Limits of Energy Utilization: Significance and Limits of the Concept Exergy

摘要

The concepts exergy and anergy are presented to illustrate the limits on the transformability and thus utilizability of energy due to the second law of thermodynamics and the environment (energy = exergy + anergy); the concepts are applied to energy flow in heat pumps. The link between exergy, exergy losses and primary energy consumption is explained and limits on the application of the concept defined. Mention is made of the other properties of energy which limit its transformability besides exergy. (ERA citation 08:051526)