
General Aspects of Thermodynamics, Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer 13
100%. Within this zone, the water is a mixture of liquid water and water vapor. At point C it is
completely saturated vapor and the quality is 100%.
• C–D. This represents the constant-pressure process in which the saturated water vapor is super-
heated with increasing temperature.
• E–F–G. In this line there is no constant-temperature vaporization process. The point F is called
the critical point where the saturated liquid and saturated vapor states are identical. The ther-
modynamic properties at this point are called critical thermodynamic properties, for example,
critical temperature, critical pressure, and critical specific volume.
• H–I. This is a constant-pressure heating process in which there is no phase change from
one phase to another (only one is present); however, there is a continuous change in
density.
The other process which may occur during melting of water is sublimation in which the ice
directly passes from the solid phase to vapor phase. Another important point that needs to be empha-
sized is that the solid, liquid, and vapor phases of water may be present together in equilibrium,
leading to the triple point .
1.2.13 Pure Substance
This is defined as a substance which has a homogeneous and invariable chemical composition.
Despite having the same chemical composition, it may be in more than one phase, namely, liquid
water, a mixture of liquid water and water vapor (steam), and a mixture of ice and liquid water.
Each one has the same chemical composition. However, a mixture of liquid air and gaseous air
cannot be considered a pure substance because of the fact that the composition of each phase differs.
A thorough understanding of the pure substance is of significance, particularly for air-conditioning
applications. Thermodynamic properties of water and steam can be taken from tables and charts,
in almost all thermodynamic books, based on the experimental data or real-gas equations of state
through computer calculations. It is important to note that the properties of low-pressure water are
of great significance in air conditioning, since water vapor existing in the atmosphere typically
exerts a pressure less than 1 psi (6.9 kPa). At such low pressures, it is known that water vapor
shows ideal gas behavior.
1.2.14 Specific Heats
The energy required to change (to raise or to drop) the temperature of a unit mass of a substance
by a unit temperature difference is called the specific heat c. Its unit is kJ/kg · KorkJ/kg·
◦
C. The
specific heat is called the constant-pressure specific heat (c
p
) if the process takes place at constant
pressure (e.g., heating or cooling a gas in a piston-cylinder device). It is called the constant-volume
specific heat (c
v
) if the process takes place at constant volume (e.g., heating or cooling a gas in a
rigid tank).
1.2.15 Specific Internal Energy
This represents the molecular state type of energy and is a measure of the energy of a simple
system in equilibrium as a function of c
v
dT . In fact, for many thermodynamic processes in closed
systems the only significant energy changes are internal energy changes, and the significant work
done by the system in the absence of friction is the work of pressure–volume expansion such as in
a piston–cylinder mechanism. The specific internal energy of a mixture of liquid and vapor can be