Calculating Fluid Properties with EES The Engineering Equation Solver (EES) should be used for all thermodynamic

property calculations in this class. EES is accessible in the SEAS computer labs under Start/All Programs/Course-Specific Software/MEAM/EES. Note: you can also access EES from your personal computer by installing Virtual PC Lab on it (instructions may be found at http://www.seas.upenn.edu/cets/answers/virtualLab.html ) Preliminaries EES can be used to calculate fluid properties given other fluid properties at the same state condition. However, care must be taken such that the units in this calculation are consistent (otherwise EES will give an error). EES can automatically assign units to calculated properties and will check all properties for dimensional consistency if set up to do so. When first running EES you should do the following to ensure that this is done: Options/Preferences o Put a check mark next to Check units automatically o Put a check mark next to Set units automatically when possible o Click Store to save these preferences for any future calculations (if you click OK it will save these preferences for the current calculation only)

Also, it is important to set the correct unit system for the problem you are solving. To do this: Options/Unit System o Click the various options for units required for your problem. Make sure to keep specific properties on a mass basis for all calculations in this class. o Click Store if you plan to use this unit system for future calculations. If you plan to use this unit system for the current calculations only, click OK.

Calculating Properties Once the units have been set up, calculations can begin. First open up a new file: File/New

Then type the known properties and the properties to be calculated into the new file. For the example below (English units, first part of Example 2.1 on p.89 in packet) we know the temperature (1000 F) and pressure (2000 psia) of steam at state 1, and we wish to calculate the enthalpy and entropy at this state. This can be done as follows:

1. Since the units are English units (F and psia), go to Options/Unit System and make sure that English, Fahrenheit, and psia are checked and click OK (or click Store to save these preferences for any future calculations beyond the current one). 2. Enter the following code into the Equations Window T1=1000 p1=2000 h1=enthalpy(steam,T=T1,P=p1) s1=entropy(steam,T=T1,P=p1) x1=quality(steam,T=T1,P=p1) 3. Click Calculate/Solve (or press F2) to obtain the properties. A Solution window will appear showing the input and output properties and their units. Make sure that there is a statement in the window No unit problems were detected. (If there is a statement such as 2 potential unit problems were detected, there are inconsistencies in the units entered. In that case go to Options/Variable Info and under the Units column delete any units that appear. Since you have already specified the units earlier under Options/Unit System the system will apply the correct units automatically. In the example above, we are denoting temperature, pressure, enthalpy, entropy, and quality at state 1 as T1, p1, h1, s1,and x1, respectively. The unknown h1, s1, and x1 are calculated using the syntax above (or, more generally, by variablename=enthalpy(fluidname,T=knowntemperature,P=knownpressure). The text highlighted in red should not be changed). In the enthalpy and entropy function calls, the first variable must be the name of the fluid, and the other two variables must match the variables set above (e.g. T1 and p1). Rather than typing the function calls in directly, we can also use the menus to help us calculate properties. For example: Options/Function Info o Click Fluid properties o Left column: choose the particular fluid property of interest o Right column: choose the particular fluid of interest (e.g. steam for the current problem) o Independent variables: choose the known independent variables (e.g. T,P for this problem or some other combination can also be chosen if those are known instead) o Click Paste to paste it into your Equations Window o Edit as needed so that the variablename, knowntemperature, and knownpressure of the pasted text are updated to match those specified in your particular problem

Once the equations have been written, we can calculate the unknown properties: To save your work: File/Save As

o Save under Computer/seas home directory (S:)