Abstract
The first law of thermodynamics is simply a means to account for all of the energy of a system and the principle is quite simple “energy can neither be created, nor destroyed” where we ignore chemical reactions and only address latent enthalpy. In this chapter, the first law for a closed system is presented first; then, the first law for an open system is presented. The chapter goes on to determine the first law equations for several engineering devices. An example of an engineering device is a pump where the sum of the energy in equals the sum of the energy out and provides a simple relationship for work out. The chapter concludes by showing that several processes can form a cycle and the Rankine cycle is presented.
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References
Borgnakke, C., & Sonntag, R. E. (2009). Fundamentals of thermodynamics (7th ed.). Wiley.
National Institute of Standards and Testing; https://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/. Accessed 23 Apr 2020.
Potter, M., & Scott, E. P. (2004). Thermal sciences (1st ed.). Brooks/Cole – Thomson Learning.
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Appendices
Appendix 3.1: Rankine Cycle Worksheet
A tableau for the Rankine Cycle is given on the companion website.
Appendix 3.2: Linear Interpolation (website)
An Excel Spreadsheet was developed to illustrate a particular concept and is given on the companion website.
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Foust III, H.C. (2022). First Law of Thermodynamics. In: Thermodynamics, Gas Dynamics, and Combustion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87387-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87387-5_3
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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