Search Results (12)

This paper concerns interactive Monte Carlo simulations for adiabatic ensembles and a genetic algorithm to research and educational contexts. In the Introduction, we discuss some concepts of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics and ensembles relevant to molecular simulations. The second and third sections of the paper comprise two programs in JavaScript regarding (i) argon in the grand-isobaric ensemble focusing on the direct calculation of entropy, vapor–liquid equilibria and radial distribution functions and (ii) an ideal system of quantized harmonic oscillators in the microcanonical ensemble for the determination of the entropy and Boltzmann distribution, also including the definition of Boltzmann and Gibbs entropies relative to classical systems. The fourth section is concerned with a genetic algorithm program in Java, as a pedagogical alternative to introduce the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which summarizes artificial intelligence methods and the cumulative selection process in biogenesis. Full article

The purpose of this work is to examine the nature of the historically observed and empirically described by the Pareto law inequality in the distribution of wealth and income in an economic system. This inequality is presumed to be the result of unequal opportunity by its members. An analytical model of the economic system consisting of a large number of actors, all having equal access to its total wealth (or income) has been developed that is formally represented by a scale-free network comprised of nodes (actors) and links (states of wealth or income). The dynamic evolution of the complex network can be mapped in turn, as is known, into a system of quantum particles (links) distributed among various energy levels (nodes) in thermodynamic equilibrium. The distribution of quantum particles (photons) at different energy levels in the physical system is then derived based on statistical thermodynamics with the attainment of maximal entropy for the system to be in a dynamic equilibrium. The resulting Planck-type distribution of the physical system mapped into a scale-free network leads naturally into the Pareto law distribution of the economic system. The conclusions of the scale-free complex network model leading to the analytical derivation of the empirical Pareto law are multifold. First, any complex economic system behaves akin to a scale-free complex network. Second, equal access or opportunity leads to unequal outcomes. Third, the optimal value for the Pareto index is obtained that ensures the optimal, albeit unequal, outcome of wealth and income distribution. Fourth, the optimal value for the Gini coefficient can then be calculated and be compared to the empirical values of that coefficient for wealth and income to ascertain how close an economic system is to its optimal distribution of income and wealth among its members. Fifth, in an economic system with equal opportunity for all its members there should be no difference between the resulting income and wealth distributions. Examination of the wealth and income distributions described by the Gini coefficient of national economies suggests that income and particularly wealth are far off from their optimal value. We conclude that the equality of opportunity should be the fundamental guiding principle of any economic system for the optimal distribution of wealth and income. The practical application of this conclusion is that societies ought to shift focus from policies such as taxation and payment transfers purporting to produce equal outcomes for all, a goal which is unattainable and wasteful, to policies advancing among others education, health care, and affordable housing for all as well as the re-evaluation of rules and institutions such that all members in the economic system have equal opportunity for the optimal utilization of resources and the distribution of wealth and income. Future research efforts should develop the scale-free complex network model of the economy as a complement to the current standard models. Full article

Three approaches for determining the thermodynamic stability of irreversible processes are described in generalized formulations. The simplest is the Gibbs–Duhem theory, specialized to irreversible trajectories, which uses the concept of virtual displacement in the reverse direction. Its only drawback is that even a trajectory leading to an explosion is identified as a thermodynamically stable motion. In the second approach, we use a thermodynamic Lyapunov function and its time rate from the Lyapunov thermodynamic stability theory (LTS, previously known as CTTSIP). In doing so, we demonstrate that the second differential of entropy, a frequently used Lyapunov function, is useful only for investigating the stability of equilibrium states. Nonequilibrium steady states do not qualify. Without using explicit perturbation coordinates, we further identify asymptotic thermodynamic stability and thermodynamic stability under constantly acting disturbances of unperturbed trajectories as well as of nonequilibrium steady states. The third approach is also based on the Lyapunov function from LTS, but here we additionally use the rates of perturbation coordinates, based on the Gibbs relations and without using their explicit expressions, to identify not only asymptotic thermodynamic stability but also thermodynamic stability under constantly acting disturbances. Only those trajectories leading to an infinite rate of entropy production (unstable states) are excluded from this conclusion. Finally, we use these findings to formulate the Fourth Law of thermodynamics based on the thermodynamic stability. It is a comprehensive statement covering all nonequilibrium trajectories, close to as well as far from equilibrium. Unlike previous suggested “fourth laws”, this one meets the same level of generality that is associated with the original zeroth to third laws. The above is illustrated using the Schlögl reaction with its multiple steady states in certain regions of operation. Full article

