THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F.

Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011

13.5 Exergy of Fuels

Exergy was defined in Chapter 7 as the capacity to do useful work. Exergy is the result of a
difference in a potential, such as pressure or temperature, relative to its dead-state value (i.e., the
value of that potential in the surroundings). Methods of determining the exergy of non-reacting
systems were presented in Chapter 7. Fuels are the source of most of the exergy that we utilize in
our society. Fuels have exergy even if they are at the temperature and pressure of the
surroundings because they have a chemical potential that differs from the chemical potential of
the surroundings. We will see that a significant fraction of this exergy is destroyed simply by
combusting the fuel.
As explained in Chapter 7, exergy can be used to define the Second Law efficiency of a
thermodynamic process. The Second Law efficiency is a true efficiency in that it is bounded
between 0 and 1. In the context of a process that uses fuel, the Second Law efficiency is defined
as the ratio of the exergy produced by the process to the exergy of the fuel that is consumed by
the process. A method for determining the exergy of a fuel and the Second Law efficiency of
processes that use fuel is presented in this section.

13.5.1 Energy and Entropy Balances on a Reversible Combustion Reaction

The exergy of a fuel can be determined using a technique that is similar the one that is used to
determine the exergy of a flow stream in Section 7.3. In the following analysis, one mole of fuel
is provided to a system together with sufficient air to allow for complete conversion of the fuel to
products, as shown in Figure 13-8. We will assume that the fuel is at the dead state temperature
and pressure (T0 and P0) and it is reacted with air that also enters at the dead state conditions. In
this case, any exergy produced from the conversion of the fuel into combustion products is due to
the difference between the chemical potential of the fuel and the surroundings. Since the air
provided to the reaction is at dead state conditions, there is no exergy provided with the air.
Wout
fuel at T0 and P0
reversible conversion device
air at T0 and P0

products at T0 and P0

Qin
T0

Figure 13-8: The reversible conversion of fuel to products at the dead state.

The system is chosen so that any heat that is exchanged between the system and the surroundings
crosses the boundary of the system at the temperature of the surroundings. Therefore, there is no
exergy flow to or from the system associated with the heat transfer. The combustion products
exit the system at the dead state. These products must be in complete equilibrium with the
surroundings in order to have no exergy. Therefore, the products are at the same temperature,
pressure as the surroundings. The products must also have the same composition as the
surroundings so that they have no chemical potential relative to the dead state. The only nonE18-1

THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011
zero exergy flow out of the system is the work. If no exergy is destroyed in the conversion
process (i.e., the process is reversible), then the exergy of the fuel entering the system must be
equal to the work that is produced, which is the maximum possible work.
The maximum work (and therefore, the exergy of the fuel) can be determined using energy and
entropy balances on the system shown in Figure 13-8. An energy balance provides:
H R Qin H P Wout

(13-73)

where HR and HP are the enthalpies of the reactants and products, respectively. In this analysis,
both the reactants and products are at the dead state temperature. Kinetic and potential energy
terms do not appear in Eq. (13-73) because the fuel and air are provided to the system with
negligible velocity and elevation and the products exit at the dead state. The heat transfer to the
system can be determined from an entropy balance on the reversible system:

SR

Qin
SP
T0

(13-74)

Solving Eq. (13-74) for Qin provides:

Qin T0 S P S R

(13-75)

Substituting Eq. (13-75) into Eq. (13-73) provides the maximum possible work (and thus the
exergy of the fuel):
X fuel Wout H R H P T0 S R S P

(13-76)

Note that the value of the quantity H R H P will be between the lower and higher heating
values of the fuel if T0 = Tref = 25C. The exact value of

HR HP

will depend on the

definition of the dead state. The product T0 S R S P is much smaller than the heating value for
most fuels. Therefore, if you read no further, it should at least be clear that the specific exergy of
a fuel at dead-state conditions is approximately equal to the heating value per mole of fuel:

x fuel HV

(13-77)

where HV is a value between the lower and higher heating values of the fuel.

