Basic Concepts 1 (TD)

ARCHITECTURE - Firma
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
convenzione – INTERIORS
Politecnico di Milano e Veneranda Fabbrica
BUILDING
del Duomo PHYSICS
di Milano
A.Y. 2023/24 Prof. S. Ferrari
Aula Magna – Rettorato
REVIEW OF THE BASIC CONCEPTS
Mercoledì 1 (THERMODYNAMICS)
27 maggio 2015
The basis of the slides is taken from: “Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach”, the 10th
Edition is available as e-book at the following platform link:
VitalSource Bookshelf
Remember that to access electronic resources from outside Polimi you need to set up the
Proxy service:
https://www.biblio.polimi.it/en/services/how-to/access-to-an-electronic-resource
Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

THERMODYNAMICS AND ENERGY
Thermodynamics: The science of energy.

Energy: the ability to cause changes.
The name thermodynamics stems from the Greek words
therme (heat) and dynamis (power).
All activities in nature involve

some interaction between
energy and matter; thus, it is
hard to imagine an area that
does not relate to
thermodynamics in some
manner.

THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
The first law of thermodynamics (the conservation of energy

principle) provides a sound basis for studying the relationships
among the various forms of energy and energy interactions.
The first law states that energy can be neither created nor
destroyed during a process; it can only change forms.
A refrigerator operating with A fan running in a well-sealed

its door open in a well-sealed and well-insulated room
and well-insulated room
Conservation of
As a result of the conversion of electric energy principle for
energy consumed by the device to heat, the the human body.
room temperature will rise.

FORMS OF ENERGY
Macroscopic forms of energy: Those a system

possesses as a whole with respect to some outside
reference frame, such as kinetic and potential
energies.
Kinetic energy, KE: The energy that a system

possesses as a result of its motion relative to some
reference frame.
Potential energy, PE: The energy that a system
possesses as a result of its elevation in a gravitational
field.
Microscopic forms of energy: Those related to the molecular structure of a system

and the degree of the molecular activity.
Internal energy, U: The sum of all the microscopic forms of energy.

SYSTEMS AND CONTROL VOLUMES
System: A quantity of matter or a region in space

chosen for study.
Surroundings: The mass or region outside the
system
Boundary: The real or imaginary surface that
separates the system from its surroundings.
The boundary of a system can be fixed or

movable.

Energy Change of a system
The macroscopic
Kinetic energy
energy of an object
changes with
Potential energy
velocity and
Internal energy elevation.
(The sum of all the microscopic forms of energy) U = ….
Total energy of a system
The net change (increase or decrease) in the total energy of the system during a
process is
The net change (increase or decrease) in

the total energy of a stationary system
during a process is equal to the change of
its internal energy ΔU NOTE:
(buildings are stationary systems!!!)

Some Physical Insight to Internal Energy of a System
Sensible energy: The portion of

the internal energy of a system
associated with the kinetic energies
of the molecules.
Latent energy: The internal
energy associated with the phase
of a system.
Chemical energy: The internal
energy associated with the atomic
bonds in a molecule (e.g., fuels).
Nuclear energy: The tremendous
The various forms of The internal energy of a amount of energy associated with
microscopic energies system is the sum of all forms
the strong bonds within the nucleus
that make up sensible of the microscopic energies.
energy. of the atom itself.
Internal (thermal) = Sensible + Latent
Internal (total) = Sensible + Latent + Chemical + Nuclear
8
Closed systems
• Closed system
(Control mass):
A fixed amount
of mass, and no
mass can cross
its boundary.
• The only two forms of energy interactions

associated with a closed system are
heat transfer and work.

ENERGY TRANSFER BY HEAT
The form of energy that is transferred between two systems (or a

system and its surroundings) by virtue of a temperature difference.
Temperature difference is the driving force for heat
transfer. The larger the temperature difference, the
higher is the rate of heat transfer.
Energy is recognized as
heat transfer only as it
crosses the system
boundary.

