(a) New-age power plants are often times forced to limit hot reservoir temperatures in steam engines to ~280 deg C due to the lack of sufficient heat-resistant materials. Assuming a reversible Carnot steam engine operating at this temperature uses room temperature (20 deg C) as the cold reservoir temperature, determine the total work produced by the system per complete cycle. The volumes for the system at each of the four Carnot states are V1 = 4.0 L, V2 = 16.0 L, V3 = 24.5 L, and V4 = 5.5 L. 1 mol of gas is used with a temperature-independent specific constant-volume heat capacity, CV = 1.9 kJ kg K . Assume the gas is carbon dioxide, with a molar mass of 44.01 g/mol.  (b) What is the efficiency, η, of this Carnot engine? (c) What are three physical parameters that could be changed to improve the efficiency of the engine? Explain your answers.

University Physics Volume 2
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Chapter4: The Second Law Of Thermodynamics
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Problem 41P: A Carnot engine is used to measure the temperature of a heat reservoir. The engine operates between...
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(a) New-age power plants are often times forced to limit hot reservoir temperatures in steam engines to ~280 deg C due to the lack of sufficient heat-resistant materials. Assuming a reversible Carnot steam engine operating at this temperature uses room temperature (20 deg C) as the cold reservoir temperature, determine the total work produced by the system per complete cycle. The volumes for the system at each of the four Carnot states are V1 = 4.0 L, V2 = 16.0 L, V3 = 24.5 L, and V4 = 5.5 L. 1 mol of gas is used with a temperature-independent specific constant-volume heat capacity, CV = 1.9 kJ kg K . Assume the gas is carbon dioxide, with a molar mass of 44.01 g/mol. 

(b) What is the efficiency, η, of this Carnot engine?

(c) What are three physical parameters that could be changed to improve the efficiency of the engine? Explain your answers. 

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