Heat - Practical Applications

Practical Applications

In accordance with the first law for closed systems, energy transferred as heat enters one body and leaves another, changing the internal energies of each. Transfer, between bodies, of energy as work is a complementary way of changing internal energies. Though it is not logically rigorous from the viewpoint of strict physical concepts, a common form of words that expresses this is to say that heat and work are interconvertible.

Heat engines operate by converting heat flow from a high temperature reservoir to a low temperature reservoir into work. One example are steam engines, where the high temperature reservoir is steam generated by boiling water. The flow of heat from the hot steam to water is converted into mechanical work via a turbine or piston. Heat engines achieve high efficiency when the difference between initial and final temperature is high.

Heat pumps, by contrast, use work to cause thermal energy to flow from low to high temperature, the opposite direction heat would flow spontaneously. An example is a refrigerator or air conditioner, where electric power is used to cool a low temperature system (the interior of the refrigerator) while heating a higher temperature environment (the exterior). High efficiency is achieved when the temperature difference is small.