17-Phys-B6 Applied Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer: December 2018

Paper format. 17-Phys-B6 Applied Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, National Examination December 2018 — a three-hour open-book examination; candidates are expected to bring both a thermodynamics text and a heat-transfer text to make use of the property tables and graphs. A complete examination is five questions — either three from Part A (Thermodynamics, Q1–Q4) and two from Part B (Heat Transfer, Q5–Q8), or two from Part A and three from Part B — every question carrying equal value; all eight are solved below as a complete study set. Question 2 is solved as one connected narrative: the wet steam whose quality is measured by the throttling calorimeter in part (a) is the same steam entering the turbine in part (b), which is what makes part (c)'s "isentropic despite heat loss" observation checkable. Question 3 gives every cycle temperature directly from the printed diagram but no pressures, so it is solved purely from energy balances (constant specific heat, cold-air-standard) rather than isentropic pressure ratios — the intended reading, since no compressor/turbine pressure ratio is given anywhere on the page.

Reference texts. Y. A. Çengel and M. A. Boles, Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, 8th ed. (ideal-gas mixtures, air-standard Otto and Brayton cycles, throttling calorimeters, steam turbines, vapour-compression refrigeration); F. P. Incropera and D. P. DeWitt, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 7th ed. (composite cylindrical conduction with convection at both surfaces, heat generation in a solid cylinder, internal/external convection combined via an overall coefficient, effectiveness–NTU heat-exchanger analysis). Ammonia and steam saturation/superheat property values were computed (Bell et al., IAPWS-95 / REFPROP-quality equations of state) and cross-checked against the printed appendix tables on pages 5–6 of the source exam and standard steam tables, which they matched to 3–4 significant figures throughout.