Work
The working fluid can be used to output useful work if used in a turbine. Also, in thermodynamic cycles energy may be input to the working fluid by means of a compressor. The mathematical formulation for this may be quite simple if we consider a cylinder in which a working fluid resides. A piston is used to input useful work to the fluid. From mechanics, the work done from state 1 to state 2 of the process is given by
Where ds is the incremental distance from one state to the next and F is the force applied. The negative sign is introduced since in this case a decrease in volume is being considered. The situation is shown in the figure which follows.
The force is given by the product of the pressure in the cylinder and its cross sectional area such that
Where A.ds = dV is the elemental change of cylinder volume. If from state 1 to 2 the volume increases then the working fluid actually does work on its surroundings and this is commonly denoted by a negative work. If the volume decreases the work is positive. By the definition given with the above integral the work done is represented by the area under a pressure - volume diagram. If we consider the case where we have a constant pressure process then the work is simply given by
Read more about this topic: Working Fluid
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—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I have everything in the world that is necessary to happiness, good faith, good friends and all the work I can possibly do. I think God’s greatest blessing to the human race was when He sent man forth into the world to earn his bread by the sweat of his face. I believe in toil, in the dignity of labor, but I also believe in adequate compensation for that toil.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)