Cent. Eur. J. Phys.

7(1) 2009 141-146

DOI: 10.2478/s11534-008-0136-8
Central European Journal of Physics
Exergy of nuclear radiation a quantum statistical
thermodynamics approach
Research Article
Viorel Badescu

Candida Oancea Institute, Polytechnic University of Bucharest,

Spl. Independentei 313, Bucharest 060042, Romania
Received 14 June 2008; accepted 13 October 2008
Abstract: The exergy of nuclear radiation is evaluated by using a simple quantumstatistical thermodynamic approach.
Only radiation particles with non-zero rest mass are considered (i.e. protons, neutrons, alpha and beta
particles). The exergy and the exergy ux involve eciency-like factors aecting the internal energy and
the energy ux, respectively. These factors are generally dierent fromboth the usual Carnot factor and the
Petela-Landsberg-Press factor that appears in the exergy of blackbody radiation. The eciency-like factors
are higher in the case of charged rather than neutral particles and in the case of enclosed rather than free
radiation. The results are compared with those obtained previously by using a classical thermodynamic
theory.
PACS (2008): 05.70.Ln; 84.60.Bk; 89.30.-g
Keywords: exergy nuclear radiation Weisskopf theory of evaporated nucleus
Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
1. Introduction
The excellent review paper on exergy issues [1] covers the
literature up to 2004. Its references list, with more than
2600 entries, contains no single article referring to the ex-
ergy of nuclear radiation. This is quite surprising, taking
into account that the exergy of thermal radiation for exam-
ple was often considered in the literature (for a review on
this subject see [2, 3]). In a recent letter [4] we proposed
a simple classical statistical thermodynamic approach for
the exergy of nuclear radiation, based on the Weisskopf
theory of evaporated compound nucleus. In this work we

E-mail: badescu@theta.termo.pub.ro
present new results on the same topic. The novelty is that
here we are using a quantum statistical thermodynamic
approach, providing a more realistic description. Compar-
isons between the results derived from both the classical
and quantum treatments are also made.
2. Exergy of enclosed nuclear radi-
ation
The standard compound nucleus (CN) theory describes a
nuclear reaction by a two-stage mechanism:
u +X [C^] I +Y, (1)
141
Exergy of nuclear radiation a quantum statistical thermodynamics approach
where u and I are the incident and the emitted particle,
respectively, while X and Y are the target and the residual
nucleus, respectively. A few details about Weisskopfs
compound nucleus theory are given in [4]. Denitions for
the most important ux quantities used in [4] and in this
paper are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Quantities related to the ux of property (which may be the number of particles ^, the energy U or the entropy S). Here and are
incidence and azimuth angles, respectively, while is the solid angle covered by all directions of particles of energy a and velocities
(a, , ) (see section 13.9 in [5] and chapter 4 in [6]).
1. Quantity 2. Symbol and denition 3. Units
1 Spectral property radiance K

(, , a)
(a,,)
4V
Ja
Ja
property units
m
2
Jsr
2 Property ux density for solid an-
gle J and energy interval Ja
J
2
a,
J

(, , a) cos JaJ
property units
m
2
3 Property spectral ux density J
a
J

J
2
a,
J

=
_

(, , a) cos J
property units
m
2
J
4 Property ux density J

_
a
J
a
J

=
_
,a
K

(, , a) cos JaJ
property units
m
2
Table 2. Thermodynamic properties of nuclear radiation.
1. Quantity 2. Symbol and denition 3. Classical approach [4] 4. Quantum approach
(present work)
1 Number of
particles
^ =
_
am
a
C
n(a)Jp(a) BVi
1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3}2
BVi
1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3}2
2 Energy U =
_
am
a
C
an(a)Jp(a) BVi
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
5}2
BVi
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
5}2
3 Entropy S =
_
am
a
C
(a)Jp(a) IBVi
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3}2
IBV
_
i
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
(IT)
3}2
4 Helmholtz
free energy
| U TS 0 BV
1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
5}2
5 Pressure p =
TS U
V
0 BV
1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
5}2
6 Enthalpy H U +pV BVi
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
5}2
BV
_
i
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
(IT)
5}2
7 Caloric
capacity at
constant
volume
t
V

_
U
T
_
V
5
2
IBVi
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3}2
5
2
IBVi
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3}2
8 Caloric
capacity at
constant
pressure
t
p

