Addis Ababa Science and Technology University

College of Engineering

Thermodynamics
ChEG2104
February 2026

Girma Biratu (PhD)

Department of Chemical Engineering

 Course Outline

1. Introduction to basic concepts of Thermodynamics

2. Properties of pure substances

3. The First Law of Thermodynamics

4. The Second Law of Thermodynamics

5. The 3rd Law of Thermodynamics

6. Thermodynamic Cycles
 Chapter One

Introduction to Basic Concepts of Thermodynamics

 Course Outcome
The student should be able to:
1. Define Thermodynamics.
2. Explain universe, system, surroundings, and boundary.
3. Recognize and analyse open system, closed system, and isolated
system.
4. Define thermodynamic process; adiabatic, isothermal, isobaric, and
isochoric processes.
5. Explain equilibrium conditios.
6. Application of thermodyamics.
 Introduction to Thermodynamics
• The word thermodynamics was originated from two Greek words ‘therme’
and ‘dynamis’. The ‘therme’ means heat, and the dynamis means motion
or force or power.
• Thermodynamics literally means the study of motion or power or force due
to heat.
• Thermodynamics is the science that studies energy, its transformations, and its
interactions with matter in the form of heat and work.

• It studies how energy flows in or out of any system when the system
undergoes some physical or chemical change.

Thermodynamics is all about the study of heat flow, how much heat goes out,
why it goes out, and what changes happen.
When a car engine runs, it burns fuel to release heat, which is then used to do work,
like moving the car forward.
 Thermodynamics helps us understand how efficiently that heat is turned into
motion, or why some energy is always lost in the process of converting it into
work.
Thermodynamics

 does not deal with individual molecules.

 deals with their large groups and overall behavior of molecules,

 is a macroscopic science.

 studies bulk properties like pressure and temperature.

 Basic Concepts of Thermodynamics
• A system is the specific part of the universe that we want to focus on.
E.g., if we are studying the boiling of water in a pot, the water inside the pot
is our system.
• The surroundings are everything outside the system, which can affect the
system, or being affected by the system.
In this case, the air around the pot, the stove, the table, and so on.
• The boundary is what separates the system from the surroundings.
• The Universe is the system plus the surroundings.

System

Boundary

Surrounding

Surrounding
 Adiabatic Permeability

Boundary types

Imaginary Rigid

Real Flexible

matter
Boundary

Boundary
Boundary
Boundary
 Types of systems

Depending on how a system interacts with its surroundings, it

can be classified into: open, closed, and isolated systems.
An open system
It is the one which can exchange both matter and energy with its
surroundings.
• A very simple example is a boiling pot of water without a lid.
• Steam goes out, that's the exchange of matter, and heat flows
in or out, that's the exchange of energy.
 A closed system
A system that can exchange only energy, not matter.
E.g. A sealed metal container of gas, heat can flow in or out of it, but the gas itself
stays inside.
Isolated system
A system that can neither exchange matter nor energy with its surroundings.
E.g. A perfect thermosflask is an isolated system, because ideally no heat enters or
leaves it, and no matter crosses its boundary.
Systems can be either homogeneous or heterogeneous based on their composition.

A homogeneous system is one that is uniformed throughout, which means it has the
same composition and properties in every part.
A single solid like a block of copper, a pure liquid like distilled water, or a uniform mixture
of gases like air, are all homogeneous systems.

A heterogeneous system, on the other hand, has more than one phase and is not
uniformed throughout.
Ice floating in water is a heterogeneous system because there are two distinct phases, solid
ice and liquid water.
The chemical composition may be the same, but the physical states are different.
Another example is oil and water in the same container.
They do not mix and form two separate layers, making it a heterogeneous system.
 Thermodynamic properties

These properties are measurable quantities that define the condition or state of the

system. E.g.,: pressure, volume, temperature, internal energy, and enthalpy.

Pressure, volume, and temperature are the three most fundamental properties used to

describe the state of any thermodynamic system, especially gases.