13.5.2 Evaluation of the Exergy of a Fuel

The enthalpy of the reactants per mole of fuel in Eq. (13-76) is calculated according to:
NR

H R ni hi ,0
i 1

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(13-78)

THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011

where NR is the number of reactants, ni is the stoichiometric coefficient of reactant i in the

balanced chemical equation for the conversion of 1 mole of fuel to products, and hi ,0 is the molar
specific enthalpy of reactant i at the dead state temperature and pressure. The enthalpy of the
products per mole of fuel is given by:
NP

H P n j h j ,0

(13-79)

j 1

where NP is the number of products, n j is the stoichiometric coefficient for product j, and h j ,0 is
the molar specific enthalpy of product j at the dead state.
The reactants and products involved in combustion reactions are generally either gases that can
be modeled according to the ideal gas law or liquids and solids that can be considered to be
incompressible. The molar specific enthalpy of these substances is independent of pressure and
therefore the dead state values of HR and HP in Eqs. (13-78) and (13-79) can be readily evaluated
using the dead state temperature.
The entropy of the reactants per mole of fuel is calculated according to:
NR

S R ni si ,0

(13-80)

i 1

where si ,0 is the molar specific entropy of reactant i at the dead state condition. If reactant i is a
pure substance as it enters the reactor, then the molar specific entropy should be evaluated using
the total pressure for this reactant. If reactant i is a component in an ideal gas mixture, then the
specific entropy should be evaluated at its partial pressure, as discussed in Section 11.2. The
entropy of the products is determined in a similar way:
NP

S P n j s j ,0

(13-81)

j 1

where s j ,0 is the molar specific entropy of product j.

Note that the products leaving the device shown in Figure 13-8 are assumed to be in complete
equilibrium with the surroundings. Similarly, all of the reactants other than the fuel itself (i.e.,
the air) must be in complete equilibrium with the surroundings. In order for this requirement to
be met, the temperature and total pressure must be equal to the dead state temperature and dead
state pressure. In addition, the partial pressure of each gas must be the same as the partial
pressure of that gas in the surroundings; otherwise there will be a partial pressure difference that
could be exploited to produce more exergy. If these conditions are not met then there would be
some exergy leaving with the products. In this case, the calculated maximum work would no
longer be equal to the fuel exergy.

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THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011
Based on this discussion, the quantity s j ,0 in Eq. (13-81) is the molar specific entropy of product

j at the temperature and partial pressure of that component as it exists in the surroundings. In
addition, the quantity si ,0 in Eq. (13-80) for every reactant except the fuel must also be evaluated
at the temperature and partial pressure of that component as it exists in the surroundings.
Clearly, it is necessary to know the composition of the surroundings (as well as its temperature
and pressure). Table 13-5 provides the molar composition of dry air in the surroundings,
assuming a mean mole fraction of 0.0004 for carbon dioxide. (Note that the mole fraction of
carbon dioxide in the surroundings continues to slowly increase.) Of course, the surroundings
will also always contain some water vapor as well. Table 13-5 also provides the composition of
the surroundings including water vapor if the environment is at the dead state temperature and
pressure (25C and 1 atm) and 50% relative humidity. The mole fractions in this table can be
used to calculate the partial pressure of combustion products at the dead state.
Table 13-5: Composition of air in the surroundings (Lemmon et al., 2000).
Gas
Mole fraction in dry air
Mole fraction in air at 25C, 1 atm
and 50% relative humidity
nitrogen
0.7808
0.7686
oxygen
0.2095
0.2062
argon
0.0093
0.0092
carbon dioxide
0.0004
0.0004
water vapor
0
0.0156

The methodology will be applied to calculate the exergy of methane assuming surroundings at T0
= 25C, P0 = 1 atm, and 50% relative humidity.
$UnitSystem SI Molar Radian J K Pa
T_o=converttemp(C,K,25[C])
P_o=1 [atm]*convert(atm,Pa)
y_N2_o=0.7686 [-]
y_O2_o=0.2062 [-]
y_Ar_o=0.0093 [-]
y_CO2_o=0.0004 [-]
y_H2O_o=0.0156 [-]

"dead state temperature"

"dead state pressure"
"mole fraction of nitrogen in the surroundings"
"mole fraction of nitrogen in the surroundings"
"mole fraction of argon in the surroundings"
"mole fraction of CO2 in the surroundings"
"mole fraction of H2O in the surroundings"