The primary purpose of this article is to use the laws of thermodynamics, mainly the second and fourth laws, to evaluate three energy technologies of the future: fusion, solar, and fission. Among the criteria used to evaluate them, the most important are the amount of matter needed to sustain the technology itself and the environmental impact. Much emphasis is placed here on the fourth law of thermodynamics, which introduces the concept of material entropy. Zemansky–Georgescu-Roegen’s Law of Inevitable Dissipation of Useful Concentrated Matter states that, in the economic process, some matter is inevitably degraded and becomes unavailable matter. This has tremendous implications for humanity as a whole since the Earth is thermodynamically a closed system, meaning that it cannot exchange matter with space but is open to the flow of solar energy. This results in the need to conserve matter and natural resources. This law can be used as an important criterion for the selection of energy technology. Moreover, the flow–fund model, which was proposed by Georgescu-Roegen, was used to assess the viability of energy technologies. The final conclusion is that there is no Promethean technology of the third kind yet, but the closest to meeting this condition is solar technology. Technology based on nuclear fission has been rejected due to its adverse ecological effects, while fusion technology has proven to be less useful due to the matter criterion, the negative environmental impact, since radioactive waste only becomes safe for humans after 500 years, and the risks associated with nuclear proliferation. Solar technology can become Prometheus III only after all of humanity is involved with this project, which requires profound social changes, widespread demilitarization, and the development of organic agriculture. This implies the necessity of the emergence of a global solar society based on an economic system called solar communism. Full article

This paper describes the present and the future of the energy sector in relation to the dominant and constantly evolving form of the global economic system. These considerations have their starting point in transformations of the energy sector in prosumer capitalism, which has dramatically changed the picture of the global economy in recent years. Subsequently, a futuristic approach is applied to determine the role and importance of energy from renewable sources for further human development. The main objective of the paper is to explain the current situation of the energy sector in prosumer capitalism and to extrapolate these relationships for the future, considering the need to enter the path of sustainable development to eliminate the global warming processes and climate changes. A review of the existing scientific literature was applied as the research method. The historical wave concept, proposed by Toffler, was found to be highly useful because of its high potential in futurology, where it enables one to study megatrends. The Fourth Wave was linked to prosumer capitalism, and it provided the base for defining the next ones: the Fifth Wave of Computing (ecosocialism) and the Sixth Wave in the form of technological and energy communism (solar communism). It also turned out that the key to solving mankind’s energy problems lies in the global mean entropy budget. The literature review shows that founding the global energy system on solar radiation is the only known method for eliminating the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, which is the source of global warming and, consequently, of climate change. Therefore, the second law of thermodynamics provides a physical, economic, and logical justification for introducing a new and ultimate management form—solar communism—by 2050. Full article

Substantial grounds exist to doubt the universal validity of the Newtonian Paradigm that requires a pre-stated, fixed phase space. Therefore, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, stated only for fixed phase spaces, is also in doubt. The validity of the Newtonian Paradigm may stop at the onset of evolving life. Living cells and organisms are Kantian Wholes that achieve constraint closure, so do thermodynamic work to construct themselves. Evolution constructs an ever-expanding phase space. Thus, we can ask the free energy cost per added degree of freedom. That cost is roughly linear or sublinear in the mass constructed. However, the resulting expansion of the phase space is exponential or even hyperbolic. Thus, the evolving biosphere does thermodynamic work to construct itself into an ever-smaller sub-domain of its ever-expanding phase space at ever less free energy cost per added degree of freedom. The universe is not correspondingly disordered. Entropy, remarkably, really does decrease. A testable implication of this, termed here the Fourth Law of Thermodynamics, is that at constant energy input, the biosphere will construct itself into an ever more localized subregion of its ever-expanding phase space. This is confirmed. The energy input from the sun has been roughly constant for the 4 billion years since life started to evolve. The localization of our current biosphere in its protein phase space is at least 10^–2540. The localization of our biosphere with respect to all possible molecules of CHNOPS comprised of up to 350,000 atoms is also extremely high. The universe has not been correspondingly disordered. Entropy has decreased. The universality of the Second Law fails. Full article

In the context of sustainable development and under the impulse of continuous technological progress, tribology contributes to the improvement of the life span of parts in dynamic contact and to the efficiency of mechanical systems. However, even if successes are obtained in lubrication, the tribology community struggles to build generalised laws of friction and wear in the case of dry friction. Based on the thermodynamics of open systems, we suggest an adaptation of the conservation of mass and energy equations to the tribosystem. The latter is modelled using the concepts of tribological triplet, tribological circuit and accommodation mechanisms. The tribosystem is described with four control volumes: two of them represent the first two bodies in dynamic contact; a third one is the tribofilm produced by the debris emission from the first bodies; a fourth control volume is used as an interface between the third body and the external environment. A mass balance is applied to these four control volumes by considering their interactions. An energy balance is then derived by applying the first principle of thermodynamics. Two systems of interdependent equations that describe the circulation of matter and energy flows in the tribosystem are outlined. These equations can be considered as a basis for future experimental developments that would aim at simultaneously characterising the different modes of energy dissipation in dynamic contact, qualitatively and especially quantitatively. Full article