Thermodynamic properties are divided into intensive properties and

extensive properties.
  An intensive property is the one that does not depend on the amount and size of
substance present.
It depends only on the nature of the material.
E.g. temperature, pressure, density, color, viscosity, refractive index, and specific
heat capacity.

 Extensive properties depend on the amount of substance present and are additive.
 The more material you have, the greater the value of the property.
 If you double the amount of a substance, its mass, volume, and total internal
energy also double.
E.g. mass, volume, energy, and enthalpy, internal energy, etc.
 Generally, uppercase letters are used to denote extensive properties (except mass m),
and lower case letters are used for intensive properties (except pressure P,
temperature T).
 Extensive properties per unit mass are called specific properties, e.g. specific volume
(v=V/m).

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 The state of a system
The state of a thermodynamic system is the exact condition (described by certain
measurable quantities called state variables or state parameters) at a specific time.
These variables include pressure, volume, temperature, and composition.
 A gas in a cylinder with a movable piston, its condition can be described by its
pressure, volume, and temperature.
  If the gas is at a certain pressure, P1, volume V1, and temperature T1, it is in
state 1.
 If further heating or compressing, its pressure, volume, and temperature will
change to new values, say P2, V2, and T2, and it will be in state 2.
 Thus, a change in any state variable means a change in the state of the system.

• The properties that define the state of a system are known as state variables,
and the relationship between them is described by an equation of state.
• E.g., for an ideal gas, the relationship between pressure, volume, and
temperature can be expressed by the ideal gas equation.

PV=nRT
A state Function and a path function.
 A state function is a property whose value depends only on the current state
of the system, not on how it reached that state.
• It depends on where you are, not on the route you took to get there.

 State functions includes pressure, volume, temperature, internal energy,

enthalpy, and entropy.
 A path function are a property whose value depends on how it reached that
state
• For example, if you compress a gas slowly or quickly, the amount of work
done and heat transferred will differ, even if the starting and ending pressures
and volumes are the same.
Heat and work only exist while energy is being transferred, and they depend on the path of
transfer.
Work is the energy transfer that occurs between a system and its
surroundings when a force causes a displacement at the boundary
of the system.
work is said to be done by a system if the sole effect on the
surroundings can be reduced to the raising of a weight.
When work is done by a system, it is arbitrarily taken as (+ve).
When work is done on a system, it is taken as negative (−ve).

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Heat is the energy in transition between the system and the surroundings by virtue of
the difference in temperature.
Heat always flows from a higher temperature region to a lower temperature region.
The unit of heat is Joule (J) or Calorie.

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 Relation between Work, Heat and Energy
Between any two equilibrium states, the change in internal energy
(∆U) is equal to the differences of heat transfer into the system and
work done by the system.
This statement is called First Law of Thermodynamics.
The internal energy of a system changes from an initial value (Ui) to a
final value (Uf)due to heat added (Q) and work done by the system
(W).

∆U = Uf – Ui = Q – W

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 Thermodynamic process
• Transformation of a system from one equilibrium state to another. It can be
classified as;

• Isothermal (T = constant)
• Isobaric (P = constant)
• Isochoric (V = constant)
• Adiabatic (Q = 0)
• Polytropic (PVn = constant)
Isothermal Process
Temperature remains constant Isobaric Process
For ideal gas: PV = constant Pressure remains constant
ΔU = 0 (ideal gas) Work: W = P(V2 − V1)
E.g.: Slow gas expansion in piston-cylinder Common in industrial reactors
E.g.: Heating in open system
Isochoric Process
Volume remains constant
No boundary work (W = 0)  An isentropic process: is a
Heat only changes internal energy thermodynamic process in which the
E.g.: Rigid storage tank entropy of the system remains constant.
Adiabatic Process
No heat transfer Polytropic Process
Energy change due to work only General form: PVn = constant
For ideal gas: PVγ = constant n = 0 → Isobaric
Applications: Compressors, turbines, IC n = 1 → Isothermal
engines n = γ → Adiabatic
Used in compressor and turbine analysis
 Fig: An isothermal system in which
temperature is constant across the
boundaries
Fig: An adiabatic system in
which no heat cross the
boundaries

Fig: An isochoric
system in which
constant volume.

