EM3521 Exam Sample 2024 25
EM3521 Exam Sample 2024 25
EM3521 Engineering
Thermodynamics – SAMPLE PAPER
Date: 11th May 2025 Time: 09:00am–11:00am
(i) You must not have in your possession any material other than that expressly permitted in the
rules appropriate to this examination. Where this is permitted, such material must not be amended,
annotated or modified in any way.
(ii) You must not have in your possession any material that could be determined as giving you an
advantage in the examination.
(iii) You must not attempt to communicate with any candidate during the exam, either orally or by
passing written material, or by showing material to another candidate, nor must you attempt to
view another candidate’s work.
(iv) You must not take to your examination desk any electronic devices such as mobile phones or
other “smart” devices. The only exception to this rule is an approved calculator.
Failure to comply with the above will be regarded as cheating and may lead to disciplinary ac-
tion as indicated in the Academic Quality Handbook.
Notes:
(i) Candidates ARE permitted to use an approved calculator.
(ii) Candidates ARE NOT permitted to use the Engineering Mathematics Handbook.
(iii) Candidates ARE NOT permitted to use GREEN or RED pen in their exam booklet.
Each question is worth 22 marks and will be marked directly on the Common Grading Scale,
with for example, a mark of 19 corresponding to CGS A4.
This assessment is worth 60% of the overall course mark for EM3521 Engineering Thermody-
namics.
Question 1
Humid air flows through a domestic dehumidifier, a schematic of which is shown in Figure Q1.
(a) The total inlet mass flux of dry air and water vapour is 0.2500 kg/s, the inlet relative humidity is 90%
and the inlet temperature is 24◦ C. Assuming the total pressure in the flow past the cooling and
heating coils is 101.325 kPa, determine:
(i) the individual mass fluxes of dry air and water vapour at both the inlet and the exit, and also
the mass flux of the liquid condensate leaving the device, if the total mass flux of dry air and
water vapour at the device exit is 0.2475 kg/s. [7 marks]
(ii) the rate at which heat is removed from the humid air stream by the cooling coils if the humid
air and condensate leave the cooling coils at a temperature of 12◦ C. [7 marks]
(iii) the proportion of the heat removed by the cooling coils which needs to be added by the heat-
ing coils to heat the humid air leaving the heating coils to 24◦ C. [3 marks]
(iv) the relative humidity of air immediately downstream of the heating coils. [2 marks]
(b) On hand-drawn axes approximating a psychrometric chart, indicate how the properties of the hu-
mid air stream evolve as the air flows through the cooling coils and then the heating coils. [3 marks]
In this question you may assume the specific heat capacity at constant pressure of dry air cp , takes the
constant value of 1.005 kJ/(kg K).
Question 2
An ideal Otto cycle operates under the air-standard assumptions. The cycle consists of:
(a) Sketch the pressure-volume and the temperature-entropy diagrams associated with this cycle.
[4 marks]
(b) For each of these stages, describe the corresponding motion of a piston. In this cycle explain when
fuel is added, combusted and when exhaust gases are removed. [8 marks]
(c) At the onset of the compression process, the fluid is at 25◦ C and 110 kPa, while 1000 kJ/kg of heat
is supplied per unit mass during the constant volume heat addition process. If the compression
ratio is 10, then calculate the temperature and pressure at the end of each process. [6 marks]
(d) Determine the heat rejected per unit mass of working fluid in this cycle. [2 marks]
(e) Determine the thermal efficiency of this cycle. [2 marks]
In this question you may assume that the specific heat capacities remain constant throughout the cy-
cle, the ratio of specific heats γ = 1.4 and the specific heat capacity of the gas at constant volume
cv = 0.834 kJ/(kg K). For an isentropic process between state a and state b:
γ−1 γ
Ta Vb pa Vb
= , and = ,
Tb Va pb Va
Question 3
(a) Sketch the temperature–entropy diagram associated with an ideal vapour-compression refrigera-
tion cycle with
(i) dry compression; [3 marks]
(ii) wet compression. [3 marks]
(b) A refrigerator (shown in figure Q3), operates on an ideal vapour-compression refrigeration cycle
with wet compression between 100 kPa and 1.4 MPa, while using refrigerant-134a as the working
fluid.
Figure Q3 - A refrigerator
Determine the specific enthalpy and the specific entropy at the points labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4 in fig-
ure Q3 . [12 marks]
(c) If the steady mass flux in the cycle is 2.2 kg/s, then determine the rate at which heat is removed
from the refrigeration space. [2 marks]
(d) Determine the coefficient of performance COP for this cycle, where
Heat absorbed
COP = .
Net work done
[2 marks]
END OF PAPER
Conversion factors
List of Tables
The tables giving the properties of saturated refrigerant 134a (R-134a), included in this examination
paper are adapted from M. J. Moran, H. N. Shapiro, D. D. Boettner and M. B. Bailey, “Fundamentals of
Engineering Thermodynamics,” 2014, Wiley, 8th Edition.
The original source for the data on water is J. H. Keenan, F. G. Keyes, P. G. Hill, and J. G. Moore,
“Steam Tables”, 1969, Wiley, New York.
The original source for this data is D. P. Wilson and R. S. Basu, “hermodynamic Properties of a New
Stratospherically Safe Working Fluid — Refrigerant 134a,” 1988, ASHRAE Trans., 94, 2, 2095–2118.