Enthelpy change at constant volume?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the enthalpy change of an ideal gas in a thermally insulated, constant volume system when heat Q is added. It explores the relationship between internal energy (U) and enthalpy (h), highlighting that while dU equals Q, the enthalpy change dh appears to increase by a factor of gamma times Q, raising questions about energy conservation. The conversation also touches on the implications for computational fluid dynamics (CFD), emphasizing that when fluid is pushed into a control volume, flow work must be accounted for. It clarifies that CvT represents only the "sensible" energy, not the total internal energy, as other forms of energy are often neglected in practical applications. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for accurate energy calculations in thermodynamic systems.
shuuchuu
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
I can't seem to figure this out although I suspect I'm making a silly mistake.
Assuming a closed volume of ideal gas that's also thermally insulated apart from the addition of heat of Q joules.
Since it's constant volume, dT = Q / Cvm
also for internal energy U, dU = CvmdT, i.e. dU = Q , also true because dV = 0
now considering enthalpy, h = U + PV => dh = dU + PdV + VdP => dh = dU + VdP
but dP = d(rho.RT) = rho.RdT
so, dh = dU + mRdT = dU + (R/Cv)Q = dU + (gamma - 1)Q
basically dh = gamma.Q

the part I don't understand is how can enthalpy increase by gamma.Q when only Q transfers into the box. The change in enthalpy is greater than the energy going in?
 
Science news on Phys.org
Energy conservation is expressed by the fact that the change in U is equal to the energy going in. H is just a useful quantity, it doesn't represent the energy.
 
Thanks for the reply.

So if you were pushing a packet of fluid into an existing volume, the actual energy increase in the volume would be CvmT, as opposed to CpmT, with the corresponding work?

Specifically it's for CFD, so if you had a control volume containing fluid at T Kelvin, and the mass flux across a face was 1kg, then the real energy flux would be CvT?

Cheers
 
"pushing" a fluid into a control volume requires flow work which is PV for an ideal gas or for an incompressible substance. This must be taken into account when you are doing CFD, unless the program does it for you.

Also note that CvT is not the "total" internal energy, just what is called "sensible" energy since its the one which gets moved around. THe object has also other energies which are neglected because they never change in most applications.
 
I need to calculate the amount of water condensed from a DX cooling coil per hour given the size of the expansion coil (the total condensing surface area), the incoming air temperature, the amount of air flow from the fan, the BTU capacity of the compressor and the incoming air humidity. There are lots of condenser calculators around but they all need the air flow and incoming and outgoing humidity and then give a total volume of condensed water but I need more than that. The size of the...
Thread 'Why work is PdV and not (P+dP)dV in an isothermal process?'
Let's say we have a cylinder of volume V1 with a frictionless movable piston and some gas trapped inside with pressure P1 and temperature T1. On top of the piston lay some small pebbles that add weight and essentially create the pressure P1. Also the system is inside a reservoir of water that keeps its temperature constant at T1. The system is in equilibrium at V1, P1, T1. Now let's say i put another very small pebble on top of the piston (0,00001kg) and after some seconds the system...
Back
Top