Entropy Production and Exergy Loss During Mixing of Gases

Abstract

Entropy and exergy analyses of losses during mixing of flows and volumes of gas are compared. It is shown that both methods give identical analytical expressions for an ideal gas. However, exergy analysis required more cumbersome mathematical transformations than entropy analysis in order to obtain a final result. An analysis of the expressions for determining the mixing losses always gives a positive result regardless of the temperature of the mixed flows or volumes. The final analytical expressions allow mixing losses to be determined. This is very important for thermodynamic analysis of low-temperature, especially cryogenic cycles.