THE THERMODYNAMIC TEMPERATURE SCALE
Kelvin scale (SI – International System of Units) Comparison of (SI)

temperature scales.
The reference temperature in the original

Kelvin scale was the ice point, 273.15 K, Remark!
which is the temperature at which water
freezes (or ice melts).
Steam point: at 1 atm pressure 373.15 K
(100°C)
Comparison with (non-SI)

Rankine and Fahrenheit
temperature scales

ENERGY TRANSFER BY WORK
Work: The energy transfer associated with a force acting through a

distance.
– A rising piston, a rotating shaft, and an electric wire crossing
the system boundaries are all associated with work interactions
Mechanical forms of work

– there must be a force acting on the boundary.
– the boundary must move.
Work = Force × Distance
The work associated

with a moving
boundary is called
boundary work.
Wb is positive → for expansion

Wb is negative → for compression

ENERGY TRANSFER BY WORK
Nonmechanical Forms of Work

Electrical work: The generalized force is the voltage (the electrical potential) and the generalized
displacement is the electrical charge.
Magnetic work: The generalized force is the magnetic field strength and the generalized displacement
is the total magnetic dipole moment.
Electrical polarization work: The generalized force is the electric field strength and the generalized
displacement is the polarization of the medium.

FUNDAMENTAL UNITS
The definition of the force units (Newton).
The weight is a force!

the weight of a unit mass
W weight m mass g gravitational acceleration
The definition of the work (and heat) units (Joule).

Work = Force × Distance
1Nx1m=1J
despite withdrawn from SI, for heat is still also used 1 Cal (or kcal) = 4186 J

FUNDAMENTAL UNITS
Watt, Joule (and Watthour)

W = J/s Ė, energy per unit of time (1 second)
also called “intensity of energy” or “power”
(n°of W) x (n°of seconds) = (n°of J) E, energy during time

(n°of W) x (n°of hours) = (n°of Wh) E, energy during time
Energy units conversion

(n°of Wh) x 3600 = (n°of J) (n°of J)/3600 = (n°of Wh)

Energy Balance for Closed Systems
The energy change

of a closed system
during a process is
equal to the net
work and heat
transfer between In the absence of any
the system and its work interactions, the
surroundings. energy change of a
system is equal to the
net heat transfer.

Energy Balance for Adiabatic (Closed) Systems
During an adiabatic
process, a system
exchanges no heat with
its surroundings.
The work (electrical, shaft) done on

an adiabatic system is equal to the
increase in the energy of the system.

Energy Balance for Closed Systems
18
where:
Formal sign convention: Heat transfer to a system and work done by a system are
positive; heat transfer from a system and work done on a system are negative.
Example:
Qout 4 (-)
Qnet,in = +10 - 4 = + 6
Wout 20 (+) Wnet,out = + 20 - 2= +18
∆U = +6 – (+18) = -12 (decreasing)
Alternative to sign convention is to use the subscripts

Qin 10 (+) in and out to indicate direction of heat and work.
Win 2 (-)
∆U = (10+2) – (20+4) = -12 (decreasing)

18
Open systems
Open system (control volume): A properly

selected region in space
e.g., a DHW heater, the room in which it is
placed, the apt. in which the room is, the
building, the district, the town, etc.
Both mass and energy can cross the

boundary of a control volume.
An open system (a
control volume) with one
inlet and one exit.
19
Energy Balance for an open system

ENERGY TRANSPORT BY MASS
Flow work: The work (mech. energy) required to push the mass into or out of the
control volume. This work is necessary for maintaining a continuous flow through
a control volume.
The total flow energy (flow work +
Schematic for flow work. internal energy of the fluid) is
automatically taken care of by enthalpy.
In fact, this is the main reason for defining
the property enthalpy.
The product pressure ×

volume has energy units.
Enthalpy— A Combination Property

CONSERVATION OF MASS PRINCIPLE
Mass, like energy, is a conserved property, and it cannot be created

or destroyed during a process.
Mass is conserved even during chemical reactions.
Closed systems: The mass of the system remain constant during a process.
Control volumes (open system): Mass can cross the boundaries, and so we
must keep track of the amount of mass entering and leaving the control
volume.
Conservation of mass principle

for an ordinary bathtub.

Mass balance for a steady-flow process
During a steady-flow process, the total amount of mass contained within a

control volume does not change with time (mCV = constant).
Then the conservation of mass principle requires that the total amount of mass
entering a control volume equal the total amount of mass leaving it.
For steady-flow processes, we are
interested in the amount of mass flowing per
unit time, that is, the mass flow rate.
Single
stream
Multiple inlets
and exits
Conservation of mass principle for a two-

inlet–one-outlet steady-flow system.

Mass and Energy balances for a steady-flow process
Mass
balance
Energy
balance
= (kJ/s)

THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
The second law of thermodynamics: it asserts that energy has quality as well
as quantity, and actual processes occur in the direction of decreasing quality of
energy.
Heat flows in the direction of

decreasing temperature.
Transferring heat to a wire will not generate

electricity.
Transferring heat to a paddle

wheel will not cause it to rotate.

THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
Work can always be converted to heat directly and completely,

but the reverse is not true.

THERMAL ENERGY RESERVOIRS
• A hypothetical body with a relatively large thermal energy capacity that can
supply or absorb finite amounts of heat without undergoing any change in
temperature is called a thermal energy reservoir, or just a reservoir.
• In practice, large bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, and rivers as well as the
atmospheric air can be modeled accurately as thermal energy reservoirs
because of their large thermal energy storage capabilities (or thermal masses).
A source
supplies
energy in the
form of heat,
and a sink
absorbs it.
Bodies with relatively large thermal
masses can be modeled as thermal
energy reservoirs.

HEAT ENGINES
The devices that convert heat (partially) to work.

1. They receive heat from a high-temperature source (solar energy, oil furnace,
nuclear reactor, etc.).
2. They convert part of this heat to work (usually in the form of a rotating shaft.)
3. They reject the remaining waste heat to a low-temperature sink (the atmosphere,
rivers, etc.).
Part of the heat received by a heat engine is

converted to work, while the rest is rejected
to a sink.

HEAT ENGINES
(Qin-Qout) = Wnet,out
They operate on a cycle.
For a cycle ∆E = 0,
thus Q = W

HEAT ENGINES
Where:
< 1 always!!!

REFRIGERATORS AND (OR) HEAT PUMPS
Devices to transfer of heat from a low-temperature medium to a high-temperature one
-20 In a household refrigerator, the freezer

compartment where heat is absorbed by
the refrigerant serves as the evaporator,
and the coils usually behind the
refrigerator where heat is dissipated to the
kitchen air serve as the condenser.

Air conditioners are basically refrigerators whose refrigerated space is a room or a

building instead of the food compartment.
The efficiency is expressed in terms of the

coefficient of performance (COP).
Where:
COP > 1 always!!!

RAC (room air conditioner): a packaged unit which

can be installed in a window or an external wall
Refrigerator as Air
conditioner
Split units have the cooling coil (evaporator, E) and fan

inside the room, whilst the more noisy compressor (C)
and condenser (CD) are included in the outdoor unit.

Refrigerator as Air When installed backward, an

air conditioner functions as a
conditioner Heat Pump
Indoor air
Outdoor air
Indoor air 34 Outdoor air

Refrigerator Heat Pump
The efficiency is expressed in terms of the

coefficient of performance (COP).
COP > 1 always!!!
and, for fixed values of QL and QH:

NOTE: slide not taken

from the book!
Cooling mode
Some models have a reverse-cycle facility, to act as
(air-source) heat pumps for heating in winter.
Reversible
air conditioners/HPs
They employ a reversing valve to
reverse the flow of refrigerant from
the compressor through the
condenser and evaporation coils.
Heating mode

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ARCHITECTURE - Firma

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Thermodynamics: The science of energy.

All activities in nature involve

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

The first law of thermodynamics (the conservation of energy

A refrigerator operating with A fan running in a well-sealed

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Macroscopic forms of energy: Those a system

Kinetic energy, KE: The energy that a system

Microscopic forms of energy: Those related to the molecular structure of a system

Internal energy, U: The sum of all the microscopic forms of energy.

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

System: A quantity of matter or a region in space

The boundary of a system can be fixed or

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

The net change (increase or decrease) in

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Sensible energy: The portion of

• The only two forms of energy interactions

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

The form of energy that is transferred between two systems (or a

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Kelvin scale (SI – International System of Units) Comparison of (SI)

The reference temperature in the original

Comparison with (non-SI)

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Work: The energy transfer associated with a force acting through a

Mechanical forms of work

The work associated

Wb is positive → for expansion

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Nonmechanical Forms of Work

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

The definition of the force units (Newton).

The weight is a force!

W weight m mass g gravitational acceleration

The definition of the work (and heat) units (Joule).

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Watt, Joule (and Watthour)

(n°of W) x (n°of seconds) = (n°of J) E, energy during time

Energy units conversion

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

The energy change

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

The work (electrical, shaft) done on

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

∆U = +6 – (+18) = -12 (decreasing)

Alternative to sign convention is to use the subscripts

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Open system (control volume): A properly

Both mass and energy can cross the

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

The product pressure ×

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC

Mass, like energy, is a conserved property, and it cannot be created

Conservation of mass principle

Prof. Simone Ferrari, D.ABC