2019

Project Report
Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
Course code: Ch.E 202

Interesting of Learning
Thermodynamics In
Daily Life

GROUP MEMBERS
HABIB ULLAH UW-17-CHE-BSC-028
MUHAMMAD HAMZA UW-17-CHE-BSC-024
UZAIR ARSLAN UW-17-CHE-BSC-026
SYED SHABEEH HAIDER UW-17-CHE-BSC-014
UMAIR NASIR UW-17-CHE-BSC-008

SUBMITTED TO : MR FAZEEL AHMED

Wah Engineering College Chemical Engineering Department

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Contents
Acknowledgement .......................................................................................................................... 4
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Content ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Examples ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Different Laws of Thermodynamics ............................................................................................... 8
History of Thermodynamics........................................................................................................ 8
Applications of Zeroth law thermodynamics .............................................................................. 8
Application of First law of thermodynamics............................................................................... 9
Isolated system ........................................................................................................................ 9
A cyclic process ....................................................................................................................... 9
Boiling process ...................................................................................................................... 10
Melting process...................................................................................................................... 10
Applications of the second law of thermodynamics ................................................................. 11
Other Applications of Thermodynamics ................................................................................... 12
Sweating in a crowded room ................................................................................................. 12
Melting of ice cube: ............................................................................................................... 12
Application Of Third Law Of Thermodynamics....................................................................... 13
Understanding the importance of specific volume through the anomaly of water ................... 13
How does it happen ............................................................................................................... 15
Applying the saturation temperature and pressure in a pressure cooker ................................... 15
Understand the importance of specific heat in the wind over the sea shore ................................. 16
Experiencing how a fluid’s pressure increases by giving work to it ......................................... 17
Applying the first law of Thermodynamics to determine an Air Conditioning cooling capacity
................................................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 19
Reference ...................................................................................................................................... 20

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Figure 1: Systems in equilibrium _________________________________________________ 9
Figure 2: Application of 2nd law (Diesel engine) ___________________________________ 11
Figure 3: Specific volume of water _______________________________________________ 14
Figure 4: Density of water _____________________________________________________ 14
Figure 5: Saturation pressure as a function saturation temperature of water _______________ 15
Figure 6: Wind flows to the seashore _____________________________________________ 16
Figure 7: Moving a can of soft drink back and forth _________________________________ 17

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Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my tutor (Mr. Fazeel Ahmad) as well as
our lab engineer (Mr.Waqas Ahmed Khan) who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic (Interesting’s of thermodynamics in daily life), which also helped
me in doing a lot of Research and i came to know about so many new things I am really thankful
to them. Secondly i would also like to thank my group members who helped me a lot in
finalizing this project within the limited time frame.

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Abstract
As an essential basic science in engineering education, Thermodynamics should be received as
an interesting and inspiring subject. Unfortunately, the fact is different. Some students find
Thermodynamics are difficult, hard to imagine and not understandable. If lecturers could tell the
relation of Thermodynamics to daily life, it will surely increase students’ motivation to learn.
With high motivation, the difficult subject will become easier. Some examples of phenomena or
activities in daily life which are viewing using Thermodynamics.

Those examples are

 Understanding the importance of specific volume through the anomaly of water

 Applying the saturation temperature and pressure in a pressure cooker
 Understand the importance of specific heat in the wind over the sea shore
 Experiencing how a fluid’s pressure increases by giving work to it
 Applying the first law of Thermodynamics to determine an Air-Conditioning cooling
capacity

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Content
Thermodynamic is very important in daily life or real life. Thermodynamic is mainly used in
engineering or even medical. Thermodynamic is a branch of natural system which mainly
concern about heat and in relation with work and energy. There are two laws of thermodynamic.
The first law of thermodynamic said heat and work are forms of energy transfer while for the
second law state that the entropy of any isolated system not in thermal equilibrium almost always
increase.

Thermodynamic in daily life can be seen in medical research. Thermodynamic process is

important in protein stability. The major drawback in expressing recombinant proteins in suitable
hosts is that the protein molecules often form inclusion bodies. Recent various methods have
been developed for refolding the inclusion bodies. Thermodynamic studies can be used as one of
the tool to predict how the protein molecule changes its conformation under various
environmental conditions.

