THERMAL ENERGY RESERVOIRS
In the development of the second law of thermodynamics, it is very convenient to have a hypothetical body with a relatively large thermal energy capacity (mass X specific heat) that can supply or absorb finite amounts of heat without undergoing any change in temperature. Such a body is called a thermal energy reservoir, or just a reservoir. In practice, large bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, and rivers as well as the atmospheric air can be modeled accurately as thermal energy reservoirs because of their large thermal energy storage capabilities or thermal masses (Fig. 6–6). The atmosphere, for example, does not warm up as a result of heat losses from residential buildings in winter. Likewise, megajoules of waste energy dumped in large rivers by power plants do not cause any significant change in water temperature.
A two-phase system can be modeled as a reservoir also since it can absorb and release large quantities of heat while remaining at constant temperature. Another familiar example of a thermal energy reservoir is the industrial fur- nace. The temperatures of most furnaces are carefully controlled, and they are capable of supplying large quantities of thermal energy as heat in an essentially isothermal manner. Therefore, they can be modeled as reservoirs.
A body does not actually have to be very large to be considered a reservoir. Any physical body whose thermal energy capacity is large relative to the amount of energy it supplies or absorbs can be modeled as one. The air in a room, for example, can be treated as a reservoir in the analysis of the heat dissipation from a TV set in the room, since the amount of heat transfer from the TV set to the room air is not large enough to have a noticeable effect on the room air temperature.
A reservoir that supplies energy in the form of heat is called a source, and one that absorbs energy in the form of heat is called a sink (Fig. 6–7). Thermal energy reservoirs are often referred to as heat reservoirs since they supply or absorb energy in the form of heat.
Heat transfer from industrial sources to the environment is of major concern to environmentalists as well as to engineers. Irresponsible management of Bodies with relatively large thermal masses can be modeled as thermal energy reservoirs.
waste energy can significantly increase the temperature of portions of the environment, causing what is called thermal pollution. If it is not carefully con- trolled, thermal pollution can seriously disrupt marine life in lakes and rivers. However, by careful design and management, the waste energy dumped into large bodies of water can be used to improve the quality of marine life by keeping the local temperature increases within safe and desirable levels.