Fig: An isobaric system in which

constant pressure. Fig: An isentropic system in which
constant entropy of combustion engine

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Cyclic process - when a system in a given initial state goes through
various processes and finally return to its initial state, the system has
undergone a cyclic process or cycle.

ΔU = 0
Net Heat = Net Work
E.g., engine, power and refrigeration cycles

Graphical Representation
P–v Diagram
T–S Diagram
P–T Diagram
Area under P–V curve = Net work
Area under T-S curve= Net heat
 Reversible process
 A process that, once having taken place, can be reversed, and in so
doing leaves no change.
 The system and surroundings are returned to their original
condition.
 In reality, there are no truly (100%) reversible processes.
 It is a starting point on which to base engineering study and
calculation.

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 Irreversible Process
 It is a process that cannot return both the
system and the surroundings to their original
conditions.
 That is, the system and the surroundings would
Fig: Irreversible process cycles.
not return to their original conditions if the
process was reversed.
 For example, an automobile engine does not
give back the fuel it took to drive up a hill as it
coasts back down the hill.

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 Quasi‐equilibrium process: can be viewed as a sufficiently slow process
that allows the system to adjust itself internally and remains infinitesimally
close to an equilibrium state at all times.
 Quasi‐equilibrium process is an idealized process and is not a true
representation of the actual process.
 We model actual processes with quasi‐equilibrium ones.

 Non-quasi-equilibrium: is when the piston is pushed in very rapidly,

the gas molecules near the piston face will not have sufficient time to
escape, and they will pile up in front of the piston.

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 Laws of Thermodynamics
 The laws of thermodynamics are based on observations of nature.
 There are four common types of Thermodynamics Laws:

a) Zero law of thermodynamics: states that if two thermodynamic systems are both in
thermal equilibrium with a third system, then the two systems are in thermal
equilibrium.
b) First law of thermodynamics: states that during an interaction, energy can change
from one form to another but the total amount of energy remains constant.
c) Second law of thermodynamics: states that processes that involve the transfer or
conversion of heat energy are irreversible and always move toward more disorder.
Or it states that entropy (degree of disorder) constantly increases in a closed system.
d) Third law of thermodynamics: states that the entropy of a closed system at
thermodynamic equilibrium approaches a constant value when its temperature
approaches absolute zero.
Figure: Laws of thermodynamics
 Why do environmental engineers learns thermodynamics courses?
Energy Systems:
 Thermodynamics helps them understand how energy is converted from
one form to another, ensuring efficiency and sustainability in energy
production and consumption.
Waste Management:
 In waste treatment and management, thermodynamics helps engineers
understand the heat and energy involved in processes like incineration,
composting, or anaerobic digestion.
Pollution Control:
 For example, in air quality control, understanding how gases interact
under different temperatures and pressures can help design effective
filtration and scrubber systems.
 Why do environmental engineers learns thermodynamics courses?

Water Treatment:
 Thermodynamics is crucial for water treatment systems, where
processes like distillation, reverse osmosis, and other separation
techniques are in optimizing these systems for both efficiency and cost-
effectiveness.
Sustainable Design:
 For example, when designing green buildings or sustainable systems,
understanding energy flow and heat exchange can contribute to more
eco-friendly, energy-efficient solutions.
Climate Change Modeling:
 Environmental engineers use thermodynamics to model and
understand how energy flows through the atmosphere and ecosystems.
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 Application Areas of Thermodynamics
 Thermodynamic laws and principles are very important tools to get
the energy transfer or fluid properties involved in many engineering
systems such as:
 Automobile engines
 Turbines, compressors, pumps
 Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems
 Vapor compression and absorption refrigeration
 Cooling of electronic equipment
 Geothermal systems
 Wind power
 Biomedical applications

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