_
H
T
_
p

142
Viorel Badescu
Table 3. Exergy and exergy ux density carried by nuclear radiation.
1. Quantity 2. Symbol 3. Classical approach [4] 4. Quantum approach
(present work)
1a Exergy X U
X
U
X
1b Eciency
factor

X
1
T
0
T
1
_
1

1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
i
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
T
0
T


1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
i
3}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
T
0
T
_
5}2
2a Exergy ux
density
J
X
J
U

J
X
J
U

J
X
2b Eciency
factor

J
X
1
T
0
T
1
_
1

1
(x
C
, x
m
)
i
2
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
T
0
T


1
(x
C
, x
m
)
i
2
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
T
0
T
_
3
Table 4. Flux properties of nuclear radiation.
1. Quantity 2. Symbol and denition 3. Classical approach [4] 4. Quantum approach
(present work)
1 Particle
number ux
density
J
^
Ci
1
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
2
Ci
1
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
2
2 Energy ux
density
J
U
Ci
2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3
Ci
2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3
3 Entropy
ux density
J
S
ICi
2
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
2
IC [i
1
(x
C
, x
m
)
1
(x
C
, x
m
)] (IT)
2
4 Helmholtz
free energy
ux density
J
|
J
U
TJ
S
0 IC
1
(x
C
, x
m
)(IT)
3
A volume V containing material that emits particles I is
now considered. One denotes by J^(a) the number of
particles I in V with energy between a and a+da, given
by the product between the number of energy states Jp(a)
and the state occupation number n(a):
J^(a) = n(a)Jp(a). (2)
In [4] we showed that:
Jp(a) BVC(a, a
C
)a
1}2
Ja, (3)
n(a) exp
_

a
IT
_
, (4)
where B is a kinetic constant dened by Eq. (14a) of [4],
C(a, a
C
) is a function related to the Coulomb barrier a
C
inside the compound nucleus and T is the temperature of
the emitted particles. For neutron emission the Coulomb
barrier vanishes, resulting in C(a, a
C
) = 1. When emis-
sion of protons is considered, C(a, a
C
) = 1 a
C
}a and
only energy levels with a a
C
are allowed (for details
see [4]). Both Jp(a) and n(a) in Eq. (2) are obviously
non-equilibrium quantities, which are only formally sim-
ilar to Boltzmann-like (equilibrium) quantities. This is
easily seen in the case a
C
0, when C(a, a
C
) vanishes
for a (0, a
C
) and no energy state and emitted particle
exist on this energy interval (other details and comments
are given in [4]).
The number of particles ^ in volume V and their energy
U is obtained after integration over all energy levels be-
tween a
C
and the maximum allowed energy a
m
. Results
are shown in lines 1 and 2 of Table 2, where, the following
143
Exergy of nuclear radiation a quantum statistical thermodynamics approach
notation has been used (x
C
a
C
}(IT) and x
m
a
m
}(IT)):
i
S
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
xm
x
C
x
S
C(x, x
C
) exp(x)Jx. (5)
The entropy S of the particles inside volume V is dened
in Eq. (line 3, column 2) of Table 2. Two statistical ap-
proaches may be used there, with appropriate functions
(n(a)):
(n(a)) =
_

_
In(a) ln n(a) (Boltzmann statistics), (a)
I{n(a) ln n(a) + [1 n(a)] ln [1 n(a)]} (b)
(Fermi statistics).
(6)
Both functions in Eq. (6) apply to general non-equilibrium
states.
The rst (classical) approach, with the entropy Eq. (6a)
built on the Boltzmann statistics, was presented in [4].
The second (quantum) approach is the contribution of this
paper and uses the entropy Eq. (6b) based on Fermi statis-
tics. The Boltzmann statistics assume the systems consist
of distinguishable (classical) particles (boltzons), while
Fermi statistics are best suited for non-distinguishable
particles obeying Paulis principle (fermions). All types of
non-zero rest mass particles emitted by the nucleus are
fermions. Thus, the approach based on Eq. (6b) provides
a more realistic description than that based on Eq. (6a),
which may be seen as a (classical) approximation.
A few comments about a subtler problem follow, these refer
to the consistency of combining the Boltzmann-like occu-
pation number Eq. (4) with the entropy Eq. (6b) based on
Fermi statistics. The entropy relationships Equations (6a)
and (6b) reach their maximum at equilibrium, when n(a)
is given by the Boltzmann and Fermi-Dirac occupation
numbers, respectively. However, both Equations (6a) and
(6b) may be used out of equilibrium, with n(a) appropri-
ately dened. The occupation number Eq. (4) predicted by
the Weisskopf theory, though formally similar to a Boltz-
mann distribution, is such an example of a non-equilibrium
quantity, as explained above (for more details see [4]).
Various thermodynamic quantities evaluated by using both
the quantum and classical approaches are shown in lines
3 to 8 of Table 2. The following notation has been used

