ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the heat, work and internal energy transfers for some of the most important perfect gas processes; these include the constant volume process, the constant pressure process, the isothermal process, the reversible adiabatic or isentropic process and finally the polytropic process. It looks at Dalton's law and its application to gas mixtures and their analysis, as found, for example, in the combustion of air/fuel mixtures in combustion engines. The constant pressure non-flow process for a perfect gas is also considered to be a reversible process. A study of gas mixtures and gas and vapour mixtures is very useful when considering the combustion of fuels in internal combustion engines. An adiabatic process is one in which no heat energy is transferred to or from the gas during the process. This process may be reversible or irreversible.
