CHAPTER 8.

EXERGY: A MEASURE OF WORK POTENTIAL

8-1 EXERGY: WORK POTENTIAL OF ENERGY
In the analysis of an energy source system, we are interested not in the amount of energy
contained in the source, but in the work potential of the source.
The work potential of an energy source is the amount of energy that can be extracted as
useful work from the source.
Recall from Chapter 7 that work output of a system is maximized when the process from
initial state to final state is executed in a reersible manner.
!e should add here that the system must be in the dead state at the end of the process to
maximize the work output.
A system s s!" t# $e % t&e "e!" st!te '&e% t s % t&e(m#"y%!m) e*+,$(+m 't&
t&e e%-(#%me%t t s %. "#ee section $%& of the textbook for conditions of thermodynamic
e'uilibrium(.
)ote the difference between the terms surroundings, immediate surroundings, and
environment.
o S+((#+%"%.s are eerything outside the system boundaries.
o Imme"!te s+((#+%"%.s refer to the portion of the surroundings that is affected by
the process.
o E%-(#%me%t refers to the region beyond the immediate surroundings whose
properties are not affected by the process at any point.
!e can conclude that a system deliers the maximum possible work as it undergoes a
reersible process from the specified initial state to the state of its enironment, that is, the
dead state. This represents the useful work potential of the system at the specified state and
is called e/e(.y.
*xergy is also called aailability, or aailable energy.
++*xergy does not represent the amount of work that a work%producing deice will actually
delier upon installation. Rather, it represents the upper limit on the amount of work a
deice can delier without iolating any thermodynamic laws.
)ote that the exergy of a system at a specified state depends on the condition of the
enironment ,the dead state- as well as the properties of the system. Therefore, exergy is a
property of the system-environment combination and not of the system alone.
E/e(.y Ass#)!te" 't& K%et) !%" P#te%t!, E%e(.y
.oth /* and 0* are forms of mechanical energy and thus can be conerted to work
directly.
Therefore, the exergy of the /* of a system is e'ual to the /* itself. That is,
1
1
V ke x
ke

where 2 is the elocity of the system relatie to the enironment.
#imilarly,

gz pe x
pe

where g is the graitational acceleration and z is the eleation of the system relatie to a
reference leel in the enironment.
3or other forms of energy, the work potential is ealuated as appropriate. ,#tudy *xample
4%1.-
8-0 RE1ERSI2LE WORK AN3 IRRE1ERSI2ILITY
The work done by work%producing deices is not always entirely in a usable form. 3or
example, when a gas expands in a piston%cylinder deice ,3ig. 4%4-, part of the work is used
to push the atmospheric air. This work, which cannot be recoered, is called the
s+((#+%"%.s '#(45 W
s+((
. Thus,

( )
$ 1
V V p W
o surr

The difference between the actual work W and the surroundings work W
surr
is called the
useful work W
u
.

( )
$ 1
V V p W W W W
o surr u

)ote5 !hen a system is compressed, the atmospheric pressure helps the compression
process, and thus W
surr
represents a gain.
Re-e(s$,e '#(4 W
rev
is defined as the maximum amount of useful work that can be
produced ,or the minimum work that needs to be supplied- as a system undergoes a process
between the specified initial and final states.
)ote5 !hen the final state is the dead state, the reersible work e'uals exergy.
6ny difference between the reersible work W
rev
and the useful work W
u
is due to the
irreersiblities present during the process, and this difference is called ((e-e(s$,ty I. It is
expressed as
in rev in u out u out rev
W W I or W W I
, , , ,

The irreersibility is e'uialent to the exergy destroyed. It can be iewed as the wasted
work potential or the lost opportunity to do work.
)ote that irreersibility is a positie 'uantity for all actual ,irreersible- processes. 3or a
totally reersible process, I 7 8.
8-6 SECON3-LAW EFFICIENCY5
II
Recall from Chapter & that the thermal efficiency and the coefficient of performance are
defined as measures of performance of deices. They are defined on the basis of the first
law and are sometimes referred to as the first%law efficiencies.
9oweer, the first law efficiency does not gie a realistic measure of the performance of
deices ,see the illustration in 3ig. 4%$:-.
!e define a se)#%"-,!' e77)e%)y
II
as the ratio of the thermal efficiency to the
maximum possible ,reersible- thermal efficiency under the same conditions.

rev th
th
II
,

,heat engines-
The second%law efficiency can also be expressed as the ratio of the useful work output and
the maximum possible ,reersible- work output.