In other words, the values of thermodynamic parameters are helpful in analyzing the stability of
proteins. In addition, protein molecules are deactivated when exposed to different environmental
conditions. The protein deactivation phenomenon could be considered as a process in which
secondary or tertiary structures change without the breakage of covalent bonds. The protein
molecule can deactivate either reversibly or irreversibly.

The critical factor to be assessed is how much activity is lost and how much can be improved
over time. This aspect is particularly important for both industrial and biologically important
proteins. This problem could be tackled by thermodynamic studies of protein molecules and the
requirements to conduct thermodynamic studies

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Introduction
Some students think Thermodynamics is a difficult and horrible subject. They do not enjoy learning
Thermodynamics. Unlike in solid mechanics, things happen in thermodynamics, for instance increasing
internal energy of steam in a tank could not be seen visually. This make some mechanical engineering
students get more frustrated in understanding thermodynamics.

Thermodynamics is a basic science that deals with heat and work and those properties of substances that
bear a relation to heat & work. Engineers use thermodynamics principles with other engineering sciences,
such as fluid mechanics & heat and mass transfer to analyze and design things to meet human needs.

Therefore, Thermodynamics is a compulsory subject in Mechanical Engineering Department. Every

engineering activity involves an interaction between energy and matter, thus it is hard to imagine an area
which does not relate to thermodynamics in some respect. The areas are seen in everywhere one life.
Many things in ordinary house are using the principles of thermodynamics.

Examples
Some examples are heating and air-conditioning systems, the refrigerator, the pressure cooker, the water
heater, the iron. Other things displaying thermodynamics’ role are automotive engines and power plants
(gas and steam).

These examples show that thermodynamics has long been an essential part of engineering education.
Learning Thermodynamics might not be easy for the first time. There are some tedious things, such as
defining system, getting properties from several tables that are related, interpolating data which are not
ready in table, and using the 1st and 2nd law in solving some problems, to be learned.

Some properties of the matter in the selected system are pressure, temperature, specific volume (inverse
of density), specific heat, internal energy, enthalpy, entropy, availability, work, and heat. Some of these
properties are not familiar in daily life. This makes thermodynamics more difficult and unrelated to our
life.

Therefore, the students think thermodynamics is boring and uninteresting. This paper presents some
examples of thermodynamics related to our daily life. Hopefully, this effort shall help students finding
thermodynamics more interesting and enjoy learning thermodynamics. Before starting with
thermodynamics, a brief concept on conceptual teaching-learning will be described in next section.

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Different Laws of Thermodynamics

Study of thermodynamics involves the zeroth law of thermodynamics, First law of thermodynamics,
Second law of thermodynamics, Third law of thermodynamics, Boyle’s law, and Charles Law along
with various properties and functions that unravel many materials as well as spiritual mysteries of
nature.

Third law of thermodynamics is related to another term known as entropy that helps to understand
the existence of human life

History of Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics has become part and parcel of our life. Whether travelling in a vehicle, sitting
comfortably in an AC room or enjoying a cold drink from the refrigerator, you will observe the
application of thermodynamics almost everywhere either directly or indirectly.

When Sadi Carnot, father of thermodynamics, proposed theorems and cycles of thermodynamics
hardly anyone had imagined that his proposals would someday play such a significant role in the
development of the automobile, which has become an inseparable part of our life today. Further
developments of the thermodynamic cycles by sterling Diesel, Otto, and Ericson have resulted in
more innovations and betterment of automobiles.

Applications of Zeroth law thermodynamics

We can apply the zeroth law of thermodynamics to compare the temperatures of multiple objects.
Two objects are in thermal equilibrium if heat can pass between them but no heat is actually
doing so. For example, if you and the swimming pool you’re in are at the same temperature, no
heat is flowing from you to it or from it to you (although the possibility is there). You’re in
thermal equilibrium. On the other hand, if you jump into the pool in winter, cracking through the
ice covering, you won’t be in thermal equilibrium with the water. And you don’t want to be.

