CONCEPT OF CHEMICAL

EXERGY
Exergy : Max. work that can be
obtained from any form of
energy( e.g. in a flowing
stream)
Environment can interact with systems
in three ways:

Thermal interaction
Mechanical Interaction
Chemical interaction

CONCEPT OF CHEMICAL
EXERGY
Environmental State

& Dead State

Mech & Thermal

eqlbm. With
environment
{Thermomechanical exergy}

M+T+Chemical
eqlbm.
{Total exergy}

Ex : CO2 flowing in a pipe at To, P0.

CONCEPT OF CHEMICAL
EXERGY
Chemical Exergy :
Max amount of work obtainable when
the substance under consideration
is brought from environmental state
to Dead State by processes involving
heat transfer & exchange of matter
only with the environment.
or

work obtainable due to diff. in

the chemical potential

Reference Substances for exch.

(i) Gaseous
components of
atmosphere

3 kinds of
(ii)Solid substances
ref.
from the Earths crust
substances
(iii)Ionic-Nonionic
substances from
oceans

Reference Substances for exch.

for ref. substances
exch Diff in chem. Potentials of the

substance in stream & that in

the environment
e.g. for gaseous phase, say CO2, at
To, Po we would visualise a
ch
system for extracting

ex

Chemical Exergy
TER
To, Po
1

Wsh

Environment

S.P.M.

Chemical Exergy
exch Work output in isothermal exp.

g1 g 2 1 2
RT n

f1
f2

Making ideal gas assumption

Chemical Exergy
e

ch
x

Po
e
RT n o RT n yco
2
Pco
2

mol. fraction of
CO2 in
environment

Ideal gas Mixture

ex ?
ch

e RT0 {ln( yi / y )} yi
ch

e
i

Total Exergy
Flow Process
2

V
ch
ex (h T0 s) (h0 T0 s0 ) gz ex
2
Non-flow Process

V2
ch
(u P0v T0 s) (u0 P0v0 T0 s0 ) gz ex
2

Chemical Exergy of fuels

For substances not present in
environment
consider
an
idealised
reaction
of
the
substance with other substances
(usually ref. substances for
which exergies are known) so
that the final products also are
reference substances

Chemical Exergy of fuels

ex. Hydrocarbon fuel.
Wsh
T0

Ca Hb

P0

O2

(T0, P0)
CO2
H2O (liq)

Chemical Exergy of fuels

b
b

Ca H b a O2 aCO2
H 2O
4
2

Assuming no irreversibility
e

ch
x , fuel

b ch
b ch

ch
a exo2 Wshm a x a exc o2 exH 2O
4
2

Chemical Exergy of fuels

As already proved
ch
xi

& e

exchfuel

Wsh,max Gr

RT n y

e
i

y e a b / 4
o2

Gr RT n e a
e b 2
y
co2 y H 2o

Standard Environment for Calculating the

Chemical Exergy of Hydrocarbon Fuels

Temperature
T0

Pressure,P0

298.15 K

101.325 kPa

Composition
Substance
Mole
(All in Gas Fraction
Phase)
xi
N2
0.7567
02
0.2035
H20
0.0303
C02
0.0003
Other
0.0092

Example
Calculate the chemical exergy in methane gas at
250C and 101.325 kPa.

Solution : The reaction equation is

CH 4 20 2 C 02 2 H 2 0

ex gC 02 2g H 2 0 gCH 4 2g02
Ch

R T0

y
ln
y y
2

02

C 02

H2 0

SOLUTION
y 0 2 0.2035
e
y C 02 0.0003
e

e
H2 0

0.0303

At 250C and 101.325 kPa

g C 0 394 ,630 kJ / kg mol
g H 0 228 ,730 kJ / kg mol
2

g CH 4 50 ,844 kJ / kg mol
g 02 0

SOLUTION
ex

Ch

394,630 2 228,730

50,844 0

0.2035
8.3143 298.15 ln
2
0.00030.0303
2

801,250 29,550 kJ kg mol

830 ,800 kJ kg mol