This web resource is intended to be a totally self-contained learning resource in Engineering Thermodynamics, independent of any textbook. It is designed to be suitable for a two course sequence for Mechanical Engineering majors. It may, however, be used in any format and for any purpose, including self-study. The various unique pedagogical features of this web resource are discussed in Paper AC 2010-47, which was presented at the 2010 ASEE Annual Conference. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license and as such is freely available. Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed by the author.
In Part 1 we introduce the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics. Rather than applying these laws in terms of components and processes we have chosen a more interesting approach of applying them to complete cycles or systems. The ideal Stirling cycle machine is developed as a prime example of both Laws (refer to a paper: A Meeting between Robert Stirling and Sadi Carnot in 1824 presented at the 2014 ISEC.), and complete ideal heat engines, steam power plants and refrigeration systems are evaluated in Chapters 3 and 4. Where appropriate, we introduce graphical two-dimensional plots to evaluate the performance of these systems rather than relying on equations and tables. This enables intuitive visualization of the solutions to a high degree of accuracy.