We start by specifying a basis of one mole of methane and balancing the reaction for complete
combustion. We assume that the surrounding air is used as the oxidizer and include some
amount of excess air. For example, the reaction with ea = 50% excess air, using the composition
of air with 50% relative humidity listed in Table 13-5, can be considered. Start with the
stoichiometric reaction:
CH 4 as y N2 ,0 N 2 yO2 ,0 O 2 y Ar ,0 Ar yCO2 ,0 CO 2 yH 2O ,0 H 2 O

bs CO 2 cs H 2 O d s N 2 es Ar

(13-82)

and balance carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and argon atoms:

1 as yCO2 ,0 bs

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(13-83)

THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011

4 2 as yH 2O ,0 2 cs

(13-84)

2 as yO2 ,0 2 as yCO2 ,0 as yH 2O ,0 2 bs cs

(13-85)

2 as y N2 ,0 2 d s

(13-86)

as y Ar ,0 es

(13-87)

Equations (13-83) through (13-87) provide the coefficients of the stoichiometric reaction.
"Balance stoichiometric reaction"
1+a_s*y_CO2_o=b_s
4+2*a_s*y_H2O_o=2*c_s
2*a_s*y_O2_o+2*a_s*y_CO2_o+a_s*y_H2O_o=2*b_s+c_s
2*a_s*y_N2_o=2*d_s
a_s*y_Ar_o=e_s

"balance C's"
"balance H's"
"balance O's"
"balance N's"
"balance Ar's"

The actual reaction has 50% excess air; therefore, it has 1.5x as many moles of air as the
stoichiometric reaction, Eq. (13-82).

CH 4 a y N2 ,0 N 2 yO2 ,0 O 2 y Ar ,0 Ar yCO2 ,0 CO 2 yH 2O ,0 H 2O
b CO 2 c H 2O d N 2 e Ar f O 2

(13-88)

where
a 1 ea as

(13-89)

Balancing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and argon atoms in Eq. (13-88) leads to:
1 a yCO2 ,0 b

(13-90)

4 2 a yH 2O ,0 2 c

(13-91)

2 a yO2 ,0 2 a yCO2 ,0 a yH 2O ,0 2 b c 2 f

(13-92)

2 a y N2 ,0 2 d

(13-93)

a y Ar ,0 e

(13-94)

Equations (13-89) through (13-94) provide the coefficients of the actual reaction, Eq. (13-88).
"Balance actual reaction"
ea=0.5 [-]
a=(1+ea)*a_s

"excess air"
"amount of air, based on excess air"

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THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011
1+a*y_CO2_o=b
4+2*a*y_H2O_o=2*c
2*a*y_O2_o+2*a*y_CO2_o+a*y_H2O_o=2*b+c+2*f
2*a*y_N2_o=2*d
a*y_Ar_o=e

"balance C's"
"balance H's"
"balance O's"
"balance N's"
"balance Ar's"

The molar specific enthalpy of each of the substances involved in the reaction ( hCH 4 ,0 , hN2 ,0 ,
hO2 ,0 , hAr ,0 , hCO2 ,0 , and hH 2O ,0 ) are computed at the dead state temperature. The enthalpy of the

reactants and products of Eq. (13-88) are computed according to:

H R hCH 4 ,0 a y N2 ,0 hN2 ,0 a yO2 ,0 hO2 ,0 a y Ar ,0 hAr ,0 a yCO2 ,0 hCO2 ,0 a yH 2O ,0 hH 2O ,0 (13-95)
H P b hCO2 ,0 c hH 2O ,0 d hN2 ,0 e hAr ,0 f hO2 ,0

(13-96)

"molar specific enthalpies"

h_bar_CH4_o=enthalpy(CH4,T=T_o)
"methane"
h_bar_N2_o=enthalpy(N2,T=T_o)
"nitrogen"
h_bar_o2_o=enthalpy(O2,T=T_o)
"oxygen"
h_bar_Ar_o=enthalpy(Ar,T=T_o)
"argon"
h_bar_CO2_o=enthalpy(CO2,T=T_o)
"carbon dioxide"
h_bar_H2O_o=enthalpy(H2O,T=T_o)
"water vapor"
H_R=h_bar_CH4_o+a*y_N2_o*h_bar_N2_o+a*y_O2_o*h_bar_O2_o&
+a*y_Ar_o*h_bar_Ar_o+a*y_CO2_o*h_bar_CO2_o+a*y_H2O_o*h_bar_H2O_o
"enthalpy of reactants per mole of CH4"
H_P=b*h_bar_CO2_o+c*h_bar_H2O_o+d*h_bar_N2_o+e*h_bar_Ar_o+f*h_bar_O2_o
"enthalpy of products per mole of CH4"

