Thermodynamic Process In Heat Engine

ships. In 1824, Sadi Carnot influenced the construction of other engines when in his book, Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire, he suggested that the efficiency of any heat engine depended on the temperatures of the surroundings.

2.2 Thermodynamic processes in heat engines When the system changes from one thermodynamic state to the last state due changes in properties like volume, temperature, pressure, volume, the system is said to have undertaken a thermodynamic process. There are various types of thermodynamic processes.

• Adiabatic process: This is where the inside energy is equal to the work done on the system and no outside heat was provided. In adiabatic process, there is no transfer of heat between the system and its

The first and second law of thermodynamics govern the work process of a heat engine. The first law is the application of conservation of energy to the system, and the second sets parameters on the possible efficiency of the machine and determines the direction of energy flow. An indispensable component of a heat engine is that two temperatures are involved. At one stage the system is heated and cooled at another. A basic heat engine consists of a gas confined by a piston in a cylinder. When the gas is heated, it expands, moving the piston. This is a particularly impractical engine because once the gas reaches stability the movement would stop. A practical engine goes through cycles; that is, the piston has to move back and forth. After the gas is heated moving the piston up, it is cooled and the piston moves back down. The cycle of heating and cooling will move the piston up and down Fig.1 Reservoir model of the heat engine and a pressure volume graph showing work done on and by the gas

The heat engine goes through the prosses below:

Stages 1 to 2: Heat is extracted by the system in an isobaric process. No work is done at this time.

Stages 2 to 3: An isothermal expansion prosses occurs. Stages 3 to 4: Heat is extracted from the system in an isobaric process. No work is done at this

Conclusion

In conclusion, the field of thermodynamics is a vast and diverse with applications that touch different aspects of the human lives. It is unfathomable to think where the world would be today without the revolutionary discoveries of Sadi Carnot and all the other early discoverers. Steam engines, power plants, air conditioning, locomotives and all the other comforts we enjoy today thanks to the applications of thermodynamics would not have been invented or have been as efficient as they are today. It is likely that the Carnot model will continue to be considered in constructing engines and with adequate research maybe the most efficient and ideal engine will be created. The heat pump and the refrigerator are likely to be among the most efficient devices constructed because the natural surroundings support the systems in transferring heat to a higher temperature. Only time will tell if these heat engines can be developed further to be more efficient and if they can be applied in different aspects of our