oC during the whole process then this term can be simplified to

where T0 is the ambient temperature and is given as 25 oC. T is the temperature at the boundary
of the egg where heat transfer occurs. Hence,T is equal to 100 oC. Q is the heat transferred to the
egg from the water. Q can be determined by the energy balance of the egg. The egg is
approximated as an incompressible substance and no work interaction is involved. With constantspecific-heat assumption, the energy balance is
Q = mcave (T2 - T1)
The mass of the egg is
m = V = 4/3(3.14)(0.03)3(1,000) = 0.113 kg
The average specific heat is given as 3.4 kJ/(kg-K).
Substituting all the data into the expression of energy balance yields
Q = 0.113(3,400)(100 - 10) = 34,578 J
Substituting Q, T0 and T to the expression of exergy transfer by heat transfer gives,

The second term on the right hand side of the exergy destruction is the exergy change in
the egg during the cooking process. The exergy change of a closed system without kinetic and
potential energy changes is:
X2 - X1 = (U2 - U1) + P0(V2 - V1) - T0(S2 - S1)
Since the egg is incompressible, the second term in the right hand of the above equation
equals 0. Also, the constant-specific-heat assumption is valid. The exergy change in the egg can
be determined from
X2 - X1 = mCave(T2 - T1) - T0mCaveln(T2/T1)
T1 is the initial temperature and T2 is the final temperature of the egg. They are given as
T1 = 10oC = 283 K
T2 = 100oC = 373 K
Substituting all the data into the expression of exergy change in the egg yields
X2 - X1 = 0.113(3,400)(373 - 283) - (25 + 273)(0.113)(3,400) ln(373/283) = 2,960.2 J
After calculating the exergy transfer by heat and the exergy change in the egg, the
exergy destruction can be determined.
Xdestroyed = 6,953.0 - 2,960.2 = 3,992.8 J
Note: Another method to determine the exergy destruction is from its definition.
Xdestroyed = T0Sgen
The entropy generation is 13.4 J/K. (See previous section to view how to determine the entropy
generation). Thus, the exergy destruction is
Xdestroyed = T0Sgen = (25 + 273)(13.4) = 3,993.2 J
which is almost the same as the one determined from the exergy balance.

3. When a train in a subway approaches the station, it

releases heat to its surrounding air when it brakes to stop.
The heated air is exhausted through the vents under the
station island. An ideal to reuse this waste heat is to design
a waste heat recovery system. In this system, cold water is
heated by the exhausted air. To evaluate the recovery
system, exergy analysis of this system should be done.
What is known:
200 kg/s air at 60oC enters the heat recovery
system.
Air leaves the heat recovery system at 35oC.
Cold water at 25oC is sent to the heat recovery
system and leaves at 50oC.
Ambient temperature is 25oC.
Determine the mass flow rate of the cold water. How much exergy is destroyed during the heat
exchange process in the heat recovery system? Determine the second-law efficiency of the heat
recovery system.
SOLUTION:
A heat recovery system is designed to heat cold water using the exhausted hot air from a
subway station. Mass flow rate of the cold water, exergy destruction, and the second-law
efficiency of the heat recovery system needs to be determined.
Assumptions:
Model the water as incompressible substance with a density = 1,000 kg/m3 and a
specific heat cw= 4.18 kJ/kg-K.
The exhausted air is modeled as an ideal gas with a density = 1.8 kg/m3 and a specific
heat cPa = 1.005 kJ/kg-K.
The heat recovery system is well insulated that the heat exchange process is adiabatic.
No work interaction is involved.
Neglect the kinetic and potential energy changes.
The heat exchange process is an isobaric steady process.
Consider the heat recovery system as a control volume and denote the hot air inlet as 1,
hot air exit as 2, cold water inlet as 3, and hot water exit as 4, shown on the left.
(1) Determine the mass flow rate of the cold water
The energy balance for a control volume is:

According to the assumptions, the energy balance can be simplified to

Water is modeled as an incompressible substance. Thus, its enthalpy equals
h4 = cwT4 and h3 = cwT3
Exhausted air is modeled as an ideal gas, its enthalpy equals
h2 = cPaT2 and h1 = cPaT1
where T1,T2, T3 , T4 and
T1 = 60oC = 333 K
T4 = 50oC = 323 K

are given as
T2 = 35oC = 308 K
= 200 kg/s

T3 = 25oC = 298 K

Substituting all the data to the energy balance gives the mass flow rate of cold water.

(2) Determine the exergy destruction of the heat recovery system

The exergy balance of control volume undergoing a steady-flow process is

Since the heat recovery system is an adiabatic heat exchanger, it becomes

where is the flow exergy. it is expressed as

Therefore, the exergy destruction can be rewritten as

= h - T0s

Substitute all the data given to the above equation gives

(3) Determine the second-law efficiency of the heat recovery system

The definition of the second-law efficiency of a heat exchanger is