The molar specific entropy of the methane ( sCH 4 ,0 ) is computed at the dead state temperature and
pressure.
"molar specific entropies"
s_bar_CH4_o=entropy(CH4,T=T_o,P=P_o)

"methane"

The molar specific entropies of each of the other substances involved in the reaction ( sN2 ,0 , sO2 ,0 ,
s Ar ,0 , sCO2 ,0 , and sH 2O ,0 ) are computed at the dead state temperature and the partial pressure that
these substances have in the surroundings (i.e., the products of their equilibrium concentrations
and the dead state pressure).
s_bar_N2_o=entropy(N2,T=T_o,P=P_o*y_N2_o)
s_bar_o2_o=entropy(O2,T=T_o,P=P_o*y_o2_o)
s_bar_Ar_o=entropy(Ar,T=T_o,P=P_o*y_Ar_o)
s_bar_CO2_o=entropy(CO2,T=T_o,P=P_o*y_CO2_o)
s_bar_H2O_o=entropy(H2O,T=T_o,P=P_o*y_H2O_o)

"nitrogen"
"oxygen"
"argon"
"carbon dioxide"
"water vapor"

The entropy of the reactants and products of Eq. (13-88) are computed according to:
S R sCH 4 ,0 a y N2 ,0 sN2 ,0 a yO2 ,0 sO2 ,0 a y Ar ,0 s Ar ,0 a yCO2 ,0 sCO2 ,0 a yH 2O ,0 sH 2O ,0 (13-97)

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THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011

S P b sCO2 ,0 c sH 2O ,0 d sN2 ,0 e s Ar ,0 f sO2 ,0

(13-98)

S_R=s_bar_CH4_o+a*y_N2_o*s_bar_N2_o+a*y_o2_o*s_bar_o2_o&
+a*y_Ar_o*s_bar_Ar_o+a*y_CO2_o*s_bar_CO2_o+a*y_H2O_o*s_bar_H2O_o
"entropy of reactants per mole of CH4"
S_P=b*s_bar_CO2_o+c*s_bar_H2O_o+d*s_bar_N2_o+e*s_bar_Ar_o+f*s_bar_o2_o
"entropy of products per mole of CH4"

The exergy of the fuel is computed using Eq. (13-76):

x_fuel=H_R-H_P-T_o*(S_R-S_P)
x_fuel_m=X_fuel/MolarMass(CH4)

"exergy of fuel"
"on a mass basis"

which leads to x fuel = 833,100 kJ/kmol (51,930 kJ/kg). Notice that the specific exergy of the fuel
lies between the lower and higher heating values for methane, provided in Table 13-3.
The value of the exergy of the fuel is independent of the amount of excess air. For example,
reduce the value of ea in the EES code to ea = 0 (i.e., use a stoichiometric amount of air) and the
calculated value of x fuel will not change. This result occurs because the state of each of the
reactants (other than the fuel) and the products are identical; the specific enthalpy and specific
entropy of each substance are evaluated at the dead state temperature and the partial pressure that
the component has in the surroundings. Therefore, only those substances that are actually
involved in the reaction will result in a difference between the enthalpy of the reactants relative
to the products, the quantity HR - HP in Eq. (13-76), and a difference between the entropy of the
reactants relative to the products, the quantity SR - SP in Eq. (13-76). With this in mind, the
chemical reaction used to evaluate the exergy of a fuel can be greatly simplified. It is not
necessary to consider anything but the fuel, the oxygen with which it reacts, and the resulting
products (i.e., it is not necessary to consider the argon, nitrogen, or excess oxygen):
CH 4 2 O 2 CO 2 2 H 2 O

(13-99)

Every term in Eq. (13-88) that does not appear in Eq. (13-99) is related to a substance that does
not change either its molecular structure or its state between the inlet and exit state and therefore
does not affect the fuel exergy. Using Eq. (13-99), the enthalpies of the reactants and products
per mole of fuel are given by:
H R hCH 4 ,0 2 hO2 ,0

(13-100)

H P hCO2 ,0 2 hH 2O ,0

(13-101)

and the entropies of the reactants and products per mole of fuel are given by:
S R sCH 4 ,0 2 sO2 ,0