rev
u
II
W
W

,work%producing deices-
6lso,

u
rev
II
W
W

,work%consuming deices-
and

rev
II
COP
COP

,refrigerators and heat pumps-
6 more general definition of second%law efficiency ,that will e'ually apply to deices that
do not consume or produce work- is as follows5

plied Exergy
destroyed Exergy
plied Exergy
ered re Exergy
II
sup
$
sup
co

"#ee page ;;; for descriptions of exergy supplied and exergy destroyed for arious
deices.(
8-8 EXERGY CHANGE OF A SYSTEM
*xergy represents the maximum amount of useful work that can be obtained as a system is
brought to its dead state.
6t the dead state, the system is in thermodynamic e'uilibrium with the enironment.
,Recall that thermodynamic e'uilibrium implies thermal, mechanical, phase, and chemical
e'uilibrium.-
In this section, we will examine the thermo%mechanical exergy of a system, and thus
disregard any mixing and chemical reactions.
E/e(.y #7 ! F/e" M!ss: N#%7,#' 9#( C,#se" System: E/e(.y
Consider a stationary closed system at a specified state ,, P- that undergoes a reersible
process to the state of the enironment ,
o
, P
o
-. The useful work deliered during this
process is the exergy of the system at its initial state.
6n example of a closed system is the piston%cylinder deice ,shown in 3ig. 4%18-
containing a fluid of mass m at temperature and pressure P. The system has a olume V,
internal energy !, and entropy ".
<aximum work will be obtained when the system is brought to the dead state ,
o
, P
o
-
reersibly by exchanging heat with the enironment through a reersible heat engine. The
useful work is composed of the useful boundary work in the piston%cylinder deice and the
work produced by the heat engine.
*aluating the boundary work, the work produced by the heat engine and applying the first
law of thermodynamics, the total useful work deliered as the system undergoes the
reersible process ,which is the exergy- is obtained as

( ) ( ) ( )
o o o o o use#ul total
" " V V P ! ! W +
,0roof will be shown in class.-
If the system possesses kinetic and potential energies, the exergy of the closed system is
( ) ( ) ( ) mgz
V
m " " V V P ! ! $
o o o o o
+ + +
1
1
=n a unit mass basis, the closed system ,or nonflow- exergy is expressed as

( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
o o o o o
o o o o o
s s v v P e e
gz
V
s s v v P u u
+
+ + +
1
1

The exergy change of a closed system during a process is simply the difference between the
final and initial exergies of the system,
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
$ 1
1
$
1
1
$ 1 $ 1 $ 1
1
z z mg
V V
m " " V V P ! ! $
o o
+

+ +
or, on a unit mass basis,

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
$ 1 $ 1 $ 1
$ 1
1
$
1
1
$ 1 $ 1 $ 1
1
s s v v P e e
z z g
V V
s s v v P u u
o o
o o
+
+

+ +
E/e(.y #7 ! F,#' St(e!m: F,#' 9#( St(e!m: E/e(.y
Recall from Chapter : that a flowing fluid has an additional form of energy, called the flow
energy, and was expressed as

v P %
#lo%

where P is the pressure and
v
is the specific olume.
The flow work is essentially the boundary work done by a fluid on the fluid downstream.
Thus, the exergy associated with flow work is the boundary work in excess of the work
done against the atmosphere at P
o
to displace it by a olume
v
, i.e.

( ) v P P v P v P x
o o #lo%

Then the exergy of a flow stream is
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) gz
V
s s h h
gz
V
s s v P u v P u
v P P gz
V
s s v v P u u
x x x
o o o
o o o o o
o o o o o o
#lo% #luid non#lo%ing #luid #lo%ing
+ +
+ + + +
+ + +
+
1
1
1
1
1
1

Therefore, the flow ,or stream- exergy is gien as
( ) ( ) gz
V
s s h h
o o o
+ +
1
1

The exergy change of a fluid stream as it undergoes a process from state $ to state 1
becomes
( ) ( ) ( )
$ 1
1
$
1
1
$ 1 $ 1
1
z z g
V V
s s h h
o
+

+
;;N#te5 The exergy of a closed system cannot be negatie, but the exergy of a flow stream
can at pressures below the enironment pressure P
o
.
8-< EXERGY TRANSFER 2Y HEAT5 WORK5 AN3 MASS
*xergy, like energy, can be transferred to or from a system in three forms5 heat, work, and
mass flow.
*xergy transfer is recognized at the system boundary as exergy crosses it, and it represents
the exergy gained or lost by a system during a process.
E/e(.y $y He!t T(!%s7e(5 Q
!hen a heat source at temperature transfers heat to an enironment at temperature
o
, the
work potential of the energy transferred is e'uialent to the work produced by a Carnot heat
engine operating between the source and the enironment.
Therefore, the Carnot efficiency
C
7 $ >
o
? represents the fraction of energy of a heat
source at temperature that can be conerted to work.
9eat transfer & at a location at thermodynamic temperature is always accompanied by
exergy transfer @
heat
in the amount of

