UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

2015 Nov/Dec Examinations

Faculty: Engineering

Department: Mechanical Engineering

Paper code and Title: Engineering Thermodynamics

ME 309

Duration: 3 Hours

Examiner: Eng. S. Chinguwa

Authorized Materials:

 Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of Fluids (SI Units)

 Non programmable scientific calculator

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. This paper contains No Sections and 6 Questions

2. Answer Any 4 questions
3. Start each question on a new page
4. This question paper comprises 4 printed pages

NB: DO NOT TURN OVER THE QUESTION PAPER OR COMMENCE WRITING

UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO.

Page 1 of 4
Question 1
An oil engine takes in air at 1.01 bar, 20oC and the Maximum cycle pressure is 69 bar. The compressor
ratio is 18/1. Calculate the air standard thermal efficiency based on the dual-combustion cycle. Assume
that the heat added at constant volume is equal to the heat added at constant pressure. [25]

Question 2
An open circuit, continuous combustion, constant pressure gas turbine takes in air at a pressure of
101kN/m2 and at a temperature of 15oC. The air is compressed in a rotary compressor through a
pressure ratio of 1/6. The air then passes at a constant pressure through a heat exchanger the
effectiveness of which is 65%. From the heat exchanger the air passes at constant pressure through a
combustion chamber in which the temperature is raised to 870oC. From the combustion chamber the air
passes through the gas turbine in which it is expanded to a pressure of 101kN/m2 it then passes through
the heat exchanger to exhaust. The isentropic efficiency of the compressor is 85%, while that of the
turbine is 80%. Neglect the mass of the fuel and take the mass flow of air as 4kg/s.
(Take adiabatic index γ = 1.4 and specific heat capacity at constant pressure Cp = 1.005kJkg/K. )
Determine Net Power output of the plant. [25]

Question 3
A three-stage, single-acting, reciprocating air compressor has a low pressure cylinder of 450mm and
300mm stroke. The clearance volume of the low pressure cylinder is 5% of the swept volume. Intake
pressure and temperature are 1 bar and 18oC respectively. The final delivery pressure is 15bar.
Intermediate pressures are ideal and intercooling is perfect. The compression and expansion index can
be taken as 1.3 throughout. Determine:

(a) Intermediate pressures

(b) Effective swept volume of low pressure cylinder
(c) Work done per kg of air [25]
(Take characteristic gas constant R = 0.29kJ/kgK)

Question 4
A simple heat pump circulates Freon-12 for space heating. The heat pump consists of an evaporator,
compressor, condenser and a throttle regulator. The pump works between pressure limits of
0.491MN/m2 and 1.219MN/m2. The heat transfer required from the condenser is 100MJ/h. The
refrigerant is assumed dry saturated at the beginning of compression and to have a temperature of 55 0C
after compression. At the end of condensation process the refrigerant is liquid but not undercooled. The
specific heat capacity of superheated vapour can be assumed constant. Determine:

(a) Mass flow of refrigerant in kg/h

(b) The dryness fraction refrigerant at entry to evaporator
(c) The power of the driving motor assuming that only 70% of the power of the driving motor appears
in the Freon-12.
(d) The ratio of the heat transferred from the condenser to the power required to drive the motor in
the same time. [25]

Page 2 of 4
Question 5
(a)Explain the meaning of the following terms used in air conditioning and comment on each term’s
relevance to air conditioning design.

 Dry Bulb Temperature (DBT)

 Relative Humidity
 Moist Air
 Dry Air
 Psychometric

(b) Sketch the outline of a Split System Air Conditioning Unit and label main parts.
(c) Briefly explain the principle of operation of the Air Conditioning Unit above. [25]

Question 6
(a) Describe insulators and then discuss practical examples of their applications as used in industry
[5]

(b) A small hemispherical oven is built of an inner layer of insulating firebrick 125mm thick and an
outer covering of 85% magnesia 40mm thick. The inner surface of the oven is 800 oC and the heat
transfer coefficient for the outside surface is 10W/m2K; the room temperature is 200C the inside
radius of the hemisphere is 0.6m. Take the thermal conductivities of firebrick and 85% magnesia
as 0.31 and 0.05W/mK. Calculate the rate of heat loss from the oven [10]

(c) A steel pipe of 100mm bore 7mm wall thickness, carrying Steam at 260oC insulated with 40 mm
of moulded high-temperature diatomaceous earth covering. This covering is in turn insulated with
60mm of asbestos felt. If the atmospheric temperature is 15oC calculate the rate at which heat is
lost by the steam per m length of pipe. Calculate heat lost through the walls to the surroundings.
The heat transfer coefficients for inside and outside surfaces are 550 and 15 W/m2K, respectively,
and thermal conductivities of steel, Diatomaceous earth asbestos felt are 50, 0.09, and 0.07
W/mK respectively. [10]

Useful Equations
𝑛−1
𝑛 𝑃 𝑛
1. 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = (𝑛−1) 𝑚𝑅𝑇1 {⌈𝑃2 ⌉ − 1} 𝑁
1

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑−𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑

2. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 =
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑

Page 3 of 4
 𝑅𝑒𝑓 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡
3. 𝐶𝑂𝑃 = 𝐸𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘

𝑏𝑝
4. 𝑀𝑒𝑐ℎ 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑖𝑝

5. 𝑏𝑝 = 𝑃𝑀𝑏 𝐿𝐴𝑁

𝑏𝑝
6. 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑚̇𝐶𝑉

Page 4 of 4