(13-102)

S P sCO2 ,0 2 sH 2O ,0

(13-103)

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THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011

Note that the specific entropy of each ideal gas product is evaluated at the dead state temperature
and the partial pressure at which that gas exists in the environment. The exergy of fuel is again
computed using Eq. (13-76).
H_R_2=h_bar_CH4_o+2*h_bar_o2_o
H_P_2=h_bar_CO2_o+2*h_bar_H2O_o
S_R_2=s_bar_CH4_o+2*s_bar_o2_o
S_P_2=s_bar_CO2_o+2*s_bar_H2O_o
x_fuel_2=H_R_2-H_P_2-T_o*(S_R_2-S_P_2)
x_fuel_m_2=X_fuel_2/MolarMass(CH4)

"enthalpy of reactants that actually react"

"enthalpy of resulting products"
"entropy of reactants that actually react"
"entropy of resulting products"
"exergy of fuel - check"
"on a mass basis"

The simplified reaction in Eq. (13-99) results in an identical solution, x fuel = 833,100 kJ/kmol
(51,930 kJ/kg). The exergy of the fuel does depend on the relative humidity of the surroundings
as this will change the concentrations of the components in the surroundings slightly. However,
this dependence is very small.

EXAMPLE 13.5-1: Second Law Efficiency of a Furnace

Figure 1 illustrates a conventional furnace used to provide space heating to a building.
combustion products
Tout = 150C
Pout = 1 atm

building
Tbldg = 22C

Qout

air
Tin = -10C
Pin = 1 atm

furnace

methane at Tin

Figure 1: Conventional furnace.

The furnace combusts methane with 200% excess dry air (ea = 2). The air and methane enter the
combustor at Tin = -10C and Pin = 1 atm. The furnace provides heat transfer to the building,
which is maintained at Tbldg = 22C. The combustion products leave at Tout = 150C and Pout = 1
atm.
a.) Determine the first law efficiency of the furnace based on the higher and lower heating values
of the fuel.
The inputs are entered in EES.
$UnitSystem SI Molar Radian J K Pa
T_in=converttemp(C,K,-10 [C])
P_in=1 [atm]*convert(atm,Pa)

"dead state temperature"

"dead state pressure"

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THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011
T_bldg=converttemp(C,K,22 [C])
T_out=converttemp(C,K,150 [C])
P_out=1 [atm]*convert(atm,Pa)
ea=2 [-]

"building temperature"
"exit temperature"
"exit pressure"
"excess air"

The stoichiometric reaction of methane with air is:

CH 4 as 0.21O 2 0.79 N 2 bs CO 2 cs H 2 O d s N 2

(1)

The following equations balance carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in Eq. (1):
1 bs
4 2 cs
as 0.21 2 2 bs cs
as 0.79 2 2 d s
"Balance stoichiometric reaction"
1=b_s
4=2*c_s
2*0.21*a_s=2*b_s+c_s
2*0.79*a_s=2*d_s

"balance C's"
"balance H's"
"balance O's"
"balance N's"

The actual reaction can be written as:

CH 4 a 0.21O 2 0.79 N 2 b CO 2 c H 2 O d N 2 e O 2

where a is obtained from the amount of excess air.

a 1 ea as

Balancing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in Eq. (2) leads to:
1 b

4 2c
a 0.21 2 2 b c 2 e
a 0.79 2 2 d
"Balance actual reaction"
a=(1+ea)*a_s

"excess air"

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(2)

THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011
1=b
4=2*c
2*0.21*a=2*b+c+2*e
2*0.79*a=2*d

"balance C's"
"balance H's"
"balance O's"
"balance N's"

In order to carry out an energy balance on the furnace, it is necessary to determine the phase of
the water in the products. Assuming no condensation, the mole fraction of water vapor in the
combustion products is:
yv

c
bcd e

The partial pressure of the water vapor in the products is:

Pv yv Pout

The dew point temperature of the combustion products (Tdp) is the saturation temperature of
water at its partial pressure, obtained using the T_sat function in EES.
y_v=c/(b+c+d+e)
P_v=y_v*P_out
T_dp=T_sat(Water,P=P_v)
T_dp_C=converttemp(K,C,T_dp)