&

$
o
heat

,
_

$
The relation aboe gies the exergy transfer accompanying heat transfer & whether is
greater than or less than
o
.
o !hen A
o
, heat transfer to a system increases the exergy of that system and heat
transfer from a system decreases the exergy of the system. That is, both the exergy
and heat transfer are in the same direction.
o !hen B
o
, the aboe relation still applies, but & is the heat reCected to the cold
medium. This is e'uialent to running a heat engine between the enironment and
the Dcold mediumE. 9oweer, it should be noted that, this time, the enironment
seres as the heat source and the cold medium as the heat sink. In this case, the
exergy and heat transfer are in opposite directions. ,Read the discussion on page ;:$
of the textbook for more details.-
!hen the temperature at the location where heat transfer is taking place is not constant,
the exergy transfer accompanying heat transfer is determined by integration to be

,
_

&

$
o
heat
$
N#tes:
$- 9eat transfer through a finite temperature difference is irreersible and some entropy is
generated as a result. The entropy generation is always accompanied by exergy
destruction. ,#ee the illustration in 3ig. 4%17.-
1- 9eat transfer & at a location at temperature is always accompanied by entropy transfer
in the amount of &? and exergy transfer in the amount of ,$ >
o
?-&.
F- *xergy transfer by heat is zero for adiabatic systems.
E/e(.y T(!%s7e( $y W#(45 W
*xergy is the useful work potential, and the exergy transfer by work can be expressed as

'

- ,
- ,
%ork o# #orms other #or W
%ork boundary #or W W
$
surr
%ork
where W
surr
7 P
o
,V
1
> V
$
-, P
o
is atmospheric pressure, and V
$
and V
1
are the initial and final
olumes of the system.
E/e(.y T(!%s7e( $y M!ss5 m
<ass contains exergy as well as energy and entropy. The exergy, energy, and entropy
contents of a system are proportional to mass.
!hen mass in the amount m enters or leaes a system, the exergy which accompanies it is

m $
mass

where ( ) ( ) gz
V
s s h h
o o o
+ +
1
1

N#tes:
$- *xergy transfer by mass is zero for closed systems.
1- The total exergy transfer is zero for isolated systems since they inole no heat, wok, or
mass transfer.
8-= THE 3ECREASE OF EXERGY PRINCIPLE
Recall the followings5
o Conseration of energy principle5 energy cannot be created or destroyed during a
process ,Ch. 1-.
o Increase of entropy principle5 entropy can be created but cannot be destroyed ,Ch.
7-.
The increase of entropy principle is a statement of the second law and it implies that
entropy generation "
gen
must be positie ,actual processes- or zero ,reersible processes-,
but it cannot be negatie.
6n alternatie statement of the second law of thermodynamics, called the decrease of
exergy principle, which is the counterpart of the increase of entropy principle, can be
deried by considering an isolated system ,as shown in 3ig. 4%F8- which undergoes a
process from state $ to 1. It is gien as

( ) 8
$ 1

isolated isolated
$ $ $
That is, t&e "e)(e!se #7 e/e(.y >(%)>,e can be stated as follows5
the exergy of an isolated system during a process always decreases or, in the limiting case
of a reversible process, remains constant.
++3or an isolated system, the decrease in exergy e'uals exergy destroyed.
6nything that generates entropy destroys exergy. The exergy destroyed ,also called
irreersibility- is proportional to the entropy generated, the relationship being

8
gen o destroyed
" $
N#te: The aboe two e'uations can be applied to any kind of system undergoing any kind
of process if the system and its surroundings can be enclosed by a sufficiently large
arbitrary boundary to form an isolated system.
The decrease of exergy principle can be summarized as follows5

'