To check for thermal equilibrium (especially in cases of frozen swimming pools that you’re
about to jump into), you should use a thermometer. You can check the temperature of the pool

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with the thermometer and then check your temperature. If the two temperatures agree in other
words, if you’re in thermal equilibrium with the thermometer and the thermometer is in thermal
equilibrium with the pool you’re in thermal equilibrium with the pool.

Figure 1: Systems in equilibrium

Application of First law of thermodynamics

Isolated system:
It is a system that does not interact with the surroundings. In this case, there is no heat flow and
the work done is zero. It means ΔQ = 0 and ΔW = 0. Hence ΔU = 0. Therefore the internal
energy of an isolated system remains constant.

A cyclic process:

The process in which a system returns to its initial state after passing through various
intermediate states is called a cyclic process. In this process, the change in internal energy is
zero. i.e., ΔU = 0.

Hence from the first law of thermodynamics.

ΔU = ΔQ – ΔW

0 = ΔQ – ΔW

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 ΔW = ΔQ

Hence, in a cyclic process, the amount of heat given to a system is equal to the net work done by
the system. This is the principle of heat engines whose purpose is to absorb heat and perform
work in a cyclic process.

Boiling process:
When a liquid is heated it absorbs heat and its temperature rises. After some time, a stage is
reached, when it starts boiling and changes its phase from liquid to vapor. Due to this change of
phase the volume increases and work are done. As the process involves work and heat, the first
law of thermodynamics can be applied.

Consider the vaporization of mass m of a liquid at its boiling point T and pressure P. Let V1 be
the volume of the liquid and V2 the volume of the vapor. The work done in the expansion is
given by,

ΔW = P ΔV = P(V2- V1)

If L is the latent heat of vaporization, the heat absorbed, ΔQ = mL.

If ΔU is the change in internal energy during the process, then,

ΔQ = ΔU + ΔW; ΔU = ΔQ – ΔW

ΔW = mL - P(V2- V1)

It is to be noted that as pressure remains constant during boiling it is an isobaric process.

Melting process:
When the quantity of heat dQ is given to a solid at its melting point it is converted into a liquid.
The temperature and pressure remain constant till the whole solid is completely converted into a
liquid. The internal energy changes during melting.

If m is the mass and L is the specific latent heat of fusion of the solid, then,

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 dQ = mL.

dW = pdV = P(V2- V1)

where

P is the pressure

V1 the volume of the solid

V2 is the volume of the liquid.

Therefore, mL = dU + P(V2- V1) = dU (since dV = V2- V1 is negligible)

Applications of the second law of thermodynamics

According to the law, heat always flows from a body at a higher temperature to a body at the lower
temperature. This law is applicable to all types of heat engine cycles including Otto, Diesel, etc. for
all types of working fluids used in the engines. This law has led to the progress of present day
vehicles.

Figure 2: Application of 2nd law (Diesel engine)

Another application of this law is refrigerators and heat pumps based on the Reversed Carnot Cycle.
If you want to move heat from a body at a lower temperature to a body at a higher temperature, then
you have to supply external work. In the original Carnot Cycle, heat produces work while in the

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Reversed Carnot Cycle work is provided to transfer heat from lower temperature reservoir to a
higher temperature reservoir.

Removing heat from the food items in the refrigerator and throwing it away to the higher
temperature atmosphere doesn’t happen automatically. We need to supply external work via the
compressor to make this happen in the refrigerator.

Air conditioner and heat pump follow the similar law of thermodynamics. The air conditioner
removes heat from the room and maintains it at a lower temperature by throwing the absorbed heat
into the atmosphere. The heat pump absorbs heat from the atmosphere and supplies it to the room
which is cooler in winters.

In both the cases above, external work/energy in the form of electricity has to be supplied; larger the
temperature difference, larger is the external work required.

Other Applications of Thermodynamics

Here are some more applications of thermodynamics:

Sweating in a crowded room:

In a crowded room, everybody (every person) starts sweating. The body starts cooling down by
transferring the body heat to the sweat. Sweat evaporates adding heat to the room. Again, this
happens due to the first and second law of thermodynamics in action. One thing to keep in mind,
heat is not lost but transferred attaining equilibrium with maximum entropy.