S
(x
C
, x
m
)
_
xm
x
C
x
S
C(x, x
C
) [1 exp(x)]
ln [1 exp(x)] Jx.
(7)
The results of the classical approach were discussed in [4].
A few comments about the results of the quantum treat-
ment follow. The Helmholtz free energy | is a nega-
tive quantity, because
1}2
(x
C
, x
mux
) < 0 . Also, the pres-
sure was derived from the thermodynamics relationship
U TS + pV = ^(= 0), and this nally yields the re-
sult in Eq. (5,2) of Table 2. The pressure p is a positive
quantity, as expected. From Equations (3,4) and (6,4) in
Table 2 one sees that:
S =
H
T
. (8)
This means that in the quantum approach the enthalpy
behaves like heat in classical thermodynamics. Note that
in the classical treatment, S = U}T (i.e. internal energy
behaves like heat in classical thermodynamics) and both
the free energy and the pressure vanish. Use of Equations
(2,4), (3,4) and (5,2) in Table 2 yields the state equation
for the nuclear radiation:
pV =

1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
i
1}2
(x
C
, x
m
)
^IT. (9)
Equation (9) is similar to the state equations of other sim-
ple Fermi systems where potential energy is neglected.
The exergy of nuclear radiation was dened and com-
mented on in [4]. The dead state consists of nuclear radia-
tion at temperature T
0
(its pressure p
0
is a unique function
of T
0
, see Eq. (5,4) in Table 2). The system exergy X is
given by [4]:
X (U T
0
S +P
0
V) =(U U
0
) T
0
(S S
0
)
+p
0
(V V
0
),
(10)
where U
0
, S
0
and V
0
are the dead state extensive proper-
ties. Use of Eqs. (2,4), (3,4) and (5,4) in Table 2 for T = T
0
and V = V
0
shows that the dead state Gibbs free energy
vanishes (U
0
T
0
S
0
+p
0
V
0
= 0). This is consistent with
previously derived properties of nuclear radiation. Then,
the employment of Eq. (10) and Eqs. (2,4), (3,4) and (5,4)
in Table 2 yields the result Eq. (1a,4) in Table 3. The ex-
ergy is expressed in terms of the internal energy and the
eciency-like factor
X
dened in Eq. (1b,4) of Table 3,
which contains the environment and radiation tempera-
tures. This eciency factor is dierent from the usual
Carnot factor appearing in the exergy of heat, for exam-
ple, as well as in the classical theory (see Eq. (1b,3) in
Table 4). In general,
X
is positive for T T
0
and obeys

X
(T
0
= 0) = 1 and
X
(T
0
= T) = 0. Also
X
1 T
0
}T,
whatever the ratio T
0
}T [0, 1] is. In the particular case
of neutrons (a
C
= 0) for a
m
, i
3}2
(0, )

= 1.32934
and
1}2
(0, )

= 0.68226. Consequently, from Eq. (1b,4)

