ASIGNMENT 1 TDY2601 YEAR-2024

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

Assignment No: 1

Year Course

TDY2601

THERMODYNAMICS I

Examiner: Dr. S Ramuhaheli

• This assessment has 9 questions covering chapter 1, 2 & 3.

Open Rubric
ASIGNMENT 1 TDY2601 YEAR-2024

Question 1

Blood pressure is usually measured by wrapping a closed air-filled jacket equipped with a
pressure gage around the upper arm of a person at the level of the heart. Using a mercury
manometer and a stethoscope, the systolic pressure (the maximum pressure when the heart is
pumping) and the diastolic pressure (the minimum pressure when the heart is resting) are
measured in mmHg. The systolic and diastolic pressures of a healthy person are about 120 mmHg
and 80 mmHg, respectively, and are indicated as 120/80.

(a) Express both of these gage pressures in kPa, psi, and meter water column. (12)

Question 2

Consider the system shown in the figure below. If a change of 0.7 kPa in the pressure of air causes
the brine–mercury interface in the right column to drop by 5 mm in the brine level in the right column
while the pressure in the brine pipe remains constant.

Determine:

(a) the ratio of A2 /A1. (4)

Question 3
The lower half of a 6-m-high cylindrical container is filled with water ( ρ = 1000 kg/m3) and the upper
half with oil that has a specific gravity of 0.85.

Determine
(a) the pressure difference between the top and bottom of the cylinder. (4)

Question 4
The lighting needs of a storage room are being met by six fluorescent light fixtures, each fixture
containing four lamps rated at 60 W each. All the lamps are on during operating hours of the facility,
which are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. 365 days a year. The storage room is actually used for an average of 3
h a day. If the price of electricity is $0.11/kWh.
Determine:
(a) the amount of energy and money that will be saved as a result of installing motion sensors,
and (4)
(b) the simple payback period if the purchase price of the sensor is $32 and it takes 1 h to install
it at a cost of $40. (4)

Question 5

A geothermal pump is used to pump brine whose density is 1050 kg/m3 at a rate of 0.3 m3/s from a
depth of 200 m. For a pump efficiency of 74 percent.

Determine:

(a) the required power input to the pump. (4)

Disregard frictional losses in the pipes, and assume the geothermal water at 200 m depth to be
exposed to the atmosphere.

Question 6

A wind turbine is rotating at 15 rpm under steady winds flowing through the turbine at a rate of
42,000 kg/s. The tip velocity of the turbine blade is measured to be 250 km/h. If 180 kW power is
produced by the turbine.

Determine:

(a) the average velocity of the air, and (6)

(b) the conversion efficiency of the turbine, and (4)

Take the density of air to be 1.31 kg/m3.

3
Question 7

A 1-m3 tank containing air at 10°C and 350 kPa is connected through a valve to another tank
containing 3 kg of air at 35°C and 150 kPa. Now the valve is opened, and the entire system is
allowed to reach thermal equilibrium with the surroundings, which are at 20°C.

Determine:

(a) the volume of the second tank and the final equilibrium pressure of air. (8)

Question 8

Determine the specific volume of superheated water vapor at 15 MPa and 350°C using:

(a) the ideal-gas equation, (2)

(b) the generalized compressibility chart, (7)

(c) the steam tables, and (1)

(d) the error involved in the first two cases. (2)

Question 9

Carbon dioxide gas enters a pipe at 3 MPa and 500 K at a rate of 2 kg/s. CO2 is cooled at constant
pressure as it flows in the pipe, and the temperature of the CO2 drops to 450 K at the exit.

Determine the volume flow rate and the density of carbon dioxide at the inlet and the volume flow
rate at the exit of the pipe using:

(a) the ideal-gas equation, (6)

Total [80]

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UNISA
2024