Melting of ice cube:

Ice cubes in a drink absorb heat from the drink making the drink cooler. If we forget to drink it,
after some time, it again attains room temperature by absorbing the atmospheric heat. All this
happens as per the first and second law of thermodynamics.

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Application Of Third Law Of Thermodynamics
The most significant use of the third law of thermodynamics is that it helps in calculating the
absolute entropy of a substance at room temperature (or any temperature T). These
determinations are based on the heat capacity measurements of the substance.

For any solid, let S0 be the entropy at 0 K and S be the entropy at T K, then

ΔS = S – S0 = ∫T0CpdTT
According to the third law of thermodynamics, we know that S0= 0 at 0 K,

S = ∫T0CpT dT
We obtain the value of this integral by plotting the graph of Cp/ T versus T and then finding the
area of this curve from 0 to T. The simplified expression for the absolute entropy of a solid at
temperature T is as follows:

S = ∫T0CpT dT =∫T0Cp d lnT

S= Cp ln T

S= 2.303 Cp log T

Here Cp is the heat capacity of the substance at a constant pressure and this value is assumed to
be constant in the range of 0 to T K.

Understanding the importance of specific volume through the anomaly of

water
Specific volume is defined as the volume over the mass of substance chosen as the system.
Sometimes it is unreasonable why one needs to divide the property with mass. Dividing the
properties with mass makes them becomes intensive properties which are independent of the size
of the system.

Thus, specific volume is an intensive property. It means the specific volume that is the inverse of
density is the same all over the substance in a certain temperature and pressure. God made water
as a special pure substance. Usually, pure substance’s volume (thus its specific volume) will
increase when it is heated and will decrease when it is cooled.

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Water is a special substance that its liquid-specific volume is decreasing when it is cooled until
4oC. If the cooling is carried on, then the specific volume will increase. Thus, water has its
lowest specific. volume (greatest density) at 4oC. This anomaly is designed to save the living creatures
under the lake.

Figure 3: Specific volume of water

Figure 4: Density of water

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How does it happen

When the specific volume is decreasing, its density is increasing. When the water in a pond is
above 4oC and begins to cool by contact with cold air, the water at the surface sinks because of
its greater density and it is replaced by warmer water from below. This mixing continues until
the temperature reaches 4oC.

As the surface water cools further, it remains on the surface because it is less dense than the 4oC
water below. Water then freezes first at the surface and the ice remains on the surface since ice is
less dense than water (specific gravity ice = 0.917). This is how God save the aquatic life during
cold winters.

Applying the saturation temperature and pressure in a pressure cooker

It is very common to hear people say “water start to boil at 100oC”. Actually, this statement is
incorrect. The correct statement is “water start to boil at 100oC at 1-atm pressure”. Water will
start to boil at 100oC if the pressure is 1 atm (101.35 kPa).

If the pressure inside the tank or pan where the water is heated increases, the water will start at
higher temperature than 100oC. That is, the temperature at which water starts boiling depends on
the pressure; therefore, if the pressure is fixed, so is the boiling temperature.

At a given pressure, the temperature at which a pure substance starts boiling is called the
saturation temperature. Likewise, at a given temperature, the pressure at which a pure substance
starts boiling is called the saturation pressure. At a pressure of 101.35 kPa, saturation
temperature of water is 100oC. The plot of saturation pressure as a function saturation
temperature

Figure 5: Saturation pressure as a function saturation temperature of water

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it is clear that a substance at higher pressure will boil at higher temperature. In the kitchen,
higher boiling temperature means shorter cooking time and fuel savings. So people find way to
maintain higher pressure in a pan.

The pressure of water inside pan or tank which is heated will increase if the steam could not
escape. The pan needs to be sealed closely that no steam could leak out from the pan. This pan is
called pressure cooker.

A beef stew, for example, may take 1 to 2 hours to cook in a regular pan which operates at 1-atm
pressure, but only 20 to 30 minutes in a pressure cooker operating at 2-atm pressure
(corresponding boiling temperature 120oC). A safety valve is installed in pressure cooker to
avoid excess pressure inside the cooker.