of Table 3 one nds:
X
X
U

= U
_
1 1.5132
T
0
T
+ 0.5132
_
T
0
T
_
5}2
_
. (11)
144
Viorel Badescu
These properties are similar to the properties of the well-
known Petela-Landsberg-Press factor 1 (4}3)(T
0
}T) +
(1}3)(T
0
}T)
4
that appears in the exergy of enclosed black-
body radiation [2].
3. Exergy of nuclear radiation ux
Some ux properties of nuclear radiation are shown in
Table 4 for both the quantum approach and the classical
approximation. The coecient C is dened by Eq. (31)
of [4]. Equations (1,4) and (2,4) in Table 4 show that the
particle number ux density and the energy ux density of
nuclear radiation are proportional to the second and third
power of the eective temperature T, respectively. This
applies to both the classical and quantum approaches.
Use of Eqs. (2,4) and (3,4) in Table 4 allows us to write
in the quantum case J
S
= [1
1
(x
C
, x
m
)}i
2
(x
C
, x
m
)]J
U
}T.
This is dierent but rather similar to the case of black-
body radiation, where J
S
= (4}3)(J
U
}T). In the classi-
cal approximation, Eqs. (2,3) and (3,3) of Table 4 yield
J
S
= J
U
}T. Thus, the energy ux density of nuclear radia-
tion in the classical description has the property of a heat
ux density, associated to a null Helmholtz free energy
ux density.
A simple model was developed in [4] to evaluate the exergy
ux density of free nuclear radiation:
J
X
= J
U
J
U
0
T
0
(J
S
J
S
0
). (12)
Equations (2,4) and (3,4) in Table 4 are used twice, for
T and T
0
, respectively. Using Eq. (12) one nds the ex-
ergy ux density given in Eq. (2a,4) of Table 3. This ux
density is expressed in terms of the energy ux density
and an eciency-like factor
J
X
dened in Eq. (2b,4) in
Table 4, which contains the environment and the radiation
temperatures. One sees that in the quantum approach
the factor
J
X
aecting the energy ux is dierent from
the usual Carnot factor appearing in the exergy of a heat
ux, as well as in the classical approach (see Eq. (2b,3)
in Table 3). Also,
J
X
is positive for T T
0
and obeys

J
X
(T
0
= 0) = 1 and
J
X
(T
0
= T) = 0. One can easily
check that
J
X
1T
0
}T whatever the ratio T
0
}T [0, 1]
is. In the particular case of neutrons (a
C
= 0) for a
m
,
i
2
(0, ) = 2 and
1
(0, ) = (3) +2
2
}6

= 0.68226
(where is zeta function). Consequently, from Eq. (2b,4)
in Table 3 one nds:
J
X

J
X
J
U

=
_
1 1.0423
T
0
T
Y
+ 0.0423
_
T
0
T
Y
_
3
_
. (13)
Generally,
J
X
is dierent from
X
.
Figure 1. Eciency-like factors of Table 3 as a function of the
ambient temperature T
0
for nuclear radiation tempera-
ture T = 10
10
K. Classical (Carnot) approximation -
Eqs. (1b,3) and (2b,3)); Quantum approach of enclosed
radiation - Eq. (1b,4); Quantum approach of free radiation
- Eq. (2b,4). Both charged and uncharged particles are
considered (protons (a
C
= 3 MeV) and neutrons (a
C
= 0),
respectively).
Figure 1 shows various eciency-like factors of Table 3
as a function of the ratio T
0
}T for both neutrons (a
C
= 0)
and protons (a
C

= 3 MeV; this is a rough value for protons
in an oxygen nucleus [8]). The classical approximation
overestimates the eciency (Fig. 1). The eciency-like
factors are higher in the case of charged rather than neu-
tral particles and in the case of enclosed rather than free
radiation.
4. Conclusions
In the recent paper [4] the exergy of nuclear radiation was
evaluated by using a classical statistical thermodynamics
approach. Here we used a quantum statistical thermody-
namics treatment, providing a more realistic description.
Equations (1a,4) and (2a,4) in Table 3 are important nd-
ings of this paper. They show that in the quantum ap-
proach the exergy (or the exergy ux density) of nuclear
radiation is given by the energy (or the energy ux den-
sity) times an eciency-like factor
X
(or
J
X
), given by
Eq. (1b,4) (or Eq. (2b,4)) in Table 3, containing the am-
bient temperature and the nuclear radiation temperature.
Both factors
X
and
J
X
are dierent from the Carnot factor
aecting the internal energy (or the energy density ux)
in the classical approach, as well as in the usual case
when the exergy of heat (or of heat ux) is computed. The
Carnot factor is always associated to a classical approxi-
mation (i.e. an entropy based on Boltzmann statistics).
145
Exergy of nuclear radiation a quantum statistical thermodynamics approach
The eciency-like factors shown in Table 3 prove that the
available work is higher in the case of charged rather than
neutral particles and in the case of enclosed rather than
free radiation.
Acknowledgements
The author thanks the referees for useful comments and
suggestions. This paper is dedicated to the memory of
Eugenia Badescu, mother.
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146