CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

In this chapter; performance of engineering systems will be examined by using the first and second laws of the
thermodynamics together. Irreversibility and availability are very powerful tools in design and optimization of such
systems.

8.1 Reversible work: Maximum (or Minimum) amount of useful work (Wu) that can be
obtained from a reversible process between the specified initial and final states.
Wrev=(Wu)max, out

for work producing systems

Wrev=(Wu)min, in

for work consuming systems

It shows imaginary (hypothetical) work potential.

It is a path dependent parameter.
It is impossible to evaluate it in a real process.
So, Why we calculate it? For understanding the work potential.
For a work producing system, it indicates the maximum work production potential.
For a work consuming system, it indicates the minimum work consumption potential.

Actual work: is the amount of work that can be actually produced(or consumed)
through a real process. It can be evaluated for a system (Wsys) or a cv (Wcv) by using the
1st law.

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

8.2 Useful Work (Wu): For an actual system or cv; the actual work, W (sys or cv) is done against the surrounding
and evaluated from the 1st law. However,

(A) If the system has a moving boundary and the surrounding has no zero
pressure (i.e., no perfectly evacuated), the useful work is not equal to the system work evaluated from the 1 st
law. It must be re-calculated by considering the effects of surrounding pressure on the boundary. If we consider
an expansion process in a system, a non-zero surrounding pressure generates a resistive force to the expansion
movement of the system boundary. It can be so defined as follows:

Wu=W(sys or cv)-Wsurr where Wsurr=P0(V2-V1)

Where the actual work, W (sys or cv) can be evaluated from 1st law and the surrounding work, W surr indicates the
amount of work absorbed by the surrounding.

W PdV (P P )dV P dV W P dV
sys

W W P dV W P (V V )
sys

W W W
u

sys

surr

where

surr

P (V V )
0

(B) If the system has no any moving boundary, then the system work becomes equal to
the useful work because the surrounding work is equal to zero.

Wu=W(sys or cv) & Wsurr=0

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

8.3 Availability (Useful work potential): is the maximum (or minimum) useful work that
could be obtained from a system at a given state.
So, it is not a path(or process) function, it is a point (or state) function. It is a property of system at only one state.

Wrev=(Wu)max, out= (Availability)

for work producing systems

Wrev=(Wu)min, in= (Availability)

for work consuming systems

Exergy: The useful work potential of a system at the specified state is called
exergy. Exergy is property and is associated with the state of the system and the surrounding. A system that is
in equilibrium with its surroundings has zero exergy and is said to be at dead state. So, exergy means availability.

8.4 Irreversibility (Lost work potential): is the lost work potential during a process as a
result of irreversibilities. Any difference between the reversible work, Wrev and the useful
work, Wu is due to the ireversibilities present during the process and this difference is
called as irreversibility (I).
I Wrev - Wu ...(kJ)

-W
....(kW)
OR I W
rev
u

OR

i w rev w u ...(kJ/kg)

I Wrev - (Wsys or cv Wsurr ) Wrev - Wsys or cv P0 (V2 V1 )

I T0 S gen T0 (S total ) T0 (S sys S surr ).....(kJ)

OR

...(kW)
I T S
0
gen

Where the surrounding temperature and pressure can be assumed as T 0=250C=298.2 K & P0=1atm=101.3 kPa if
they are not specified.

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

8.5 Irreversibility and availability analysis of CLOSED SYTEMS:
1st Law : Q W U U2 U1
2nd Law : S gen S total (S 2 S1 ) sys

Q surr
Q
(S 2 S1 ) sys
Tsurr
T0

Combine first and second laws;

W (U1 U2 ) T0 (S1 S 2 ) sys T0 S gen
Wu W Wsurr (U1 U2 ) T0 (S1 S 2 ) sys T0 S gen P0 (V2 V1 )
OR
Wu W Wsurr (U1 U2 ) T0 (S1 S 2 ) sys T0 S gen P0 (V1 V2 )
Wrev Wu I Wu T0 S gen (U1 U2 ) T0 (S1 S 2 ) sys P0 (V1 V2 )
Wrev (Availabi lity) 1 2 n (Un U0 ) T0 (Sn S 0 ) P0 (Vn V0 )
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .........1 (U1 U0 ) T0 (S1 S0 ) P0 (V1 V0 )
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .........2 (U2 U0 ) T0 (S2 S0 ) P0 (V2 V0 )
I Wrev Wu T0 S gen

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

8.6 Irreversibility and availability analysis of CONTROL VOLUMES: In order to evaluate a
more detailed result, consider a USUF process,

