THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF SRI LANKA

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DIPLOMA IN TECHNOLOGY
MEX3235 THERMO-FLUIDS
ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015
ASSIGNMENT 01

INSTRUCTIONS
(1) This assignment is based on the course material in Book 1 & 2
(2) Answer all questions.
(3) Write your registration number clearly on your answer script
(4) Submit your assignments as stipulated in the specimen format for the tutor marked
assignment.
(5) Send your answer scripts under registered cover to the address given below or put it into
the assignment box available in front of the Mechanical Engineering research lab,
science and technology building.
THE COURSE COODINATORMEX3235
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF SRI LANKA
P.O. BOX 21, NAWALA, NUGEGODA.

(6) Last date of submission 06th February 2015. Strictly no late submissions will be
accepted due to any reason. .

1. Air flows steadily at the rate of 0.4 kg/s through an air compressor, entering
at 6m/s with the pressure of 1 bar and a specific volume of 0.85 m3/kg, and
leaving at .5 m/s with the pressure of 6.9 bar and a specific volume of 0.16
m3/ kg. The internal energy of the air leaving is 88 kJ/kg greater than that of
the air entering. Cooling water in a jacket surrounding the cylinder absorbes
heat from the air at the rate of 59 kJ/s. Calculate
a) The power required to drive the compressor
b) The inlet and outlet pipe cross sectional areas
2. Air at 1.02 bar, 22oC, initially occupying a cylinder volume of 0.015m3, is compressed
reversibly and adiabatically by a piston to a pressure of 6.8 bar. Calculate the final
temperature, the final volume, and the work done on the mass of air cylinder. ( for air =
1.4)
1

3. A mass m of water at temperature T1 is isobarically and adiabatically mixed with an

equal mass of water at temperature T2. Show that the entropy change of the mixture is
given by
[

Show that the change in entropy of one kg of gas when compressed according to the law
pVn =C in terms of temperatures T1 and T2 before and after compression respectively is
given by
[

The value of specific heat is of the form

and

where a,b, and k are constants.

4. An engine working on Otto cycle has a volume of 0.45m3, pressure 1 bar and
temperature 30 C at the beginning of compression stroke. At the end of compression
stroke the pressure is 11bar. 210 kJ of heat is added at constant volume. Determine
a. Pressures temperatures and volumes at salient points in the cycle.
b. Percentage clearance
c. Thermal efficiency
d. Mean Effective pressure

5. A 120mm radius steam flowing tube is covered with 50mm of high temperature
insulation (k=0.092W/m.K) and 40mm of low temperature insulation (k=0.062W/m.K).
The inner and outer surface temperatures are 390C and 40C respectively. Calculate the
total heat loss per unit length of the steam pipe.