Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S.

Dhaidan

Reversible Non-Flow processes

I-Constant Volume Process (Isochoric)(Isometric)
In a constant volume process, the working substance is contained in a rigid vessel;
hence the boundaries of the system are immovable and no boundary work con done on
or by the system. Other kinds of works can be applied.
In common, it will be assumed that “constant volume” implies zero work unless stated
otherwise.

For the non-flow energy equation,

q  w  u
For constant volume process (v1=v2 and w=0)
q  u  u2  u1
Q  U  m ( u2  u1 )
i.e. all the heat supplied (q +ve) in a constant volume process goes to increase the
internal energy. If (q -ve) it means the heat rejected from the system equals the decrease
in internal enegy.
For a perfect or an ideal gas,
q  u  u2  u1  Cv (T2  T1 )
Q  U  m ( u2  u1 )  m Cv (T2  T1 )
Also, from equation of state
P1v1=RT1
P2v2=RT2
For constant volume process, v1=v2,
P2 T2

P1 T1

II-Constant Pressure Process (Isobaric)

For this process, the system boundary must move against external resistance as heat is
supplied, for instance a fluid in a cylinder-behind a piston can be made to undergo a
constant pressure process.
The boundary work done on or by the system
undergoes expansion or compression process is:
Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

2
W   P dV
1
2 2
w   P dv  P  dv  P(v2  v1 )
1 1

W  mP(v2  v1 )  P(V2  V1 )
For the non-flow energy equation,
q  w  u
q  (u 2  u1 )  w
q  (u 2  u1 )  P ( v2  v1 )
q  (u 2  P2 v2 )  (u1  P1 v1 )
But , h  u  P v
q  h2  h1
Q  m q  m (h2  h1 )  H 2  H 1
This means that the heat supplied or rejected equals the change in enthalpy
For a perfect or an ideal gas,
q   h  h2  h1  C p (T2  T1 )
Q  H  m ( h2  h1 )  m C p (T2  T1 )
Also, from equation of state
P1v1=RT1
P2v2=RT2
For constant pressure process, P1=P2,
T2 v2

T1 v1
III-Constant Temperature Process (Isothermal)
In this process, the temperature remains constant.
In isothermal expansion, the pressure of the fluid
decreases and there is a tendency for the temperature
to fall. Therefore, heat must be added to keep the
temperature at the initial value.

In an isothermal compression, the pressure of the fluid

increases and there is a tendency for the temperature to
rise. Therefore, heat must be rejected to maintain the
temperature constant.
Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

For a vapor, from state 1 to state A the pressure remains at P1, since in the wet region
the pressure and temperature are the corresponding saturation values.
P1=PA # P2
T1 = TA = T2

For the non-flow energy equation,

q  w  u
q  (u 2  u1 )  w
Q  U 2  U1  W
For an ideal gas, the isothermal process is more easily dealt with than that for vapor,
Also,
Pv=RT
P1 v1 = R T
P2 v2 = R T
P v =constant (Boyle’s law)
P2 v2

P1 v1
P=c/v
c = P1 v1= P2 v2
2 2 2
c dv v v v
w   P dv   dv  c   c ln( 2 )  P1v1 ln( 2 )  P2 v2 ln( 2 )
1 1
v 1
v v1 v1 v1
P1 P P v ……….(*)
 P1v1 ln( )  P2 v2 ln( 1 )  R T ln( 1 )  R T ln( 2 ) 
P2 P2 P2 v1
Obviously, there are a large number of equations for calculating the work done.
Applying Joule’s law for a perfect gas:
u2-u1=Cv (T2-T1)
But for isothermal process, T2=T1, thus
u2-u1=0 (internal energy remains constant in an isothermal process for a perfect
gas)
Therefore, For a perfect gas only:
Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

v2 v
q  w  P1v1 ln( )  P2 v2 ln( 2 )
v1 v1
P1 P P v
 P1v1 ln( )  P2 v2 ln( 1 )  R T ln( 1 )  R T ln( 2 )
P2 P2 P2 v1
v2 v
Q  W  mP1v1 ln( )  mP2 v2 ln( 2 )
v1 v1
P1 P P v
 mP1v1 ln( )  mP2 v2 ln( 1 )  mR T ln( 1 )  mR T ln( 2 )
P2 P2 P2 v1

Note
In sometimes to facilitate calculating the work done for vapor, the vapor is assumed to
behave as a perfect gas in process (A-2) (referring to previous figure), while the process
(1-A) has the same work that in constant pressure process.
w=1wA+Aw2
1wA=P1(vA-v1)= PA(vA-v1)

Aw2=The same work of Eq(*)

2 2 2
c dv v v v
A w2   P dv   dv  c   c ln( 2 )  P1v1 ln( 2 )  P2 v2 ln( 2 )
1 1
v 1
v v1 v1 v1
P1 P P v
 P1v1 ln( )  P2 v2 ln( 1 )  R T ln( 1 )  R T ln( 2 )
P2 P2 P2 v1
The molecular weight and gas constant of water vapor are 18.015 and 0.4615 kJ/kg.K
as found in Table (A-1).

IV-Adiabatic Process
In this process, no heat is transferred to or from the system, i.e. the system is perfectly
thermal insulated.
For the non-flow energy equation,
q  w  u
Q  W  U
For reversible adiabatic process (q=0, Q=0),
 w  u
w  u1  u 2
W  U1  U 2

In an adiabatic expansion process, the work done by the system causes a reduction in
internal energy of the system.
Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

For a vapor undergoing a reversible adiabatic process, the work done can be obtained
by finding the internal energies u1 and u2.