"mole fraction of water vapor, assuming no condensation"

"partial pressure of water vapor in products"
"dew point temperature"
"in C"

Solving these equations results in Tdp = 38.6C. The water in the products must be entirely in the
vapor phase since the outlet temperature is above the dew point temperature.
The molar specific enthalpy of the reactants ( hCH 4 ,in , hO2 ,in , and hN2 ,in ) are computed. The
enthalpy of the reactants per mole of fuel is obtained from:
H R hCH 4 ,in as 0.21 hO2 ,in as 0.79 hN2 ,in
h_bar_CH4_in=enthalpy(CH4,T=T_in)
"molar specific enthalpy of methane entering"
h_bar_O2_in=enthalpy(O2,T=T_in)
"molar specific enthalpy of oxygen entering"
h_bar_N2_in=enthalpy(N2,T=T_in)
"molar specific enthalpy of nitrogen entering"
H_R=h_bar_CH4_in+0.21*a*h_bar_O2_in+0.79*a*h_bar_N2_in "enthalpy of reactants per mole of fuel"

The molar specific enthalpy of the products ( hCO2 ,out , hH 2O ,out , hN2 ,out , and hO2 ,out ) are computed.
The enthalpy of the products per mole of fuel is obtained from:
H P b hCO2 ,out c hH 2O ,out d hN2 ,out e hO2 ,out
h_bar_CO2_out=enthalpy(CO2,T=T_out)
"molar specific enthalpy of CO2 leaving"
h_bar_H2O_out=enthalpy(H2O,T=T_out)
"molar specific enthalpy of H2O leaving"
h_bar_N2_out=enthalpy(N2,T=T_out)
"molar specific enthalpy of N2 leaving"
h_bar_O2_out=enthalpy(O2,T=T_out)
"molar specific enthalpy of O2 leaving"
H_P=b*h_bar_CO2_out+c*h_bar_H2O_out+d*h_bar_N2_out+e*h_bar_O2_out

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THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011
"enthalpy of products per mole of fuel"

An energy balance on the furnace (on a per mole of fuel basis) provides:
H R Qout H P
H_R=Q_out+H_P

"heat transfer from furnace per mole of fuel"

The lower and higher heating values of methane (LHV and HHV) are obtained from Table 13-3
and converted to a molar basis.
LHV=50032 [kJ/kg]*convert(kJ/kg,J/kg)*MolarMass(CH4)
HHV=55516 [kJ/kg]*convert(kJ/kg,J/kg)*MolarMass(CH4)

"lower heating value"

"higher heating value"

The first law efficiency of the furnace based on the lower and higher heating values are
calculated according to:

st

law, LHV

st

law, HHV

Qout
LHV

Qout
HHV

eta_1stlaw_furnace_LHV=Q_out/LHV
eta_1stlaw_furnace_HHV=Q_out/HHV

"first law efficiency of the fuel based on LHV"

"first law efficiency of the fuel based on HHV"

From a first law standpoint, this furnace is very efficient: 1st law,LHV = 82.42% and 1st law, HHV =
74.3%.
b.) Determine the Second Law efficiency of the furnace.
The exergy of methane was computed in Section 13.5.2, Xfuel = 8.331x108 J/kmol. The exergy of
the heat produced by the furnace is computed according to:

T
X Qout Qout 1 0
Tbldg

where T0 is the dead state temperature. In this problem, the dead state temperature corresponds
to the outdoor air temperature, T0 = Tin. The Second Law efficiency of the furnace is given by:

2
T_o=T_in
x_Q_out=Q_out*(1-T_o/T_bldg)

nd

law

X Qout
X fuel

"dead state temperature"

"exergy of the heat transfer from furnace, per mole of fuel"

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THERMODYNAMICS, S.A. Klein and G.F. Nellis, Cambridge University Press, 2011
x_fuel=8.331e8 [J/kmol]
eta_2ndlaw_furnace=x_Q_out/x_fuel

"exergy of fuel"
"Second Law efficiency of the furnace"

The Second Law efficiency of the furnace is extremely low; 2nd law = 8.61%. This result is
sobering. However it does indicate that, from a thermodynamic perspective, it is possible to
significantly reduce the amount of fuel consumed for house heating. Methods for increasing the
efficiency with gas-fired heat pumps have been developed, but they have not been found to be
economically viable thus far.

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