Exergy in Flownex^®

An exergy analysis is based on the second law of Thermodynamics and is used to determine where and how much of the available work is lost due to exergy destruction or irreversibility in the system or subsystem.

Exergy balances are conducted between a systems initial state and its dead state. Exergy is a measure of the plant’s available energy or work potential.

Exergy calculations were added to Flownex® results to aid in system evaluation and optimization. An exergy analysis is based on the second law of thermodynamics and is used to determine the irreversibility or exergy destruction of a process.

The exergy analysis can be used to determine where and how much of the available work is lost due to exergy destruction (irreversibility) and to reduce the irreversibility in order to improve the overall efficiency of the process.

Definitions

Exergy (Availability): The maximum useful work that could be obtained from the system at a given state in a specified environment.

Irreversibility (lost work or exergy destruction): This is the wasted work potential during a process as a result of irreversibility in the process.