For perfect gas, u=CvT

Then:
w  Cv (T1  T2 )
W  m Cv (T1  T2 )

Also,
R
Cv  , Pv  R T
k 1
R (P v  P v )
w (T1  T2 )  1 1 2 2 ................(# )
k 1 k 1
mR m ( P1 v1  P2 v2 ) ( P1 V1  P2 V2 )
W (T1  T2 )  
k 1 k 1 k 1
For a perfect gas, a law relating P and v is derived as below:
Considering the non-flow energy equation in differential form,
q  w  du
For reversible adiabatic process, q  0
 w  du ………..(1)
Also, from the definition of work done,
w  P dv ………(2)
 P dv  du
……(3)
P dv  du  0
According to Jule’s law for internal energy of perfect gas,
du  Cv dT ………(4)
Applying the equation of state,
P=RT/v ……..(5)
Substitute equations (4)&(5) in equation (3), we get:
dv
RT  Cv dT  0
v
Dividing by T, we get,
dv dT
R  Cv 0
v T
Integrating,
R ln v  Cv ln T  constant
Substituting T=P v/ R
Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

Pv
R ln v  Cv ln( )  constant
R
Dividing by Cv,
R Pv
ln v  ln( )  constant
Cv R

R
But, k 1 
Cv
Where k is the adiabatic index of the
Perfect gas (Table A-2)
Pv
(k  1) ln v  ln( )  constant
R
Pv
ln v ( k 1)  ln( )  constant
R
k 1
Pvv
ln( )  constant
R
P vk
ln( )  constant
R
P vk
 e constant
R
P vk  c
For any perfect gas undergoing reversible adiabatic process from state 1 to 2,
k k
P1 v1  P2 v2
P2 v V
 ( 1 )k  ( 1 )k
P1 v2 V2
V2 P
 ( 1 )1 / k
V1 P2

Also by utilizing equation of state, we can get further relations:

T2 v V
 ( 1 ) k 1  ( 1 ) k 1
T1 v2 V2
V2 T
 ( 1 )1 /( k 1)
V1 T2
T2 P2 k k1
( )
T1 P1
The work done (Eq (#)) can be estimated also by its definition:

2
( P1 v1  P2 v2 )
w   P dv  (Prove!)
1
k 1
Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

V-Polytropic Processes
Many processes in practice approximate to reversible polytropic law of Pvn=constant,
where n is a constant. Both vapors and perfect gases obey this type of law.
The various previous processes are special cases of the polytropic processes for a
perfect gas.

 When n= 
Pv  =constant, i.e. v=constant
(constant volume process)
Process (1-D) constant volume heating process
Process (1-D/) constant volume cooling process
 When n=0
Pv0=constant, i.e. P=constant
(constant pressure process)
Process (1-A) constant pressure cooling process
Process (1-A/) constant pressure heating process
 When n=1
Pv=constant, i.e. T=constant
(constant temperature or isothermal process)
Process (1-B) isothermal compression process
Process (1-B/) isothermal expansion process
 When n=k
Pvk=constant, i.e. q=0
(adiabatic process)
Process (1-C) adiabatic compression process
Process (1-C/) adiabatic expansion process

The boundary work of reversible polytropic process can be computed as:

2
w   P dv
1

c
P  c v n
vn
v
2
 v1 n 
2
 cv21 n  cv11 n 
w   c v dv  c 
n
   
1 1  n  v1  1 n 

n n
c  P1 v1  P2 v2
Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

 P2 v2 v21 n  P1 v1 v11 n  P2 v2  P1 v1 P1 v1  P2 v2
w   (*)
 1 n  1 n n 1
m( P2 v2  P1 v1 ) m( P1 v1  P2 v2 ) P1 V1  P2 V2
W  
1 n n 1 n 1
The last equation is applied for any working substance (vapors and perfect gases)
undergoing a reversible polytropic process. Also,
Pvn=c
n n
P1 v1  P2 v2  c
P2 v V
 ( 1 )n  ( 1 )n
P1 v2 V2
V2 v2 P
  ( 1 )1 / n
V1 v1 P2
For perfect gas only:
P v= R T
T2 v V
 ( 1 ) n1  ( 1 ) n1
T1 v2 V2
V2 v2 T
  ( 1 )1 /( n1)
V1 v1 T2
n 1
T2 P
( 2) n
T1 P1
Furthermore, the work done can be calculated as:
P1 v1  P2 v2 R (T1  T2 )
w 
n 1 n 1
P V  P2 V2 mR (T1  T2 )
W 1 1 
n 1 n 1

The amount of heat supplied or rejected in reversible polytropic process can be

evaluated by non-flow energy equation
q  w  u
q  u  w
For vapor the work done is calculated from equation (*), while the change in internal
energy (u2-u1) can be found by vapor table after determining the states of vapor.

For perfect gas:

Mechanical Department-College of Engineering 2nd year-Thermodynamics Dr. Nabeel S. Dhaidan

q  u  w
R (T1  T2 )
q  Cv (T2  T1 ) 
n 1
R
But Cv 
k 1
R R (T1  T2 )
q (T2  T1 ) 
k 1 n 1
R(T1  T2 ) R (T1  T2 )
q 
1 k n 1
1 1
q  R (T1  T2 )(  )
1  k n 1
1 k  n 1
q  R (T1  T2 )( )
(1  k )(n  1)
R (T1  T2 )  n  k 
q  
n 1  1 k 
nk 
q w
 1 k 
nk 
Q W (This equation is applied for ideal gas only )
 1 k 