Nature of Heat and Thermal Energy: From Caloric to Carnot’s Reflections, to Entropy, Exergy, Entransy and Beyond
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
Entropy 2018, 20(8), 584; https://doi.org/10.3390/e20080584
Received: 11 July 2018 / Revised: 3 August 2018 / Accepted: 6 August 2018 / Published: 7 August 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature of Heat and Entropy: Fundamentals and Applications for Diverse and Sustainable Future)
Abstract
The nature of thermal phenomena is still elusive and sometimes misconstrued. Starting from Lavoisier, who presumed that caloric as a weightless substance is conserved, to Sadi Carnot who erroneously assumed that work is extracted while caloric is conserved, to modern day researchers who argue that thermal energy is an indistinguishable part of internal energy, to the generalization of entropy and challengers of the Second Law of thermodynamics, the relevant thermal concepts are critically discussed here. Original reflections about the nature of thermo-mechanical energy transfer, classical and generalized entropy, exergy, and new entransy concept are reasoned and put in historical and contemporary contexts, with the objective of promoting further constructive debates and hopefully resolve some critical issues within the subtle thermal landscape. View Full-TextKeywords:
entransy; entropy; exergy; heat; thermal energy; Carnot work potential
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Kostic, M.M. Nature of Heat and Thermal Energy: From Caloric to Carnot’s Reflections, to Entropy, Exergy, Entransy and Beyond. Entropy 2018, 20, 584.
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