August 16, 2024Open Access

Tailoring the first law of thermodynamics for convective flows

Key Points

Energy exchanges in nonequilibrium states resemble those in equilibrium thermodynamics, indicating potential new models.
The study reveals how influences like gravity affect energy flow through convective systems, leading to potential new thermodynamic descriptions.
A new approach based on energy conservation principles helped analyze heat flows in nonequilibrium conditions, specifically in Rayleigh-Bénard convection systems during energy transitions that involve gravity influence and heat absorption processes, further defining the context of the analysis as non-equilibrium thermodynamics, providing clarity to broader applications of thermodynamic principles and modeling outside of classical parameters. The goal is to simplify our understanding of complex systems with energy flows and transformations, making these foundational principles of thermodynamics more versatile and applicable.

Abstract

Equilibrium thermodynamics is grounded in the law of energy conservation, with a specific focus on how systems exchange energy with their environment during transitions between equilibrium states. These transitions are typically characterized by quantities such as heat absorption and the work needed to alter the system's volume. This study is inspired by the potential to develop an analogous, straightforward thermodynamic description for systems that are out of equilibrium. Here, we explore the global energy exchanges that occur during transitions between these nonequilibrium states. We study a system with heat flow and an external (gravity) field that exhibits macroscopic motion, such as Rayleigh-B\'enard convection. We show that the formula for system's energy exchange has the same form as in equilibrium. It opens the possibility of describing out-of-equilibrium systems using a few simple laws similar to equilibrium thermodynamics.

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