<

>
process possible
process versible
process le Irreversib
$
destroyed
Im 8
Re 8
8
8-? EXERGY 2ALANCE: CLOSE3 SYSTEMS
*xergy can be destroyed, but it cannot be created. The exergy change of a system during a
process is less than the exergy transfer by an amount e'ual to the exergy destroyed during
the process within the system boundaries.
The decrease of exergy principle can be expressed as
system destroyed out in
$ $ $ $
The aboe e'uation, also called the e/e(.y $!,!%)e, can be stated as the exergy change of
a system during a process is equal to the difference between the net exergy transfer
through the system boundary and the exergy destroyed within the system boundaries as a
result of irreversibilities.
In general, exergy can be transferred to or from a system by heat, work, and mass transfer.
The aboe e'uation can be expressed in rate form as





exergy in
change o# 'ate
system
n destructio
exergy o# 'ate
destroyed
mass and %ork heat by
trans#er exergy net o# 'ate
out in
dt d$ $ $ $
, ,
o The rates of exergy transfer by heat, work, and mass are expressed as
( ) & $
o heat

? $ , use#ul %ork
W $


, and
m $
mass

, respectiely.
o It is usually more conenient to find the entropy generation first and then to ealuate
the exergy destroyed directly from
gen o destroyed
" $


o !hen the enironment conditions P
o
and
o
and the end states of the system are
specified, the exergy change of the system @
system
7 @
1
> @
$
can be determined
directly from *'. 4%$7 of the textbook regardless of how the process is executed.
3or a closed system, no mass flow is inoled and thus no exergy transfer by mass. Gsing
the general #ormal sign convention #or heat and %ork trans#er ,see page &F of textbook-, the
exergy balance for a closed system can be expressed explicitly as

( ) [ ]
$ 1 $ 1
$ $ $ " V V P W &

gen o o k
k
o

,
_

or, in rate form, as

dt
d$
"
dt
dV
P W &

system
gen o
system
o k
k
o

,
_

,
_

$
8-8 EXERGY 2ALANCE: CONTROL 1OLUMES
3or control olumes, there will be exergy transfer across the boundaries. Thus, the general
exergy balance relations can be expressed as

( )
CV destroyed out mass in mass %ork heat
$ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ 1 , ,
+
or

( ) [ ] ( )
CV destroyed
out in
o k
k
o
$ $ $ m m V V P W &

$ 1 $ 1
$ +

,
_

or, in rate form, as

dt
d$
$ m m
dt
dV
P W &

CV
destroyed
out in
CV
o k
k
o
+
,
_

,
_

$
E/e(.y 2!,!%)e 7#( Ste!"y-F,#' Systems
<ost control olumes encountered in practice ,such as turbines, compressors, nozzles,
diffusers, heat exchangers, pipes, and ducts- operate steadily, and thus they experience no
changes in their mass, energy, entropy, and exergy contents as well as their olumes. Then
the rate form of the exergy balance reduces for a ste!"y-7,#' >(#)ess to

8 $ +

,
_

destroyed
out in
k
k
o
$ m m W &

3or a single stream ,one%inlet, one%exit- steady%flow deice, the exergy balance can be
expressed on a unit%mass basis as

( ) 8 $
1 $
+

,
_

destroyed k
k
o
x % (

where
m & (

?
and
. ? m W %

Re-e(s$,e W#(45 W
(e-
The reersible work can be obtained in all the e'uations aboe by setting the exergy
destroyed to zero. Then, the work term becomes the reersible work. 3or example, the
reersible power for a single%stream steady%flow deice is

( )

,
_

+
k
k
o
rev
&

m W

$
1 $

Se)#%"-L!' E77)e%)y #7 Ste!"y-F,#' 3e-)es5
II
The second%law efficiency of arious steady%flow deices can be determined from its
general definition,
II
7 ,*xergy recoered-?,*xergy supplied-. #ome examples are
proided below5
6diabatic turbines with negligible changes in /* and 0*

1 $
1 $
,

h h
%
%
rev
turb II or
1 $
,
$

gen o
turb II
s
where s
gen
7 s
1
> s
$
.
6diabatic compressor with negligible changes in /* and 0*

$ 1
$ 1
,
,
h h %
%
in
in rev
comp II

or
$ 1
,
$
h h
s
gen o
comp II

where s
gen
7 s
1
> s
$
.
6diabatic heat exchanger with two unmixed fluid streams ,see 3ig. 4%;; for
numbering-

( )
( )
1 $
F ;
,

hot
cold
)$ II
m
m

or
( )
1 $
,
$

hot
gen o
)$ II
m
"

where
( ) ( ) .
F ; $ 1
s s m s s m "
cold hot gen
+

6diabatic mixing chamber ,with hot stream $ mixing with cold stream 1 to form
mixture F-

1 1 $ $
F F
,

m m
m
mix II


+

or
1 1 $ $
,
$

m m
"
gen o
mix II


+

where
1 $ F
m m m +
and
.
$ $ 1 1 F F
s m s m s m "
gen