V2
V2

1 Law : Q W m h e gZ m h i gZ m
e e 2
e
i i 2
i

st

2nd Law : S gen S total me s e mi si m2 s 2 m1s1 cv

V22
V12

u2
gZ 2 m1 u1
gZ1
2
2
2

Q
T0

Combine first and second laws by means of neglecting KE PE 0;

W mi hi T0 si me he T0 s e m1 u1 T0 s1 m2 u2 T0 s 2 T0S gen
Wu W Wsurr mi hi T0 si me he T0 s e m1 u1 T0 s1 m2 u2 T0 s 2 T0S gen P0 (V2 V1 )
OR
Wu W Wsurr mi hi T0 si me he T0 s e m1 u1 T0 s1 m2 u2 T0 s 2 T0S gen P0 (V1 V2 )
Wrev Wu I Wu T0 S gen mi hi T0 si me he T0 s e m1 u1 T0 s1 m2 u2 T0 s 2 P0 (V1 V2 )
Wrev (Availabi lity) i e (1 2 ) n (Un U0 ) T0 (Sn S 0 ) P0 (Vn V0 )
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ........n (Hn H0 ) T0 (Sn S 0 )
m
(h h ) T (s s )
For a SSSF process : W
rev

I Wrev Wu T0S gen

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

8.7 Second Law efficiency (Effectiveness):

For Heat Engines :

th

th,rev

For Work Producing Devices :

2

W
W

W
(W )
u

rev

For Refrigerators and Heatpumps :

2

max,out

COP
COP

rev

For Work Consuming Devices :

2

(W )
W

W
W
rev
u

min,in

Isentropic Efficiency (remember)

W
W
ts a a
Ws Wrev
cs

Ws Wrev

Wa Wa

Thermal Efficiency (remember)

W
th net
QH
COP

QL
Q
OR H
Win
Win

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

Example 8.1: An air stream is at 1 MPa, 400 K. Find the maximum amount of work that
can be extracted from this air stream. For simplicity, assume constant specific heats at
room temperature.
SOLUTION: Assume reference state (dead state) as To=300 K & Po=100 kPa

T
P
400
1000
s s1 - s o Cp,avln 1 Rln 1 1.005ln
0.287ln
0.372kJ/kg K
T
P
300
100

0
0
1 h1 h0 T0 s1 s0 Cp T1 To T0 s1 s0 1.005 400 300 300 0.372 212kJ/kg

w max,1 1 212kJ/kg

Example 8.2: You have a flow of steam from a geothermal field at 200 kPa, 600C, and 5
kg/s. Find the maximum amount of work that can be extracted from this resource. The
environment is at 20C and 100 kPa.
SOLUTION: So, To=293.2 K & Po=100 kPa. Here the dead state will be liquid water at
100 kPa and 20C. We will approximate the liquid water state as that of saturated liquid
at 20C. This is then just a steam table lookup with the values inserted in following
equation:
1 h1 h0 T0 s1 s 0 3704.0kJ/k g 83.96kJ/kg 293.2 8.777 0.2966kJ/k gK 1135.3kJ/k g
w max,1 1 1135.3 kJ/kg
w max,1 5kg/s 1135.3kJ/k g 5.68MW
Wmax,1 m

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

Example 8.3: Find the maximum work that can be obtained from a flow of steam that
goes between 1000 kPa, 600C and 100 kPa, 150C.
SOLUTION: Assume reference state (dead state) as To=293 K & Po=100 kPa. This is
just a table lookup for values going into following equation:
h h T s s w
1

rev

max,1

h h T s s w
2

max,2

h h T s s 3697.9 2776.4 293(8.0290 7.6134) 799.7kJ/kg

1

So this is the maximum work that can be estimated for steam passing between these
two states.

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

Example 8.4: (A) Tank A has a volume of 4 m3 and initially contains Freon-12 at a
pressure of 100 kPa and a temperature of 20 oC. The compressor evacuates tank A and
charges tank B. Tank B is initially evacuated and is of such a volume that the final
pressure of the Freon-12 in tank B is 500 kPa when the temperature reaches its final
value of 20 oC. The temperature of the surroundings is 20 oC. Determine the minimum
work input to the compressor.
Tank A
SOLUTION:
3
System: Tank A+Tank B
Initial state: Fixed(P1&T1 known)
Final state: Fixed(P2&T2 known)
Process: System(closed system), KE= PE=0
Model: Freon-12 tables
Analysis:

V=4 m

P1=100 kPa
T1=20 oC

0
w rev 1 2 u1 u2 T0 s1 s2 Po v1 v 2

T2=20 oC
By-pass valve

s1 0.8275 kJ/kgK
u2 h2 P2 v2 196.935 500x0.0356 46 179.112 kJ/kg

w rev 183.979 179.112 293.15(0.8 275 - 0.6999) 32.54 kJ/kg

m

V1
4

20.276 kg
v1 0.197277

Wrev m w rev 20.276x 32.54 659.8 kJ Wmin,in

P2= 500 kPa

Compressor

where u1 h1 P1v1 203.7 100x0.1972 77 183.979 kJ/kg

s2 0.6999 kJ/kgK

Tank B

(A)

(B)

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

Example 8.4: (B) After tank B is charged and tank A is evacuated, a by-pass valve
around the compressor is left open, and the two tanks come to a uniform pressure at a
temperature of 20oC. Determine the irreversibility for this process.
SOLUTION:
System: Tank A+Tank B, Initial state: Fixed(P2&T2 known), Final state: T3 known in tanks A and B, Process: System(closed system),
change of volume, KE= PE=0, Model: Freon-12 tables
m 20.276 kg & v 2 0.035646 m3 /kg VB 20.276x0.0 35646 0.7228 m3
Analysis:

V3 VA VB 4 0.7228 4.7228 m3 v 3

V3 4.7228

0.23292 m3 /kg
m 20.276

v 3 0.23292 m3 /kg
P3 91.2 kPa by interpollation on Freon 12 table
T3 293.15K
h3 203.842 kJ/kg & s 3 0.8363 kJ/kgK
u3 h3 P3 v 3 203.842 91.2x0.232 92 182.6 kJ/kg

w rev2-3 2 3 u2 u3 T0 s 2 s 3 Po v 2 v 3

w rev2-3 179.112 182.6 293.15 0.6999 0.8363 36.5 kJ/kg

Wrev2-3 mw rev2-3 20.276x36. 5 740 kJ

I Wrev2-3 Wu Wrev2-3 W23 Wsurr 740 kJ

OR

q
It can be checked as that; I To S gen mTo s 3 s 2 2-3 mTo s 3 s 2 Q 2-3
To

0
where Q 2-3 m u3 u2 W23 20.276 182.6 179.112 70.7 kJ

I 293.15x20. 276 0.8363 0.6999 70.7 740 kJ

CHAPTER 8: IRREVERSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY

Example 8.5: A steam turbine receives 30 kg of steam per second at 3 MPa, 350 oC. At the point in the turbine
where the pressure is 0.5 MPa, steam is bled off for use in processing equipment at the rate of 5 kg/s. The
temperature of this bled steam is 200 oC. The remaining of the steam leaves the turbine at 15 kPa, 90% quality.
The heat transfer to the surroundings is 150 kW. Determine the availability per kg of the steam entering, and both
points at which steam leaves the turbine, the reversible work, and the irreversibility for the given change of state
and the second law efficiency for this process.
1 h1 h0 T0 s1 s0 3115.3 104.9 298.15 6.7428 0.3674 1109.6 kJ/kg
SOLUTION:
Control volume: Turbine
Inlet state: Fixed(P1&T1 known)
Exit states: Fixed(P2&T2 known)
(P3&x3known)
Process: SSSFP, KE= PE=0
Model: Steam tables
Analysis:

2 h2 h0 T0 s2 s0 2855.4 104.9 298.15 7.0592 0.3674 755.3 kJ/kg

3 h3 h0 T0 s3 s0 2361.8 104.9 298.15 7.2831 0.3674 195.0 kJ/kg

W
rev m11 m22 m3 3 30 1109.6 5 755.3 25 195.0 24637 kW

Qm
1h1 m
2h 2 m
3h3 150.0 30x3115.3 5x2855.4 25x2361.8
1st law W
cv
19987 kW

Qcv=-150kW

30 kg/s

CV

3 MPa, 350oC
TURBINE
5 kg/s

0.5 MPa, 200oC 3

25 kg/s

Wcv

W
W
19987
2 u cv
0.811
Wrev Wrev 24637
0
I W
W
W
(W
W
) 24637 19987 4650 kW
rev
u
rev
cv
surr
OR
It can be also calculated as that;

Q
I T S T m

m
s

m
s

0
gen
0
3
3
2
2
1 1
T
15
kPa,
x=90%

0
Po=100kPa&To=25oC
I 298.15 25 7.2831 5 7.0592 30 6.7428 150 4649 kW
Assumed as saturated liquid at 25oC
298.15

So; ho=104.9kJ/kg&so=0.3674kJ/kgK