Page 9 - Advanced thermodynamics for engineers

xvi PREFACE – SECOND EDITION

Obviously it would be beneficial if the developed (OECD) countries could reduce their energy con-
sumption, but it is essential that the developing countries are encouraged to employ the most efficient
technology to contain their legitimate demands.
We then considered the development of the new edition, and were helped by comments on the first
edition obtained by the publishers. We both agreed that the underlying approach, centred on equilib-
rium thermodynamics, should be maintained, but it was apparent that the original text, written by me to
support the final year undergraduate course, and the postgraduate Masters course, relied too heavily on
the structure of those courses and the assumed background of the reader. We hope we have remedied
this by adding material at the beginning of the book that revises basic thermodynamics – this removes
the rapid immersion of the reader in the concepts of equilibrium in the first chapter. We have also added
some more ‘practical’ material on ‘heat engine’ cycles early in the text to help the reader get a feel for
the applications of the more esoteric material later. Finally, Chapters 16 and 17 discuss how the basic
concepts of engineering thermodynamics affect the operation of reciprocating internal combustion en-
gines and gas turbines. Professor Turan provided many ideas about the structure of the book, and these
are evident if the first and second editions are compared: we hope that the development of the material
is now more logical than in the first edition. He was also able to bring in new material in a number of
chapters, particularly on finite time thermodynamics, and fuel cells, which has enhanced this edition.
All of these modifications have resulted in a book that now has 21 chapters. Many of the chapters
are based on the original 17 of the first edition. In some cases the changes are minor, resulting in the
removal of spelling or minor arithmetic errors. In others, new material has been added, or some ma-
terial has been moved to other more appropriate chapters. All of the original diagrams have received
minor modifications, if only to the typeface, and some have been redrawn. The four new chapters cover
a range of material. Chapter 1 is basically a revision of early thermodynamics, concentrating mainly on
the concepts of systems and the first law: the material should be familiar to most readers. Chapter 2
has been modified to introduce the second law and the concept of the heat engine, before subsuming
Chapter 1 of the first edition. Chapter 3 discusses heat engine cycles and shows that all heat engines
have an efficiency dominated by a temperature ratio – the definition of this varies with the cycle. This
has an important bearing on deciding how to improve the efficiency of a power plant. Realistic recip-
rocating engine cycles are introduced in the new Chapter 16, and it is shown why such engines do not
achieve the efficiency of ideal heat engine cycles. In addition two computer programs are made avail-
able, in Chapters 12 and 16, to allow teachers and students to more fully develop the concepts in those
chapters. Gas turbine cycles are discussed in some detail in Chapter 17, and these are related to the
basic principles introduced in Chapter 2. Almost 90 completely new diagrams are included in this
text, and it is hoped these help in the understanding of the principles involved.
I would like to acknowledge the work done by John Nichols and Richard Pearson in developing the
two programs available for use with this book. They developed comprehensive programs that I have
emasculated to make more amenable for the purposes of this book: I hope these prove useful. I must
also thank Philip Kosky who sent me some corrections for the first edition. The authors would also like
to acknowledge the contributions made by Khurram Kafeel, Dr Mario Ferrari, Dr Kate Smith,
Xiaochuan Yang in preparing this edition. It is thanks to them that many of the errors in the original
manuscript have been removed. Any shortcomings that remain in the text must be laid at the authors’
oversight, and for these we apologise. We would also like to acknowledge the patience of Chelsea
Johnston at Elsevier who has coped with our many e-mails, our late response to requests, and our
requirements to achieve the product we all desire.