Second Law Thermodynamics Assignment

1.
Baseboard heaters are basically electric resistance heaters and are frequently used in space
heating. A homeowner claims that her 5-year-old baseboard heaters have a conversion
efficiency of 100 percent. Is this claim in violation of any thermodynamic laws? Explain.
(6.12C) Answer: No
2. A steam power plant receives heat from a furnace at a rate of 280 GJ/h. Heat losses to the
surrounding air from the steam as it passes through the pipes and other components are
estimated to be about 8 GJ/h. If the waste heat is transferred to the cooling water at a rate
of 145 GJ/h, determine (a) net power output and (b) the thermal efficiency of this power
plant. (6.18) Answer: a) 35.3 MW b) 45.5%
3. A coal-burning steam power plant produces a net power of 300 MW with an overall thermal
efficiency of 32 percent. The actual gravimetric air–fuel ratio in the furnace is calculated to
be 12 kg air/kg fuel. The heating value of the coal is 28,000 kJ/kg. Determine (a) the amount
of coal consumed during a 24-hour period and (b) the rate of air flowing through the
furnace. (6.28) Answer: a) 2.89 x 106 kg b) 402 kg/s
4. A household refrigerator that has a power input of 450 W and a COP of 2.5 is to cool five
large watermelons, 10 kg each, to 8°C. If the watermelons are initially at 20°C, determine
how long it will take for the refrigerator to cool them. The watermelons can be treated as
water whose specific heat is 4.2 kJ/kg · °C. Is your answer realistic or optimistic? Explain.
(6.43) Answer: 37.3 min
5. A heat pump is used to maintain a house at a constant temperature of 23°C. The house is
losing heat to the outside air through the walls and the windows at a rate of 60,000 kJ/h
while the energy generated within the house from people, lights, and appliances amounts to
4000 kJ/h. For a COP of 2.5, determine the required power input to the heat pump. (6.51)
Answer: 6.22 kW
6. A Carnot heat engine receives 650 kJ of heat from a source of unknown temperature and
rejects 250 kJ of it to a sink at 24°C. Determine (a) the temperature of the source and (b) the
thermal efficiency of the heat engine. (6.72) Answer: a) 772.2 K b) 61.5%
7. An inventor claims to have developed a heat engine that receives 700 kJ of heat from a
source at 500 K and produces 300 kJ of net work while rejecting the waste heat to a sink at
290 K. Is this a reasonable claim? Why? (6.78) Answer: a) 42% b) 42.9%
8. Carnot refrigerator operates in a room in which the temperature is 25°C. The refrigerator
consumes 500 W of power when operating and has a COP of 4.5. Determine (a) the rate of
heat removal from the refrigerated space and (b) the temperature of the refrigerated space.
(6.90) Answer: a) 135 kJ/min b) -29.2 oC
9. A heat pump is used to heat a house and maintain it at 24°C. On a winter day when the
outdoor air temperature is -5°C, the house is estimated to lose heat at a rate of 80,000 kJ/h.
Determine the minimum power required to operate this heat pump. (6.94) Answer: 2.18 kW
10. Consider a Carnot heat-engine cycle executed in a closed system using 0.01 kg of refrigerant-
134a as the working fluid. The cycle has a thermal efficiency of 15 percent, and the
refrigerant-134a changes from saturated liquid to saturated vapor at 50°C during the heat
addition process. Determine the net work output of this engine per cycle. (6.118) Answer:
0.228 kJ
11. A heat pump with a COP of 2.8 is used to heat an air-tight house. When running, the heat
pump consumes 5 kW of power. If the temperature in the house is 7°C when the heat pump
is turned on, how long will it take for the heat pump to raise the temperature of the house
to 22°C? Is this answer realistic or optimistic? Explain. Assume the entire mass within the
house (air, furniture, etc.) is equivalent to 1500 kg of air. (6.119) Answer: 19.2 min
12. A Carnot heat engine receives heat at 750 K and rejects the waste heat to the environment
at 300 K. The entire work output of the heat engine is used to drive a Carnot refrigerator
that removes heat from the cooled space at -15°C at a rate of 400 kJ/min and rejects it to
the same environment at 300 K. Determine (a) the rate of heat supplied to the heat engine
and (b) the total rate of heat rejection to the environment. (6.128) Answer: a) 108.5 kJ/min
b) 508.5 kJ/min
13. Consider a Carnot heat-pump cycle executed in a steady-flow system in the saturated liquid–
vapor mixture region using refrigerant-134a flowing at a rate of 0.264 kg/s as the working
fluid. It is known that the maximum absolute temperature in the cycle is 1.25 times the
minimum absolute temperature, and the net power input to the cycle is 7 kW. If the
refrigerant changes from saturated vapor to saturated liquid during the heat rejection
process, determine the ratio of the maximum to minimum pressures in the cycle. (6.132)
Answer: 3.22

Second Law Thermodynamics Assignment

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Second Law Thermodynamics Assignment

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Second Law Thermodynamics Assignment

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1.

You might also like