Understand the importance of specific heat in the wind over the sea shore

Figure 6: Wind flows to the seashore

Our daily experience tells that the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a
certain matter is proportional to its mass, to its temperature change and to a quantity which is
called specific heat.

The specific heat has unit of J/kg.Co. For water at 15oC and pressure of 1 atm, its specific heat
is 4180 J/kg.Co. It means that it takes 4180 Joule heat to raise the temperature of 1 kg water by
1 Co. A matter which has large specific heat could be good heat storage. The specific heat of
matters are different each other. The sand has specific heat that much lower than water, i.e. 800
J/kg.Co.

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 Since the specific heat of sand is smaller than water, the sand’s temperature increases more than
water’s in the noon as they receive the same amount of radiation heat transfer from the sun. As
the sand’s temperature increases, the air over the seashore gets hotter and its density decreases.
This light air goes up.

Some air over the water (sea) replaces the light air over the seashore. Then, the air is moving
from the water to the seashore in the noon. Likewise, the air is moving from the seashore to the
sea in the night.

Experiencing how a fluid’s pressure increases by giving work to it

Figure 7: Moving a can of soft drink back and forth

One form of mechanical work that is called moving boundary work could be explained by doing
this simple thing, i.e. moving a can of soft drink What will happen if a can of soft drink is moved
back and forth?

The soda inside will explode out of the can. Because the soda receive boundary work done on it.
Work is energy. Thus, the soda will get energy transferred by human in form of work. This work
increases the pressure of soda inside the can.

The longer we move the can back and forth, the larger the explosion of soda Doing this simple
experiment will help students remember that not only heat but works done on a system also
increase its pressure.

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Applying the first law of Thermodynamics to determine an Air Conditioning
cooling capacity
Some students will learn the first law of Thermodynamics easier if they know how to apply the
law. Here is a simple experiment to apply the 1st law in Air-conditioning equipment. Commonly,
a unitary AC has two parts: supply outlet and return grille. The procedures for students doing the
experiment are:

 Ask the students to measure velocity, dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperature of the air flow
at supply outlet and the dimension of the outlet to get the air flow’s cross section area.
 Ask students to measure dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperature of the air flow at return
grille.
 The students could find specific volume, enthalpy of air flow at supply outlet and return
grille from psychometric chart of software such as EES.
 Then, the students could calculate the air mass flow rate and heat rate or cooling capacity
of the AC using the 1st law of Thermodynamics. This simple experiment gives the
students can enjoy activity and it improves their motivation to study.

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Conclusion
From the research that have been done it is found that thermodynamic is applied almost to every
aspect such as in medical research, automotive industries, home appliance and even around us
which is the atmosphere. Our body also uses the concept of thermodynamic as we consume
energy which assume as energy input to produce work in order to live. Thermodynamic is very
unique in its own process as it cannot be seen by naked eye. Without the studies of
thermodynamic we cannot achieve what we have today. The studies of thermodynamic helps
human keep advancing and become more efficient then before such the invasion of propulsion
system which uses the concepts of thermodynamic during design stage. In conclusion
thermodynamic is very important in human daily life to keep human more technological superior
in near future.

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Reference
 Incropera, Frank P. & DeWitt, David P. 2002. Heat and
Mass Transfer. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
 Moran, Michael J. & Shapiro, Howard N. 2000.
Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics. John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
 http://www.cew.wisc.edu/teachnet/ctl/
 http://www.coe.uga.edu/ctl/theory.html
 http://www.texascollaborative.org/WhatIsCTL.htm
 http://www.ldolphin.org/mystery/chapt7.html
 http://www.scienceclarified.com/everyday/Real-Life-Physics-Vol-
2/Thermodynamics-Real-lifeapplications.html#b
 http://www.asecular.com/forests/vfw/energy/envirothermo.html
 http://entropysite.oxy.edu/wiki_secondlaw.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_thermodynamics
 https://byjus.com/chemistry/third-law-of-thermodynamics/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeroth_law_of_thermodynamics
 https://www.toppr.com/guides/chemistry/thermodynamics/applications-of-
thermodynamics/

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