Several materials, such as aluminum and copper, exhibit non-Newtonian rheological behaviors. Aluminum and copper nanoparticles are ideal for wiring power grids, including overhead power transmission lines and local power distribution lines, because they provide a better conductivity-to-weight ratio than bulk copper; they are also some of the most common materials used in electrical applications. Therefore, the current investigation inspected the flow characteristics of homogeneous–heterogeneous reactions in a hybrid nanofluid flowing over a rotating disc. The velocity slip condition was examined. The energy equation was developed by employing the first law of thermodynamics. Mixed convection thermal radiation and the convective condition effect were addressed. The dimensionless governing models were solved to give the best possible investigative solution using the fourth- and fifth-order Runge–Kutta–Felhberg numerical method. The effects of different influential variables on the velocity and temperature were scrutinized graphically. The effects of the variation of various sundry parameters on the friction factor and Nusselt numbers were also analyzed. The results revealed that the velocity gradient increased significantly for augmented values of the mixed convection parameter. Here, the velocity gradient increased more rapidly for a hybrid nanoliquid than for a nanofluid. The thermal distribution was enhanced due to a significantly increased radiation parameter. Full article

Acceleration effects of heat flow are included in the law of heat conduction by eliminating the acceleration term between the equation of motion for a spinless electron and the Boltzmann equipartition energy theorem differentiated with respect to time. The resulting law of heat conduction is a capite ad calcem in temperature as given in Equations (17), (19) and (20). (q_z/k)_z = -(δT/δz) - 1/v_h(δT/δt). Evaluation of use of this equation using the entropy production term reveals that as long as the flux, q, and the temperature accumulation both have the same signs, the law does not violate the second law of thermodynamics. For systems that obey the first law of thermodynamics, this is the case. σ == q/T²(q/k + 1/v_h • q(δT/δt)). In the chemical potential Stokes-Einstein formulation, when acceleration of the molecule is accounted for, a law of diffusion a capite ad calcem concentration results. In cartesian one-dimensional heat conduction in semi-infinite coordinates, the governing equation for temperature or concentration was solved for by the method of Laplace transforms. The results are in terms of the modified Bessel composite function in space and time of the first order and first kind. This is when τ > X. X > τ the solution is in terms of the Bessel composite function in space and time of the first order and first kind. The wave temperature is a decaying exponential in time when X = τ. An approximate expression for dimensionless temperature was obtained by expanding the binomial series in the exponent in the Laplace domain and after neglecting fourth- and higher-order terms before inversion from the Laplace domain. The Fourier model, the damped wave model and the a capite ad calcem in temperature/concentration model solutions are compared side by side in the form of a graph. The a capite ad calcem model solution is seen to undergo the convex to concave transition sooner than the damped wave model. The results of the a capite ad calcem temperature model for distances further from the surface are closer to the Fourier model solution. Full article

In this paper, we employed both first and second laws of thermodynamics to analyze the flow and thermal decomposition in a variable viscosity Couette flow of a conducting fluid in a rotating system under the combined influence of magnetic field and Hall current. The non-linear governing differential equations are obtained and solved numerically using shooting method coupled with fourth order Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg integration technique. Numerical results obtained for velocities and temperature profiles are utilized to determine the entropy generation rate, skin fictions, Nusselt number and the Bejan number. By plotting the graphs of various values of thermophysical parameters, the features of the flow characteristics are analyzed in detail. It is found that fluid rotation increases the dominant effect of heat transfer irreversibility at the upper moving plate region while the entropy production is more at the lower fixed plate region. Full article

Integrating renewable energy into public space is becoming more common as a climate change solution. However, this approach is often guided by the environmental pillar of sustainability, with less focus on the economic and social pillars. The purpose of this paper is to examine this issue in the speculative renewable energy propositions for Freshkills Park in New York City submitted for the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) competition. This paper first proposes an optimal electricity distribution (OED) framework in and around public spaces based on relevant ecology and energy theory (Odum’s fourth and fifth law of thermodynamics). This framework addresses social engagement related to public interaction, and economic engagement related to the estimated quantity of electricity produced, in conjunction with environmental engagement related to the embodied energy required to construct the renewable energy infrastructure. Next, the study uses the OED framework to analyse the top twenty-five projects submitted for the LAGI 2012 competition. The findings reveal an electricity distribution imbalance and suggest a lack of in-depth understanding about sustainable electricity distribution within public space design. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research. Full article

This paper, the first in a series of four, will expose the lack of inner consistency of the analysis through which Clausius re-expressed the second law of thermodynamics: "Heat cannot, of itself, pass from a colder to a hotter body", as the law of increasing entropy: "The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum". In the two following papers the flaw in Clausius analysis producing the said lack of consistency will be located, corrected and some of its consequences, discussed. Among them the one stating that the identification of the two above written statements of the second law is valid only under certain circumstances. In the fourth and final Full article